What are interviews like?

[gutsy327]

Are they like residency interviews? How many people do you usually meet with? Are GI interviews more high stress? Do they ask you any medical questions like talk about the pathophys of a disease? I assume they talk about research but how in depth do they go?

Just wondering how much pre-reading I should be doing

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[iheartliver]

Hi,
I'm currently a first year at one of the chicago programs. In general, interviews were really chill. i interviewed at 10 places. no one asked me any medical questions. In general, they want to get to know you to see if a) you are a weirdo b) if it's a good fit. they usually ask about research, if you have any particular interests(liver? bid?), they also try to gauge your interest in the program/location( do you have family in the area, grow up in the area, or if can tell you are totally randomly applying there etc), if they know your letter writers they will talk about that. they do ask you if you have any questions which honestly you usually don't but come up with a few good ones that you can keep and just repeat in case needed.

here's some i used
#research mentorship, particularly in hepatology
#how many fellows secure faculty positions, how difficult was this.
#responsiveness to fellow’s suggestion in regards to changes in the fellowship
#what would you change?
#one particular strength of the program compared to where you did training
#changes you’ve seen since joining the faculty
#recent changes made, how it’s affected fellows
#involvement in resident education. Dynamic between residents/fellows/medical students.

Hope that helps!

 

[nycscope]

There was that 1 program though...you guys will remember what I'm talking about, where you were lead into a dimly lit room and then surrounded by members of the faculty in hooded robes, peppering you with medical questions sung in Gregorian chant? Yes? THAT was a stressful interview.



Basically what iheartliver said. Interviews are relaxed. If you are there it means the program thinks you can handle the workload. Now it's just a matter of whose face they want to see for at least 3 years. Nobody wants to work with a tool of a fellow.

 

[liverbomb]

What are some "left field" questions that you had trouble answering? Also, what are some questions you wished you had asked during the interview process? I feel there are just some things you don't quite know until you're actually a fellow. During the interview day, do most programs explain how many spots are available that year (some vary between year to year), call system, # of elective blocks, vacation coverage, etc. so you don't have to ask these logistical (but important) questions?