Asking questions during presentation /walk-around phase

[bronzigu]

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My understanding is that the typical residency interview starts by hospital doing a power-point presentation, then having a chief resident walk the candidates around, then lunch and then interviews, which lasts 6-8h in total.

Some questions:

- Is this the common structure?
- Are you allowed / expected to ask questions during the presentation / walk-around phases?

If yes to 2nd question, I'm mostly interested in group-setting questions:

- Are you asking them directly to the resident or more shouting to the group?
- Can it look like you are trying to gain an advantage over others by asking questions in front of the group?
- Do these questions go more along the lines of being small talk to the chief ("where are you from" / "what school did you attend") or serious questions ("how are the attendings" / "do you see as learning a lot here")?

 

[californiaappli1]

IMO this is a little over the top. I don't think the chief will be keeping tabs on which applicants are asking questions or not...
I could be wrong though.

 

[organdonor]

Generally I would save your questions for the inevitable "do you have any questions?" It will come up ad nauseum during the day in groups and in private. You don't want to exhaust all your questions and then look like a doofus when your interviewer halfway through their time with you is out of material and asks if you have any!

 

[mvenus929]

So, take this with a grain of salt, as we are not a typical program.

As residents, we give general feedback about the group and can point out to the administration which candidates stood out, for good or worse. We do this based on dinner conversations the night before, our individual tours, just sitting down with the candidates between interviews, and during lunch. Our program coordinators also give feedback based on how the candidates acts toward them, so when they are bringing candidates to their interviews, they expect some amount of small talk. Not necessarily questions about the program, but treating them with respect and carrying on a normal conversation.

It's perfectly acceptable to ask questions while you are on the tour, but don't be that person trying to stand out of the crowd by asking a bazillion questions.

 

[californiaappli1]

I guess I was wrong then . Good to know !

 

[Doctor Bagel]

So, take this with a grain of salt, as we are not a typical program.

As residents, we give general feedback about the group and can point out to the administration which candidates stood out, for good or worse. We do this based on dinner conversations the night before, our individual tours, just sitting down with the candidates between interviews, and during lunch. Our program coordinators also give feedback based on how the candidates acts toward them, so when they are bringing candidates to their interviews, they expect some amount of small talk. Not necessarily questions about the program, but treating them with respect and carrying on a normal conversation.

It's perfectly acceptable to ask questions while you are on the tour, but don't be that person trying to stand out of the crowd by asking a bazillion questions.

This is how my program worked as well. People involved with the tours and with meals were asked to give feedback, and their feedback was usually based on how they perceived someone during these types of interactions. Being quiet wasn't necessarily a deal breaker, but I'm in a specialty that attracts introverts. However, being polite and thoughtful of others was generally noted positively. Asking questions was totally OK, too, although I'd try to stick with friendly questions rather than pointed questions. Asking about facilities, ancillary resources, patient demographics, etc. are all fine. Asking residents about their lives is also OK -- by this I mean questions like how do you commute, what part of town do residents live in, what is social life like in your program, etc.. Sure, don't dominate the conversation, but it's OK to seem interested and engaged. And by pointed questions, it's probably more about the tone than the actual question, but I have met applicants who made me feel like I was put on the spot, and that doesn't make me feel positively toward them.

 

[typhoonegator]

I've always liked hearing small-talk questions that make it seem like the applicants are processing how their practical day-to-day would be like in the program. It makes it seem more like they really want to come and are working through the logistics. Things like, how do you commute, are there areas of town the residents tend to live, how many of the residents have spouses/kids, etc. Stuff like where you are from and what do you do on weekends is great too, because it shows that the applicant is trying to see if they fit in with the vibe of the group.

Don't be the investigative reporter trying to get news "straight from the source". As DB said, the tone is noticed, and if you're asking the residents questions about whether the PD is a backstabber, or to name three things they hate about the place, or how often they violate work hours, you're going to be looked upon negatively.

 

[Law2Doc]

... Asking about facilities, ancillary resources, patient demographics, etc. are all fine. Asking residents about their lives is also OK -- by this I mean questions like how do you commute, what part of town do residents live in, what is social life like in your program, etc.. ... And by pointed questions, it's probably more about the tone than the actual question, but I have met applicants who made me feel like I was put on the spot, and that doesn't make me feel positively toward them.

I think the "tone" thing can't be underestimated, but would say how you choose to ask your questions is big too. For instance asking about "patient demographics" if not done carefully, can sound like you don't want to deal with poor people, old people, people of different races, etc. Or asking about resident life and hours are fine but you don't want to sound like you don't want to work hard.

 

[gutonc]

I think the "tone" thing can't be underestimated, but would say how you choose to ask your questions is big too. For instance asking about "patient demographics" if not done carefully, can sound like you don't want to deal with poor people, old people, people of different races, etc. Or asking about resident life and hours are fine but you don't want to sound like you don't want to work hard.

There are more ways to do this wrong than there are to do it correctly. Try to come off as an adult who is there to care for, and learn from, the patients you will see.

Asking about patient mix is reasonable because that's vague enough to avoid racial/socioeconomic issues but also important WRT training (if all you have are placement rocks, it doesn't matter if they're purple and 25).

Asking about resident socialization is a good (and relatively safe) proxy for asking about work hours. If nobody ever gets together because even the off service residents are working 80+ hours, that's a red flag. If the residents don't generally hang out because they're all married with kids under 5, that's something entirely different.

But the small talk is where you can win people over. Or completely f*** it up.

Good luck.

 

[typhoonegator]

There are more ways to do this wrong than there are to do it correctly. Try to come off as an adult who is there to care for, and learn from, the patients you will see.

Asking about patient mix is reasonable because that's vague enough to avoid racial/socioeconomic issues but also important WRT training (if all you have are placement rocks, it doesn't matter if they're purple and 25).

Asking about resident socialization is a good (and relatively safe) proxy for asking about work hours. If nobody ever gets together because even the off service residents are working 80+ hours, that's a red flag. If the residents don't generally hang out because they're all married with kids under 5, that's something entirely different.

But the small talk is where you can win people over. Or completely f*** it up.

Good luck.

Totally, case mix is a real concern and measurably impacts your training. But the way you bring that up speaks volumes about you as a person, for better or worse. Because so many tertiary/quaternary medical centers are famous for their referral populations, it is actually an insightful question to try to determine what degree of responsibility the hospital has for caring for the local population as well. But asking about "minority" or "uninsured/underinsured" or "poor" populations is not the best way to go about this. Asking about the catchment of the hospital system, or the percentage of patients who use the hospital as their primary source of medical care is far more useful to you -- all sorts of people live in big city environments and pigeonholing them doesn't look good for you, and actually doesn't capture the totality of what you're trying to ask.

 

[RadOncDoc21]

Would calling patients "train wrecks" be considered too insensitive?

 

[typhoonegator]

Would calling patients "train wrecks" be considered too insensitive?

"train wreck" is still better than "dumpster fire".

 

[chicagochildpsych]

I think the short answer is that if you can't pretend to act like a normal thoughtful human being for 1 day it may effect where you are ranked.

 

[22031 Alum]

Would calling patients "train wrecks" be considered too insensitive?

Once you're actually a resident, no. I was once awakened from a rare call shift nap by a page from my junior reading only "Train wreck room 4."


Re: the thread topic, there always seemed to be one applicant each year who thought it was appropriate to completely monopolize the tour guides' time. I don't mean asking a couple of questions, I mean trying to turn the tour into a one-on-one interaction. It always left a sour taste in everyone's mouth. Don't be that person.

 

[Doctor Bob]

Would calling patients "train wrecks" be considered too insensitive?

We call the group of patients who can't seem to ever get out of the ICU our rock garden.