I got one tough question - I was asked how does my faith impact the way I practice medicine.
Anyone know if the AOA will put us up for free in certain cities? That would be nice.
All of the questions mentioned are illegal,
unless you bring them up rather than the interviewer. Then it gets fuzzy. For example, applicants frequently write about missionary activities or family in their experiences or personal statements. Or they may volunteer something in conversation. In these situations, the interviewer may reasonably assume that youare willing to talk about the forbidden subjects.
I have to say AR that the question you were asked is one I've never heard of before. I think it shows both a profound ignorance of law and is truly offensive in an interview setting, whether the questioner was a "committed christian" or a practicing atheist. I'm unsure if the question is illegal if the sponsoring institution is religious.
Some argue that there is no bad intent here, that the interviewers are just practicing Docs and residents who can't be expected to know the (ridiculous) vagaries of the law concerning discrimination. I doubt that that is true, I suspect that if you pinned the offenders down, it would turn out that:
1. they were perfectly aware that it was illegal.
2. they didn't care because their underlying belief is that this exercise is
not a job interview, rather it is an attempt to determine if the applicant is prepared (morally, ethically, nonjudgmental, mature enough?) to be trained and accepted in the most responsible of professions. The problem with that is the interviewer's implicit assumption that his take on the relation of marriage, religion, sexuality, etc to being a good Doctor is the right one. But if we, the doctors, are not allowed to make this judgement, who shall? The lawyers? ouch.
But all this blathering aside, I think what AR was looking for was reactions about the right way to handle it. The general suggestion about how to handle illegal questions has been to lightly say something like "Does that affect my chances to be selected?" Although how you make that light, I don't know. The follow up reply in the face of persistence is "I'm sure you don't want to break the law by asking that question in an interview." And then go above his/her head to the PD.
But the objection to that line of defense is that you'll instantly be labeled as a trouble maker and the program can always hide behind the vagaries of the NRMP computer to explain your failure to match. I think there isn't too much you can do about illegal questions. Although i'd be tempted to do so if faced with AR's question. You probably wouldn't want to work for that guy anyway.
