Feedback on Applicant Dinners

[PizzaButt]

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Many residency programs provide a dinner for applicants the night before interviews, during which time they can chat with current residents.

I was wondering what residents thought about these dinners. Were they helpful? A waste of time? For the programs that did not have a dinner, did you rank them lower, or consider them less highly?

Thanks!

 

[BicsRock]

In general they are quite helpful. Aside from getting the true, nitty gritty details about what residency is really like, you simply develop a feel. And this feel will guide you when you submit your rank list. Because I promise you, that despite all of the notes you may take about each residency program you interview at, a large part of how you rank programs will be based on that 'feel' that you get, usually from a dinner.

There were a couple programs I applied to that didn't have dinners, and they happened to be ranked towards the bottom of my list. Mainly this was because I was unable to develop a good sense of the program, because frankly a few hours during the interview day often is not enough.

 

[HollywdAnesth]

You have to understand everybody's motivation for being there. The resident is there to get a free dinner, the resident's spouse is there to get a free dinner and some time with their significant other, you're there to get to know the program.

The resident(s) that take you out to dinner will fill out some sort of an evaluation on you. I don't know if you can secure a spot at a residency dinner, but you can certainly lose one. Definitely loosen up as much as you can, and ask all of the questions you would never ask the program director such as how brutal is call, does the faculty teach, are you taken care of etc. Get a feel for who brought you and go from there.
I went to a few with just guys and we drank alot of beer and swapped stories about strip clubs. I went to a few that were mixed and very stiff. Most of them were very laid back and a nice time. I would highly suggest going, because its a free meal and interviewing sucks.
Its pretty easy to see how much camaraderie there is in the program. I went to dinners at a few large programs and it was clear that the residents had no clue who were interviewees and who were other residents. The program I ended up going to has a family like atmosphere, and it came through on the dinner.

 

[deleted126335]

Getting access and feedback from the residents is important. If that comes on a lunch during the day, or informal feedback in the lounge or dinner doesn't matter. But it does need to happen in order to make an informed decision. 20 yr out attending.

 

[pie944]

In general they are quite helpful. Aside from getting the true, nitty gritty details about what residency is really like, you simply develop a feel. And this feel will guide you when you submit your rank list. Because I promise you, that despite all of the notes you may take about each residency program you interview at, a large part of how you rank programs will be based on that 'feel' that you get, usually from a dinner.

There were a couple programs I applied to that didn't have dinners, and they happened to be ranked towards the bottom of my list. Mainly this was because I was unable to develop a good sense of the program, because frankly a few hours during the interview day often is not enough.

I agree with the idea of developing a feel. I went to a dinner the night before and talking to multiple residents felt something was off, but I dismissed it because it was a feel and I was trying to be logical in the process. The day of the interview I thought all the faculty were great, interviews were relaxing. I actually dismissed the night before as nothing and was really moving the program higher in my mind. Lunch, again, something was still off with the residents I interacted with and the entire atmosphere, the little man on the shoulder(dressed in red or white I'm still not sure) was whispering in my ear, I listened to him. So I think everyone develops a feel, the extent which one listens varies, and I still don't know how much stock an individual should put into that feeling. It's not an easy process. Good luck.

 

[Agast]

The resident(s) that take you out to dinner will fill out some sort of an evaluation on you. I don't know if you can secure a spot at a residency dinner, but you can certainly lose one. Its pretty easy to see how much camaraderie there is in the program. I went to dinners at a few large programs and it was clear that the residents had no clue who were interviewees and who were other residents.

We don't evaluate our interviewees during dinner. In our large program, sometimes we don't know who the interns are because they're spread out in the hospital doing medicine/surgery rotations, but we still invite them to the residency dinners and encourage them to talk about the intern year.

 

[BobBarker]

To me, if a program doesn't have a dinner that implies that they ain't got no money. Which isn't a good thing!

 

[bigdan]

The resident(s) that take you out to dinner will fill out some sort of an evaluation on you. I don't know if you can secure a spot at a residency dinner, but you can certainly lose one.

The red does not happen at our program (UPMC/Univ of Pittsburgh), unless you make a complete ass out of yourself as an applicant. In that case, I agree 100% with the bolded.

 

[gasblaster]

In general they are quite helpful. Aside from getting the true, nitty gritty details about what residency is really like, you simply develop a feel. And this feel will guide you when you submit your rank list. Because I promise you, that despite all of the notes you may take about each residency program you interview at, a large part of how you rank programs will be based on that 'feel' that you get, usually from a dinner.

There were a couple programs I applied to that didn't have dinners, and they happened to be ranked towards the bottom of my list. Mainly this was because I was unable to develop a good sense of the program, because frankly a few hours during the interview day often is not enough.

Completely agree with this. The dinner was one of the most important things I considered when it came time to making my ROL. It gave me the opportunity to assess how I would fit in with the residents (especially the CA1s who would be CA3s when I started) and get that feel for the program. Those without dinners often gave me hesitations about the program unless I was able to figure out these things on the interview day. I felt more comfortable ranking a program that I got to assess and liked over one that I liked but didn't (hard to justify the risk).

 

[WholeLottaGame7]

The red does not happen at our program (UPMC/Univ of Pittsburgh), unless you make a complete ass out of yourself as an applicant. In that case, I agree 100% with the bolded.

Same at my program.

That bolded line is probably the best advice I can give to applicants at dinner.