Nasty Interview Zingers.

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RWJ Question - Your mother and your patient are both dying and in need of a heart transplant. Patient is in her early 30's and has [forgot the %] chance of survival compared to your mother who has a [lower %]. Who would you give the heart to?
 
BMW M3 said:
RWJ Question - Your mother and your patient are both dying and in need of a heart transplant. Patient is in her early 30's and has [forgot the %] chance of survival compared to your mother who has a [lower %]. Who would you give the heart to?
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Wow. They dont play fair do they?
 
it's an easy answer though...might be harsh, but honesty and loyalty is important....i don't know anyone who in there right mind would not vouch for it to go to their mother (granted, they have a close relationship) even if she had a miniscule chance of survival

but either way, that question blows!
 
Ouch. I'd probably weasel out of it by saying that it would be ethically inappropriate for me to make that decision due to conflict of interest, i.e., I would recuse myself from the case....
 
humuhumu said:
Ouch. I'd probably weasel out of it by saying that it would be ethically inappropriate for me to make that decision due to conflict of interest, i.e., I would recuse myself from the case....
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That's what I was thinking, too.
 
this is really difficult, but i'm leaning toward patient. i love my mom but if her chance of survival is drastically lower, i can't justify giving it to her to prolong her life for a few years, whereas the patient can go for decades.
 
That's a tough question! I think it also depends on how old your mother is. I mean, if my mother is 55-65 I would really want to give it to her. But, if my mother was 80-90 and had already lived a considerably long and productive life, I would be less inclined to choose her over the younger patient with better odds.
 
i thought this was not a decision for the doctor to make. for any organ transplant, isn't there a list or something, based on the "best candidate"(patients that will have the best success rate with the new organ) and their urgency? that way these things are done more failry, and you wouldn't have to choose between your mom and somebody else anyways. honestly, in a real-life situation, who would choose somebody else over their mom? this is like the "if you saw two people drowning in the lake, and you could only save one of them, who would it be?" can anybody say they would not save their mom over the other anonymous person cause she is older and has already lived a long enough life etc etc.

but i guess your interviewer was asking hypothetically.
 
My friend had this weird question. You r an opthalmologist and r forced to drive this drunken patient in ur car to the hospital to fix his eye. He starts throwing up and spits blood all over you. The patient is HIV positive. What would you do? The answer I think i simple, but what a weird question to ask.
 
Okay, it has nothing to do with moral or ethical questions. But my husband's favorite interview story is the one in which his interviewer stared at him for a minute and then said "Are you adopted?" :laugh: My husband was a bit taken aback. Turns out this guy was the gross anatomy professor and knew my husband's brother from that (my bro-in-law is a student at that school), and thought my husband didn't look like his brother. Although of course they look very much like brothers. Not to mention -- what the heck kind of question is that to ask in an interview? lol

But yeah. I haven't been asked ANY moral or ethical questions in interviews.
 
humuhumu said:
Ouch. I'd probably weasel out of it by saying that it would be ethically inappropriate for me to make that decision due to conflict of interest, i.e., I would recuse myself from the case....
Click to expand...

yeah, but if you hand it off to somebody else, you can probably bet they won't choose your mom (again, due to the low % of survival, etc). SO, you're still left with the question of YOU trying to save your mom or nobody saving your mom. if you ask me, i'd say f*ck the other patient-most of our moms (at least in some indirect way) helped us get to where we are, so they earned the transplant (or at least a shot at one).
 
I think this is a question to test if you are fully aware of how HIV may be transmitted. There is a protocol for needle pricks which I think might be the way to go. You have to acknowledge that If the vomit/blood does not come into contact with any cuts/sores on your body you will not contract HIV. I'm unsure of the transmission rates in blood-to-sore/cuts contact or if it has even been documented. I don't see how this will delay patient care beyond cleaning up. Anyone else care to comment?



medstu2006 said:
My friend had this weird question. You r an opthalmologist and r forced to drive this drunken patient in ur car to the hospital to fix his eye. He starts throwing up and spits blood all over you. The patient is HIV positive. What would you do? The answer I think i simple, but what a weird question to ask.
Click to expand...
 
BMW M3 said:
RWJ Question - Your mother and your patient are both dying and in need of a heart transplant. Patient is in her early 30's and has [forgot the %] chance of survival compared to your mother who has a [lower %]. Who would you give the heart to?
Click to expand...

Obviously the patient with better chances of survival is the "right" choice provided there are no other mitigating factors.

As for the Opt question - you keep on driving.... Get a post exposure panel run at the ER, and begin treatment with anti-retrovirals.
 
medstu2006 said:
My friend had this weird question. You r an opthalmologist and r forced to drive this drunken patient in ur car to the hospital to fix his eye. He starts throwing up and spits blood all over you. The patient is HIV positive. What would you do? The answer I think i simple, but what a weird question to ask.
Click to expand...
I guess I don't see what the "ethical" part of the question is. A better question would be the above scenario, but ask if you would still give him a ride if you knew he was HIV positive and was spitting up blood. In this instance it seems like the only thing that is being asked is how would you respond once he spit blood all over you and your car. Like the previous poster said, follow whatever protocol is in place, and sterilize your car afterwards I guess.
 
I had a similar question at one interview.. he told me the correct answer was whoever showed up first.
 
I would say that the scenario is whack. The heart will be a better fit for one person of the other. A heart isn't a uniform thing. The best fit is who it goes to. If it wasn't my mother I would try to find a better match for her (doing everything to keep her alive) which would improve both peoples odds of survival.
 
You guys are whack.."it depends how old my mom is"?????? Sell your own mother out? Good lord.
 
Sundarban1 said:
You guys are whack.."it depends how old my mom is"?????? Sell your own mother out? Good lord.
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LOL seriously! Just imagine how pathetic you're gonna look if, when forced to answer the question as it is, you say anything other than your mom. "Honesty and Loyalty" as posted before, is def the best way to go. Regardless of what is the correct by-the-book answer, chances are your interviewer would pick their mom too, so that is for sure the side you want to go with. I agree that the question does not have much merit tho...like the classic "Which one of your kids would you keep alive?" question, except for premeds instead of parents. 😉
 
Sundarban1 said:
You guys are whack.."it depends how old my mom is"?????? Sell your own mother out? Good lord.
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Thanks, but while I agree with Brett that the question is whack, I stand by my earlier statement. My grandfather got cancer when he was 89, and decided to forego treatment because he felt he had lived a meaningful life, and subsequently died a few months later. Thus I have had conversations with my parents regarding what they would do in a similar situation. I know that if my mom were in her 80s-90s and her odds of surviving were low she would not want the transplant, which is why I said I would take age into consideration. Don't automatically assume people have opinions like this because they are heartless.
 
I would have to say that first, the heart scenario is completely bogus. There is a system in place to prevent doctors from being faced with this dilemma because organs are assigned based on a list.

HOWEVER - suppose that the scenario were altered to say the last vial of medication X would save either your mother or this other patient - I would be horrified if somebody did not choose their mother.
 
I would prob say something like this:
It's obviously my head would tell me to save the patient whose chances were the best. But my heart would tell me to save my mother. I would like to say that in a situation like that my logic would over-rule my heart but humans are emotionally driven animals and I know were I to be faced with a situation like that, I would save my mother. That is why we have a system that would never force a doctor to make a decision like that.
 
tigress said:
Okay, it has nothing to do with moral or ethical questions. But my husband's favorite interview story is the one in which his interviewer stared at him for a minute and then said "Are you adopted?" :laugh: My husband was a bit taken aback. Turns out this guy was the gross anatomy professor and knew my husband's brother from that (my bro-in-law is a student at that school), and thought my husband didn't look like his brother. Although of course they look very much like brothers. Not to mention -- what the heck kind of question is that to ask in an interview? lol

But yeah. I haven't been asked ANY moral or ethical questions in interviews.
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Hahah.. I have a suspicion that your brother-in-law told the professor that his brother is actually an adopted child.
 
BMW M3 said:
RWJ Question - Your mother and your patient are both dying and in need of a heart transplant. Patient is in her early 30's and has [forgot the %] chance of survival compared to your mother who has a [lower %]. Who would you give the heart to?
Click to expand...


That question is a moniquian dicotomy. Maybe catch the interviewer off guard with an answer that is outside of their either-or world. Cut the heart in half and let each patient have it?

Dan
 
How can you not pick your mother?
 
I don't have a question to post, but I did have an interviewer flat out tell me "you're not good enough to come to our school." 😱

It was a heart-stopping moment. A million thoughts raced through my mind in a split-second. Was this a stress tactic? Did she want me to break down and cry and show my dedication to becoming a doctor? Did she want to see how I handled a stressful situation? I have no idea, but I was rejected three months later, so I guess I didn't pass the test.

So prepare yourselves for that one, and you'll probably be ready for anything. 😛

Nice answer, Anastasis! 👍
 
mustangsally65 said:
I don't have a question to post, but I did have an interviewer flat out tell me "you're not good enough to come to our school." 😱

It was a heart-stopping moment. A million thoughts raced through my mind in a split-second. Was this a stress tactic? Did she want me to break down and cry and show my dedication to becoming a doctor? Did she want to see how I handled a stressful situation? I have no idea, but I was rejected three months later, so I guess I didn't pass the test.

So prepare yourselves for that one, and you'll probably be ready for anything. 😛

Nice answer, Anastasis! 👍
Click to expand...

WHAT?! I would havae told her off and explained exactly why I was overqualified for her school.
 
mustangsally65 said:
I don't have a question to post, but I did have an interviewer flat out tell me "you're not good enough to come to our school." 😱
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That's horrible! Come on..everyone learned as a child "if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all." If that interviewer was any indication of what life would be like at that school, you are definitely better off without it.
 
mustangsally65 said:
I don't have a question to post, but I did have an interviewer flat out tell me "you're not good enough to come to our school." 😱

It was a heart-stopping moment. A million thoughts raced through my mind in a split-second. Was this a stress tactic? Did she want me to break down and cry and show my dedication to becoming a doctor? Did she want to see how I handled a stressful situation? I have no idea, but I was rejected three months later, so I guess I didn't pass the test.

So prepare yourselves for that one, and you'll probably be ready for anything. 😛
Click to expand...

That is really horrible! I don't think I could have stopped myself, I would have said something like: "Maybe not, but 10 years from now you'll wish you could tell people I attended your school." Smiled nicely, and thought how much of an stuck-up ***ch she was! :meanie:
 
Without even thinking about it, my mom. That would be the easiest question they could ask me. I wouldn't lie about something like that either in an interview to look better, there's no way I'd sell out my family for some med school. They pretty much helped me get to where I'm at now.

And I really think by asking that question, they want to see who the bull****ters are and who the honest people are. Anyone that takes the stranger over their own moms needs to see a family psychologist.
 
humuhumu said:
Ouch. I'd probably weasel out of it by saying that it would be ethically inappropriate for me to make that decision due to conflict of interest, i.e., I would recuse myself from the case....
Click to expand...


That's how I would answer too.

I don't know if any of you saw the old thread about interview moments, but on there a guy posted the following........

You have a scenario where a father and a son are in a fatal accident. The father dies on the scene and the son is in critical condition. The son is taken to the hospital and needs critical surgery. The ED docs call the surgeon who is on call. The surgeon on call is the best one on the team. The surgeon says they can't perform the surgery: "that's my son". How do you respond? Who is the surgeon in relation to the son?

This is a little thought provoking. I want to see what you guys say first then I'll give you my response to how I would respond to who the doctor is in relation to the child.

BTW, in the original post about this, I believe the person said this was asked on their way out of the interview. I would have to find that thread and bring it up but this is what I remember of it.
 
gujuDoc said:
You have a scenario where a father and a son are in a fatal accident. The father dies on the scene and the son is in critical condition. The son is taken to the hospital and needs critical surgery. The ED docs call the surgeon who is on call. The surgeon on call is the best one on the team. The surgeon says they can't perform the surgery: "that's my son". How do you respond? Who is the surgeon in relation to the son?
Click to expand...

Okay, so to begin with, I was surprised the first time I saw this on sdn. I thought everybody had heard it like a decade ago 😛

Anyway, lots of people will claim that they would have gotten the answer if asked this question. Well, that's after they already know the answer. I assure you, even the most open-minded people often don't get it right. I got it wrong when I heard it, when I was probably about 11 or so. So did my mother, who is the first person I would think would get this right. Truthfully, I've never actually heard somebody asked this riddle and heard them get it right, and I've heard quite a few people asked. I'm sure some people figure it out, or even know immediately, but just because you don't doesn't make you a BAD PERSON or something 😛

The truth is, most people don't get it right because their expectations match reality. I'm not sure that really points to prejudice. (Not that there isn't prejudice in surgery, I wouldn't know if there is or isn't, but I don't think this riddle is really evidence of it.)
 
gujuDoc said:
That's how I would answer too.

I don't know if any of you saw the old thread about interview moments, but on there a guy posted the following........

You have a scenario where a father and a son are in a fatal accident. The father dies on the scene and the son is in critical condition. The son is taken to the hospital and needs critical surgery. The ED docs call the surgeon who is on call. The surgeon on call is the best one on the team. The surgeon says they can't perform the surgery: "that's my son". How do you respond? Who is the surgeon in relation to the son?

This is a little thought provoking. I want to see what you guys say first then I'll give you my response to how I would respond to who the doctor is in relation to the child.

BTW, in the original post about this, I believe the person said this was asked on their way out of the interview. I would have to find that thread and bring it up but this is what I remember of it.
Click to expand...


The surgeon is his mother. It took me a minute to figure it out though. Most of the doctors in the communites where I've lived have been men, so when I think about doctors in general it's usually a man. I'm sure that will change over time as the percentage of female doctors continues to increase, but it's still a tricky question.
 
mustangsally65 said:
I don't have a question to post, but I did have an interviewer flat out tell me "you're not good enough to come to our school." 😱

It was a heart-stopping moment. A million thoughts raced through my mind in a split-second. Was this a stress tactic? Did she want me to break down and cry and show my dedication to becoming a doctor? Did she want to see how I handled a stressful situation? I have no idea, but I was rejected three months later, so I guess I didn't pass the test.

So prepare yourselves for that one, and you'll probably be ready for anything. 😛

Nice answer, Anastasis! 👍
Click to expand...

I would have taken the approach of anger, and attempted to turn the tables on the interviewer by saying, "If this is the case, why did you invite me to interview, I spent over $400 to get here!"

OK, in truth, I would just wilt like a little flower and say nothing - but the above is what I would LIKE to say lol.
 
Flopotomist said:
I would have taken the approach of anger, and attempted to turn the tables on the interviewer by saying, "If this is the case, why did you invite me to interview, I spent over $400 to get here!"

OK, in truth, I would just wilt like a little flower and say nothing - but the above is what I would LIKE to say lol.
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I thought of a lot of good things to say afterwards, but of course when it's happening to you you just sit there meekly and take it. Then you feel really bad for being such a weenie later. :laugh:
 
mustangsally65 said:
I thought of a lot of good things to say afterwards, but of course when it's happening to you you just sit there meekly and take it. Then you feel really bad for being such a weenie later. :laugh:
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That's when you say "That may be your opinion, my good sir, and you are certainly entitled to it, but at least I have excellent taste in cars..." 🙂
 
WholeLottaGame7 said:
That's when you say "That may be your opinion, my good sir, and you are certainly entitled to it, but at least I have excellent taste in cars..." 🙂
Click to expand...

:laugh: 👍 😍

I bet she drove a Datsun. :meanie:
 
Wow... i didn't expect so many responses, I don't know if there is a "right answer" but here is my response. I acknowledged that it was a hard question to buy myself some time and formulate an answer:

Me: Wow, that put me in a very difficult position.
(thinking for what felt like an eternity, but ended up being about 10 seconds)
Me: She is my mother, but the patient has a better chance of survival.
(stalling for more time as interviewer leans forward trying as if she is trying to force out an answer)
Me: Well... This is what i would do (finally figure out my answer), I would be ethically and morally bound to give the heart to whomever was first in line on the donor list.

I don't think one question could make or break you... but i ended up getting the acceptance call a couple weeks later.
 
zek said:
The surgeon is his mother. It took me a minute to figure it out though. Most of the doctors in the communites where I've lived have been men, so when I think about doctors in general it's usually a man. I'm sure that will change over time as the percentage of female doctors continues to increase, but it's still a tricky question.
Click to expand...


That was the answer to the question, that the surgeon was his mother.

But the reason I asked, is because this is my logic.........

My logic is a bit more complex line of thinking then what the interviewers answer was.........

First, taking into account the situation, iit is not indicated that the doctor is married.

In the original version it said that the a father and a son were in an accident. But did not indicated anything about the dad being married......

So with this in account, my logic was that it could be a mom. But that was not my first thought, being that most surgeons are men.

So my first thought was that the father and son could have been related by being adopted son to the dad in the car. So the surgeon could have been the biological father.

Another scenario was that one of the two characters could be a step father and the other the biological father, both of whom love the child like their own son. So perhaps the father in the car could be the step dad while the surgeon could be the real dad.

So had I responded to that question, I probably would have said that there is too little information to be able to correctly assume that it was his mother and not one of the above given scenarios. In either case, though, one thing was clear: There was a serious conflict of interest and emotional response making it better to try and get another surgeon in if possible because if the doc is in a state of panic due to their emotional interest in the patient, they may cause something critical to occur. hence it would be wise to find the next higher up to do the procedure. Afterall, there is most likely to be more then one surgeon on call. But that's my two cents and why I wanted to see whether you guys would get that interviewer's response or something else.
 
BMW M3 said:
Wow... i didn't expect so many responses, I don't know if there is a "right answer" but here is my response. I acknowledged that it was a hard question to buy myself some time and formulate an answer:

Me: Wow, that put me in a very difficult position.
(thinking for what felt like an eternity, but ended up being about 10 seconds)
Me: She is my mother, but the patient has a better chance of survival.
(stalling for more time as interviewer leans forward trying as if she is trying to force out an answer)
Me: Well... This is what i would do (finally figure out my answer), I would be ethically and morally bound to give the heart to whomever was first in line on the donor list.

I don't think one question could make or break you... but i ended up getting the acceptance call a couple weeks later.
Click to expand...


I think that is a good response. I totally forgot about the aspect of there being a list which they have to go down for transplants. With that in perspective, that's a good response.
 
Umm yeah, if I was placed in that utterly rediculous scenario, I'd give it to my mom without a moments hesitation. And that's what I'd tell the interviewer, strait up.
 
DarkFark said:
Umm yeah, if I was placed in that utterly rediculous scenario, I'd give it to my mom without a moments hesitation. And that's what I'd tell the interviewer, strait up.
Click to expand...

I can't believe how many people have said this. I would totally mark you down in an interview for that response. It is ethically not correct to give a heart to your mother over a patient with a better chance of survival/outcome. If you somehow manipulated the surgery schedule or the donor recipient list to give your mother an edge, you'd be fired and lose your license. The proper answer is to defer the decision to your colleagues. End of story. It doesn't mean anything about not loving your mother.
 
gujuDoc said:
That was the answer to the question, that the surgeon was his mother.

But the reason I asked, is because this is my logic.........

My logic is a bit more complex line of thinking then what the interviewers answer was.........

First, taking into account the situation, iit is not indicated that the doctor is married.

In the original version it said that the a father and a son were in an accident. But did not indicated anything about the dad being married......

So with this in account, my logic was that it could be a mom. But that was not my first thought, being that most surgeons are men.

So my first thought was that the father and son could have been related by being adopted son to the dad in the car. So the surgeon could have been the biological father.

Another scenario was that one of the two characters could be a step father and the other the biological father, both of whom love the child like their own son. So perhaps the father in the car could be the step dad while the surgeon could be the real dad.

So had I responded to that question, I probably would have said that there is too little information to be able to correctly assume that it was his mother and not one of the above given scenarios. In either case, though, one thing was clear: There was a serious conflict of interest and emotional response making it better to try and get another surgeon in if possible because if the doc is in a state of panic due to their emotional interest in the patient, they may cause something critical to occur. hence it would be wise to find the next higher up to do the procedure. Afterall, there is most likely to be more then one surgeon on call. But that's my two cents and why I wanted to see whether you guys would get that interviewer's response or something else.
Click to expand...

Guju- that's almost exactly what I thought when I first heard the riddle! Glad to hear there's another crazy thinker out there too! 😉 😛
 
lizanne11 said:
Guju- that's almost exactly what I thought when I first heard the riddle! Glad to hear there's another crazy thinker out there too! 😉 😛
Click to expand...


Seriously, I don't know how the interviewer could make it out to be that the mom is the only option.

While it could be the mom, it is never safe to assume anything about one's family life without all the details.
 
VFTW said:
I can't believe how many people have said this. I would totally mark you down in an interview for that response. It is ethically not correct to give a heart to your mother over a patient with a better chance of survival/outcome. If you somehow manipulated the surgery schedule or the donor recipient list to give your mother an edge, you'd be fired and lose your license. The proper answer is to defer the decision to your colleagues. End of story. It doesn't mean anything about not loving your mother.
Click to expand...

yes it does, it means you are a heartless disgrace as a son/daughter.
 
jtank said:
yes it does, it means you are a heartless disgrace as a son/daughter.
Click to expand...
Word 👍
 
So in one of my psych classes the prof told us that riddle, only the doctor who was the parent of the kid was the emergency physician.

I REALLY had trouble thinking of how on earth it could be possible... I think it had something to do w/the fact that my dad IS an emergency physician, so when I hear "emergency physician" and "that's my kid" in the same sentence I automatically think of my dad.

I didn't get it until the prof told us. And I'm female!
 
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