To be fair, it's hard to beat that one.
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most bizarre interview moment?
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To be fair, it's hard to beat that one.
I mean... seriously... it was so awesome. That's the kind of story that gets passed around from adcom to adcom etc. I think the interview commented on the color/pattern of this guys underwear?
All I have to say is that this guy was extremely dedicated in not wrinkling his suit. What a boss.
D
deleted393595
Haha. Been there done that. I was interviewing for research positions and I had to draw out stuff on the professor's whiteboard to explain my earlier research project. When I got done and turned around, he was like 😕
Taking art classes would really have helped.
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yeah, and when you are a resident, will that be your reaction when an attending asks you about a course you took your M1 year
its a good question, it tests your retention
I've got a couple good ones ready, but I'm reluctant to share until after I have an acceptance somewhere. For privacy/anonymity reasons...
I love to play BUMPer cars...
I will contribute on or after October 15th, when I get an acceptance/waitlist.
I've got two awesome stories.
I've got two awesome stories.
I can't decide whether to be envious or thankful that I don't have any yet. No truly bizarre moment, or at least none that I registered as bizarre. I have more weird transportation stories (still connected to the med schools) than anything, though I think I shall also refrain until the 15th/17th-ish.
They're good stories though... I think they worked in my favor.
Oh come on guys! I'm just a sophomore but I have a kinda funny free clinic interview story.
Its for the local free clinic downtown and I was interviewing for a medical assistant spot. So I show up about 10 minutes early, and as soon as I said my name to the reception lady, my interviewer shows up out of the blue and directs me to follow him. So we go to his office (the most bland office I have ever seen, no pictures, just standard brown furniture and a desktop computer). Here is how the questions went:
Me: Hi, how are you doing today?
Him: Fine. What are your strengths
Me: blah blah
Him: What are weaknesses?
Me: Blah Blah
Him: Why do you want to volunteer here
Me: I want to better myself and the community, etc etc
Him: Okay, you are hired.
Me: Oh, thank you so much! blah blah
All in all, took about 5 minutes and I actually got out before my scheduled interview was supposed to start
Its for the local free clinic downtown and I was interviewing for a medical assistant spot. So I show up about 10 minutes early, and as soon as I said my name to the reception lady, my interviewer shows up out of the blue and directs me to follow him. So we go to his office (the most bland office I have ever seen, no pictures, just standard brown furniture and a desktop computer). Here is how the questions went:
Me: Hi, how are you doing today?
Him: Fine. What are your strengths
Me: blah blah
Him: What are weaknesses?
Me: Blah Blah
Him: Why do you want to volunteer here
Me: I want to better myself and the community, etc etc
Him: Okay, you are hired.
Me: Oh, thank you so much! blah blah
All in all, took about 5 minutes and I actually got out before my scheduled interview was supposed to start
For an ER scribe position they told me to come in for an interview. I prepared myself for the possible questions they could've asked, etc. I get there and they just ask when I want to start and if I want to follow a scribe around for a half hour to make sure I want to work there haha
Hahaha that was not my experience with my scribe job. I had 2 separate interviews, and then an insane amount of training.
How would they know that though? Did they ask you where you applied?
I have an interesting story, but I think I will also refrain for the time being.
One of my friends has an interesting story. He already had an acceptance somewhere, and he was interviewing at this other school that he didn't really care about any more (he just went to the interview since he had already bought his plane tickets and booked his hotel room).
So as the interview was going on, he felt that they kept asking him ridiculous questions (what animal would you choose to describe yourself, what drink would you choose to describe yourself, etc.), and it wasn't anything like the regular interview questions (where they ask you about your EC's, interest in medicine, and knowledge of medical ethics). He finally got frustrated with the interview, and since he didn't really care that much, he just started goofing off. Example:
One of the Interviewers: What do you like to do for fun?
Friend: All your moms at once
Another example:
Interviewer: What is your biggest regret?
Friend: Coming to this interview
So as the interview was going on, he felt that they kept asking him ridiculous questions (what animal would you choose to describe yourself, what drink would you choose to describe yourself, etc.), and it wasn't anything like the regular interview questions (where they ask you about your EC's, interest in medicine, and knowledge of medical ethics). He finally got frustrated with the interview, and since he didn't really care that much, he just started goofing off. Example:
One of the Interviewers: What do you like to do for fun?
Friend: All your moms at once
Another example:
Interviewer: What is your biggest regret?
Friend: Coming to this interview
Haha if thats true, what a boss 😀
One of my friends has an interesting story. He already had an acceptance somewhere, and he was interviewing at this other school that he didn't really care about any more (he just went to the interview since he had already bought his plane tickets and booked his hotel room).
So as the interview was going on, he felt that they kept asking him ridiculous questions (what animal would you choose to describe yourself, what drink would you choose to describe yourself, etc.), and it wasn't anything like the regular interview questions (where they ask you about your EC's, interest in medicine, and knowledge of medical ethics). He finally got frustrated with the interview, and since he didn't really care that much, he just started goofing off. Example:
One of the Interviewers: What do you like to do for fun?
Friend: All your moms at once
Another example:
Interviewer: What is your biggest regret?
Friend: Coming to this interview
There is so much win in this comment. Seriously. What a bo$$
One of the Interviewers: What do you like to do for fun?
Friend: All your moms at once
Another example:
Interviewer: What is your biggest regret?
Friend: Coming to this interview
The only missing comment is this:
Interviewer: Why do you want to go to this school?
Answer: I don't.
I am so happy that I get to post in this thread finally. It's like a dream come true 
Alright so...
I walk into my interview expecting a standard 30-45 minute spiel about why I want to be a doctor.
The interviewer outlines that there are some specific questions he must ask me, and then there are some he has for himself.
Standard questions for the first 10 minutes. Asks me what kind of medicine I want to do. Where I would see myself in 15 years etc. He broke out some ethical scenarios. No big deal there (Thanks LizzyM!!!!)
Then we start talking about my research... he's like "oh... I see a publication here. Tell me about it."
So I break out into my concise explanation of what went down.
Then OUT OF NOWHERE, out of left field.... or even out of the parking lot behind left field he goes... "Here, I want to challenge you..."
He turns his Macbook pro around and shows me a journal article from the American Journal of Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine... says "please read this and interpret it for me."
My face was like.... 😱... I said "OK, do you mind if I scribble a few things down on this piece of paper here?" Tells me it's fine.
So I read this article, and jotted some stuff down. After like 2 minutes of reading the abbreviated version, he yanks it away. Starts asking me these questions...
-What was the objective of the study? (thought this was easy...)
-What would you have done differently? (medium difficulty)
-What were the statistics used, are they valid? (totally guessed here, but I got it right)
-Should we accept or reject this article and apply it to clinical practice right now. (this one was freaking hard... since I'm not a clinician yet!!!!!!!!) So I bust out and say that it's promising, but I wouldn't change the accepted and approved treatment pathway without further research and consultation. He then goes "Well, what if the other treatment fails... and this is the hail mary... would you do it?" I played it safe and said no, because I should not be experimenting on my patients bla bla bla.
I haven't heard back from this school yet... I'll update you guys when I do though.
Alright so...
I walk into my interview expecting a standard 30-45 minute spiel about why I want to be a doctor.
The interviewer outlines that there are some specific questions he must ask me, and then there are some he has for himself.
Standard questions for the first 10 minutes. Asks me what kind of medicine I want to do. Where I would see myself in 15 years etc. He broke out some ethical scenarios. No big deal there (Thanks LizzyM!!!!)
Then we start talking about my research... he's like "oh... I see a publication here. Tell me about it."
So I break out into my concise explanation of what went down.
Then OUT OF NOWHERE, out of left field.... or even out of the parking lot behind left field he goes... "Here, I want to challenge you..."
He turns his Macbook pro around and shows me a journal article from the American Journal of Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine... says "please read this and interpret it for me."
My face was like.... 😱... I said "OK, do you mind if I scribble a few things down on this piece of paper here?" Tells me it's fine.
So I read this article, and jotted some stuff down. After like 2 minutes of reading the abbreviated version, he yanks it away. Starts asking me these questions...
-What was the objective of the study? (thought this was easy...)
-What would you have done differently? (medium difficulty)
-What were the statistics used, are they valid? (totally guessed here, but I got it right)
-Should we accept or reject this article and apply it to clinical practice right now. (this one was freaking hard... since I'm not a clinician yet!!!!!!!!) So I bust out and say that it's promising, but I wouldn't change the accepted and approved treatment pathway without further research and consultation. He then goes "Well, what if the other treatment fails... and this is the hail mary... would you do it?" I played it safe and said no, because I should not be experimenting on my patients bla bla bla.
I haven't heard back from this school yet... I'll update you guys when I do though.
Ok, this was from an interview but not for medical school, but for a research position.
It was my first interview for a research job so I spent days looking things up online, taking time to figure out what to day, what the lab did, etc. But when I got there, all they asked was "how did you prepare for the interview?" After I told them all of the preparation I did, they just said that they would take me... Kinda awkward, and in the end I chose another lab...
It was my first interview for a research job so I spent days looking things up online, taking time to figure out what to day, what the lab did, etc. But when I got there, all they asked was "how did you prepare for the interview?" After I told them all of the preparation I did, they just said that they would take me... Kinda awkward, and in the end I chose another lab...
That's actually a fairly common question that I've been asked myself a few times. Not exactly sure what they want to hear besides "carefully researched your lab/school/company and examined why I will be a good fit."
At about eight or nine minutes into one of my interviews, the interviewer picks up her phone AND proceeds to talk to her friend about her dad's hospice care for 10 minutes 😱. And this wasn't an emergency phone call. She was literally complaining to her friend about how she doesn't want to be the doctor who tells the hospice staff what to do since she is just the daughter in this case, and the medication her dad was on was not working, and now the new medication is working but he is having side effects. The whole time I was thinking 
. After she's done, she asks, "So what do you think about hospice care?" I wasn't expecting that for some reason, and so went, "Uh, it's all about ensuring the comfort of the patient, blah blah blah."
The whole interview was bizarre now that I think about it. It was so conversational that it was hard getting a word in, and I felt like I knew more about her dad, daughters, friends, accolades, history etc. than she knew about mine
.
. After she's done, she asks, "So what do you think about hospice care?" I wasn't expecting that for some reason, and so went, "Uh, it's all about ensuring the comfort of the patient, blah blah blah." The whole interview was bizarre now that I think about it. It was so conversational that it was hard getting a word in, and I felt like I knew more about her dad, daughters, friends, accolades, history etc. than she knew about mine
.
Showed up for my last of 3 individual interviews of the day for med school. I tell the attending's secretary my name, and she goes to tell him I'm there. I can hear him talking loudly to her about how he tried to get out of doing the interview. He made a couple phone calls to try to pass me off. Eventually, the secretary told me he would see me. He told me to talk about myself for 30 minutes. It was very awkward, but I got in.
I am so happy that I get to post in this thread finally. It's like a dream come true
I feel the same way. I wonder if it's weird that we WANT to post in a thread that's titled, "Most bizarre interview moments." But who wants a tame interview? Those are so over-rated.
I have another bizarre story, but it would be patently obvious which school it is once I share the story so I will wait to post after the cycle is over.
This was for residency. Not so much a "moment," but an entire format. We had 10 individual interviews (TEN!). Each was 15 minutes, and there was a bell that rang to signal time. They were all on the same long hallway, and the entire group would shuffle around different offices. It was like speed dating. Awkward!
one of my interviewers was really prying into where else I had applied. Since they specifically asked, I told them I was rejected by a particular school. "Now why would they reject you? You're a perfectly good candidate" they said, and got visibly upset about it for a good minute or two, and said they had some choice words to describe the admissions people there. AWKWARD. a good and surprising awkward, but what do you say to that? "Um, thanks?" (or: "maybe they didn't like my laughable GPA, which by the way is lower than average for your school?")
This happened at my USF interview too. My interviewer has a notorious reputation for capping all of her interviews off at 30 minutes, sometimes even 20 minutes though candidates are allotted an an entire hour. Instead of my laughable GPA (which my GPA definitely qualifies as), she was upset that my laughable MCAT score (my first one) didn't get me accepted anywhere, and then wrote down a meticulous list of all the improvements I had made since my last app.
Result: Accepted
PS- Loved my interviewer!
So I see MMI has made it to residency interviews too 🙂
It was my first interview and I was the last one that day. Basically when I walked in...they said: "We think you need to wait a year. everyone here has master's degrees and much more life experience, but we'll give you a chance. Fight for it." Then I talk about how I'm unique, well rounded, have a lot of varied experiences. The interviewer says, "wow, I'm sold. You changed my mind completely!"
Result: ACCEPTED!!!
Result: ACCEPTED!!!
i can't understand how you determined his level of hotness.
Well, there are various suit colors, so his must have been red hot
On one of my 1 hour interviews we just had a conversation about the school, about my research, and with literally 5 or so minutes to go he asks me the standard "your biggest weakness/strength" questions. Not very bizarre, but I though it was kind of odd.
I was interviewing and the entire time the doctor who was asking me questions kept looking at his watch and then to the door. With about 15 minutes left there was a knock on the door and one of those catering carts comes through pushed by the secretary at the front desk. On the cart was a covered food dish. She leaves it and goes out. He uncovers the plate and inside is a poop hot dog. He looks at me and says how bad do you want to come here, and then looks down at the poop hot dog.
You had me on my feet, what happened next!?
yada, yada, yada... I overdrew my bank account buying toothpaste
But you yada yada'd over the best part
No, I mentioned the bisque.
So I was interviewing at a top choice school of mine. The interview seemed to be going quite well, and the interviewer was a really friendly guy. I could tell that he really knew my application materials inside and out. All of a sudden, he says to me, "I was a bit confused when going through your materials. On your AMCAS, you listed five siblings (I do have 5, btw), but your pre-health committee letter opens by saying 'Cinclus is an only-child.....yadda yadda yadda.'" I was like 😕. We both laughed a bit, and I told him that I had no idea where they came up with that, and that I do indeed have five siblings. He told me that other than that, my letters were fantastic, and the interview turned out to be my best so far.
But anyhow, why the heck would the committee even add something like that to the letter, even if it were true? The dang AMCAS tells them if I have siblings or not, and why is that even RELEVANT to a committee letter? I sent an email to my school's pre-health office telling them of the incident; I also informed them that I wasn't angry at all (rather, a bit amused), but that I just thought they'd like to know to be careful in the future. I received an email back from my advisor, I kid you not, saying the following (verbatim, copy & paste): "SOOOOOOOO SORRY about that booboo. however, Im sure this will not affect your chances at any medical school." LOL. Booboo?
But anyhow, why the heck would the committee even add something like that to the letter, even if it were true? The dang AMCAS tells them if I have siblings or not, and why is that even RELEVANT to a committee letter? I sent an email to my school's pre-health office telling them of the incident; I also informed them that I wasn't angry at all (rather, a bit amused), but that I just thought they'd like to know to be careful in the future. I received an email back from my advisor, I kid you not, saying the following (verbatim, copy & paste): "SOOOOOOOO SORRY about that booboo. however, Im sure this will not affect your chances at any medical school." LOL. Booboo?
So I was interviewing at a top choice school of mine. The interview seemed to be going quite well, and the interviewer was a really friendly guy. I could tell that he really knew my application materials inside and out. All of a sudden, he says to me, "I was a bit confused when going through your materials. On your AMCAS, you listed five siblings (I do have 5, btw), but your pre-health committee letter opens by saying 'Cinclus is an only-child.....yadda yadda yadda.'" I was like 😕. We both laughed a bit, and I told him that I had no idea where they came up with that, and that I do indeed have five siblings. He told me that other than that, my letters were fantastic, and the interview turned out to be my best so far.
But anyhow, why the heck would the committee even add something like that to the letter, even if it were true? The dang AMCAS tells them if I have siblings or not, and why is that even RELEVANT to a committee letter? I sent an email to my school's pre-health office telling them of the incident; I also informed them that I wasn't angry at all (rather, a bit amused), but that I just thought they'd like to know to be careful in the future. I received an email back from my advisor, I kid you not, saying the following (verbatim, copy & paste): "SOOOOOOOO SORRY about that booboo. however, Im sure this will not affect your chances at any medical school." LOL. Booboo?
😆
So I was interviewing at a top choice school of mine. The interview seemed to be going quite well, and the interviewer was a really friendly guy. I could tell that he really knew my application materials inside and out. All of a sudden, he says to me, "I was a bit confused when going through your materials. On your AMCAS, you listed five siblings (I do have 5, btw), but your pre-health committee letter opens by saying 'Cinclus is an only-child.....yadda yadda yadda.'" I was like 😕. We both laughed a bit, and I told him that I had no idea where they came up with that, and that I do indeed have five siblings. He told me that other than that, my letters were fantastic, and the interview turned out to be my best so far.
But anyhow, why the heck would the committee even add something like that to the letter, even if it were true? The dang AMCAS tells them if I have siblings or not, and why is that even RELEVANT to a committee letter? I sent an email to my school's pre-health office telling them of the incident; I also informed them that I wasn't angry at all (rather, a bit amused), but that I just thought they'd like to know to be careful in the future. I received an email back from my advisor, I kid you not, saying the following (verbatim, copy & paste): "SOOOOOOOO SORRY about that booboo. however, Im sure this will not affect your chances at any medical school." LOL. Booboo?
It makes me wonder what else is included in these committee letters.
So I'm at a top 20 school interviewing, and my interviewer gets hung up on my research experience...
Turns out he LOVES research and does a lot of it...
Right... in the middle of my interview he hands me his macbook and says here's this journal article about COPD... is this study clinically relevant and what is the clinical impact...
😱😱
I said "This is one of those shows where there's a camera crew... and someone is going to pop out and say gotcha?"
He laughs and says no... you have 3 minutes...
So I FREAK out and read it... then he asks me statistics questions and clinical relevance stuff...
3 weeks later... Accepted 😍
Turns out he LOVES research and does a lot of it...
Right... in the middle of my interview he hands me his macbook and says here's this journal article about COPD... is this study clinically relevant and what is the clinical impact...
😱
😱I said "This is one of those shows where there's a camera crew... and someone is going to pop out and say gotcha?"
He laughs and says no... you have 3 minutes...
So I FREAK out and read it... then he asks me statistics questions and clinical relevance stuff...
3 weeks later... Accepted 😍
I've had some odd ones.
But, at my very first interview, the physician spent the first 15 minutes of my interview lecturing me about medicine. Then, he proceeded to say, "If you're in this for the money, you're in the wrong place. You should be come a lawyer that sues doctors." 😕 Jaded much? I proceeded to inform him that I was not in this for the money and later received good news.👍
But, at my very first interview, the physician spent the first 15 minutes of my interview lecturing me about medicine. Then, he proceeded to say, "If you're in this for the money, you're in the wrong place. You should be come a lawyer that sues doctors." 😕 Jaded much? I proceeded to inform him that I was not in this for the money and later received good news.👍
