Interviewed, now what?

[marlin3]

This is to all the veterans in intern or CA years. After you have interviewed, what is the best way to assess your chances of matching to that program? When is it appropriate to make inquiries? Nothing is definite with the Match, but what is a practical and common sense way to approach getting the place or 2-3 places that you may want to choose from in the end?

 

[VentdependenT]

This is to all the veterans in intern or CA years. After you have interviewed, what is the best way to assess your chances of matching to that program? When is it appropriate to make inquiries? Nothing is definite with the Match, but what is a practical and common sense way to approach getting the place or 2-3 places that you may want to choose from in the end?

You truely can't tell if you are going to match somewhere. Even if the PD says your in. With that being said, what you can do is ask pertinent questions to the PD and chief resident about the program. Figure out what what attracts you to that residency and use that information to make your rank order list stronger.

 

[BassDominator]

What I did was to make a list of all the things I liked, disliked or was looking for in a program. Then I made a table comparing different programs and contacted programs to fill in any missing information. Once you've seen a few programs, you should have a pretty good idea what you are looking for or trying to avoid. Taking notes during the interview day can be really helpful.... otherwise everything will just be one big blur by the end of interview season.

Once you have a list of top choices, second looks can be helpful. It's a good chance to show interest and to see what an average day is like in the department. It's hard to judge a program solely on what you see during the interview day.

Hope this helps.