I wish I knew now what I didn't know then- advice for interviewees

[Foxxy Cleopatra]

As I see the big guys parade the interviewees through our grand rounds every week, I think of what it was like for me last year when I was in their position, uncomfortable amongst the sea of other candidates in the signature black monkey suit, trying to think of a few interesting questions to cook up that would give me more insight of the program.

Unfortunately, programs are ready for the big ones, like, "are the residents happy?/ do people get fellowships they want?/ what are ancillary services like?/ do interns operate?" They are smart enough to squirm out an answer they think we want to hear.

So I am going to throw out a few questions that I wish I would have asked last year:

1. "Describe the upper resident's role in (insert specialty service here.)" This is especially important in things like peds, transplant, plastics in places that are loaded with fellows. Though my own experience at my home school, places I have rotated, and now my residency, the resident's role varies widely, from the upper level resident being second only to the attending during a liver transplant to being the one retracting the liver the whole time during an 8 hour case.

2. "In what area is this program the strongest?" Then, get them to describe what the resident's role will be as they progress. It may be a place very heavy in vascular/trauma/onc, and if that is your interest, great, but you still will want to know the resident's role. You may be spending greater than 12 months of your residency career on one of these services and if there are fellows, it is quite possible that you will not see the OR until your chief year and will be the scut master with a phone in one hand and a pen in the other during your first few years.

3. "How do residents obtain parking/ white coats/ meals/ books? What is the cost of these things?" Granted, this is not one of the most important parts of your residency, but these perks can be nice. Also ask where the parking is; it may be a few blocks away; this is nice to know if you are not wild about a 15 minute walk into the evil empire every day.

Oh yeah, at these pre-interview dinners and luncheons, keep your eye out for how many residents actually show versus how many are in the program. A few really nice and happy people may make an appearance, but if there are a few dozen in the program and you think you met less than 10, wonder *hard* what rock they are hiding the rest of them under and why.

Okay, if I think of more, I'll add 'em on. To the other interns/residents out there, feel free to add on whatever more comes to mind.

Good luck and have fun. Foxxy C. may just come out from hiding to greet some of you this week.

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[nuclearrabbit77]

i thought your post was very helpful,

i was wondering if you had a version of, "If wish I knew now what I didn't know then - advice for med students"

 

[Who'sYourDaddy]

here's a good question that the programs have to answer during their reaccreditation process: how many publications have the residents been an author/coauthor of in the past year? i probably would never ask it at an interview, but that would be a killer question to provide valuable insight on how active their department is. you can't easily find the answer to this question when you look on the list of pubs on the website, however that list can tell you which are the strongest services based on the number of pubs and the year published

 

[njbmd]

Hey Foxxy,

Good stuff there and good idea for a thread. I would add: Find out specifically how the program is handling the 80-hour work week. Are the interns still doing scut with no OR time? Are there mid-level practictioners to do the discharges and scut?

What are the average number of cases that the interns and junior residents get to do? Again, with the 80-hour work week, you are going to have to get some OR time during your intern year in order to have enough cases by the time you finish the program.

Finally, go back another day if you are really interested in a program. Walk around and really get a feel for the place without wearing the black suit. Any good program will accomodate you for a second look.

njbmd

 

[supercut]

I'd add the following:

Ask for the average number of teaching cases done by the chiefs. Realize that it's very different to be doing an operation when someone more experienced than you is helping you vs when you are the most experienced. You really learn to operate when you are taking someone else through the case. In my current program, the teaching case numbers are about 1/8 of the teaching case numbers where I was a student. It shows...the chiefs here aren't as skilled or confident.


And while you're asking about midlevel providers, ask what their role is. You'll want to think long and hard about places where the midlevels have more trust and power than the lower level residents do. If they do too much, it will interfere with your education.