I am SICK of interviews!!!

[ESU_MD]

I am really getting sick and tired of going on interviews!! Its all seeming to run together. every call room, floor and ICU looks the same.. its amazing how there is never "any problems" with faculty or attendings and "all the residents get along great" propaganda!!! Well, at least its almost over and the few interviews I have left I know just what I am looking for now. I already interviewed at the major spots I want to go, now its just the safeties..

Anyone else feel the same way?

And now my most despised question of the season: "So, do you have any questions??????" (BTW: I am at the point where I just say NO!! now instead of inventing stuff to ask!)

good luck all

ESU

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[ApacheIndian]

So am I... literally. I came down with a nasty cold on Tuesday, productively coughed and sneezed my way onto a plane to Newark, interviewed the next day febrile, stumbled onto a plane to Denver, interviewed with malaise and chills on Friday, and just barely made it back to Chicago alive today. I feel better now. Just in time right? Oh the ironies of life...

Don't sweat it... I see a light at the end of the tunnel (and it's not a train)... January's coming to a close, as are interviews for this wretched thing known as the Match.

Good luck to you

 

[surg]

Having recently just interviewed people this last week, I can tell you that you are not the only one sick of interviews. Comments on at least a few of our candidates were along the lines that they seemed burned out on the interview process and lacking the energy seen on our earlier days. We are allowing for that to some extent, but sometimes it is hard to get excited about someone that you can't seem to keep a 30 minute conversation going.

As far as running out of questions, I think it is important to have one question that you can ask anyone if you don't have anything to ask. I certainly understand if I'm your fourth interview of the day how you might not have any questions, but if I was your first interview, I think I might think you weren't interested, (unless you were one of our own medical students and knew everything there was to know about the program already!).

 

[SeeDiph]

No Doubt...

I'm tired too. I canceled the rest of mine.

 

[OldManDave]

I am FINALLY finished with mine!! THANK GOD!!! I wish I had a dollar for everytime I was asked, "So, do you have any more questions?" Honestly, in the proper context, I appreciate the folks who asked this question who were earnestly offering the opportunity. However, the ones who were irritating were the ones who had obviously either run out of their own questions or just did not put much effort into constructing their interview objectives...so, they placed the onus on me -- during my umpteenth interview of the day.

Oh well...I am certain it really was not all that bad. I am still just exhausted from being on the road for the better part of the last 2.5 months.

My patience was wearing thin towards the end. One of my last interviewers asked me if any specific portion of the interview process had been annoying. Before I could catch my tongue, I blurted out that interviewers who asked me, "So, do you have have any more questions?" when they really had only run out of questions or not adequately prepared for the interview.

His next question, after an uncomfortable chuckle ---> "So, do you have any further questions?"

I am certainly glad that that program was not one of my biggies!

 

[Samir Desai]

As tiring as the question "Do you have any questions about the residency program?" can get, it's in your best interest as students to answer "yes" and then proceed with your questions(hopefully, you have prepared a list of questions to ask). For the past year, I have asked many residency program directors and interviewers about the importance of this question so that I can include this information in a book that I am writing called the "The Residency Match: 101 Biggest Mistakes Medical Students Make and How to Avoid Them". Let me share with you what I have found.

As benign as this question seems, if you answer no, it is akin to saying "I have no interest in your program whatsoever". Now, you may be very interested in the program but fatigue or another reason makes you feel inclined to say "No, I don't have any other questions". That type of response will not strengthen your candidacy. One way to impress your interviewer is to ask intelligent questions, questions that you have formulated after your review of the residency program information.

So make it a habit of always asking some questions about the residency program even if it's the last thing you want to do because not asking any questions can hurt your application. Now if you have already decided you don't want to be a resident in that program, well that's a different story ...

Good luck to all of you.

Samir Desai
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine

 

[Celiac Plexus]

I just got off a 3 interview, 4.5 day road trip, and I am BURNED OUT. During the last interview I was just staring at the interviewer's eyes, not listening to a word he said. Occasionally I forced myself to make an interested look, and say "mmmm", or "uh-huh!"... And that end-of-day tour of the hospital? Fuggedaboutit. I have seen enough ICUs, ERs, and call rooms to last me. I don't get tired of checking out hot nurses though.