Interview Questions to prepare!

[dmurali]

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🙂Hello.. since interviews r coming.. i just wanted to ask what kind of questions should i be preparing for? so wanted to see if any suggestions out there... i would greatly appreciate ur input... thx..

 

[Sean2tall]

Tell me about yourself
Why Path?
Why this program?
What do you want to do with your career (What specialties are you interested in etc.)?
What questions do you have for me? <--- Very common

 

[Napoleon1801]

I got asked about where I want to be in 10 years and if I wanted to do academic or private.

 

[MirkoCrocop]

umm, i went on 15 interviews ranging from small community prgms to good prgms like vandy and UAB. here are the questions i recall encountering fairly frequently, in no particular order (standard questions, really)

"Do you have any questions for me? (a lot of times this will direct the 30 minute convo)
Why pathology?
Tell me about yourself...
What experience have you had in pathology?

I will say that you ought to be confident in yourself. This really carries you through the conversation. I went from, I know, being a pretty bad interviewee to receiving a lot of compliments. Practice really is worth it. I had certain "red flags" (i.e. i had to retake a class) and that was only mentioned on one occasion, in a tactful way (out of 60-70 encounters with faculty). If you got the invitation, they're very interested in you!

Don't skip "night-before" get-togethers, as stupid as they are. I went to one place and didn't go to the thing before and the residents weren't really friendly. It might have been a total coincidence, but who knows? You really are being interviewed ALL THE TIME!

When I was at Vandy I was talking to a faculty member about the nature of interviewing and such and he told me a story about a candidate who had interviewed shortly before I did. He said that this girl was talking to the residents at the lunch portion of the interview and mentioned something about "trying to get out of a call" for an elective she was taking at the time. The residents told the program director this and they all decided that (almost exact words) "they didn't want someone like that in their program." I, of course, nodded in understanding at the time, but what I was really thinking was how ridiculous that was. Everyone tries to get out of call sometimes! Especially for stupid 4th year electives!!! I kinda felt bad for that girl. Moral of the story: be careful what you say, because you're always on the interview!

Interviewing is a real art and it feels like a real game at times... just think of it as a continuation of the BS you've endured for 4+ years. just play the stinkin game. they know its a game, as well, but they want to know how well you can (and will) play it.

my post turned kinda long, hope its helpful!

 

[AnnaLee]

Tell me about yourself
Why Path?
Why this program?
What do you want to do with your career (What specialties are you interested in etc.)?
What questions do you have for me? <--- Very common

I agree totally. Prob 90% of my interviews consisted of exactly these 5 questions.

Make sure you have a good little story for each one, and SEVERAL questions for them (this can be tough by the end of the day!)

While my experience was limited to the West coast, I found all of the interviews very relaxed and informal. Good luck everyone!

 

[jrs1234]

my post turned kinda long, hope its helpful!

That is very helpful any other tips will be appreciated.

 

[versalog]

I asked whether parking or lunch (or both) were free. Most of the time, parking was free. Rarely, lunch was free. On one hand can I count the institutions where both parking and lunch were free.

 

[pathy123]

Hi everyone,
I was wondering if anyone ever had any path-specific questions on their interviews? I thought interviews were usually get-to-know-me kind of questions, but when I went for a mock interview, she said to be prepared to answer pathology questions!😱

A little nervous about being placed on the spot & wondering whether I should be cramming Robbins right now?

 

[2121115]

Don't skip "night-before" get-togethers, as stupid as they are. I went to one place and didn't go to the thing before and the residents weren't really friendly. It might have been a total coincidence, but who knows? You really are being interviewed ALL THE TIME! .....

Moral of the story: be careful what you say, because you're always on the interview!

I would emphasize this. Don't skip the night before dinner with residents (or whatever it may be). Remember, you are *always* being evaluated.

 

[MirkoCrocop]

Hi everyone,
I was wondering if anyone ever had any path-specific questions on their interviews? I thought interviews were usually get-to-know-me kind of questions, but when I went for a mock interview, she said to be prepared to answer pathology questions!😱

A little nervous about being placed on the spot & wondering whether I should be cramming Robbins right now?

out of 15 interviews (60-70 interviewers) i was never really asked anything about pathology beyond "why pathology/experience in pathology" or maybe a specific question about my research. im afraid whoever did your mock interview might be mistaken... who was it?

 

[VickyPath]

I haven't heard of path specific questions, buy I was asked if I remember any good case I might have seen..........of course I went blank and could not even remember if I had ever even seen a polyp 😱..arrghhhhh (of course I remembered all the great cases once the interview was over, oh well...)

 

[srdlm]

Hi everyone,
I was wondering if anyone ever had any path-specific questions on their interviews? I thought interviews were usually get-to-know-me kind of questions, but when I went for a mock interview, she said to be prepared to answer pathology questions!😱

A little nervous about being placed on the spot & wondering whether I should be cramming Robbins right now?

The only place I got asked a path question was the program at my med school hospital where they knew me and knew my abilities -- the attending was signing out kidney biopsies and asked me to identify K-W nodules in a diabetic. I wouldn't waste time cramming Robbins, but I do agree that you might want to think of an interesting case you've seen and be able to describe it.

 

[yaah]

No one is going to quiz you on path. If they do, it's because that particular interviewer likes asking questions that put you on the spot. Questions that you haven't "prepared" an answer for. A lot of interview candidates present themselves like Sarah Palin at the debates - seeming like they memorized a bunch of answers to typical questions. You don't need to know the "right" answer, just how you would go about answering the question. If you don't know it, you don't know it. Part of being a good pathologist is knowing what you don't know and not fudging the answer or worry so much about getting the right answer that you miss important parts of the question.

In my residency interviews, I had two people show me cases, and both were because they had been looking at cases when I showed up that were interesting and they wanted me to see them. Talking about interesting cases I suppose is a good topic, they might be getting at what you like about pathology in a roundabout way. Because if you like pathology and can explain why, you are less likely to bail on the field and the program as soon as you find out what it is pathologists actually do.

Don't cram Robbins, just think about why you are picking the field, read about the program if there is any available information, and relax.

 

[docbiohazard]

I would emphasize this. Don't skip the night before dinner with residents (or whatever it may be). Remember, you are *always* being evaluated.

Do any Path residencies do this? because out of 15 interviews around the country, I never once interviewed someplace that had one. Most programs only interviewed a single candidate or two at a time, so I figured that was why.

DBH

 

[djmd]

The Skilful Pathologist: Pathology Concepts in Histopathology Diagnosis, Interviews & Exams (Paperback)

That has to be advertising spam...

And not very good advertising...

 

[yaah]

I think that might be our first pathology spammer ever. We have had random "buy our shoes" spam posts before and some random pharmaceutical spamming but no specific pathology spam.

 

[Sean2tall]

Do any Path residencies do this? because out of 15 interviews around the country, I never once interviewed someplace that had one. Most programs only interviewed a single candidate or two at a time, so I figured that was why.

DBH

Yes, there are some, although definitely the minority of the places I visited. I believe Northwestern, Ohio State and Loyola had either appetizers or dinners. But usually places that have more than two candidates at a time.

 

[Path_Anon]

Do any Path residencies do this? because out of 15 interviews around the country, I never once interviewed someplace that had one. Most programs only interviewed a single candidate or two at a time, so I figured that was why.

DBH

i recall northwestern, iowa, and mayo having dinners. I would DEFINETLY attend if a place offers you such an event, not only for the free food (NW had a bunch of candidates attend....so me getting hammered really didn't stand out...they take you to a sweet place with great food and ample botles of wine!...would recommend not getting plastered though, and definetly don't stare at fairly attractive attendings like Dr Nayar, as i did) but also to get to know residents/fellows in a social setting, where they are more likely to spill the real beans about their program.

strike that: mayo DID have a dinner, but it was so goddamn cold and windy/snowy that, as usual, my shuttle to rochester from st paul was delayed and it was like 9pm when i got in the hotel - too late for the chief res to take me out. So i walked my ass up in a foot of snow to local places, drives thrus...as usual, all were closed or required a stupid car to actually get food. I ended up just ordering a pizza.

 

[Napoleon1801]

Do any Path residencies do this? because out of 15 interviews around the country, I never once interviewed someplace that had one. Most programs only interviewed a single candidate or two at a time, so I figured that was why.

DBH

Oklahoma now does dinners the night before, so does Utah.

It's kind of sad, a lot of places I ask to see if any of the residents want to go hang out for dinner the night before the interview, but so far no one has been interested/available. Sad, no love I guess... 😕

 

[yaah]

Think of it from the resident's perspective though. Would you really want to be going out on dinners all the time and spending your free time away from family, etc? Bear in mind that there are a lot of residency candidates, it's not like this is a once a month occurrence. Also bear in mind that in any residency program, 50% of the residents will not be involved at all in any recruitment efforts (they ignore requests to have lunch with candidates, or dinner, or anything like that). So then you're down to 50% and most of those will be busy also. It ends up being the same handful of residents every time who agree to do things like this, and frankly it gets tiring to do it all the time!

So I wouldn't call it no love, I'd call it life. I also would not infer from this that the residents do not enjoy being at the program or that they are overworked. I love my program. I am not overworked. But I don't really want to be going to dinners the night before. Lunch is enough.

 

[Napoleon1801]

Think of it from the resident's perspective though. Would you really want to be going out on dinners all the time and spending your free time away from family, etc? Bear in mind that there are a lot of residency candidates, it's not like this is a once a month occurrence. Also bear in mind that in any residency program, 50% of the residents will not be involved at all in any recruitment efforts (they ignore requests to have lunch with candidates, or dinner, or anything like that). So then you're down to 50% and most of those will be busy also. It ends up being the same handful of residents every time who agree to do things like this, and frankly it gets tiring to do it all the time!

So I wouldn't call it no love, I'd call it life. I also would not infer from this that the residents do not enjoy being at the program or that they are overworked. I love my program. I am not overworked. But I don't really want to be going to dinners the night before. Lunch is enough.

The weird thing to me was that I was asking programs that didn't normally do dinner. If it was a program that did dinner all the time, of course I'd understand a low turnout. But you'd think at least one person would be a little interested in potential applicants. It's certainly not the deciding factor, but it does make me wonder a bit. If my program was deciding who I'd be working with for the next 3 years, I'd certainly want quite a bit of input on that decision. Lunch is okay, but seriously, it's really hard to talk to >3 people at a time and get the climate of a place by just that. It's nice to see a few other people besides just the chiefs too.

 

[yaah]

The weird thing to me was that I was asking programs that didn't normally do dinner. If it was a program that did dinner all the time, of course I'd understand a low turnout. But you'd think at least one person would be a little interested in potential applicants. It's certainly not the deciding factor, but it does make me wonder a bit. If my program was deciding who I'd be working with for the next 3 years, I'd certainly want quite a bit of input on that decision. Lunch is okay, but seriously, it's really hard to talk to >3 people at a time and get the climate of a place by just that. It's nice to see a few other people besides just the chiefs too.

I don't know, perhaps they don't want to set a precedent. I don't really see anything here that would concern me about the program though. I'm sure people are somewhat interested in potential applicants - but like I said, they are more interested in their families and their free time. And who is paying for it?

You will probably see things a little different when you get into residency and start seeing dozens of candidates come through, some of which are interested in the program, others of which seem disinterested. Candidates start to run together. To be honest, to the residency candidate the interview day is a huge deal (as it should be) but to the existing residents it's just another day. Obviously we all want the best candidates to come and feel welcome, but our first priorities are to our own training.

 

[pathologygirl]

As an applicant I'm actually relieved when there isn't a dinner the night before. I don't have to fly or drive in at a specific time in order to get there on time, and at least from what I've experienced, the dinner is often similar to lunch the next day(same number of applicants and residents present). After a while you get tired of asking people the same questions over and over....

 

[medgrad22]

has anybody interviewed in nyu for pathology?how is the program like?

 

[docbiohazard]

I don't know, perhaps they don't want to set a precedent. I don't really see anything here that would concern me about the program though. I'm sure people are somewhat interested in potential applicants - but like I said, they are more interested in their families and their free time. And who is paying for it?

What yaah said... in our program, we're given a chance to meet the applicants at the end of their day for coffee, and a couple of us get to take them to lunch... really, I feel like I get a good feeling for the applicant within about 5 minutes of meeting them, sometimes quicker.

DBH