Top 3 burning interview questions?

[WhiteHatMD]

Hi folks!

My name is Sam. In the distant past, I had previously matched into a competitive surgical subspecialty. Halfway through residency, I decided to change careers. I currently work with the Veterans Affairs in a non-clinical role. I also have a passion for mentorship, especially because I met some great mentors who helped me reach my previous goals of matching into one of the toughest specialties.

I started a Medium blog yesterday in an effort to reach out to Pre-Meds with lessons that I learned from my own personal experiences. My goal is to try and provide an honest and encouraging personal perspective from someone who has interviewed at 14 medical schools (ranging from mid-Tiers and only a few top-Tiers) and went on to interview at 13 residency programs (good mix of top/mid Tiers). I'm glad to be back on my favorite old haunting grounds that is the SDN community. I wish I still remembered my password for my old account!

With the interview season chugging along, I thought I would ask you which interview question do you fear the most? I'll choose the top 2 or 3 responses with the most likes and do my best to hammer out useful feedback. Obviously I won't be providing exact responses to those questions, but hopefully the insights I share will allow you to be able to incorporate your own past experiences when considering a response. The goal is to have your inner confidence (feigned or real, it does not matter as long as it is convincing) shine through to your interviewers!

Looking forward to some interesting questions! Thanks for taking the time to read this post.

-WhiteHatMD

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[Slave to the Game]

Thanks for doing this! One question I really loathed getting asked is something along the lines of:

Why should we choose you over all of the other candidates?

The implication here is that I have to "beat out" other applicants, and it seems like they're asking me to put them down or say how I'm the best of the best. Is that really the type of answer they're looking for?

I also have another question that's unrelated to interviewing, but for getting into a specific residency program. I'm taking a gap year and going to medical school out of state but want to come back to my hometown to do my residency in a competitive specialty. How beneficial would it be to get involved and do research (voluntarily if needed) in the field at the specific hospital/program, versus simply getting involved with research once I start medical school at my institution (and hopefully score well on my Step 1, get good grades, and have strong LORs)? I feel that knowing people in the program, working with them, and keeping in touch through my four years away could give me a leg up, but I wanted to get some other opinions on this matter. The other option for my gap year is working as a scribe, which would give me a lot of practical experience and exposure to healthcare.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

I always found "Why not PA?" specifically challenging. The similarities between MD and PA make it hard to find any distinction other than saying "I wanna be in charge!"

 

[catie_jane]

I hate the "Describe yourself" or "Tell me about yourself" question just because it is so open ended and I don't even know where to begin.

I have a lot of interesting stuff I can tell them about but not exactly sure what interviewers are looking for when asking this question

 

[thatwouldbeanarchy]

I dread being asked about my greatest weakness. I've been told before to avoid giving a response that's actually a strength (i.e., my greatest weakness is that I work TOO hard and care TOO much), which makes perfect sense to me. That just makes you seem arrogant or lacking in self-awareness. But I still have a hard time figuring out how far I should delve into the less desirable aspects of my personality.

 

[mimelim]

Hrm, one post, not verified, says, "not attending" in single post, sets status to "Attending Physician".

Thanks for doing this! One question I really loathed getting asked is something along the lines of:

Why should we choose you over all of the other candidates?

The implication here is that I have to "beat out" other applicants, and it seems like they're asking me to put them down or say how I'm the best of the best. Is that really the type of answer they're looking for?

I also have another question that's unrelated to interviewing, but for getting into a specific residency program. I'm taking a gap year and going to medical school out of state but want to come back to my hometown to do my residency in a competitive specialty. How beneficial would it be to get involved and do research (voluntarily if needed) in the field at the specific hospital/program, versus simply getting involved with research once I start medical school at my institution (and hopefully score well on my Step 1, get good grades, and have strong LORs)? I feel that knowing people in the program, working with them, and keeping in touch through my four years away could give me a leg up, but I wanted to get some other opinions on this matter. The other option for my gap year is working as a scribe, which would give me a lot of practical experience and exposure to healthcare.

This is a relatively unfair question for medical school and a very fair question for residency. ie. Someone asking this during a medical school interview is either playing the meta game or is a poor interviewer. You are not directly competing with specific people for medical school spots. Schools are trying to fill out a class of students, not grab the 'best' 150 students. The reality is that they are never choosing you (or anyone) over all the other candidates and to imply otherwise is a little silly. That having been said, it is a, "brag about yourself" question. You want to pick something that you excel in or have been honored for and relate it to why it will make you a good fit for that school a good future physician. You want to generally stay away from academics, and focus on the less tangible things. Common topics are communication, organization, or demonstrated high levels of altruism.

I always found "Why not PA?" specifically challenging. The similarities between MD and PA make it hard to find any distinction other than saying "I wanna be in charge!"

This question can not and should not be hard. MD and PA have very little in common. I would argue that lawyers (and many other professionals) and physicians have more in common than MDs and PAs in terms of job and training. The biggest 'similarity' is that MDs and PAs both work in healthcare, which really isn't exactly saying much. The 'kinds' of people that will derive fulfillment from MD and PA are generally more different than MD vs. other professions. If you have trouble answering this, then you need to spend more time seeing what PAs do or at the very least researching it. Maybe it is a better fit for you? How would you know?

Medical schools aren't concerned with the fact that day to day PAs and MDs may do similar things. They are looking to fill their MD class with people that a) have a very high chance of surviving the training and will likely be a good physician and b) have the potential to be a great physician and/or exemplify the best of what being an MD has to offer.

I have said this on SDN multiple times, I know many people from my medical school class that should have gone to PA school instead. It would have made them happier and would have been a far better avenue for them fit wise. It is a very fair question and one designed to check how much you really know about what you are getting into.

I hate the "Describe yourself" or "Tell me about yourself" question just because it is so open ended and I don't even know where to begin.

I have a lot of interesting stuff I can tell them about but not exactly sure what interviewers are looking for when asking this question

Interviewers are not looking for something specific. As with many questions, the content is not as important as the delivery. This is as much about being able to entertain someone as it is about actually having something interesting. You know that this is going to be a part of most interview cycles and it is easy to prepare for. Start with mundane and slowly ramp up. Most applicants start with, "Well, I was born in XYZ, but I was mainly raised in ABC. We moved around a lot because of my parent's jobs, but it afforded me the opportunity to see many different parts of the country (or experience different cultures). Growing up I became interested in *** and when I went to college I continued to pursue ***. I think that *** has had a big impact on my life and has helped me..."

Eventually most people talk about a hobby or what they spend most of their time doing when they aren't studying. The people that struggle with this question are the ones who lack anything really substantive to talk about. The ones who can't think of anything that they do besides "hang out with friends", "watch TV", "play video games" don't want to talk about those things (for good reason). There is nothing wrong with those things, but if that is the 'description' of yourself it is hardly what you would expect an admissions committee to want in their class when there are other options available.

 

[MerYangBey]

I had an interview a couple days ago- the first question I was asked was "describe yourself"--- my major hobbies are Netflix and food so it's fair to say I didn't answer it well. I personally don't think that one mediocre answer ruins the entire interview.... I guess I'll find out in 8-10 weeks

 

[Cotterpin]

I had an interviewer who talked about my hobbies and activities almost like it was a bad thing that I have well-rounded interests. He was sort of like "maybe you can still pursue these somehow, but you need to think seriously about how much of your life will be devoted to medicine, especially as a woman with domestic duties," and stuff like that. (I don't actually have "domestic" responsibilities like kids or a husband or anything. I guess he was just assuming I would have those things eventually?)

 

[thatwouldbeanarchy]

especially as a woman with domestic duties

 

[MerYangBey]

This was one of the questions I feared most in undergrad during "ice-breaker activities". At the time my hobbies included drinking, Netflix marathons and spending time with friends, none of which I felt would come off as very flattering or interesting.

For this, if you're embarrassed about how you spend your free time then maybe you should be spending it in a different way? Or add some additional qualifiers to justify your interests in movies and food.

For example, my undergraduate interest in cheap beer evolved into homebrewing my own beer and trying new craft breweries. Both are essentially the same activity when it comes down to the chemical components (EtOH) but one is much more socially and publicly acceptable than the other.

Or maybe you just need some new hobbies? This question became exceedingly more easy for me as I grew and became more well-rounded in my hobbies and interests. You don't need to be a professional to talk about hobbies either, it can be purely amateur and recreational. Perhaps try yoga, snowboarding, sky diving, rock climbing, hiking, etc. Get out there and try some new things, if only to have something to talk about during interviews!

Thanks for the advice! First off yoga is the worst. However, I will try to become a slightly more interesting person.
Imagine the most remote isolated cold rural location possible...that is where I live. Maybe I can start knitting?

 

[Cotterpin]

Would they have preferred you to say "I have no hobbies, I only study" ?

I guess he was worried that maybe I don't really want to be a doctor if I also like doing all kinds of other artsy things. But these things aren't mutually exclusive and I'm pretty sure my application and personal statement make it clear how passionate I am about medicine, so . . .

 

[catie_jane]

I guess he was worried that maybe I don't really want to be a doctor if I also like doing all kinds of other artsy things. But these things aren't mutually exclusive and I'm pretty sure my application and personal statement make it clear how passionate I am about medicine, so . . .

Was this you EVMS interview? I'm sure you rocked it even if he thinks us women have "domestic" duties we need to focus on hahah

 

[Cotterpin]

Was this you EVMS interview? I'm sure you rocked it even if he thinks us women have "domestic" duties we need to focus on hahah

Uh . . . it may have been that interview. Other than that one line of questioning, everything else about the school was very warm and pleasant. I really liked my interviewers and it was actually a pretty fun conversation. There was just that one thing. Maybe he was just trying to shake me up to see how I'd respond.

 

[mimelim]

I had an interviewer who talked about my hobbies and activities almost like it was a bad thing that I have well-rounded interests. He was sort of like "maybe you can still pursue these somehow, but you need to think seriously about how much of your life will be devoted to medicine, especially as a woman with domestic duties," and stuff like that. (I don't actually have "domestic" responsibilities like kids or a husband or anything. I guess he was just assuming I would have those things eventually?)

I have no idea who this interviewer is and what their purpose of the question was and from the other things you say he sounds a little like a jackass... But, regarding 'well-roundedness'. Schools are NOT looking for well-rounded applicants. They are looking for a well-rounded class. We want a class of exceptional people that are exceptional in different ways. We don't need our entire class to be ridiculously good at one thing. There are legitimate concerns when someone has 15 activities and everything appears very superficial. We all know colleagues that are easily distracted, don't finish projects, and are involved in EVERYTHING, but produce very little in each thing.

Would they have preferred you to say "I have no hobbies, I only study" ?

It is hard to imagine a school accepting someone who said that outright. #1 Because it is an obvious trap and you have to wonder about someone walking right into it. #2 They sound boring.

 

[Goro]

This is one of those few times I will disagree with my learned colleague, for the reasons in bold. I have admit that I ask this question at times, but that's because there's nothing that stands out in a candidates' app and there are even times where I'll interview five very similar people.

So if you think about it, it is, as pointed out, a "what's cool about you"? question.

This is a relatively unfair question for medical school and a very fair question for residency. ie. Someone asking this during a medical school interview is either playing the meta game or is a poor interviewer. You are not directly competing with specific people for medical school spots. Schools are trying to fill out a class of students, not grab the 'best' 150 students. The reality is that they are never choosing you (or anyone) over all the other candidates and to imply otherwise is a little silly. That having been said, it is a, "brag about yourself" question. You want to pick something that you excel in or have been honored for and relate it to why it will make you a good fit for that school a good future physician. You want to generally stay away from academics, and focus on the less tangible things. Common topics are communication, organization, or demonstrated high levels of altruism.

 

[Cotterpin]

I have no idea who this interviewer is and what their purpose of the question was and from the other things you say he sounds a little like a jackass... But, regarding 'well-roundedness'. Schools are NOT looking for well-rounded applicants. They are looking for a well-rounded class. We want a class of exceptional people that are exceptional in different ways. We don't need our entire class to be ridiculously good at one thing. There are legitimate concerns when someone has 15 activities and everything appears very superficial. We all know colleagues that are easily distracted, don't finish projects, and are involved in EVERYTHING, but produce very little in each thing.

Well, luckily I am not a person with 15 superficial activities. I'm a nontrad who has had many years of investment in several artistic endeavors.

 

[piii]

I hate the "Describe yourself" or "Tell me about yourself" question just because it is so open ended and I don't even know where to begin.

I have a lot of interesting stuff I can tell them about but not exactly sure what interviewers are looking for when asking this question

I actually think this question, which is usually asked first, is a great way to leave a first impression and set the stage for what you want to talk about. It takes some practice but a solid short and sweet answer can go a long way, and stumbling right off the bat can be bad.

Think of it as providing a few appetizers at a restaurant that showcase parts of the menu and leave more to be explored/desired.

The way I approached it, which went really well in an interview, is by answering the following questions:

Age and where I'm from/or have been living.
What I've been up to the past few years and how it has it has provided valuable insight into a career in medicine.
What I'm doing now academically or occupationally.
A few things I'm really passionate about outside of medicine.

Here's an example, sort of what I said but details changed for anonymity:

"Tell me about yourself, piii"

"Well, I'm 27, and I just moved to Miami from LA with my best friend - we made an awesome road trip out of it! Before moving I worked in a neuro lab and and attended grad school - both have been very valuable for me to learn about research and clinical medicine. In Miami I'm a coordinator in a volunteer clinic and I'm working on my thesis, but in my spare time I like to play soccer, piano, and hike!"

Pretty simple but it goes in depth and you can really show your personality too

 

[catie_jane]

I actually think this question, which is usually asked first, is a great way to leave a first impression and set the stage for what you want to talk about. It takes some practice but a solid short and sweet answer can go a long way, and stumbling right off the bat can be bad.

Think of it as providing a few appetizers at a restaurant that showcase parts of the menu and leave more to be explored/desired.

The way I approached it, which went really well in an interview, is by answering the following questions:

Age and where I'm from/or have been living.
What I've been up to the past few years and how it has it has provided valuable insight into a career in medicine.
What I'm doing now academically or occupationally.
A few things I'm really passionate about outside of medicine.

Here's an example, sort of what I said but details changed for anonymity:

"Tell me about yourself, piii"

"Well, I'm 27, and I just moved to Miami from LA with my best friend - we made an awesome road trip out of it! Before moving I worked in a neuro lab and and attended grad school - both have been very valuable for me to learn about research and clinical medicine. In Miami I'm a coordinator in a volunteer clinic and I'm working on my thesis, but in my spare time I like to play soccer, piano, and hike!"

Pretty simple but it goes in depth and you can really show your personality too

Yeah, that is a good way of going about it!

I have a lot I want to tell them but I will work on showcasing just a few points that I want them to know

 

[WhiteHatMD]

Thanks for doing this! One question I really loathed getting asked is something along the lines of:

Why should we choose you over all of the other candidates?

The implication here is that I have to "beat out" other applicants, and it seems like they're asking me to put them down or say how I'm the best of the best. Is that really the type of answer they're looking for?

I also have another question that's unrelated to interviewing, but for getting into a specific residency program. I'm taking a gap year and going to medical school out of state but want to come back to my hometown to do my residency in a competitive specialty. How beneficial would it be to get involved and do research (voluntarily if needed) in the field at the specific hospital/program, versus simply getting involved with research once I start medical school at my institution (and hopefully score well on my Step 1, get good grades, and have strong LORs)? I feel that knowing people in the program, working with them, and keeping in touch through my four years away could give me a leg up, but I wanted to get some other opinions on this matter. The other option for my gap year is working as a scribe, which would give me a lot of practical experience and exposure to healthcare.

Slave to the Game! Awesome SN btw.

I hope you don't mind my responding to your second question on here, possibly for other people's benefits. I'll point out a few things without delving into too much detail for brevity's sake. I'll be sure to write a Medium post on this one day, because it's an important topic.

The answer to your second question is YES a research year is very beneficial for a med stud to stand out for two main reasons: Networking/LOR and Publishing Opportunities.

Since you're interested in a competitive specialty, thinking about this early on will put you at an advantage. Do clinical research in your field of interest. As for whether you should stay in state or out of state, my answer is to the program where you will be working under a well known and respected attending. The benefit of research is not just to work that you do, but the networking potential. If you're hard working, seem interested, don't complain, and get the work done, you will feel less shy about asking for that LOR that you deserve. I know I would not have received at least over half of my interview invites without one particular letter from my mentor from my research year off, that stood out among other still positive letters.

Unpaid research is better than no research but google search some research grants that are offered to medical students and apply when you qualify. I was a past recipient of the Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, which is no longer being offered for some reason, but there are other programs. I was not particularly competitive, stats-wise, slightly above average, but I kept my eyes on the prize and matched to my #1. You can apply to these programs at any year during med school (I did mine between 3rd and 4th years). In addition, some of these programs offer classes related to clinical research (Epi, Biostats, Pharm Dev, etc) which may help out with your research writing and look great on your application.

There's upsides to doing research in any institution, but go with the research program under an attending who is highly regarded in the specialty. Work your tail off during research (work had/play hard), seek guidance, don't complain, and do everything possible to get published (I can write a whole post on this subject alone - I have it jotted on my notes for a future post now). If your mentor is well-respected in your specialty of interest, his LOR will go above and beyond to help someone with average to semi-average stats to really stand out (I'm certain I would not have gotten half the interview offers without my research year). Of course it doesn't hurt to do research at your #1 institution of interest for similar reasons that I just stated above.

If you're lucky, you will be working under the attending's fellow. In a surgical subspecialty, fellows can be your ticket to getting your name on publications if you can show him that you will work hard to produce data. Without data, there's no publication. I was lucky that I was able to develop friendships with the fellows that I worked with and I still keep in contact with them. They are the ones who will vouch for you to the attending who will later write a glowing letter, so hard work can pay off.

Working as a scribe seems more relevant than a random non-clinical job experience but I have a feeling that it will not go as far as landing a research opportunity!

 

[WhiteHatMD]

Good questions! Keep them coming and keep Liking your most favorites!

 

[TheRealVelociraptor]

"Why do you want to be a doctor?"

Maybe a bad question to have trouble with haha... I just feel like anything I say will be too cliche.

 

[Krupke]

I always found "Why not PA?" specifically challenging. The similarities between MD and PA make it hard to find any distinction other than saying "I wanna be in charge!"

You could phrase wanting to be in charge as "MD offers more leadership opportunities." In one interview I talked about how I advised my sister to do PA instead of MD because she is only interested in the clinical activities of medicine (and doesn't care as much about science literature behind it). I think MD is good for people who want to be leaders, do clinical or basic science research, run a clinic, teach, continue reading medical literature, or contribute to something that progresses medicine. MD is a career while PA is more like a job. PAs can do some of these activites, but they don't have as many opportunities

 

[Lost in Translation]

"Why do you want to be a doctor?"

Maybe a bad question to have trouble with haha... I just feel like anything I say will be too cliche.

Have you looked at the AMCAS personal statement prompt?

 

[WhiteHatMD]

Have you looked at the AMCAS personal statement prompt?

Unfortunately, Lost in Translation, most of your interviewers will not have read your personal statement and it is even worse for residency interviews. However, considering most interviewers are active in clinical practice, teaching, and research, it is no surprise that many are too busy to review every single applicant's files.

However, I found that it didn't matter that they did not bother reading the personal statement since you can quickly rehash your own answers in verbal form. So be prepared to encounter interviewers who may not have read through your file, it's not so bad.

 

[WhiteHatMD]

"Why do you want to be a doctor?"

Maybe a bad question to have trouble with haha... I just feel like anything I say will be too cliche.

Nice, first post for you TheRealVelociraptor.

Your question didn't make it to the top 3 but because I know this question is on many people's minds, I'll answer it really quickly here. For the top 3 questions, here's a link to my Medium Blog with the responses.

Why Medicine? Why do you want to be a doctor? If you dread these types of questions because your only response is "I want to help people," no sweat. Your interviewer already knows you want to help people, but what in your past experiences have solidified your commitment to that life decision? What draws you to patient care?

Even seemingly unrelated experiences can be discussed.

Here's a random example: "I volunteered for the Boy's Club as a mentor and really enjoyed the leadership and teaching role (you will want to elaborate with specific examples from your experience). I also love learning about health (elaborate through research experience, courses, or hobbies, etc). Which is why a career in medicine makes sense to me since I want to be a leader with responsibility for my patients' health for every working day of my life."

Remember, there are many industries and careers that help people. The key then is to back up your willingness to help people with past experiences that you are able to make relevant to your decision to commit to caring for patients for the rest of your life. Do not think too much into this question and don't sweat it just because you never saved somebody from dying or delivered a baby while stuck in an elevator (these are known as "Cinderella Stories" and if true, they actually hold great impact if told in a way that reflects that the applicant matured through such experiences).

 

[WhiteHatMD]

Just in case people miss the responses to the top 3 voted questions, here's a link to my Medium blog post with the responses.

Best wishes to those currently on the interview trail and prepare well so you don’t count on luck!

 

[RaspberrySlushy]

I actually think this question, which is usually asked first, is a great way to leave a first impression and set the stage for what you want to talk about. It takes some practice but a solid short and sweet answer can go a long way, and stumbling right off the bat can be bad.

Think of it as providing a few appetizers at a restaurant that showcase parts of the menu and leave more to be explored/desired.

The way I approached it, which went really well in an interview, is by answering the following questions:

Age and where I'm from/or have been living.
What I've been up to the past few years and how it has it has provided valuable insight into a career in medicine.
What I'm doing now academically or occupationally.
A few things I'm really passionate about outside of medicine.

Here's an example, sort of what I said but details changed for anonymity:

"Tell me about yourself, piii"

"Well, I'm 27, and I just moved to Miami from LA with my best friend - we made an awesome road trip out of it! Before moving I worked in a neuro lab and and attended grad school - both have been very valuable for me to learn about research and clinical medicine. In Miami I'm a coordinator in a volunteer clinic and I'm working on my thesis, but in my spare time I like to play soccer, piano, and hike!"

Pretty simple but it goes in depth and you can really show your personality too

Almost sounds like a dating site profile.

 

[Lost in Translation]

Unfortunately, Lost in Translation, most of your interviewers will not have read your personal statement and it is even worse for residency interviews. However, considering most interviewers are active in clinical practice, teaching, and research, it is no surprise that many are too busy to review every single applicant's files.

However, I found that it didn't matter that they did not bother reading the personal statement since you can quickly rehash your own answers in verbal form. So be prepared to encounter interviewers who may not have read through your file, it's not so bad.

My point was all he needs to do is be able to verbalize what he writes down on that prompt in an interview. But if he's asking how to answer such a question, chances are he hasn't looked at the AMCAS prompt for the PS, which literally asks you "Why do you want to be a doctor?", just not in that form.