Interview Advice Thread

[neilc]

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as a applicant, i am very interested in hearing from any attendings, residents or other applicants about any tips for the interview. are there any questions that were routinely asked at interviews? any questions you found tricky? anything that a particular program is know for doing/asking at an interview? any questions that we should be sure to ask the programs to consider in our rankings?

thanks for this or any other sort of information that we applicants can use to prep for the upcoming interview season. please don't be shy and post whatever info you may have. we appreciate it very much!

 

[lmh14]

i have no experience myself (yet), but a few things i have heard....

my roommate matched last year and had a few standard questions that she asked every program. when she was done, she wrote down exactly what they said so she could go back to it later. she actually kept a little book where she made notes after each interview.

also, one of my attendings told me that it's a good idea to ask for surgical numbers. numbers of deliveries, c-sections, hysterectomies, etc. and he said to make sure you get the number per resident, not the total. two reasons why.... it's obviously important that we get a good surgical training, and some programs are lacking in that department. also, he said he's always impressed by a candidate when they ask about actual hands-on experience.

that's all i got....hope it helps somebody!

 

[Global Disrobal]

Good questions to ask are numbers, atmosphere, hours, material support (books, etc). Then when ready to wrap up ask the interviewer what they think the weaknessess and strengths of the program are. This will surprisingly get you a lot of honest answers with good insight into the program.

As for you, you'll inevitably get asked about the FMG aspect of your app (why did you go there), this is where you want to be straight, short, and honest. Many will also ask you about your past experience, and the most generic question ever: what are you looking for in a program.

Good luck guys and hope to meet some of you on the invite trail.

 

[neilc]

thanks for the advice, guys!

i have a quick question...i know we are supposed to ask about the numbers, but i don't know what good numbers are! a lot of the info is on APGO, but i would like to get it from the horses mouth at the interview as well. but, what kind of numbers am i looking for??

thanks

 

[goodsamob]

I am a PGY2 and I remember reading an article on ACOG's site that detailed the entire match process (at least from their perspective!) There is a useful section on suggested questions for the interview day. The article is titled "Comprehensive Women's Health Care: A Career in Obstetrics and Gynecology" You can find it on www.acog.org under the CREOG section.

Unlike medical school interviews, residency interviews are fun and truthfully a lot less stressful. If you are a halfway respectable candidate you WILL find a job. Be yourself. You are going to be working very very closely with these people for the next few years. Make sure your personalities mesh. If you let it, the match does work.

I love my job and hope you all do too, one day. 🙂

 

[elvede]

Unlike medical school interviews, residency interviews are fun and truthfully a lot less stressful. If you are a halfway respectable candidate you WILL find a job. Be yourself. You are going to be working very very closely with these people for the next few years. Make sure your personalities mesh. If you let it, the match does work.

I love my job and hope you all do too, one day. 🙂

Sweet! that is the best advice I've heard 😀
Do you mind telling us were you're training? Its great things worked out for you so well.

 

[goodsamob]

Sweet! that is the best advice I've heard 😀
Do you mind telling us were you're training? Its great things worked out for you so well.

I must admit I am a little shy about saying where I am a resident, as I don't want to come across as a paid spokesperson, because everything I say is truthful, and I don't want it to be misconstrued as an advertisement. I will say that I go to a midwest community program that is merging this match cycle with our sister program to become one of the largest programs in the midwest. We are one of only 4 centers in the country with a connection to a fetal surgery program.

I would like to describe my program, however, because I think we are very well taken care of both academically and personally. Look into all the small details when you are interviewing because they make a huge difference. It really doesn't mean squat if a program has some big name author if residents are otherwise poorly taken care of. Community programs are hidden gems... don't write them off. In the match I chose a community program #1 over my #2 top 10 program because I knew it was where I would be happiest. And yes, I will have the opportunity to match into fellowship...

But let's see, let's think of all the little things that make life grand...
Our attendings are extremely approachable, love to teach, and know us very well. They come to our baby showers. They allow us to be primary surgeon on c-sections and major gyn cases even as interns. I was handed the scalpel in a c-section on July 1 my intern year. (That's probably why I am already approaching 300 sections...) I did a boatlaod of abdominal hysts and a handful of vag hysts (yes, primary surgeon, not retracting) as a first year. This to me was very important. Why would you want a program that limits first year exposure? A few places I interviewed didn't really let you do sections until year two. Why squeeze all your surgical skill learning to three years?!!

We have a urogyn fellowship, which adds, not subtracts, from our experience. Actually, it was a urogyn fellow that let me do my first vag hyst, stating "If I can't teach you, I shouldn't be doing it myself". So, in other words, they hand over a ton of stuff. We graduate with the certification to do cystoscopy (not all that common elsewhere)

Our perinatal program is extremely busy, averaging 20 inpatients daily with up to 40 or so in house at one time. We are a regional referral center with a level III NICU (yes! at a community program!) and the aforementioned fetal care center. So yes, we see a lot of zebras (wow! at a community program) We have 7 perinatologists on staff full time and we follow all of their antepartum and intrapartum patients (they let us do all their deliveries, again, probably why I have a boatload of vag/sections)

But enough about academics... Now for the fun stuff...

All our meals are paid for. Breakfast with money on your ID card. Lunch in the doctor's dining room is on our chairman. Almost all attendings buy us dinner while on call, some from very nice local places (ex. PF Changs, Longhorn, etc). Our healthcare is free, yes free, including meds, if done within our hospital system. Have a baby? It's free. By the way, spouses and kids are also included in this nice little bonus. Parking, free. Coats and washing, free. Book allowance, about $900 year 1. Trip to Hawaii for a week as a chief because your Chairman is giving a conference... free. Palms intern year, free. Random books handed out throughout the year, free. Part of this is because they have decided that the money we generate in our clinic is in large part returned to us. And these are just a few things I can think of off the top of my head...

Another thing to ask when they tout their delivery numbers is how many of those cases are clinic cases. Our hospital does over 6000 deliveries a year, over 2000 of which are strictly clinic cases and of the remainded we are involved in all of the c-sections (about 30% c/s rate) Each program will give you a sample of how may procedures previous residents have completed. Keep those and compare.

Well, this is a much too long post and if you read this far I complement you. I simply wanted to give you some food for thought as you compare programs. And mostly, to urge you not to turn down community programs quite so quickly. Unless you have aspirations of one day being a chairman yourself, or perhaps a gyn onc, find the place that will be the best fit for your personal and academic needs, not just the place with the big name. You are giving up four years of your life. You should love what you do and enjoy the people you work with, or it just isn't worth it. You will walk into a place and it will just feel right. Listen to your instincts.

That's all... Goodnight

😀 GoodSamOb