illegal interview question?

[treonaut]

what are the illegal questions to be asked during the interview?

if a interviewer asks if you are considering other specialties, is that legal?

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[error404]

This is pretty well addressed in the guidelines...

They can ask about other specialties. They can't ask about your ranking order, or whether you're gonna have kids.

 

[Frugal Traveler]

In reality, they can ask you anything they want. In an ideal world, they abide by the rules. It's not an ideal world... you should be prepared with a polite way to stifle their answer or give a vague response to let them that you're not putting up with it... needless to say... you may have some inappropriate questions here or there... but overall, most people play by the rules.

 

[Winged Scapula]

There are no "illegal" questions, as the law (federal or state) does not apply to the NRMP.

In terms of asking you about other specialties: this is common if they suspect you are applying to more than 1 specialty. There is no rule against it.

The most common misconception is that programs can't tell you anything about ranking. From the NRMP: The Match Participation Agreement permits program directors and applicants to express interest in each other but prohibits the solicitation of statements implying a commitment. However, some applicants may misinterpret statements of encouragement to signify a commitment on the part of the program and some programs may make misleading statements.

Statements such as the following have been made by program directors to applicants who later did not match to those programs:

"We plan to rank you very high on our list."
"We hope to have the opportunity to work with you in the coming year."
Such statements are not binding and frequently are misinterpreted, and applicants should not rely on them when creating their rank order lists.

Program directors, institutional officials, and medical school officials should avoid making misleading statements and at all times display a professional code of behavior in their interactions with applicants.

NOTE: The foregoing examples are illustrative only. They are not meant to be an exhaustive list of the types of activities that violate the NRMP's Match Participation Agreement. To review the terms and conditions of the Match Participation Agreement, please go to the NRMP's web site at http://www.nrmp.org/

Standard employment interview question rules apply. No using race, ethnicity, gender, marital status, etc. to determine rankings. Of course, programs and naive interviewers do it all the time, but they aren't supposed to.

 

[lakeplacid]

"We plan to rank you very high on our list."
"We hope to have the opportunity to work with you in the coming year."

I'm always caught off guard by these statements. I want to be polite and express that I like the program, but not come off as obsequious and fake.

Should I say "Thank you. I've very much enjoyed my time here and can definitely see myself thriving at your program."

Or just a simple "Thanks! I enjoyed my visit and would love to come here."

 

[mcl]

I'm always caught off guard by these statements. I want to be polite and express that I like the program, but not come off as obsequious and fake.

Should I say "Thank you. I've very much enjoyed my time here and can definitely see myself thriving at your program."

Or just a simple "Thanks! I enjoyed my visit and would love to come here."

Either one would be fine--positive without crossing the commitment line. Recognize that although you'll probably end up with a favorite (or two), you'll probably like a lot of programs and it's a good idea to express a degree of interest in them.

 

[harmnot]

can they ask how many or where you have other interviews?

 

[gutonc]

can they ask how many or where you have other interviews?

Yes. And somebody will.

 

[mcl]

can they ask how many or where you have other interviews?

It's a very common question and I don't think interviewers mean for it to make applicants uncomfortable--they are just looking for a little context in order to make their best sales pitch. Whether you are looking at programs within a particular region or applying broadly across the country, and whether you plan to visit more academic or community based programs would likely impact how they are going to talk to you about their program.

If they invited you, they are interested in you. They want to give you as many good reasons as possible to rank their program first. If they are familiar with the other programs you're planning to visit, they can point out the similarities and contrasts.

 

[Winged Scapula]

mcl is right.

It is very useful to have some context. If you are in a university program with required research and your interviewee is otherwise interviewing at all small community based programs, you might wonder why they are sitting in front of you. Conversely, programs can be sensitive to being seen as a "back-up" if the rest of the programs you list are highly competitive.

You need some polite stock phrase to give to programs when they say something like, "we can see ourselves working with you next year". Even if you hated the place, its a nice gesture to respond politely with some positive phrase.

 

[Law2Doc]

There are no "illegal" questions, as the law (federal or state) does not apply to the NRMP.
...

Standard employment interview question rules apply. No using race, ethnicity, gender, marital status, etc. to determine rankings. Of course, programs and naive interviewers do it all the time, but they aren't supposed to.

Your post is a bit confusing in terms of the above to quotes. Truth of the matter is that federal employment law probable does cover residency employment ( regardless of whether the residencies themselves try to call it "training" rather than employment, and try to redefine salaries as stipends, etc). So these federally illegal interview questions, relating to race religion, marital status, etc are still illegal here-- the law does apply to the NRMP. Asking about things like specialties or where else you are applying, however is never an illegal question. Asking about ranking isn't illegal, but can run afoul of NRMP match rules, and result in penalties to the program.