Essential Questions DO Graduates Should Ask in Medicine-Psychiatry Residency

Understanding Your Goals as a DO Applicant in Medicine-Psychiatry

As a DO graduate applying to Medicine-Psychiatry combined programs, the questions you ask programs are as important as the answers you give. Medicine-psychiatry combined training is still relatively small and specialized; the culture, structure, and opportunities can vary dramatically between programs. Thoughtful, targeted questions help you:

• Assess true program fit (not just what’s on the website)
• Show that you’ve done your homework about medicine psychiatry combined training
• Highlight your identity and strengths as a DO graduate
• Clarify how a program will support your career goals in med psych

Your aim isn’t to ask as many questions as possible, but to ask the right ones to the right people. This guide will walk you through:

• Strategic themes you should cover on interview day
• Specific, high-yield questions to ask residency programs
• Tailored interview questions for them for faculty, residents, and the program director
• Special considerations for DO graduates and those considering the osteopathic residency match or ACGME programs friendly to DOs

Use this as a framework to create your own personalized list so you can adapt in real time during interviews.

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Core Strategy: How to Approach Asking Questions

Before diving into lists, it helps to structure what to ask program director vs. faculty vs. residents.

1. Align your questions with your goals

Clarify your top 3–5 priorities. For many med-psych DO graduates, these might include:

• Strong identity and integration of medicine psychiatry combined training (not just “two residencies stapled together”)
• Support for osteopathic principles and manipulative treatment (OMT), or at least respect for your DO background
• Fellowship or job placement in areas like consultation-liaison, addiction, primary care psychiatry, academic med psych, VA or community leadership
• Resident wellness and program culture in a long, demanding combined program
• Flexibility for academic, research, or leadership interests

Then, map your questions to these priorities rather than trying to cover everything superficially.

2. Match the question to the person

Not everyone is the right person to answer every question. As a rule of thumb:

• Program Director (PD) / Associate Program Director (APD)
  Big-picture structure, vision, funding, changes, graduate outcomes, DO support, remediation policies.

• Core Med-Psych Faculty
  Day-to-day training, combined identity, curriculum, clinical opportunities, supervision.

• Current Residents (especially senior med-psych residents)
  Actual culture, schedule reality, hidden weaknesses, how problems are handled, quality of life.

• Department or Clinic Leadership (medicine chair, psychiatry chair, clinic directors)
  Institutional support, integration of dual training, system-level roles for med-psych.

Have a mental list of 3–5 interview questions for them for each group.

3. Ask open-ended, specific, and comparative questions

Instead of:
“Is your program DO-friendly?”

Try:
“How have DO graduates done in your program? Can you share examples of how previous DOs have used their osteopathic training during residency or after graduation?”

The second version invites stories and specifics that reveal more about the culture.

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High-Yield Questions About Program Structure and Training

For medicine-psychiatry combined programs, structure is everything. You want to know how the 5-year (or occasionally 6-year) pathway is organized and how integrated it truly is.

Questions for the Program Director or APD

Use these when you’re thinking about what to ask program director specifically:

1. Integration and Identity

   • “How do you ensure that med-psych isn’t just two separate residencies back-to-back? What are the key features that make this a truly integrated program?”
   • “Can you walk me through a typical five-year training path for a med-psych resident here, including how the transitions between medicine and psychiatry are managed?”

2. Clinical Exposure and Balance

   • “How is time balanced between inpatient medicine, inpatient psychiatry, outpatient primary care, and outpatient mental health across the five years?”
   • “Are there dedicated rotations or clinics that explicitly integrate both internal medicine and psychiatry, such as collaborative care, consultation-liaison, or med-psych inpatient units?”

3. Flexibility and Individualization

   • “How much flexibility do residents have to shape their schedule, for example to pursue particular interests like addiction, consultation-liaison, or integrated primary care psychiatry?”
   • “Have you supported residents who wanted to adjust tracks—for example, to focus more heavily on academia or community mental health? How did that work?”

4. Evaluation and Board Preparation

   • “How do you prepare residents for both internal medicine and psychiatry boards, and what have your recent board pass rates been in each specialty?”
   • “How are med-psych residents evaluated when they rotate on categorical medicine and categorical psychiatry services? Are expectations tailored to their combined training?”

5. Evolution and Stability of the Program

   • “What major changes have you made to the med-psych program in the last 3–5 years, and what changes are you planning in the next few?”
   • “How many funded med-psych positions are there per year, and has that number been stable?”

These questions help you see whether the program is modern, reflective, and well-supported.

Questions for Combined Faculty and Clinic Leaders

1. “What types of patients best represent the ‘med-psych’ niche in this program, and how often do residents encounter those patients in day-to-day work?”
2. “Are there dedicated clinics or services where the med-psych team is central, rather than residents being added on as extra help?”
3. “How often do faculty from medicine and psychiatry co-supervise cases or teaching sessions together?”

You’re looking for signs that the combined program is more than a line on a brochure.

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Questions Specific to DO Graduates and Osteopathic Training

As a DO graduate, you’ll want to probe how the program views and supports osteopathic physicians. Even in fully ACGME-accredited systems, attitudes and opportunities can vary.

Questions About DO-Friendliness and Culture

These are essential questions to ask residency programs as a DO:

1. “How many DOs are currently in the med-psych program and in the broader internal medicine and psychiatry residencies?”
2. “Can you share examples of DO graduates from your program and what they went on to do?”
3. “How do you see DO and MD residents working together here—are there any differences in expectations, evaluations, or leadership opportunities?”

If they struggle to name DO alumni or seem uneasy discussing DOs, that’s informative.

Questions About OMT and Osteopathic Principles

Plenty of med-psych programs are perfectly DO-friendly even if they don’t have robust OMT, but if OMT matters to you, ask explicitly:

1. “Is there infrastructure or faculty support for residents who want to continue practicing OMT during residency?”
2. “Have past DO residents used OMT clinically here? On which services (e.g., primary care clinics, pain, consults, inpatient)? Any institutional barriers?”
3. “Are there any osteopathic-focused didactics, journal clubs, or faculty mentors who integrate osteopathic principles into med-psych practice?”

Even if they don’t have formal osteopathic tracks, openness to your interests matters.

Questions About the Osteopathic Match vs. ACGME Pathways

Formal separate osteopathic residency match systems have mostly integrated under the single accreditation, but some institutions maintain strong historic ties to osteopathic training.

You might ask:

1. “Historically, has this program had strong ties to osteopathic institutions, such as former AOA programs or affiliated DO schools?”
2. “Do you collaborate with any osteopathic medical schools for student rotations or research?”
3. “How do you support DO residents who want to remain engaged with osteopathic professional organizations or attend osteopathic conferences?”

These questions help you see whether your DO identity will be supported, not merely tolerated.

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Questions About Culture, Wellness, and Day-to-Day Life

Combined programs are long and demanding. You need to understand the lived experience beyond the brochure.

Questions for Current Residents (Most Revealing)

These are some of the most important interview questions for them when talking to residents:

1. Overall Satisfaction and Culture

   • “If you had to decide again, would you choose this med-psych program? Why or why not?”
   • “What are the program’s biggest strengths, and what are the areas where residents quietly wish things would improve?”
   • “How integrated do you feel as a med-psych resident with the categorical medicine and psychiatry residents?”

2. Workload, Call, and Transitions

   • “What does a typical week look like for you on a busy inpatient medicine month vs. a psychiatry month vs. a med-psych integrated rotation?”
   • “How manageable are call schedules across medicine and psychiatry? Are there certain rotations where residents consistently struggle with workload or burnout?”
   • “How does the program help you transition between medicine-heavy and psych-heavy rotations so you don’t feel constantly rusty in one field?”

3. Support, Supervision, and Safety

   • “When something goes wrong—a difficult patient outcome, a medical error, a personal issue—how does the program respond?”
   • “Do you feel comfortable approaching faculty or leadership about concerns, and do you see real changes when residents give feedback?”
   • “Is there any service or rotation residents try to avoid because it feels unsafe or unsupported?”

4. Identity and Belonging as Med-Psych

   • “Do you feel like you belong to one home department more than the other? How does that affect your training?”
   • “Are med-psych residents involved in leadership roles, such as chief residency, committees, or curriculum development?”

5. Realism vs. Marketing

   • “Were there any surprises about the program once you started—things that didn’t come across during interview season?”
   • “What’s one piece of advice you wish someone had given you before you ranked this program?”

Pay attention not only to answers, but also to the tone and whether residents seem comfortable being honest.

Questions for Faculty About Culture and Mentorship

1. “How are mentors assigned or chosen for med-psych residents, and do residents typically have mentors in both medicine and psychiatry?”
2. “Can you describe a time when resident feedback led to a concrete change in the program?”
3. “What kinds of leadership or teaching roles are available to med-psych trainees?”

Mentorship and leadership opportunities will shape your professional identity far beyond graduation.

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Questions About Career Outcomes, Research, and Long-Term Fit

You’re not just training for five years; you’re building a 30–40-year career. Your DO graduate residency experience should launch you toward that.

Questions for Program Director and Senior Faculty

1. Career Paths and Fellowships

   • “What have recent med-psych graduates gone on to do in terms of jobs and fellowships?”
   • “Do your graduates tend to lean more toward primary care, hospital medicine, consultation-liaison, addiction, administration, or something else?”
   • “Have any graduates created or led integrated med-psych services, and how did your program prepare them for that?”

2. Fellowship Competitiveness (if you’re interested)

   • “How competitive are your residents for fellowships such as consultation-liaison psychiatry, addiction medicine/psychiatry, geriatrics, palliative care, or hospital medicine?”
   • “Do med-psych residents ever pursue dual fellowships, and how do you support those paths?”

3. Academic and Research Opportunities

   • “What types of research or scholarly projects have med-psych residents completed recently?”
   • “Are there structured pathways for residents interested in clinician-educator roles, quality improvement, or health systems leadership?”
   • “How does the program support residents in presenting at national conferences (time off, funding, mentorship)?”

4. DO-Specific Career Considerations

   • “Have your DO graduates faced any barriers in certain fellowships or academic positions, and how did the program help address those?”
   • “Do you have faculty who are DOs in leadership or academic roles, particularly in med-psych relevant areas?”

Programs that can point to successful DO alumni signal that you’ll have strong support.

Questions for Residents About Future Planning

1. “What are your own career goals, and how is the program helping you move toward them?”
2. “Have you felt pressure to choose between practicing more medicine vs. more psychiatry, or has the program supported maintaining both skill sets?”
3. “How easy is it to find mentors who understand the unique career options for med-psych physicians?”

You want a program that not only trains you clinically but also helps you design a sustainable long-term career.

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How to Prioritize and Personalize Your Question List

Because interview time is limited, you need a strategy to avoid wasting your few minutes with generic or easily Google-able questions.

1. Research First, Then Ask Deeper

Before the interview, comb through:

• Program website (curriculum, med-psych specific rotations)
• Resident bios (how many DOs, interests, projects)
• Recent publications or news about the med-psych program

Then refine your list. Instead of asking, “Do you have an integrated med-psych clinic?” (which may be on the website) ask:

• “I saw on your website that you have an integrated med-psych primary care clinic. From a resident’s point of view, what’s the educational value of that rotation, and how much autonomy do you have there?”

This shows preparation and pulls out richer details.

2. Build a “Core 10” and a “Flex 10”

Create:

• Core 10: High-priority questions that you definitely want answered somewhere (by anyone) before ranking.
• Flex 10: Additional questions you can use to fill time or adapt to the person you’re with.

Keep the Core 10 written down next to you (for virtual interviews) so you can track what’s been answered.

3. Avoid Red-Flag Questions—But Notice Red-Flag Answers

Don’t ask in a way that sounds like you’re assuming problems:

• Instead of: “Are your residents burned out?”
  Ask: “How does the program monitor and support resident wellness, especially during intense rotations like ICU or night float?”

But if answers are vague, defensive, or minimize resident concerns, that’s useful data.

4. Tailor Questions to Med-Psych Nuances

Because med-psych is unique, add at least a few specialty-specific questions, for example:

• “How do you help residents maintain competence and confidence in both medicine and psychiatry across five years, especially when they’ve been away from one field for several months?”
• “In consultations or complex cases, how are med-psych residents viewed—are we called in primarily as ‘medicine people,’ ‘psych people,’ or truly dual-trained consultants?”

These questions reveal how the institution really understands your future role.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. How many questions should I ask in a typical interview?

Aim for 2–4 thoughtful questions per 20–30 minute interview block, depending on how conversational the session is. Quality matters more than quantity. Over an entire interview day, you might use 10–15 unique questions, with some overlap across interviewers.

2. Are there any questions I should avoid asking?

Avoid questions that:

• Are answered clearly on the homepage (e.g., “How long is your program?”)
• Come across as confrontational (“Why are your board scores low?”) rather than curious (“How are you working to improve board performance?”)
• Focus heavily on salary/benefits if easily available in the offer or GME materials (you can confirm details later once you’re ranking)

Also be cautious about directly asking, “How competitive am I?”; it puts interviewers in an awkward position. Instead, ask, “What qualities do successful med-psych residents here tend to share?”

3. As a DO graduate, should I directly ask if the program is DO-friendly?

Yes—just phrase it constructively. You might say:

• “How has the program supported DO graduates in the past, and are there DO faculty who serve as mentors?”
• “How do DO residents typically integrate their osteopathic background into their practice here?”

The content of the answer and the comfort level in discussing DOs will tell you a lot about the culture.

4. What’s the single most important question to ask a med-psych resident?

A highly revealing question is:

• “Knowing what you know now, would you choose this med-psych program again, and what would you want an applicant like me to understand before ranking it?”

This tends to elicit honest reflections about both the strengths and the pain points of the program and can significantly shape your ranking decisions.

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Thoughtful, well-aimed questions signal maturity, preparation, and genuine interest—qualities every Medicine-Psychiatry program values. As a DO graduate, use your questions not just to gather information, but to demonstrate the holistic, systems-aware thinking that defines outstanding med-psych physicians.