[Interview Prep] Possible Interview Question

Started by hopefulfish
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hopefulfish

hopefulfish

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I came across this scenario question during a mock interview and was wondering what a good response would be or how to approach this: “Let’s say that you’re assisting your mentor during a cardiac surgery. However your mentor accidentally nicked an artery. He told you to go inform that patient’s family that the surgery will take another 30 min and not to tell them anything about the nicked artery. What would you do/what is your best course of action?”
 
hopefulfish said:
I came across this scenario question during a mock interview and was wondering what a good response would be or how to approach this: “Let’s say that you’re assisting your mentor during a cardiac surgery. However your mentor accidentally nicked an artery. He told you to go inform that patient’s family that the surgery will take another 30 min and not to tell them anything about the nicked artery. What would you do/what is your best course of action?”
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I don't know if this is the "correct" answer. But I wouldn't say anything about the nicked artery. I don't think telling them then and there benefits anyone. If anything, it will just make the wait much worse (they'll still have to wait 30 mins, but now all they know is an artery was nicked). You'll likely get bombarded with questions you may not have the knowledge/authority to answer. Kind of a side point (and not totally sure on this), but I would think you'd also increase the likelihood the surgeon gets sued even if the surgery goes well in the end by telling the family about the complication.

The patient presumably signed consent forms which included bleeding as a possible complication. Unless there was some serious and obvious medical negligence or the surgeon clearly did not meet the standard of care (which may admittedly be hard to judge as a med student), I'd just defer to however the surgeon would like to handle it. They obviously have more experience in regards to communication w/ patients during sensitive times.

For what it's worth, a friend told me they received a somewhat similar question (e.g. you noticed the surgeon was messing up during the operation. What would you do?). Though this scenario was presented in more of a medical negligence type of mistake, the "correct" answer was apparently to raise the issue with other surgical staff in the OR inconspicuously and see what they say, rather than confronting the surgeon, family, etc. since you don't have the same knowledge base and authority.

Apart from an ethics point of view, speaking up about a situation like that prematurely could mess with your career if you anger the wrong people.
 
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hopefulfish said:
I came across this scenario question during a mock interview and was wondering what a good response would be or how to approach this: “Let’s say that you’re assisting your mentor during a cardiac surgery. However your mentor accidentally nicked an artery. He told you to go inform that patient’s family that the surgery will take another 30 min and not to tell them anything about the nicked artery. What would you do/what is your best course of action?”
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I ask a similar question.

No, not sharing wither the Q or the A.

That's your job.

There is no right answer, but there can be wrong answers.
 
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As with any interview question, I'd start first by sort of laying out both perspectives (ie being forthcoming with the family vs creating anxiety) and then pick an answer from there based on what aligns most with your own moral worldview. I definitely wouldn't say anything about the potential of "getting sued" part since the most important perspective here is patient care and how you as a med student would operate within this team.
 
To answer this type of question, you want to (i) examine the problem from multiple perspectives (e.g., the doctor, the patient, the hospital, society, etc.); (ii) explore the pros and cons of each potential course of action; (iii) identify any areas where you might need more information; and (iv) let the interviewer know all the information you considered to arrive at your conclusion. Three additional bits of advice: (i) your first priority must always be the welfare of the patient; (ii) ethics matter; and (iii) look for win-win or at least win-minimize the harm to others solutions.
 
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AJS59 said:
As with any interview question, I'd start first by sort of laying out both perspectives (ie being forthcoming with the family vs creating anxiety) and then pick an answer from there based on what aligns most with your own moral worldview. I definitely wouldn't say anything about the potential of "getting sued" part since the most important perspective here is patient care and how you as a med student would operate within this team.
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I agree with presenting both options, since that's the traditional Casper and MMI answer format.

How does protecting the surgeon from unnecessary litigation not count as demonstrating how you would "operate within the team"? It is directly downstream from following the surgeon's instructions and supports my initial answer. The way I worded it originally admittedly sounds self-serving but you can get the same idea across with more careful phrasing.

A lot of the malpractice cases presented in the expert witness newsletter (The Expert Witness Newsletter | Med Mal Reviewer | Substack) are a result of miscommunication of diagnoses and treatment regimens. Some of these also include instances where a family/individual had pretty decent outcomes (and no negligent or substandard care) and would otherwise probably not have pursued litigation until someone mentioned a complication being a possibility/happening (see the tardive dyskinesia case for example).
 
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For residency interviews do we have to answer more of these ethical scenarios/MMI questions or are we done with them if we already got into med school? Def one my least favorite parts of the process lol
 
pablo213 said:
I agree with presenting both options, since that's the traditional Casper and MMI answer format.

How does protecting the surgeon from unnecessary litigation not count as demonstrating how you would "operate within the team"? It is directly downstream from following the surgeon's instructions and supports my initial answer. The way I worded it originally admittedly sounds self-serving but you can get the same idea across with more careful phrasing.

A lot of the malpractice cases presented in the expert witness newsletter (The Expert Witness Newsletter | Med Mal Reviewer | Substack) are a result of miscommunication of diagnoses and treatment regimens. Some of these also include instances where a family/individual had pretty decent outcomes (and no negligent or substandard care) and would otherwise probably not have pursued litigation until someone mentioned a complication being a possibility/happening (see the tardive dyskinesia case for example).
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Yeah now that you present it like that is better..I read into it as self-serving but with these additional nuances (and again, keeping it focused around patient outcomes and not whether or not the surgeon loses money) it works.
 
2023applicantxd said:
For residency interviews do we have to answer more of these ethical scenarios/MMI questions or are we done with them if we already got into med school? Def one my least favorite parts of the process lol
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OSCEs are similar, and I'm sure many have been designed to address ethical situations. While some residency programs have been working with Casper (Canada, it's an apparent requirement), it wouldn't surprise me if you would have to do something prior to interview day.

Residency programs are not filled with enough staff to run an MMI, as far as I am aware. But maybe some programs do.

Multiple Mini Interviews - AIMG

Multiple Mini Interviews, a structured clinical exam, mandatory for all candidates competing for CaRMS R-1 positions for the AIMG Program.
www.aimg.ca www.aimg.ca
 
Thank you all for your suggestions and advice 🙂. This would be my first time tackling med school interview questions and I want to prepare myself for it in the best way possible and to avoid the “wrong” or “don’t” when answering these types if questions.
 
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