Good advice from someone whose been there

[jc7721]

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What are programs looking for:
1. Hard worker
2. Same
3. Same
(Get the hint, programs don't care if you can sit and recite Sabiston's front to back, although it's a bonus, but they do care if you will work your butt off 80 hours [wink] a week)-->REMEMBER: hard worker, they will be thinking this
4. Genuine/Honest: come on, it's easy to tell when someone is lying, and trust me, people do it all the time on the interview trail, "I really want to do research." A load of crap for most people. Go ahead, prepare answers, I did it, you need to do it, but at least put the practice into making it sound genuine every time.
5. Smart: Here it is--YES, programs do care about your board scores, some a LOT more than others. Grades too, but let me tell you this: recently at my program (one of the good ones), a 4th year student told me an attending said that everyone who matched here received honors in all 3rd year clerkships. Lie. I didn't get all honors. Don't believe the hype.
6. Communicator: When you have the interview where the interviewer hasn't read your application and instead says, "tell me about yourself." Guess what, they're testing your ability to communicate. This is analagous to the infamous 'do I want this person calling me at 3 in the morning?' If you can't recite your application/life story concisely and coherently, then forget it. YOU WILL GET THIS TYPE OF INTERVIEW--PLAN FOR IT
7. Funny: know a clean and a dirty joke, because you never know. It happened today for a sub-I interviewing here.

One last strategy tip. Approach each interview with two possible scenarios in mind: 1) they've read your application already, 2) they haven't. This is important because in scenario 1, they have developed an impression of you before you walk into the room, maybe even a ranking, and you will either meet/exceed that expectation or be one of those 'better on paper' people. In scenario 2, YOU need to set the expectation, and after the interview, your performance will be compared against your application on paper: same situation, your application either meets/exceeds your performance or doesn't.

 

[Celiac Plexus]

1. You're not really interested in living in Florida are you?

2. You're a pretty average applicant for this program, what can you tell me about yourself that could raise your stature?

3. (Presumably noticing that I was not wearing a wedding ring, and maybe trying to see if I was gay...) So, how does your girlfriend feel about following you here for residency?

4. Who discovered insulin?

5. (While browsing through my transcript...) Hmmmm.... you got a B in anatomy... what happened? lol...

I have to say though that overall my interviews were pretty chill. I believe that most programs already rank you based on grades, step I, and LORs. I think the interview is just to screen out the flaming wackjobs. At Tulane for example, they actually explained the formula that they use for ranking applicants. They assign certain % weight to different aspects of your application. They showed us a powerpoint slide illustrating this system. The interview only counted for a fraction of the rank value.

Good luck all!

 

[ears]

I think the interview is just to screen out the flaming wackjobs.

Wouldn't "The Flaming Wack Jobs" be a great name for a punk band?

 

[Amy]

Thanks for the advice guys, this is great stuff. 👍

Who discovered insulin? I don't know. 🙁 I think it's crappy to pimp someone at an interview, but I know it happens.

 

[U4iA]

Wouldn't "The Flaming Wack Jobs" be a great name for a punk band?

i would buy their albums...

 

[doc05]

Thanks for the advice guys, this is great stuff. 👍

Who discovered insulin? I don't know. 🙁 I think it's crappy to pimp someone at an interview, but I know it happens.

One of the early Nobel prizes...


http://www.discoveryofinsulin.com/Home.htm

 

[jmattwilson]

i would buy their albums...

Me too

 

[pdiddy]

Thanks for the advice guys, this is great stuff. 👍

Who discovered insulin? I don't know. 🙁 I think it's crappy to pimp someone at an interview, but I know it happens.

what is wrong with pimping? i suppose we should instead discuss your volunteer activities during medical school?

btw, it is relevant, banting was a surgeon.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I'd agree - residency interview is not the place for pimping, even for so-called " relevant" information.

The purpose of the interview, and the way I approach it, is to find someone who will fit well into your program. I could not care less whether someone knows who discovered insulin or the content of Lactated Ringers (a question I got asked); I'll let their grades, board scores, and LOR tell me about their fund of knowledge.

I want someone who will work, whine only a little bit when tired and whom I can count on and enjoy being with. IMHO pimping should not be part of a residency interview.

 

[Foxxy Cleopatra]

Our program is surprisingly anti-troll- it doesn't matter if you wrote a chapter in Greenfield, if you're the sort who tries to show other people up, doesn't play well with others, or is a big know-it-all, you get blacklisted immediately. As a resident, I have seen this is happen with students that rotate with us- being a 4.0 superstar is quickly negated by a bad personality.

My list is similiar to the others:

1. Take initiative to get stuff done even when not asked

2. Be a fairly good standardized test taker (though being a troll will squash the importance of this category, we do like people who will do well on the ABSITE.) It's good for bragging rights.

3. Be okay with not being ultra- politically correct. Four letter words and bad jokes are a way of life. If I wasn't a fan of some crude and rude humour, I would have ran away from this place within a week. Luckily, I like it.

4. Be bold enough to know how to get stuff done and how to push your way into the OR is a bonus.

5. Even if the deciding reason for you to enter surgery is the 80-hour workweek, don't let them know that! Most people in surgery now (upper level residents and attendings) have been around long before the "rule" was proposed, and here, they resent it big time. Not prioritizing surgery as #1 in your life is a great way to be tagged as lazy, and honestly, that's worse than being tagged as stupid.

 

[pdiddy]

IMHO...

what does that stand for?

 

[Pir8DeacDoc]

In My Humble Opinion

 

[UI2003]

Our program is surprisingly anti-troll- it doesn't matter if you wrote a chapter in Greenfield, if you're the sort who tries to show other people up, doesn't play well with others, or is a big know-it-all, you get blacklisted immediately. As a resident, I have seen this is happen with students that rotate with us- being a 4.0 superstar is quickly negated by a bad personality.

Foxxy - glad you're still around. 👍 I was worried you'd given up on GS. Here are my two cents:
1. Come to work ready to work - leave your personal problems at home (unless of course it's time to close the wound and someone puts on rap music...then anything goes).

2. Read one non-surgical book a month (at least). GS residency can swallow you whole if you let it.

3. Eat.

4. Sleep.

5. Bathe. Dear God, for the love of your co-workers, BATHE!

6. Learn to roll over and show belly - at least while a junior resident. Even if you *know* you're right, just suck it up and live to fight another day.

7. Carry something edible in your pocket at all times. Your MD Anderson handbook doesn't taste good salted.

8. Embrace *all* manner of procedures. Ya never know when you might be the only person in the room who knows how to do a fem stick....

9. Laugh.

10. Cry - if you hold it in 24/7 you'll need Protonix in short order...

11. Believe - you aren't the first and you're far from the last. Seek out mentors and build your support system. Hell, success as a general surgeon is half what you know and half *who* you know....Good luck!!

- UI

 

[Blade28]

Those are some great advice-filled posts!

 

[lumanyika]

Wouldn't "The Flaming Wack Jobs" be a great name for a punk band?

TFWJ