Interview Horror Stories

[Pastamahn]

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Not a med school interview, but a residency interview...

Interview starts with "so you used to be engineer huh? why did you go to med school? You wanted more money -- that was it, wasn't it?" and
"How do I know you aren't just going to quit residency like you quit engineering when something else better comes along?"
Followed by "I'm pretty sure I Know why you chose this field -- you just don't want to work very hard and you think you can get away it here."

So yes, malignant interviews do exist later on down the road too. Although this was ridiculously out of the ordinary and the only time I experienced anything like this.

I feel like medicine wouldn't be the field one would choose to pursue with that perceived laziness haha.

 

[atomi]

I feel like medicine wouldn't be the field one would choose to pursue with that perceived laziness haha.

The interviewer was referring to that specific specialty.

 

[LuluLovesMe]

I had a blind interview at a school. I was the first of the day and when I walked into the room there were 3 interviewers who had just arrived and were still getting set up. I tried to make the best if it and shook their hands and sat patiently for them to get ready.

First question out of the gate by the individual in the right side of the table, "Why medicine?" I answered the question but then a few questions later the lady sitting on the left side of the table looks at me and asks, "Why medicine?" I thought maybe she had missed the question due to her getting set up still when the interview started. I answered her question the same as before and continued with the interview.

I was asked what type of hobbies I enjoyed by the lady in the center of the table. I answered and then about 3 questions later, the lady on the left side asked me again what type of hobbies I enjoyed.

To this day I'm still a bit unsure if she was just being very inattentive during the interview or conducting some type of social experiment on me.

Usually if the same question is asked twice, they didn't like the first answer and are giving you another chance.

 

[bananafish94]

Usually if the same question is asked twice, they didn't like the first answer and are giving you another chance.

"What are your hobbies?
"Well, I love hiking, playing basketball, and painting with watercolors."
"Nah that's wrong. Try again."

 

[Dr Tony T. Chopper]

Christ. What in God's name would possess someone to say something like that?

profound hubris and lack of filter

 

[Dr.NickRiviera]

I had a group interview at a DO school and I was the first one in the group to get the "Why DO?" question. I guess I accidentally destroyed the canned answers of everyone in the room.

I replied "Well, if I was an admissions committee member at a DO school, me and the other interviewer would be running a pool to see how long it takes before someone says the word "holistic", since you hear that every time you ask that question, am I right?" I then went on to give an explanation that was actually genuine instead.

The moment I said "holistic", everyone in the room looked mortified because now they didn't have an answer for the question and the interviewers cracked up. One of them teared up a little laughing.

I'm sure this was a horror story for all the other people in that interview because their answers all sounded fake when the said it, but I had a blast.

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You are a baaaad person. lol!

 

[Ho0v-man]

You are a baaaad person. lol!

I honestly wasn't trying to take down everyone like that. I was just being honest and real.

 

[kitesandstars94]

I wrote in my PS about my father being permanently disabled and unable to work because he suffered a stroke. At the end of my interview, the interviewer brings this up (which is fine) and proceeds to question me how I'm going to pay for medical school. I thought that was pretty rude. I told her that pretty much everyone takes out loans to pay for medical school, so I would do the same, and I didn't have any undergrad debt because I had a full merit scholarship. I ended up getting waitlisted.

 

[futuremdforme]

I wrote in my PS about my father being permanently disabled and unable to work because he suffered a stroke. At the end of my interview, the interviewer brings this up (which is fine) and proceeds to question me how I'm going to pay for medical school. I thought that was pretty rude. I told her that pretty much everyone takes out loans to pay for medical school, so I would do the same, and I didn't have any undergrad debt because I had a full merit scholarship. I ended up getting waitlisted.

That's really unfair to ask that of you. Wow.

@DoctorDad0410 that happened to me too on "why medicine." I didn't want to change it, but it ended up being the only school I interviewed at that I didn't get in at. And everywhere else, I gave the same reason of "why medicine" too!

 

[Fruitsryum]

I had a similar experience as Lannister. I went with Global Medical Brigades to Nicaragua and was telling the interviewer about it. And they interrupted me to say that Nicaragua doesn't have technologies like -the medical center where the school was located in- did, so what I learned and saw was all invalid and not good enough. The interviewer also proceeded to say that the doctors there weren't really doctors like they are in the US. I didn't even tell him if we brought US doctors or if they were doctors from Nicaragua. Anyway, a large amount of the interview went towards this topic.

I talked to my family about it and they told me it was just a stress interview. I'm not sure because I feel bitter about it. :/

 

[El-Rami]

I wrote in my PS about my father being permanently disabled and unable to work because he suffered a stroke. At the end of my interview, the interviewer brings this up (which is fine) and proceeds to question me how I'm going to pay for medical school. I thought that was pretty rude. I told her that pretty much everyone takes out loans to pay for medical school, so I would do the same, and I didn't have any undergrad debt because I had a full merit scholarship. I ended up getting waitlisted.

How is that a rude question? It's pretty standard because the interviewer wants to know if you really thought about how you will finance your education.

 

[kitesandstars94]

How is that a rude question? It's pretty standard because the interviewer wants to know if you really thought about how you will finance your education.

It's rude because someone's financial circumstances shouldn't affect their admission chances. Every U.S. citizen with good credit can finance med school through Stafford and Grad PLUS loans, myself included. If she wanted to discuss finances after admission that's acceptable, but bringing it up during the interview stage allows her to discriminate based off financial capability. For most medical school students, myself included, financial capability is based almost solely on family contribution, which I have no control over. I went on 6 interviews this season, she was literally the only person that asked me how I was going to pay. It's not a "standard" question because it's inappropriate, especially when the reason she was asking was because I mentioned having a disabled parent.

 

[El-Rami]

It's rude because someone's financial circumstances shouldn't affect their admission chances. Every U.S. citizen with good credit can finance med school through Stafford and Grad PLUS loans, myself included. If she wanted to discuss finances after admission that's acceptable, but bringing it up during the interview stage allows her to discriminate based off financial capability. For most medical school students, myself included, financial capability is based almost solely on family contribution, which I have no control over. I went on 6 interviews this season, she was literally the only person that asked me how I was going to pay. It's not a "standard" question because it's inappropriate, especially when the reason she was asking was because I mentioned having a disabled parent.

They're not going to deny you admission based on your answer. They just want to know whether or not you put much thought into it. Believe it or not, but there are applicants out there that literally have no clue. If you can mention things like Stafford and GradPLUS, then obviously you did your homework on the subject.

Who knows? She could have asked you that after you talked about your disabled parent in order to gauge your status as a disadvantaged applicant.

 

[Lannister]

I got asked about how I was going to pay at one of my interviews too, because I brought up that one of the main reasons I chose my undergrad was because I was offered a large scholarship so I could graduate debt free. Apparently that was the wrong thing to say cuz my interviewer then became very concerned that I wouldn't be able to afford that school.

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[Imperius]

Maybe like 10 minutes into my first med school interview, I randomly get asked "why does a tennis ball have fuzz on it?". I said I hadn't really thought about it before, but that it probably had something to do with the aerodynamics of the ball as it bounces off the ground. I thought it was a prettysolid answer, but the interviewer immediately said, with a stone face, "k, next question: what are 5 worldwide current issues, and why are they important to you?". The next question wasn't a hard question, but his impassive response to the first one made me wonder if I had answered really stupidly...

 

[osckey]

Maybe like 10 minutes into my first med school interview, I randomly get asked "why does a tennis ball have fuzz on it?". I said I hadn't really thought about it before, but that it probably had something to do with the aerodynamics of the ball as it bounces off the ground. I thought it was a prettysolid answer, but the interviewer immediately said, with a stone face, "k, next question: what are 5 worldwide current issues, and why are they important to you?". The next question wasn't a hard question, but his impassive response to the first one made me wonder if I had answered really stupidly...

I think it's so that the racket grips the ball better on contact.

I had an interviewer do the same thing who passively ignored one my answers and threw me off. I spent the rest of the interview wondering if I had given the wrong answer, so much so, that I brought up the question again at the end of the interview and stated that I felt I had not adequately answered their question. It happens. It's sometimes difficult to gauge whether the interviewer is unsatisfied by your answer or is simply rushing through the interview because they've got a meeting in 20 minutes.

 

[popopopop]

Maybe like 10 minutes into my first med school interview, I randomly get asked "why does a tennis ball have fuzz on it?". I said I hadn't really thought about it before, but that it probably had something to do with the aerodynamics of the ball as it bounces off the ground. I thought it was a prettysolid answer, but the interviewer immediately said, with a stone face, "k, next question: what are 5 worldwide current issues, and why are they important to you?". The next question wasn't a hard question, but his impassive response to the first one made me wonder if I had answered really stupidly...

Huh, long-time tennis player here. Without resorting to google, you're probably right. A fuzzless ball would travel so fast in the air that no one will be able to react to it. Modern tennis is hitting this problem now as atheletes are stronger and racket/string technology have advanced. Surface texture absolutely has to do with it also. Tennis was originally played on grass, the "fastest" surface there is (well, except some indoor courts I guess), and serve-volley was the main tactic. A fuzzless ball would skid low and so fast, each point would either end after the serve or after the first point. The "bite" of the ball into the ground is needed to slow the ball down and induce a bounce.

 

[Dr. Stalker]

Interviewer: Ok Dr. S, tell me about the future.
Me: Blank stare (thinking, wtf, future...?)
Interviewer: Roughly 20-30 years from now, what's the world like?
Me: Uhm...starts talking about impact of obamacare and overall healthcare in the future.
Interviewer: LIFE IS MORE THAN MEDICINE AND THE HOSPITAL! (He raised his voice).
Me: Talks about global/climate change (I was part of a lot of environmental clubs in college)
Interviewer: OK, do you want to be an environmentalist or a doctor, cause you're not talking about the future of healthcare...
Me: (WTF IS HE THINKING...I talk about medicine he changes it up, so I talk about other stuff, and then he critiques me for not addressing the future of medicine)
*Awkward silence*
Result --> WAITLIST! Could've seen that from a mile away lmao.

 

[Cotterpin]

I'm an older non-trad and I had an interviewer who asked me if I was sure I want to be a doctor because it might be hard for me, perhaps especially because I am a woman and will have certain "domestic duties."

 

[Dr.NickRiviera]

I'm an older non-trad and I had an interviewer who asked me if I was sure I want to be a doctor because it might be hard for me, perhaps especially because I am a woman and will have certain "domestic duties."

I certainly hope he didn't phrase it like that because that really makes me think of sex. 😵

 

[CerebralPeduncles]

At one place, my interviewer was over an hour late, he asked rapid fire questions that I barely got to answer fully, the whole thing lasted less than 10 minutes, and at least half of that time was him asking me where else I had interviewed and been accepted at...

 

[Cotterpin]

I certainly hope he didn't phrase it like that because that really makes me think of sex. 😵

He did phrase it like that and he was definitely talking about things like cooking and cleaning and having babies.

 

[wagonwheel23]

I had an interview at my pre-visit top choice program. My first interview was 1 hour, closed file, with a faculty member. She was late to the interview and immediately told me that she was very busy that day and didn't have much time to talk to me. She then proceeded to rant for 5 minutes about how the medical school admissions process was a disaster. She cut me off constantly, asked me a serious of extremely personal questions about my relationship (she condescendingly laughed at some of my answers), and proceeded to tell me at length that my relationship was doomed and I should just end it now. Finally she gathered all of her belongings, said she had to go, and then asked "Oh, do you have any questions?".

Result? Rejected. Thankfully the program was not my first choice after the interview day, but I was still pretty bummed. I'll never know if that interview is why I got rejected, but I do know it did not go well.

 

[jih]

The interview day consisted of three 30-minute interviews. My first interviewer was 40 minutes late, and he still had several interviews after mine. It was supposed to be open file, but he very obviously picked up a printout of everyone's files just before inviting me to his office...

As a result he had nothing prepared besides the usual why this school and describe yourself. I ended up asking him a lot of personal questions, instead. Coincidentally he actually used to live near my (immigrant) parents in their home country ~30 years beforehand.

The second interviewer was a no show. The third one, with an M2, went completely normal. I was super worried at the time, but strangely enough, this was the only school where I was accepted.

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