Do Residency Directors Google your name?

[mymembernames]

Just wondering...TIA!

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[Doctor Bob]

Some do. Some don't.

 

[mymembernames]

^Thanks. Any guesses or data if more than half or so do or don't?

 

[BurghStudent]

There probably isn't any data. But honestly, in today's age of instant accessibility, wouldn't you do a quick Google search of the person you're going to hire for the next 3-7 years? I would. If you have time to watch cat videos...

 

[moto_za]

I would say a majority don't given the fact that they already have enough to review and also since committees meet as a group to decide / vote on what they have on paper and from the interview.

 

[jaguar33]

Wouldn't you "google" the person you might be working with the next few years?

 

[moto_za]

I read an article on medscape that I'm having trouble finding that did a study and it showed that most didn't

 

[Doctor Bob]

Would a google search on you be problematic?
Isn't that what we're getting at here?

Suppose only 5% of PDs googlesearch their applicants. Does that give you some relief?
What if it's 20%? 50%? 80%?

I guess what I'm getting at is, the amount of them who do shouldn't matter, unless it's absolute. If 0% do, then it doesn't matter what google turns up about you. If 100% do then it's very relevant. But anywhere in between probably should be treated as if 100% do, because you don't know if the PDs your application comes in front of will google you or not, so best to assume that they will. And it doesn't matter what most PDs do... it matters what that specific PD does.

 

[Tenk]

I doubt most would. Their job is stressful enough as is. Residents on the other hand... much more likely.

Consider anything you say or do in front of a resident the same as a program director during interview season. Anyone who says otherwise is either lying or ignorant.

 

[Psai]

Pds have administrative work, clinical work and are looking at a ton of apps. Googling you is not out of the realm of possibility but they have your application right there. They have better things to do

 

[22031 Alum]

Remember, PDs aren't the only faculty members who get names of applicants. Nor are they the only ones who have a say in resident selection. I'd assume someone will Google you.

I'm a rank-and-file faculty member and I have more spare time than the PD of my program. I post here, after all...

 

[notbobtrustme]

i mean, even if you google my name, it comes up with some playboy from the Dominica. Dude nails some pretty sweet ladies.

 

[Dares Dareson]

Everyone googles your name.

 

[Iv3rson]

Sounds like someone needs reputation.com haha

 

[Winged Scapula]

i mean, even if you google my name, it comes up with some playboy from the Dominica. Dude nails some pretty sweet ladies.

You're (somewhat) lucky.

If you look up local civil court actions under my name, you find a ton for someone else who apparently doesn't pay her rent, her bills and gets into frequent alcohol fueled domestic arguments. 😵

 

[Psai]

You're (somewhat) lucky.

If you look up local civil court actions under my name, you find a ton for someone else who apparently doesn't pay her rent, her bills and gets into frequent alcohol fuled domestic arguments. 😵

Ah someone else. I see...

 

[Winged Scapula]

Ah someone else. I see...

Uh yeah...someone else.

There's another one (I think) locally who designed new hospital garments; I've often wondered if its her.

 

[NeedToStudy]

c) More and more people are doing this every year. There have been a number of papers published and talks at med ed meetings about online presence, social media, etc. Every year, more PDs are turning to the inter webs to see what pops up.

Is it possible that not having any social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, etc is a disadvantage?

 

[NontradCA]

You're (somewhat) lucky.

If you look up local civil court actions under my name, you find a ton for someone else who apparently doesn't pay her rent, her bills and gets into frequent alcohol fueled domestic arguments. 😵

No wonder I've had the wrong impression of you. Sorry for all the drunk nudes.

 

[tantacles]

You're (somewhat) lucky.

If you look up local civil court actions under my name, you find a ton for someone else who apparently doesn't pay her rent, her bills and gets into frequent alcohol fueled domestic arguments. 😵

To be honest, this actually sounds a lot like you . . .

😉

 

[WingedOx]

You're (somewhat) lucky.

If you look up local civil court actions under my name, you find a ton for someone else who apparently doesn't pay her rent, her bills and gets into frequent alcohol fueled domestic arguments. 😵

Could be worse. Whoever last held my cell phone number apparently is some guy who has some serious debt problems. Those are fun calls.

 

[Kaustikos]

Could be worse. Whoever last held my cell phone number apparently is some guy who has some serious debt problems. Those are fun calls.

You too???
Man... I hate those calls. Partly because I feel like I did something wrong but also the other person on the line is always like "****..."

That's why I don't answer numbers I don't know. And people are like "why didn't you pick up?"

 

[Kaustikos]

You're (somewhat) lucky.

If you look up local civil court actions under my name, you find a ton for someone else who apparently doesn't pay her rent, her bills and gets into frequent alcohol fueled domestic arguments.😵

A common cause of the dreaded winged scapula

 

[Winged Scapula]

Could be worse. Whoever last held my cell phone number apparently is some guy who has some serious debt problems. Those are fun calls.

When I joined my current practice I think they must have had a family plan on the phones because they gave me their mother's cell phone number. For about the next five years I kept getting calls from India for her.

It helped me learn a few words of Hindi and Tamul though! LOL

 

[genericpremedstudent]

thank god there is an MLB player with my same name. Ungoogleable

 

[n618ft]

I've seen them do it. I run several websites that flood the first page of Google with my name and I track the statistics of who accesses them. The morning of my last interview, there was someone with an iPhone 5 on AT&T in the area that went to my page 🙂 last minute stuff I guess at 5:23am for a 7am interview

 

[TBV]

Wont help them much for me I have one of the top 10 first-last name combos in the world. They can sift through a couple hundred million if they want.

 

[Roxas]

I thought my name was somewhat unique, until a google search showed numerous physicians all over the country with my name, even a few with the same middle initial. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed.

 

[jayceee]

Wont help them much for me I have one of the top 10 first-last name combos in the world. They can sift through a couple hundred million if they want.

It's pretty easy to narrow down a Google search by just adding a few extra identifiers (from your application) in the search field.