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What are some good interview questions to ask surgery programs during your interview.....????
Interview Questions to ask
- Thread starter ribspreader
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I've learned something about interviews after a few years of residency, and it seems stupid and obvious, but it is simply that the program is interviewing you just as much as you are interviewing them. I've heard numerous attending and chief residents who comment after interviews that so-and-so wasn't a good fit for our residency.
What does this mean? After you've answered the interviewers questions (perfectly, of course), you need to ask some good questions yourself, and here's why. Asking the right questions can actually work very much in your favor, IF these questions confirm (to the interviewer) that you are a good fit for the program. For example, if you interview at program X which has a really bad or small trauma experience, and you ask a question about how much trauma they get, the interviewer might wonder what you're talking about/bad fit/doesn't know the program. But if you ask about the adequacy of the trauma experience and the balance of the operative experience, it shows you are prepared and KNOW the trauma experience sucks (but probably know it is a balanced program) and you want reassurance.
I hope you can see the difference.
Another example: program Y has a BIG trauma experience, busy trauma center, spend 40% of your time on trauma, etc, etc. Obviously, this program will be looking for applicants that will be able to handle this environment, fit in, etc, etc. You need to exploit this to your advantage: Don't ask what the trauma experience is like, TELL THEM you know that a program like that looks for a particular type of person, and ask them what characteristics they look for. Then tell them, and tell them why, you think you have those qualities. I'm really not kidding.
If you hold US News top 10 hospital programs in some sort of elite, untouchable, and unquestionable (i.e. so good they can't possibly be bad) status, think again, you still need to ask good questions. Don't ask these places if the fellows take cases away, or if they dilute the experience. Of course they do (but fellows = tons of cases in said specialty). Before the interview, you need to figure out what they are looking for. The best and brightest? fine, that's what you need to be on interview day and ask questions appropriately. Smart and able to handle a crazy trauma hospital. Great, be that person on interview day and ask the right questions.
What does this mean? After you've answered the interviewers questions (perfectly, of course), you need to ask some good questions yourself, and here's why. Asking the right questions can actually work very much in your favor, IF these questions confirm (to the interviewer) that you are a good fit for the program. For example, if you interview at program X which has a really bad or small trauma experience, and you ask a question about how much trauma they get, the interviewer might wonder what you're talking about/bad fit/doesn't know the program. But if you ask about the adequacy of the trauma experience and the balance of the operative experience, it shows you are prepared and KNOW the trauma experience sucks (but probably know it is a balanced program) and you want reassurance.
I hope you can see the difference.
Another example: program Y has a BIG trauma experience, busy trauma center, spend 40% of your time on trauma, etc, etc. Obviously, this program will be looking for applicants that will be able to handle this environment, fit in, etc, etc. You need to exploit this to your advantage: Don't ask what the trauma experience is like, TELL THEM you know that a program like that looks for a particular type of person, and ask them what characteristics they look for. Then tell them, and tell them why, you think you have those qualities. I'm really not kidding.
If you hold US News top 10 hospital programs in some sort of elite, untouchable, and unquestionable (i.e. so good they can't possibly be bad) status, think again, you still need to ask good questions. Don't ask these places if the fellows take cases away, or if they dilute the experience. Of course they do (but fellows = tons of cases in said specialty). Before the interview, you need to figure out what they are looking for. The best and brightest? fine, that's what you need to be on interview day and ask questions appropriately. Smart and able to handle a crazy trauma hospital. Great, be that person on interview day and ask the right questions.
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Bumping this (because it came up from boltzmann77's post: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/general-surgery-interview-resources.1165491/)
Some of my favorite questions to ask of the residents (not formal interview time, necessarily, but at the pre-interview dinner and all those times when people are asking "So, any more questions?")
1. What's the best/craziest/most memorable case you've seen?
-Always a good conversation starter. Got to hear some good stories. And part of the reason 'why surgery' is just because it's awesome; it's fun to hear those stories and it helps bring out the resident's personalities. I didn't want to go somewhere where the responses were "Well, I don't think I've seen anything too interesting in my five years of residency..."
2. What's the coolest thing/favorite thing you've gotten to do? What's your favorite surgery?
-Goes along with the above. I wanted to go somewhere where the residents were excited about what they were doing. Plus I got to hear some good stories.
3. How are the services run (attending led/chief or upper level run)? Upper levels, what is your philosophy/approach to leading your midlevel +/- intern? How do you handle conflict/the intern messing everything up?
-Service/panel/rotation structure varies widely among programs. Some programs you're one on one with an attending; some programs the fellow is directing everything and you might be quadruple scrubbing with the fellow, chief, midlevel and intern (if the intern is let off the floor); some programs it's attending directed with senior oversight; and there are other approaches. I wanted to know (in the programs with chief directed services) that the upper-levels were going to communicate openly with me and not wait until I'd messed everything up before giving me a bad eval behind my back at the end of the rotation.
4. Going along with the above, how do you interact with the attendings? I.e., is the chief the only one to contact the attending, particularly out of hours? If you're the intern or midlevel and calling the attending at 3am, how do they react?
-Structure is important. At my med school, only the chief would call the attending out of normal hours and during normal hours the chief would be the one running the plans by the attending most of the time. At my residency, the interns call or text the attendings on patients at any hour as needed - and I haven't been yelled at for a single 3am call. There is no 'right' way, but some ways work better for some people than others.
5. How do rounds work?
-Lots of variation among programs. For example, at my med school there were multiple formal daily rounds: intern pre-rounding, team rounding, chief +attending rounding, pm rounding......At my away it was chief+intern rounding, then chief +attending rounding sometime during the day. At my residency (for non trauma/ICU rotations), each resident rounds alone, discusses patients as needed with the upper level, then discusses patients with the attending, sometimes rounding together sometimes not.
6. What's the ancillary staff like?
-The most frightening aspect of going into surgery for me? The scrub techs. (Fortunately, where I am, they're pretty good. And I think the overt meanness has decreased with the initials M.D. But man, do I have some stories...)
7. Do you have OmniCells everywhere?
-Hate these things with a passion. If I want to change a bandage, I want to change it myself, blast it, and not wait for the nurse to finish her 30 minute report and the bagel and coffee before 'allowing me' to get my supplies.
8. What's the relationship with the ED like? How do admissions work?
-I.e., how much dumping happens? Do you have to have an attending to admit/decline, or is it going to be up to the intern to say, "No, Dr. Attending ER Physician, in my grand 2 months of experience, I am not going to admit that patient."
9. Who runs the traumas? How are ED residents/physicians/nurses part of the trauma process? Are you the admission service for all ortho issues that don't come from clinic? Are you the emergent admission service for all neurosurgery head bleeds?
-Important details.
9. How do the teams work with NPs, PAs? What are the relationships like? Who is rounding with whom?
-Things can be good or really, really bad...
10. What's your clinic experience like?
11. How 'protected' is your protected educational time? What conferences, board studying groups, educational things do you have going on?
12. How often are you left alone in the OR with a patient?
-Day One, Case One: Attending looked at me and said "You got this, right? Close and dictate. Don't forget the orders" and left the room. (Not abdominal fascia, mind you, but still...) A few days later my 4th year took me through creating a colostomy and I watched a 4 leading a 2 through a trauma splenectomy with no attending in the room. (All patients did well and the attendings were immediately available...) There are some places, though, where you will never be operating without an attending scrubbed until out of fellowship.
13. How does your program prepare the chiefs for individual practice/fellowship?
-Some programs have a specific service where chiefs get to be the 'acting attending.' Some don't. It's worthwhile asking about. Some programs have more electives built in at the end, some evenly spaced, or mid-level loaded.
Some of my favorite questions to ask of the residents (not formal interview time, necessarily, but at the pre-interview dinner and all those times when people are asking "So, any more questions?")
1. What's the best/craziest/most memorable case you've seen?
-Always a good conversation starter. Got to hear some good stories. And part of the reason 'why surgery' is just because it's awesome; it's fun to hear those stories and it helps bring out the resident's personalities. I didn't want to go somewhere where the responses were "Well, I don't think I've seen anything too interesting in my five years of residency..."
2. What's the coolest thing/favorite thing you've gotten to do? What's your favorite surgery?
-Goes along with the above. I wanted to go somewhere where the residents were excited about what they were doing. Plus I got to hear some good stories.
3. How are the services run (attending led/chief or upper level run)? Upper levels, what is your philosophy/approach to leading your midlevel +/- intern? How do you handle conflict/the intern messing everything up?
-Service/panel/rotation structure varies widely among programs. Some programs you're one on one with an attending; some programs the fellow is directing everything and you might be quadruple scrubbing with the fellow, chief, midlevel and intern (if the intern is let off the floor); some programs it's attending directed with senior oversight; and there are other approaches. I wanted to know (in the programs with chief directed services) that the upper-levels were going to communicate openly with me and not wait until I'd messed everything up before giving me a bad eval behind my back at the end of the rotation.
4. Going along with the above, how do you interact with the attendings? I.e., is the chief the only one to contact the attending, particularly out of hours? If you're the intern or midlevel and calling the attending at 3am, how do they react?
-Structure is important. At my med school, only the chief would call the attending out of normal hours and during normal hours the chief would be the one running the plans by the attending most of the time. At my residency, the interns call or text the attendings on patients at any hour as needed - and I haven't been yelled at for a single 3am call. There is no 'right' way, but some ways work better for some people than others.
5. How do rounds work?
-Lots of variation among programs. For example, at my med school there were multiple formal daily rounds: intern pre-rounding, team rounding, chief +attending rounding, pm rounding......At my away it was chief+intern rounding, then chief +attending rounding sometime during the day. At my residency (for non trauma/ICU rotations), each resident rounds alone, discusses patients as needed with the upper level, then discusses patients with the attending, sometimes rounding together sometimes not.
6. What's the ancillary staff like?
-The most frightening aspect of going into surgery for me? The scrub techs. (Fortunately, where I am, they're pretty good. And I think the overt meanness has decreased with the initials M.D. But man, do I have some stories...)
7. Do you have OmniCells everywhere?
-Hate these things with a passion. If I want to change a bandage, I want to change it myself, blast it, and not wait for the nurse to finish her 30 minute report and the bagel and coffee before 'allowing me' to get my supplies.
8. What's the relationship with the ED like? How do admissions work?
-I.e., how much dumping happens? Do you have to have an attending to admit/decline, or is it going to be up to the intern to say, "No, Dr. Attending ER Physician, in my grand 2 months of experience, I am not going to admit that patient."
9. Who runs the traumas? How are ED residents/physicians/nurses part of the trauma process? Are you the admission service for all ortho issues that don't come from clinic? Are you the emergent admission service for all neurosurgery head bleeds?
-Important details.
9. How do the teams work with NPs, PAs? What are the relationships like? Who is rounding with whom?
-Things can be good or really, really bad...
10. What's your clinic experience like?
11. How 'protected' is your protected educational time? What conferences, board studying groups, educational things do you have going on?
12. How often are you left alone in the OR with a patient?
-Day One, Case One: Attending looked at me and said "You got this, right? Close and dictate. Don't forget the orders" and left the room. (Not abdominal fascia, mind you, but still...) A few days later my 4th year took me through creating a colostomy and I watched a 4 leading a 2 through a trauma splenectomy with no attending in the room. (All patients did well and the attendings were immediately available...) There are some places, though, where you will never be operating without an attending scrubbed until out of fellowship.
13. How does your program prepare the chiefs for individual practice/fellowship?
-Some programs have a specific service where chiefs get to be the 'acting attending.' Some don't. It's worthwhile asking about. Some programs have more electives built in at the end, some evenly spaced, or mid-level loaded.
