interview feedback

[sunny9505]

Are there any websites/ forums for feedback on residency interviews - what you thought of the place, how the peole were, what to expect... I have seen it for med school, but not for residency interviews.

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[ckent]

You should try http://www.scutwork.com . A lot of the reviews are written by people who interviewed at programs (as opposed to those that were written by members of particular programs). I wouldn't bother reading an interview website about residency interviews for most specialties as most of them are described as laid back, informal, and just presented as an opportunity for the program to sell itself to you while answering your questions and getting a rough feel for your personality. The only exceptions would be interviews for those really competetive specialties, I've heard horror stories such as applicants being asked to balance paper clips on their finger tips throughout the entire interview for ophtho and being pimped (medically) for other competetive specialties. For a specialty like internal medicine, for the most part, I've heard that it's you showing up and your interviewer asking you if you have any questions about the program right away. That's really annoying, since I usually don't have any real questions that I would ask my interviewer (eg I wouldn't ask what time I get to go home post-call, or how many patients we are expected to hold at one time to my interviewer), but I guess that I will have to make up some generic questions for them anyways.

 

[NYhills]

Another difficult question is ' what do you like about this hospital as opposed to many others in the same city '

I don't want to say ' well, residents here start here at 7- 7.30 am instead of 6.30 am and sign out around 4.30 pm ' so I am struggling to find some favourable comments that they like to hear.

 

[Darth Vader]

Originally posted by NYhills
Another difficult question is ' what do you like about this hospital as opposed to many others in the same city '

I don't want to say ' well, residents here start here at 7- 7.30 am instead of 6.30 am and sign out around 4.30 pm ' so I am struggling to find some favourable comments that they like to hear.

That question is easy. You can say the same thing to every hospital, "I've heard that the training here is stronger and that this program is more resident friendly/responsive. I've heard that attendings here are more into teaching residents and interns. I also like how the physicians at this hospital have a stronger rep in the local community then the other hospitals". Be sure to wipe the brown off your nose afterwards though.

 

[tussy]

Originally posted by ckent
For a specialty like internal medicine, for the most part, I've heard that it's you showing up and your interviewer asking you if you have any questions about the program right away. That's really annoying, since I usually don't have any real questions that I would ask my interviewer (eg I wouldn't ask what time I get to go home post-call, or how many patients we are expected to hold at one time to my interviewer), but I guess that I will have to make up some generic questions for them anyways.

Some good questions to ask to the interviewer:

Flexibility in the rotation schedule
Ability to do electives (away or in the same city)
Where do the graduates of the program go (fellowship, work etc.)
Pass rate on exams
Any major changes scheduled for the program in the near future
Any residents drop out of the program and why
Research opportunitites