after the interview

[Arctic Char]

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can someone give me some insight into what happens after i interview through a department (for residency). i understand that not all the people with whom i interview or have lunch with are on the selection/ranking committee . . . but of those who are, how do they submit their evaluation of the interview? is it a verbal "yeah, he's ok", is it a questionnaire, or other pseudo-quantitative method? how is input from various interviewers gathered and consolidated per interviewee? what is the role of residents? and the residents who have lunch with me (or is that just for me?) . . .

just looking for some insight into how the whole thing goes down. the places i have interviewed at so far are great, i just hope they remember me by the time its time to submit rank lists (of course, i will be writing f/u letters to my top programs).

anyway, thanks for any insight

-AC

 

[LADoc00]

everyone who interviews you usually has to do a write up, if they are just taking you to lunch, they typically dont have any formal input.

the write up is on a standardized form, usually yes this person is cool, explain why vs. no this person sucks, explain why.

very little thought goes into them as the people doing the interviews are typically very busy, which then leaves ranking decisions to the selection faculty nearly entirely.

 

[Arctic Char]

very little thought goes into them as the people doing the interviews are typically very busy, which then leaves ranking decisions to the selection faculty nearly entirely.

i definitely figured this to be the case, to some degree. i feel like i interview well, so i hope that its not lost on the committee in the end . . .

 

[Napoleon1801]

can someone give me some insight into what happens after i interview through a department (for residency). i understand that not all the people with whom i interview or have lunch with are on the selection/ranking committee . . . but of those who are, how do they submit their evaluation of the interview? is it a verbal "yeah, he's ok", is it a questionnaire, or other pseudo-quantitative method? how is input from various interviewers gathered and consolidated per interviewee? what is the role of residents? and the residents who have lunch with me (or is that just for me?) . . .

just looking for some insight into how the whole thing goes down. the places i have interviewed at so far are great, i just hope they remember me by the time its time to submit rank lists (of course, i will be writing f/u letters to my top programs).

anyway, thanks for any insight

-AC

From what I've seen at a couple places... I've noticed there's a departmental form with a score of 1-10 in multiple categories. I peeked at one once and things like appearance, personality, dedication to pathology, ties to area, and quality of app seemed to be on there. I also assume there's a place to make special notes for anything remarkable be it positive or negative. It's been explained to me at one place that a meeting sometimes takes place shortly afterwards to compare notes on whether to rank person or not. When the place is going to rank everyone, I hear that's when they break out all the rank-able interview apps again and decide by those numerical criteria who they're going to rank first, second, etc. And of course any special notes on candidates that they are excited about are taken into consideration and bumps people up or down on the rank list.

This is compiled from many sources, so please take it with a grain of salt. It may not be how it works everywhere, but I think this is the basic model.

 

[yaah]

I think most people complete (or are supposed to complete) their evaluations of you within a day or too. Then they revisit evals when ranking comes around, if someone really liked you (or really disliked you) they may speak up at this point to attempt to move you on the rank list.

But yes, usually interviewees are given numerical scores in one or more categories by interviewers, with some comments also on suitability, etc. I'm sure some people are a lot more thorough than others.

I suspect at most places residents who have lunch with you will have the opportunity to put in a good word for you, but are unlikely to have a huge influence unless there is something really unusual involved.

I'm not sure how the initial rank list gets put out there. No doubt the PD and chairman have key input, probably chief resident also at some places, other members of the committee.

 

[flybutter]

i have just started the interview cycle...but i'm scratching my head because so far in most of the interviews the faculty acted like they were there to answer my questions (so, what do you want to know?), rather than trying to assess me by asking pointed questions. it was an exercise in expressing my interests by way of interviewing them about their interests/research and sneaking in some aspects of my work here and there. out of 12 faculty interviews i think 2 people asked me straight up what my interests/career goals were or anything else about me. i wonder if this is a common experience. also, i wonder how they can rank me 1-10 on anything other than, maybe, appearance and personality and what's on paper (um, she dresses ok, is personable, has a decent cv, and sounds kinda smart?)

 

[cjakrun]

i have just started the interview cycle...but i'm scratching my head because so far in most of the interviews the faculty acted like they were there to answer my questions (so, what do you want to know?), rather than trying to assess me by asking pointed questions. it was an exercise in expressing my interests by way of interviewing them about their interests/research and sneaking in some aspects of my work here and there. out of 12 faculty interviews i think 2 people asked me straight up what my interests/career goals were or anything else about me. i wonder if this is a common experience. also, i wonder how they can rank me 1-10 on anything other than, maybe, appearance and personality and what's on paper (um, she dresses ok, is personable, has a decent cv, and sounds kinda smart?)

I don't understand it either. Usually 1-2 people asked why I am drawn to a particular area in a round about way, tell me about yourself and why pathology. I have left a few wondering what the point of the interview was - discussions on sports, towns other than the town the program is in, weather, etc. Which I guess is welcome towards the end of the interview day when the useful question list is running on empty and I don't want to ask the same questions again.

I saw an evaluation sheet at one program and it had those basic categories - interest level in pathology, reasons for going to this program, appearance.

 

[Napoleon1801]

i have just started the interview cycle...but i'm scratching my head because so far in most of the interviews the faculty acted like they were there to answer my questions (so, what do you want to know?), rather than trying to assess me by asking pointed questions. it was an exercise in expressing my interests by way of interviewing them about their interests/research and sneaking in some aspects of my work here and there. out of 12 faculty interviews i think 2 people asked me straight up what my interests/career goals were or anything else about me. i wonder if this is a common experience. also, i wonder how they can rank me 1-10 on anything other than, maybe, appearance and personality and what's on paper (um, she dresses ok, is personable, has a decent cv, and sounds kinda smart?)

Yeah, I've had that same experience too, you're not alone. I've been to a couple interviews where there has only been a couple questions for me and the rest of the time was me asking questions of the interviewer. Not quite what I expected to say the least.

 

[Pingu]

Yeah, I've had that same experience too, you're not alone. I've been to a couple interviews where there has only been a couple questions for me and the rest of the time was me asking questions of the interviewer. Not quite what I expected to say the least.

The truth of the matter is that the majority of residency candidates are people that any program would be happy to get. The interview process is a lot more to show the applicants what the program is about so that they can make an informed decision about the direction of their training.

For the most part, the assessment of a residency candidate falls into a few simple categories: 1. Can they handle the workload of this residency program?
2. Can their personality fit in with the residents and staff?
3. Are they insane? (most important)

For the majority of y'all (I'm talking 99%), the answers are YES, YES, NO. And even if you are a NO,NO,YES for one program....there's still probably a residency program out there for you. Many of us on this board have been there, wearing black suits and stressing way too much about what we ordered for lunch. But when match day rolls around, you'll open that envelope and find that a program really, really liked you. So relax a little, but not too much, because the looks of sheer terror are actually kind of endearing.

 

[kmancrx]

Many of us on this board have been there, wearing black suits and stressing way too much about what we ordered for lunch.

I like to order the steak or lobster.

 

[docbiohazard]

The truth of the matter is that the majority of residency candidates are people that any program would be happy to get. The interview process is a lot more to show the applicants what the program is about so that they can make an informed decision about the direction of their training.

I've found this to be true. If you get the interview, they've probably decided that you're academically acceptable to the program. The interview is mostly to gauge your personality and how you might fit in with the residents. At our program, the residents as a whole get a fair degree of input into the final selection.

So don't be surprised if they mostly tell you about the program or ask you your questions. They've decided you'd do fine, and they want to sell you the program while scanning your personality for any unacceptable quirks.

DBH

 

[insertnamehere]

At one program I went to the interviewers had a sheet with a numerical ranking system (just 1-4 for poor through outstanding). Then they had a little comment box to expand on what made them evaluate you the way they did.

I am two interviews in, so I have no idea if that is typical or not.

 

[KeratinPearls]

The scoring sheet the chief has to fill out has the following headers:

1. Academic credentials, etc.
2. Personality, affect
3. Communication skills, language
4. Goals
5. Additional comments

Some other stuff as well, but that's all I can remember now.

 

[green mantis]

This is what happened at my residency program. When I was chief, I usually took the applicants out to lunch. This was considered an informal interview because I got to fill out the same evaluation as the attendings that formally interviewed the candidate. We used a 5-point scale for some of the characteristics previously mentioned.

For those who are interviewing, I think it's advisable for you to still be on your best behavior when you're w/ residents or fellows. Keep in mind that these are people that you're going to be working w/ if you match w/ their program.


----- Antony

 

[listeriaismfb]

This is what happened at my residency program. When I was chief, I usually took the applicants out to lunch. This was considered an informal interview because I got to fill out the same evaluation as the attendings that formally interviewed the candidate. We used a 5-point scale for some of the characteristics previously mentioned.

For those who are interviewing, I think it's advisable for you to still be on your best behavior when you're w/ residents or fellows. Keep in mind that these are people that you're going to be working w/ if you match w/ their program.


----- Antony

I agree to a point. I know of a case where multiple residents called a candidate a complete head case, only to find said head case matched at the program. Guess what kids, everyone's gonna need ECT now! Naturally, in time this resident's particular insanity made itself manifest and the residents in unison chimed "We told you so". A shining moment...

Some places value resident input more than others. While it's in the candiate's best interest to be on good behavior at lunch it may not matter that much to the people who really make the decisions.

 

[Autopsy Sweet]

I can't imagine that any program would be able to keep track of how they liked/disliked their interviewees without a formal written questionnaire....anything is possible, though. At the end of the interview season, we pull out our evaluations and assign each person a number based on the evals. It is then used (along with Step scores, experience, grades, etc) to help determine rank. There is so much variability in the ranking process, but at our program, the opinions of the residents are very highly regarded.

At our program, every person that interviews or has lunch with the applicant will fill out an evaluation. In addition, anyone who has contact with the applicant (during the interview day or during a rotation) can fill one out as well. Our questionnaire is very similar to what has been described above so I won't belabor that point.

While I would recommend being on your best behavior the entire interview day (since all interactions are fair game in the evaluation of the applicant), you should also be yourself. It is important to every program to get qualified candidates, but you wouldn't be offered an interview if you didn't already meet their acceptance criteria. IMHO, the interview day is more for finding out if the applicant will fit in well with the rest of the residents (since we already know you're qualified). So, don't be surprised if you are asked questions that are more about your interpersonal skills rather than discussing what can already be found on your application.

~AS