MGH Interview Question

[Mango]

So is it true that they sit you around a table as a group and pimp the crap out of you? I've heard this rumor on the trail...

Anybody been to the land of short-coats yet?

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[jc7721]

It's true. There's either 5 or 6 faculty, and the number and absurdity of questions varies from applicant to applicant.

 

[Mango]

Fantastic. That should be a good time...

 

[5oProlene]

What's the point of such an absurd "interview" format?

 

[DrQuinn]

Probably to show off what they know but the main reason is to also see how people react under stress.

Q, DO

 

[DoctorDoom]

It's a stress test, and a way to distinguish several high testing applicants from each other. The guy who can not only answer the questions correctly but create a good impression is the one they want.

I had to sew cheese slices together at one institution while being pimped.

Memmmories...

 

[Surgdude]

I interviewed there in 2000. Probably hasn't changed since then.

I don't think that any of the questions from the "gang bang" were standard interview questions. Ones I got included:

"Trace the path of a red blood cell from the heart, through the placenta, and back to the heart."

"If you were a transplant surgeon and a famous person (I think that one of the NY Yankees who destroyed his liver with booze had just jumped up on the transplant list and got transplanted very recently) came to you with offers of big contributions if he could get a transplant, what would you do?"

I don't remember the rest. I was told by one of the residents at the time a the dinner before the interviews that what they want to know is if you know how to say "I don't know" as they are looking for people that are going to recognize their limitations and seek help. Not sure if it's true, but that's what they told us.

Anyway, you can't really prepare for it, so just go in, try to be confident without being cocky, and when you reach your limitations, tell them that you aren't sure. If you know the answers, try to dazzle them, I guess. That's coming from someone who didn't match there, though.

 

[supercut]

I interviewed there last year. Yes, you will have a panel interview as well as two individual interviews.

I enjoyed it a lot. Many of the people that were there on my interview day left the panel room completely wigged out.

My first question was a ddx for a liver tumor in a 4 year old. I got about 2 items down that list. Then they asked about what if it were something requiriing operative intervention and the kid is a Jehovah witness and the family won't allow it. They also gave me the scenario of a burn pt presenting to the ED. I was asked the Parkland burn forumla. I was asked to read an xray (it was a barium swallow demonstrating a huge hiatal hernia) In between these, I was asked questions about my background (which is non tradiditional)

One of the individual interviewers also asked everyone what would you do if you walked into a call room to find a fellow resident shooting up morphine.

I didn't match there. But I enjoyed the day very much, wound up ranking it first. They seemed to put more thought into their questions. I really think the idea is to see if you get rattled and if you can say I don't know. I kept my cool, said "I don' t know" when I didn't.

 

[Mango]

Well, I guess I'll just go in there with my head up, and take it in the you know what. If I don't know any answers, I won't BS them. It should be a good time...

 

[Mango]

Well, I did it, and I may sound sick for saying so, but it was actually kinda fun. You wait around for several hours until they call you in. Then you sit at the head of a large conference room table facing 7 attending surgeons, who then pimp the crap out of you for about 45 minutes. It was awesome! I left the room feeling like I had just done an hour of cardio.

I guess I got lucky because my questions didn't seem near as hard as some others I heard. But it was no walk in the park either. I did see one person in tears!

Overall, I thought MGH was amazing, and I think the panel interview is actually a great way to evaluate applicants. They must be doing something right, because they have had a 0% attrition rate for the last decade! That is unheard of (Brigham loses a couple a year, one already is on his way out)!