Psychiatry Residency Mock Interview

Master 35 Psychiatry Residency interview questions covering clinical scenarios, theoretical orientation, and program fit.

Question 1 of 35

How do you feel when someone says that psychiatrists aren't real doctors?

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Ryan Brunner

Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.

It has long been known that much of the general public doesn't realize that psychiatrists obtain their MD or DO and go through residency training like any physician. What's even more disturbing is that there are a few physicians in other specialties that look down upon psychiatrists and even treat them as less than peers. In asking these questions, your interviewers want to hear that you have the mindset to squash these thoughts if you were to ever hear them and know the importance of the role that psychiatrists play in the overall delivery of healthcare.

Ryan Brunner

Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.

While keeping your answer straight and to the point, assure your interviewers that you would be very frank with any person that ever said this in front of you and that you would do so while educating the person on what a truly important physician you would be as a psychiatrist. In whatever way you see fit, discuss where you see the equal importance of psychiatry and mental health fitting in the strategy of overall healthcare for the public.

Ryan Brunner

Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.

"I would honestly take that personally. If this were a patient, a family member, or even someone that I knew, I wouldn't hesitate to educate them on the training path that psychiatrists take and also bluntly tell them that I hold an MD like any other physician. If this were a fellow colleague, attending to a physician or other healthcare professional, I would handle that situation differently during my training in a psychiatry residency. Depending on the relationship I had with the individual, I would either approach them directly to let them know how I felt about them saying it, or I would simply brush it off. In the case of the latter, I wouldn't give the person the time of day because they obviously know better."

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35Psychiatry Residency Interview Questions & Answers

Discovery

1.How do you feel when someone says that psychiatrists aren't real doctors?

Behavioral

2.Are you comfortable with the potential physical risks that will come during psychiatry residency training and in practice down the road?

Discovery

3.Psychiatrists are very prone to malpractice claims. Are you aware of what the risks of malpractice are in the field as an incoming resident?

Experience

4.What is your familiarity with the current DSM-5 and are you excited to take a deeper dive into it during psychiatry residency training?

Scenario

5.You see a nurse â€œpretendâ€ to give a medication to your patient and put it in her pocket instead. What do you do in this situation?

Discovery

6.Psychiatric care is changing more quickly than ever. Internet collaboration and telemedicine are now the new normal. Where do you see the field going in the next five years, and what part do you plan to play in this direction?

Discovery

7.What do you feel is your greatest non-medical strength you can bring to our psychiatry residency program?

Discovery

8.Are there one or two disciplines of psychiatry youâ€™ll gravitate toward or eliminate within this far-reaching specialty?

Behavioral

9.Psychiatrists are very busy people, yet patients can often need care at a moment's notice. Do you feel you can assure your patients youâ€™ll always be available to them as a psychiatry resident?

Discovery

10.What ultimately made you choose to pursue psychiatry residency training out of medical school?

Discovery

11.What interests do you have in academics and/or do research as a psychiatry resident in our program and in your future career as a physician?

Behavioral

12.If you had to be truthful, what do you feel is your greatest weakness heading into psychiatry residency training?

Discovery

13.As you look to match into a psychiatry residency, are you aware of the common ethical challenges that our medical field faces?

Discovery

14.What are your thoughts on stepping away from hands on medical procedures for a practice in psychiatry down the road?

Discovery

15.Following your psychiatry residency training, do you foresee yourself practicing in an urban or rural setting?

Education

16.Have you put any thought into the elective rotations you would like to pursue during your psychiatry residency training?

Education

17.Have you completed all ECFMG (Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates) requirements to start a residency?

Discovery

18.Outside of medicine, what are your interests and hobbies that keep you busy?

Discovery

19.Are you considering any other psychiatry residency programs?

Discovery

20.Who in your life has been the biggest mentor or inspiration to you?

Discovery

21.What career path would you have chosen if pursuing medicine wasn't an option?

Behavioral

22.How will you manage the high amounts of day-to-day stress that are a part of being a psychiatry resident?

Discovery

23.Would you have any issues relocating to join our psychiatry residency program?

General

24.Anyone that matches into our psychiatry residency program must pass a criminal record check and education verification. Is there any reason you would not be comfortable with this?

Communication

25.In psychiatry, communication skills are essential. How would you describe your communication skills?

Behavioral

26.How will you work effectively and collaboratively as part of a larger care team as a psychiatry resident with our program?

Behavioral

27.Coming into our psychiatry residency program as a new medical school graduate, what is your comfortability in handling direct patient care with little supervision?

Discovery

28.What do you foresee as being your most challenging patient type during your time in psychiatry residency training?

Discovery

29.What role do you think psychiatrists play in the overall healthcare system?

General

30.What do you know about our psychiatry residency training program?

Situational

31.As a new trainee in our psychiatry residency program, how will you handle any crisis situations that would occur with patients?

Discovery

32.Do you have any preferences on a future practice being focused on either an inpatient or outpatient setting?

Discovery

33.Psychiatric providers and mental health services are in high demand right now across the entire country. Why do you think that is?

Education

34.What electronic medical records systems did you gain experience with during medical school?

Leadership

Psychiatry Residency Mock Interview

How do you feel when someone says that psychiatrists aren't real doctors?

35Psychiatry Residency Interview Questions & Answers

1.How do you feel when someone says that psychiatrists aren't real doctors?

2.Are you comfortable with the potential physical risks that will come during psychiatry residency training and in practice down the road?

3.Psychiatrists are very prone to malpractice claims. Are you aware of what the risks of malpractice are in the field as an incoming resident?

4.What is your familiarity with the current DSM-5 and are you excited to take a deeper dive into it during psychiatry residency training?

5.You see a nurse â€œpretendâ€ to give a medication to your patient and put it in her pocket instead. What do you do in this situation?

6.Psychiatric care is changing more quickly than ever. Internet collaboration and telemedicine are now the new normal. Where do you see the field going in the next five years, and what part do you plan to play in this direction?

7.What do you feel is your greatest non-medical strength you can bring to our psychiatry residency program?

8.Are there one or two disciplines of psychiatry youâ€™ll gravitate toward or eliminate within this far-reaching specialty?

9.Psychiatrists are very busy people, yet patients can often need care at a moment's notice. Do you feel you can assure your patients youâ€™ll always be available to them as a psychiatry resident?

10.What ultimately made you choose to pursue psychiatry residency training out of medical school?

11.What interests do you have in academics and/or do research as a psychiatry resident in our program and in your future career as a physician?

12.If you had to be truthful, what do you feel is your greatest weakness heading into psychiatry residency training?

13.As you look to match into a psychiatry residency, are you aware of the common ethical challenges that our medical field faces?

14.What are your thoughts on stepping away from hands on medical procedures for a practice in psychiatry down the road?

15.Following your psychiatry residency training, do you foresee yourself practicing in an urban or rural setting?

16.Have you put any thought into the elective rotations you would like to pursue during your psychiatry residency training?

17.Have you completed all ECFMG (Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates) requirements to start a residency?

18.Outside of medicine, what are your interests and hobbies that keep you busy?

19.Are you considering any other psychiatry residency programs?

20.Who in your life has been the biggest mentor or inspiration to you?

21.What career path would you have chosen if pursuing medicine wasn't an option?

22.How will you manage the high amounts of day-to-day stress that are a part of being a psychiatry resident?

23.Would you have any issues relocating to join our psychiatry residency program?

24.Anyone that matches into our psychiatry residency program must pass a criminal record check and education verification. Is there any reason you would not be comfortable with this?

25.In psychiatry, communication skills are essential. How would you describe your communication skills?

26.How will you work effectively and collaboratively as part of a larger care team as a psychiatry resident with our program?

27.Coming into our psychiatry residency program as a new medical school graduate, what is your comfortability in handling direct patient care with little supervision?

28.What do you foresee as being your most challenging patient type during your time in psychiatry residency training?

29.What role do you think psychiatrists play in the overall healthcare system?

30.What do you know about our psychiatry residency training program?

31.As a new trainee in our psychiatry residency program, how will you handle any crisis situations that would occur with patients?

32.Do you have any preferences on a future practice being focused on either an inpatient or outpatient setting?

33.Psychiatric providers and mental health services are in high demand right now across the entire country. Why do you think that is?

34.What electronic medical records systems did you gain experience with during medical school?

35.Tell us about a time when you successfully led a team. What was the biggest factor for you to succeed in this leadership role?

5.You see a nurse â€œpretendâ€ to give a medication to your patient and put it in her pocket instead. What do you do in this situation?