Not knowing during interview...

[dangit]

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Is it ever okay to say "I don't know" during an interview? One school asked "what do you think of the patient's bill of rights?" Honestly, if I was asked that, I would not know at all...

 

[RySerr21]

Is it ever okay to say "I don't know" during an interview? One school asked "what do you think of the patient's bill of rights?" Honestly, if I was asked that, I would not know at all...

Of course its okay to say that you dont know something. If its an opinon question, however, you should certianly have some sort of opinion. Now, if you arent familiar with the patient's bill of rights, then you could say something like "Well, i'm not too familiar with the details of the patient's bill of rights, could you be more specific?" So, i guess if i was asked something that I didnt konw about, i would ask for clarification until I had enough info to formulate an opinion.

 

[dangit]

thanks for the reply!

so, what are your thoughts on this? i mean are these laws and if physicians don't abide by them, will there be consequences? or is it more like a code of ethics? personally, i would like it's pretty good to have outlined rights and things phyisicians should keep in mind as they provide care. (for some reason, i'm paranoid that this is a trick questions...are my suspicions confirmed?)

 

[Flushot]

I mean, they don't have to be laws to be something well established. For example, etiquette might be well documented or observed but I don't think you'll be held legally accountable. Like Ryserr said, it's safe to say you don't know something more factual than subjective. For example, if you don't know about the landmark Quinlan case for an ethical question, you can ask them to do a quick rundown.

 

[EM2BE]

If it is something factual, you are better off admitting you don't know than making up an answer that would be completely wrong. They wouldn't like that one bit.

 

[rajaholick]

one of my good friends had a very interesting interview at a school which he was later accepted to
question: what have you been doing in your year off
friend's response: "helping take care of my grandparents, playing in some IM sports leagues"
interviewer's response: "so really...nothing?"
friend's response: "yeah i guess so..."
next question: "what would you do if you dont get into medical school?"
friend's response: "i have no idea"

so yeah, just be honest
most interviewers can tell when a response is legit

 

[Semicolon]

one of my good friends had a very interesting interview at a school which he was later accepted to
question: what have you been doing in your year off
friend's response: "helping take care of my grandparents, playing in some IM sports leagues"
interviewer's response: "so really...nothing?"
friend's response: "yeah i guess so..."
next question: "what would you do if you dont get into medical school?"
friend's response: "i have no idea"

so yeah, just be honest
most interviewers can tell when a response is legit

Lol that doesn't sound like a very good interview...

 

[Flushot]

one of my good friends had a very interesting interview at a school which he was later accepted to
question: what have you been doing in your year off
friend's response: "helping take care of my grandparents, playing in some IM sports leagues"
interviewer's response: "so really...nothing?"
friend's response: "yeah i guess so..."
next question: "what would you do if you dont get into medical school?"
friend's response: "i have no idea"

so yeah, just be honest
most interviewers can tell when a response is legit

Yeah, I'm going to agree with semi that response wasn't the best response, even if it was honest. In this case, it shows he/she was a bit unprepared for it.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

If you don't know something, don't try to bull**** your way through it. That is an absolutely ******ed question, and they probably just asked it to see if you'd try to bull**** them. I don't really know much about the patient's bill of rights, but its **** like the right to choose your insurance provider and the right to know why the doctor is sticking his finger in your ass if you're a trauma stat. It isn't really something that you'd have an opinion on.

 

[NPEMTIV]

Of course its okay to say that you dont know something. If its an opinon question, however, you should certianly have some sort of opinion. Now, if you arent familiar with the patient's bill of rights, then you could say something like "Well, i'm not too familiar with the details of the patient's bill of rights, could you be more specific?" So, i guess if i was asked something that I didnt konw about, i would ask for clarification until I had enough info to formulate an opinion.

👍 Good post. Be truthful and ask for the clarification. Sometimes, the question may be asked just to see how you handle a question to which you most likely won't know an answer.

 

[NPEMTIV]

next question: "what would you do if you dont get into medical school?"

I got this same question. My answer was "apply next year?". No explanation. Got in the next week.

 

[rajaholick]

my friend's mcat score was expiring, and he really had no idea if he would retake the mcat and reapply
honestly, he probably wouldn't have
thats why his respons was i dont know, he really had no idea what he would do next
i'm lucky i wasn't asked that question this year because that is exactly how i would've replied "i dont know..."

 

[NPEMTIV]

my friend's mcat score was expiring, and he really had no idea if he would retake the mcat and reapply
honestly, he probably wouldn't have
thats why his respons was i dont know, he really had no idea what he would do next
i'm lucky i wasn't asked that question this year because that is exactly how i would've replied "i dont know..."

Haha...at least you're honest. Nothing wrong with that. The thought of retaking the MCAT still makes me cringe. Granted COMLEX doesn't seem like its going to be any fun either.

 

[237696]

thanks for the reply!

so, what are your thoughts on this? i mean are these laws and if physicians don't abide by them, will there be consequences? or is it more like a code of ethics? personally, i would like it's pretty good to have outlined rights and things phyisicians should keep in mind as they provide care. (for some reason, i'm paranoid that this is a trick questions...are my suspicions confirmed?)

You would want to ask for clarification about whether they mean the 2001 McCain-Edwards-Kennedy bill that narrowly missed full passage in the House (a version passed but it didn't include any means of enforcement) or about any of the numerous voluntary bill of rights that have been instituted by hospital organizations, health plans, etc.

The Senate bill really wasn't aimed at hospitals and doctors at all, it was a bill that targeted health insurance plans and restricted the means by which health plans could deny coverage for treatments and dictate care. Think referrals, in-network hospitals, utilization management (prior-authorizations), etc. It basically would have mandated that patients under health insurance plans would be allowed to access the nearest ERs and not necessarily just "in-network" ones, that they would have access to see specialists, that physicians would make medical review decisions (as opposed to the way pharmacy techs and nurses sometimes now make decisions on prior-authorization reviews), that there would be a formal appeals process patients could use when care is denied, etc.

Now, there are also a lot of hospitals and health care systems and even health care plans that have adopted their own voluntary "patient bill of rights" and usually these do have more to do with the way doctors and hospitals treat patients (i.e. things like informed consent and confidentiality) but each individual one is different.

 

[nevinleiby]

My last interview, 4 person panel:

"What would you do to help a patient stop smoking if they have not been successful after many attempts?"

I blanked and paused for about three seconds before answering "I don't really know. But I understand that people have their reasons for doing things that a physician can't control. Unfortunately, smoking, drinking, drugs, obesity, diet, and lack of exercise is what fuels a lot of medicine in America. I can say that I expect to be taught at _(school)_ how to handle those situations."

Their reply (smiling through my whole response): "That's fine. We just wanted to see what you thought and have thought about those issues and circumstances (smile)"

Admit it...you'll do fine 👍👍👍

 

[Jamers]

Is it ever okay to say "I don't know" during an interview? One school asked "what do you think of the patient's bill of rights?" Honestly, if I was asked that, I would not know at all...

As someone who used to interview students it is better to say "I don't know" then to try and make up some stupid response. Honestly, we generally know when you are full of BS in your answer so just go the safer road.

 

[beachblonde]

As someone who used to interview students it is better to say "I don't know" then to try and make up some stupid response. Honestly, we generally know when you are full of BS in your answer so just go the safer road.

At my latest interview, I got asked about an example of a situation where I was in a group and two of us disagreed on something, and only one of us was right. I had no idea what to say, so I said "Well, to be honest, I'm drawing a blank on a specific example, but I can tell that in that situation I would do x, y, and z." The interviewer smiled and said "Oh, that's ok, it's not a common situation."

Accepted soon thereafter. Being able to admit you don't know something is crucial in medicine; you can't let your pride get in the way of good patient care. That starts with your interview!

 

[Eudjinn]

At my latest interview, I got asked about an example of a situation where I was in a group and two of us disagreed on something, and only one of us was right. I had no idea what to say, so I said "Well, to be honest, I'm drawing a blank on a specific example, but I can tell that in that situation I would do x, y, and z." The interviewer smiled and said "Oh, that's ok, it's not a common situation."

Accepted soon thereafter. Being able to admit you don't know something is crucial in medicine; you can't let your pride get in the way of good patient care. That starts with your interview!

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