Interview Impressions ??

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I am not sure whose bright idea it was to cancel the interviews account and what the rationale was behind it .... but all I can say is that it totally sucks .. I was gonna post a few interview impressions but I am not gonna be doing it cause there is no annonymous way of doing it ... I am not going to be sending a PM to someone cause thats still not anonymous.

All it takes is for people to see the number of reviews that have been posted since the account was cancelled to see the effect it has had. Not a single review has been posted and I am sure we are not gonna be seeing any either !!!

It totally beats the point of having a board like this if we are going to be censored like this.

 

[OBGirlie]

I am not sure whose bright idea it was to cancel the interviews account and what the rationale was behind it .... but all I can say is that it totally sucks .. I was gonna post a few interview impressions but I am not gonna be doing it cause there is no annonymous way of doing it ... I am not going to be sending a PM to someone cause thats still not anonymous.

All it takes is for people to see the number of reviews that have been posted since the account was cancelled to see the effect it has had. Not a single review has been posted and I am sure we are not gonna be seeing any either !!!

It totally beats the point of having a board like this if we are going to be censored like this.

Okay, I think you missed the long discussion under interview impressions as to why the account I started was closed (AND NO I DID NOT CLOSE IT). One of the forum moderators closed it b/c people were being cowards and posting OUTSIDE of the interview impressions thread and basically ABUSING the account. I was a long time member of the rad-onc forum and the reason their account runs smoothly is b/c the individuals there are mature enough to post only where appropriate. I can't tell you how many times I went back and removed stuff on the OB-Forum from folks who all started like this "I know I'm not supposed to post outside the interview thread but I don't want to be linked to this. . . . ." So who knows, the account may be opened back up once our thread gets a new moderator, however, if people want OB thread to contain useful and valuable information to reflect the increasing competitveness of the field, then we MUST be mature enough to post correctly.

However, please save your interview impressions until things get smoothed out. I too have some impressions saved that I would like to post and will get too it once everything settles down.

 

[nykka3]

I thought we are still sending PM's to the interviews acct. as per all4mydaughter. i haven't heard back personally from Lee or all4mydaughter about all of this...only what is posted on the "interview impressions" thread by all4mydaughter. i am not sure if i want to just save all my impressions or send a PM to the interview acct. i would be more inclined doing that if i knew who was in charge of the interview acct. it is sad for those of us currently on the trail who would benefit from an active thread right now!

 

[yaah]

In point of fact, the rad onc account is also closed, and has been for awhile.

I understand the frustration, getting accurate information out there can sometimes be intimidating, and some people aren't comfortable posting impressions under their own account. It is not about censorship, it is about free and open discussion, but there are limits to free and open discussion, particularly when it impinges on others' rights.

It is my understanding that a user has taken "ownership" of the interviews account. But if you like, feel free to PM me with any interview posts you would like to post, and I can post them in the interview impressions thread for you. Your anonymity will be strictly maintained. I am not on the site 24 hrs a day though, so it may take a few hours to get it up there.

 

[nykka3]

under the announcement icon on our obgyn forum is a msg from lee burnett about a new residency interview impressions database! IT IS ANONYMOUS! Thanks Lee!

 

[All4MyDaughter]

I thought we are still sending PM's to the interviews acct. as per all4mydaughter. i haven't heard back personally from Lee or all4mydaughter about all of this...only what is posted on the "interview impressions" thread by all4mydaughter. i am not sure if i want to just save all my impressions or send a PM to the interview acct. i would be more inclined doing that if i knew who was in charge of the interview acct. it is sad for those of us currently on the trail who would benefit from an active thread right now!

Er, sorry. I didn't realize you were waiting on a personal response. I posted in the thread that the account was back in business. I thought that would be enough notice. Sorry about that. You had notified me in the thread that smq123 would be taking care of the account so I figured you knew. smq123 also contacted me by PM so I think everything is all set up.

I just logged into the Interview account myself to check if there were reviews waiting to be published. There aren't any, which is why none have been posted.

 

[OBGirlie]

Er, sorry. I didn't realize you were waiting on a personal response. I posted in the thread that the account was back in business. I thought that would be enough notice. Sorry about that. You had notified me in the thread that smq123 would be taking care of the account so I figured you knew. smq123 also contacted me by PM so I think everything is all set up.

I just logged into the Interview account myself to check if there were reviews waiting to be published. There aren't any, which is why none have been posted.

Question, what do you all think is the most helpful? Should we just post on the student doctor database, or did you like the formatt we had going on here better?

 

[smq123]

I am not sure whose bright idea it was to cancel the interviews account and what the rationale was behind it .... but all I can say is that it totally sucks .. I was gonna post a few interview impressions but I am not gonna be doing it cause there is no annonymous way of doing it ... I am not going to be sending a PM to someone cause thats still not anonymous.

All it takes is for people to see the number of reviews that have been posted since the account was cancelled to see the effect it has had. Not a single review has been posted and I am sure we are not gonna be seeing any either !!!

I thought we are still sending PM's to the interviews acct. as per all4mydaughter. i haven't heard back personally from Lee or all4mydaughter about all of this...only what is posted on the "interview impressions" thread by all4mydaughter. i am not sure if i want to just save all my impressions or send a PM to the interview acct. i would be more inclined doing that if i knew who was in charge of the interview acct. it is sad for those of us currently on the trail who would benefit from an active thread right now!

Hi everyone -
I am indeed "taking ownership" of the Interviews account. I'm an MS3 who is strongly interested in OB/gyn. I don't know you guys personally, and there's nothing that I can do that would hurt or help your application in any way. I'm a pretty frequent poster on SDN (you can check out my previous posts, which will confirm who I am), and I will definitely guard your anonymity.

- smq123 🙂

 

[nykka3]

....or we can just call it "a noble effort while it lasted" and just use lee's new ANONYMOUS dB. thanks smq and obgirlie for your help though.

 

[smq123]

....or we can just call it "a noble effort while it lasted" and just use lee's new ANONYMOUS dB. thanks smq and obgirlie for your help though.

Sure thing. But until the new database is up and running, feel free to PM your impressions to either my "real" account (smq123) or the interviews account. When the database starts working (and I have some vacation time...), I'll will try to transfer all the impressions over into the database. Some people have already PMed me some new interview experiences, and I have added them to the sticky.

 

[nykka3]

thanks smq!

 

[smq123]

Some people have already PMed me some new interview experiences, and I have added them to the sticky.

I should also add (for everyone's peace of mind, because I know that some people are, understandably, worried about keeping this info anonymous) - if you PM me your interview experience, once the information is posted, I will delete your PM. That way even I won't remember who sent me what. (My memory isn't THAT great - it's all I can do to remember my patients' info!)

Good luck to everyone on the interview trail!

 

[Carbo/Taxol]

I think this has gotten a little out of hand. The year I interviewed and even last year people posted interview impressions without this "Interview" account and from what I recall there were no allegations of negative consequences for people posting negative comments. For one, if you write a harsh negative comment on a program chances are you dont want to go there anyway. Secondly, it would take an incredible amount of effort for program directors to isolate the actual name of the person making the comment...something that these program directors who are often busy clinicians, teachers, and researchers do not have. Just think, most of these program directors and their staffs usually interact with several hundred applicants and ~50-150 interviewees. My only advice would be that when writing a Negative impression of a program do so in an honest, but mature manner and give facts to support your claim. Most PDs know the "negatives" of there program.

 

[yaah]

To jump back in and support the above comment - I agree with you. I tell people this on the path forum as well. It seems like some have an anecdotal story of a certain person who new a guy who was in med school with someone who got in trouble for posting anonymous info.

If programs are so self conscious that they would actively try to seek out someone who posted what they believe are untruthful and disparaging comments, do you really want to go there? The majority of posts under the "interviews" account are flattering anyway. Posts that criticize certain parts of the program (like the residents looking overworked, an uncoordinated interview day, etc) are important.

When I interviewed (for path) a couple of years ago I posted info about most of my visits and I never got any feedback whatsoever, and my identity was fairly obvious. Of course, it should be noted that news of someone coming on and posting obviously inflammatory and disparaging remarks about a program often does get back to program directors in some fashion, so that can be a different story. But we often have residents or even faculty at programs who will come on and post info to refute certain claims. There are no "witch hunts" for legitimate posts.

As a moderator, I have also never gotten any messages from people who claim to be from programs asking who wrote that info (as if we knew anyway).

 

[smq123]

To jump back in and support the above comment - I agree with you. I tell people this on the path forum as well. It seems like some have an anecdotal story of a certain person who new a guy who was in med school with someone who got in trouble for posting anonymous info.

If programs are so self conscious that they would actively try to seek out someone who posted what they believe are untruthful and disparaging comments, do you really want to go there? The majority of posts under the "interviews" account are flattering anyway. Posts that criticize certain parts of the program (like the residents looking overworked, an uncoordinated interview day, etc) are important.

When I interviewed (for path) a couple of years ago I posted info about most of my visits and I never got any feedback whatsoever, and my identity was fairly obvious. Of course, it should be noted that news of someone coming on and posting obviously inflammatory and disparaging remarks about a program often does get back to program directors in some fashion, so that can be a different story. But we often have residents or even faculty at programs who will come on and post info to refute certain claims. There are no "witch hunts" for legitimate posts.

While there is a lot of truth in what you say, I can sympathize with people who are reluctant to post something without the guarantee of anonymity.

I tried to explain what I could do to guarantee people's anonymity, in the hopes that they'd feel comfortable enough to post their honest experiences. It might seem over the top, but I really wanted to reassure people that they could PM me their experiences and no one would be able to trace it back to them. This is all because I feel that this info is important for people who are thinking about applying to OB/gyn.

Some time ago, someone who frequently posted in the pre-allo and allopathic forums left this site, or changed his username. I think it was because his school administration had read his comments about the school, and he was called to meet with the Dean. I don't know if this is strictly true or not, but it's this kind of thing that prevents people from speaking their minds.

If it takes an over-the-top guarantee of anonymity to get people to post their interview experiences, then that's what I was willing to do.