interview insights or help?

[heathermed]

hello everyone.

for those that have already been fortunate enough to go on interviews or those that would just like to help with some advice, can someone please give me some insight on what to expect during the interview? what is a general structure? do i need to read up on anesthesia in case i am asked a clinical question?

I am trying to get my head around this whole process and really want to do well on the few interviews I have. I don't want to mess up my opportunities.

any help would be greatly appreciated!
thank you very much for all your help

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[michigangirl]

are you interviewing for anesthesia residency? if so, no program should be asking you clinical questions about anesthesia, so please don't "read up"-- the interview day is usually structured with an interview with the program director +/- an interview with the chairman and then multiple faculty members. Lunch with residents, usually. The only preparation is to read up a little on the program itself and have some thoughtful questions to ask the faculty and residents about the program. if you have a particular research interest, be ready to talk about it, and be ready to answer why you chose anesthesia. That's about it. Wear a suit, be courteous, and be yourself! good luck

 

[pike1]

agree with above, I also found that you should be able to give a good explanation as to why you are specifically interested in a particular program.

 

[Mman]

The majority of interviews I had followed the same general pattern.

1) the pleasant introductions, how do you do, how was your flight...

2) small talk about your medical school and/or location if it is interesting

3) small talk about any interesting hobbies or factoids they picked up from your CV

4) a few questions relating to experiences that generated your letters of rec

5) answering any questions I had about the city/program



Every now and then they'd toss out a clinical or ethical question just to get a feel for your line of thinking. Only time I ever got "pimped" was during a prelim medicine interview at a 2nd/3rd rate program about what I'd do with a patient having chest pain.

Anesthesia interviews were a pleasant experience >90% of the time and I felt that the interviewers mostly wanted to get to know me. At the end of my residency, I was specifically told by multiple faculty that do interviews that they just want to make sure they could work with somebody without going insane.

 

[PulseOx]

It is very rare that you will be asked a clinical question.

Best response to the question "what questions do you have for me"?
-answer- What brought you to this institution?
-completely turns it over to the interviewer so they can talk on and on about themselves and you dont have to do anything. Also interviewers are sick of the same old questions like (what research opportunities do I have) which is very annoying.

 

[cfdavid]

The vast majority of my interviews were pretty laid back. It's kind of like a let's tell you about our program, and maybe we can learn a bit more about you as well. Pretty simple, really.

One piece of advice is that you should really take some time to research the program. Take notes about the program, even if it's just scouting their websites (let's face it, the vast majority of interviews will be 1) places you've not rotated and 2) likely out of state)

SO, know something about them and formulate some questions pertaining to the program. Also, given #1 and 2 above, think about some reasons WHY you'd actually like to be at that program (even if you suspect it'll be a lower ranking program). That way, when you come from Oregon and the dude from UofTennessee Knoxville asks "so, why do you want to be HERE???", you can have a response (after all, isn't it kind of arbitrary in some cases??).

Also, just relax and be yourself. Try to enjoy the exchange. It's a VERY non-malignant process. So, have some fun with it.

cf

 

[cfdavid]

It is very rare that you will be asked a clinical question.

Best response to the question "what questions do you have for me"?
-answer- What brought you to this institution?
-completely turns it over to the interviewer so they can talk on and on about themselves and you dont have to do anything. Also interviewers are sick of the same old questions like (what research opportunities do I have) which is very annoying.

This was my experience as well. In fact, I can't think of being asked ANY clinical/technical questions, though clearly issues of anesthesia come up, but they're not going to be really technical. (They do not expect you to be a pro at this point in time....)

 

[Stuy]

The AAFP has a guide to the interview process in general:

http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/otherpubs/strolling.html