An observation: some places I have visited have had me interview with chief residnts, fellows, or clinical instructors, while others have paired me with division chiefs or other high-profile individuals. I can't help but notice that, in general, the "higher-ranked" programs tend to pair me with the former. How much correlation do you all think there is between the pre-interview probability of matching to the "level" of the individual(s) with whom you interview? And if this correlation exists as I believe it does, then realistically how much can a good interview performance actually alter the course of fate? I realize that one should just rank programs based on personal preference, but I'm just curious to hear peoples' opinions.
Interviewer and probability of matching: correlation?
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its possible. at one of my interviews, someone from my school interviewed with 2 chief residents while the AOA student interviewed with the program PD and the department chief of the field he was interested in
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Again, you have no idea what effect this particular part of the application process will or won't have on each person's ability to match at that particular program.
The plural of anecdote is not data.
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agreed. was just an observation
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Hmm, upon reading this, I just realized I've also witnessed what the OP describes... Interesting point, would anyone with more experience in the matter chime in?
Hmm... I noticed this trend, but as gutonc mentions, the plural of anecdote is not data. The people who are most likely to reply to this thread are those applicants that read OP's post and think "hey me too!" People who didn't feel this way might think "eh, typical SDN-poster neurosis, not true at all" and just click away.
IF true, it is unclear to me what the logic would be. From an applicant-wants-residency perspective it seems that the PD should spend the most time with applicants that fall in the middle of the rank list, because those are the ones where the interview has the biggest effect. On the other hand, from a residency-recruiting-applicant perspective perhaps it is felt that having the applicant meet the PD puts the program's best foot forward.
At the end of the day I don't think we have enough data, and if I don't corral myself now it's going to get out of control.
just to further feed into the paranoia- i've seen it myself, and been on both ends depending on how competitive the program was. but i've also been to places where there's clearly not much of a relationship. or had two interviews with people of vastly different backgrounds and apparent levels of influence.
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Then how 'bout some data? Still, ROSS-MOORE = an imperfect solution to interviewer variability. And who knows which residencies use it?
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I have noticed this with my own interviews. Namely, that some applicants seem to get the "lower profile" interviewers like chief residents or even senior residents rather than faculty, or they talk to assistant PDs rather than PDs.
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Echoing jturkel, I think this doesn't matter. In general, I've found I'm paired with people with whom I have a mutual interest (even sometimes the only thing is that the person is a fellow marathoner); the programs want you to interview well, so they pair you with people with whom you have something in common. I got anecdotes to fight your anecdotes: I know people who have interviewed at their home places, where they're essentially guaranteed that they can stay if they want to, and they don't interview with any program leadership, just junior faculty. I know another person got off the waitlist at a place (which I presume means going into the interview that they were ranked last or close to last among the applicants that program was interviewing) and was interviewed by the Vice Chair of the medicine department.
Is it possible that this matters sometimes? Of course it is, and it probably does. Is it the case that it always matters? Certainly not. At the end of the day, though, if a place is interviewing you that means you have a chance to match there, and whether you're interviewing with the janitor or with the ghost of William Osler you should try and connect with the person, sell your strengths, and knock the interview out of the park.
Is it possible that this matters sometimes? Of course it is, and it probably does. Is it the case that it always matters? Certainly not. At the end of the day, though, if a place is interviewing you that means you have a chance to match there, and whether you're interviewing with the janitor or with the ghost of William Osler you should try and connect with the person, sell your strengths, and knock the interview out of the park.
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Very much so, all of this....though i'm no marathoner lol
I think they match you up with who the program thinks your interests both medical and non medical are most similar to your application. I'm always paired with interviewers from the same part of the country as me and people that like to do the same hobbies and or activities as me. If you get an interview most programs want to sell the program to you as long as you don't come across as a total deuche. Also it seams that at most programs the PD pulls everyone aside for 5 mins to do a quick Dbag screen.
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ah yes of course. the classic Dbag screen.
What's the classic Dbag screen? ... actually, what's a dou c he bag? I mean, how does a Dbag behave? I just want to make sure I'm not a Dbag because like body odor, you can never tell until someone tells you, right? Just getting worried that I may have said things that could have come across as Dbag-ish.
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