Good questions to ask on an interview

[CuriousDoc]

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I have my first interview on Monday and I wanted to know what kind of questions I should ask. I'm am applying for an internal medicine residency with hopes of obtaining a cardiology fellowship.

 

[DO for ophtho]

I haven't gotten any feedback on this either..........maybe noone knows, or they don't care to share

 

[Kiki2004]

I bought 'first aid for the match' and it has a good section/chapter on interviews...i.e., questions they will ask you (it categorizes it by specialty) and suggestions for questions you can ask the interviewer (most likely the program chair or director) and ask the housestaff. I think it's really helpful! It will give me some good reading material on the plane when I fly out for my interview on Sunday.

 

[Kiki2004]

Oh yah, I was also told that when you think of questions you should ask the PD or interviewer, make sure they're not questions that you can easily ask any resident (i.e., "do you get meal cards?" "how are the call rooms?"). Instead, you should be prepared to ask about the program itself, for example, in terms of curriculum and where post-grads go (i.e., fellowships, etc), opportunities for elective time, opportunities to go abroad, how well the residents do on boards, to name a few. Another pointer someone gave me was to do your research first. Look at the programs website because you will find the answer to most of your questions. In other words, don't ask the interviewer questions that you could have easily read on their website/brochure. It makes you look bad.

Hope this helps and good luck on interviews!

 

[dwstranger]

I'm currently doing an elective in Family Practice (although I'm applying for Ob-Gyn), and have the opportunity to work with the FP Program Director and other attendings on the residency committee for Bronx-Lebanon. I asked them if I could pick their brains about questions to ask. One of my concerns is exactly what you mentioned -- if I have done my homework, I shouldn't be asking questions about stuff you can find on the website, right? One said you could ask for clarification of things you saw on their website or on FREIDA. The PD said they often ask the applicant things like, "tell me the worst/best thing about yourself." He said you (we) could turn that around and (tactfully) ask them to tell you some things about their program (while not suggesting that there actually are any bad things about their program... 😀).

 

[gypsy]

in terms of questions, the old standbys still apply: any anticipated changes in the program, such as rotations, length of rotations, rotations sites, number of residents, program director, chairperson. if so, how will it affect the program. has their been a turnover in attending staff, either with a large number of attendings leaving or recently being hired? (this could reflect either lots of discontent and politics amongst the attendings, which WILL affect the housestaff, or the latter may show department growth). does the program hire its own graduates, both for fellowship or as attendings. while it shows that residents like a program and practice if they stay on, too much inbreeding may result in a narrow way of doing things. will the schedule being presented at interview season be representative of actual schedule? (when i interviewed, the pgy-1 schedule listed 5-7 months as wards months, with the remaining being ICU, vacations, and easier ambulatory months; when i actually started, everyone had 9+ months of wards, with the easier ambulatory months cut back significantly). Are there specific requirments for progressing from one year to the next (ie, specific percent or percentile required on inservice exams or even departmental exams), and if so, how are poor performers notified and assisted to prevent problems? any changes made in the program in the past 6 - 12 months, and if so, speak with the residents to get feedback about these changes. how are evaluations handled - if an attending turns in a poor evaluation of you, will you be notified? will circumstances be considered (ie, distracted resident given poor evaluation, but is distracted due to personal problems such as family illness) how frequently are evaluations completed, and can they all be viewed by residents? how responsive is the department in regards to complaints by residents? (this can be asked to both residents and program directors, to compare answers; anyone who tells you there are NO complaints is lieing - everyone complains about something (even if its just pay and hours), but are there other complaints in addition. if its a program you didn't rotate in, ask about medical students (how many, how often, who supervises), PA students and PA's.

thats all i can think of now, hope they help