Black women hair and interviews

[peaceloveandmedicine]

Hey y’all (particularly women and femmes)

What are you doing to your hair for interviews? I have big natural 4b hair and I’m not sure what to do. Last year I wore a straight hair wig. This year I was thinking just a slick back bun. Things are still virtual so I feel like that could work. I doubt every school is progressive enough for me to wear my hair down.

Let me know what you guys think!

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[Crayola227]

Hey y’all (particularly women and femmes)

What are you doing to your hair for interviews? I have big natural 4b hair and I’m not sure what to do. Last year I wore a straight hair wig. This year I was thinking just a slick back bun. Things are still virtual so I feel like that could work. I doubt every school is progressive enough for me to wear my hair down.

Let me know what you guys think!

I'm not a person of color, but in general I think it's good that whatever you do one's hair appears to be groomed and put up in a way to keep it from possibly being a distraction (true for all hair!) for conservative interviews. All med school interviews are somewhat conservative in this regard.

 

[2010houston]

Agree anything is fine if not distracting! In general (and especially if you have a lot of hair), tied back / braids / bun are good options. If it’s braided, just down is good too. I would hate for you to feel like you had to wear a wig- that sucks. Be you ❤️Med schools are crazy but not THAT crazy.

 

[AMEHigh]

I’m way past med school or residency interview stage but when I was at that stage I didn’t do anything different to my hair. I wore my afro as usual. I personally have never worn a wig or anything like that so I personally would never wear a wig or make any drastic changes. General rule for interviews is to go in being comfortably yourself. Good luck!

 

[saviordali]

I'm white but I have crazy curly hair and was knocked in practice interviews for leaving it down /: I will also be going with a slicked back bun for my interview(s).

 

[dpmd]

A bun sounds great. I don't think you need to go crazy with trying to get it super slicked back unless you want to. There is still a long way to go with regard to acceptance of natural hair but I like to think we have come to a point where seeing a bit of natural texture shouldn't be a negative.

 

[lessard96]

I think it's becoming normal not to be ashamed of your natural hair, so keep it as is

 

[salud23]

By the end of my first year of med school, I went from braids to dreds. For my residency interviews, my dreds and I showed up neat, well groomed, and totally unhidden. There are people who suggested I consider a wig, as some places are conservative. I disagreed, and felt like programs needed to know who I'd be when I got there, so there was no need for me to hide my long, thick, neat, freshly twisted dreds. Besides, I didn't want to be anywhere for residency that having natural hair was going to be a problem. I've had dreds my entire career (I'm an emergency medicine physician who is dark chocolate in color). Did it sometimes become one more thing stacked against me? Yes, probably so, because my hair texture, complexion, and gender already don't fit somebody else's image of what a doctor should look like. However, I saw it as their problem, not mine.

 

[dpmd]

By the end of my first year of med school, I went from braids to dreds. For my residency interviews, my dreds and I showed up neat, well groomed, and totally unhidden. There are people who suggested I consider a wig, as some places are conservative. I disagreed, and felt like programs needed to know who I'd be when I got there, so there was no need for me to hide my long, thick, neat, freshly twisted dreds. Besides, I didn't want to be anywhere for residency that having natural hair was going to be a problem. I've had dreds my entire career (I'm an emergency medicine physician who is dark chocolate in color). Did it sometimes become one more thing stacked against me? Yes, probably so, because my hair texture, complexion, and gender already don't fit somebody else's image of what a doctor should look like. However, I saw it as their problem, not mine.

Assuming you do a good job, you are likely helping those earlier on in their journey be accepted for who they are so I am glad you had the courage to be your authentic self.

 

[thatgirl143]

I wore a sock bun. It wasn’t completely slicked back but it was virtual so they couldn’t see my frizz lol.