Optional dinner before the interview?

[TayShaun]

Does it look bad if you can't make it to the dinner with residents the night before your interview? I can imagine a program thinking, "Oh, so-and-so wasn't at the dinner last night...s/he must not be seriously interested in our program."

A corollary to this question is -- assuming you're not a jerk -- do the current residents report back to their programs on the interviewees?

Thanks.

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[badgas]

If you don't go to the dinner, the residents give the attendings the nod and they relentlessly pimp you during the interview.

On a serious note, I just figure that the attendings who interview you make the rank list, not the residents. The residents are there for your own benefit so you can get the real story about the program rather than just the sales pitch. Just my thoughts.

 

[deleted50478]

Despite what they may claim, the dinner is part of the interview. You should act accordingly.

 

[MirrorTodd]

It's free food. Why would you not go? Excuse my ignorance if you have to pay for the meal. I do not know.

 

[Bertelman]

The residents are there for your own benefit so you can get the real story about the program rather than just the sales pitch. Just my thoughts.

That may be somewhat true, but I'm quite sure if you are an ayass during the dinner, important people will find out.

 

[Soon2BENT]

Take everything on this site with a grain of site with regard to previous post....

I maybe went to half of my pre-interview dinners and got positive feedback from all of my interviews. Oddly enough, my #1 was the place that did not have a pre-interview dinner, go figure. Some interview groups are so big,that a missing person here or there will not be noticed, on the other hand, if the group is small, being absent will obviously be noticed. The residents wont care though because they understand different people had different arrangement (ie travel doesnt always work out accordingly).

The interview itself is the meat of the sandwich.

PDs and Chairs make the rank list. Remeber, some of these programs have 20-30 residents in each class, and you usually only see 2-3 at the dinners. A program usually wont let the future on their program rest on 3 people out of 60-70.

PS- I welcome any questions about interviews at UW, OHSU, Michigan, NYU, Columbia, and Louisville. Full disclosure, I like all 6 places.

 

[VolatileAgent]

it doesn't look bad if you can't make the dinner, to answer tayshaun's OP.

the dinner is mostly for you, believe it or not. remember, this whole thing is a two-way process. you wouldn't have been invited if you weren't wanted there. you are there to learn as much as you can in a short period of time about the kind of people you're going to be spending a good part of the next three to four years with. yes, you are on display, but so are we. it is a good time to have a honest conversation about what kind of cases you'll do, what call is like, and probably most importantly to see how the residents get along in a social setting outside the hospital. it's okay to let your guard down a little. we're not interested in hearing all the pat answers you've practiced on the last 9 interviews. we're there to get an impression of you, and vice versa. you won't remember the specifics, probably, of who you met. but, you should walk away with a general impression. "do i like these guys/gals?" is this the type of crew that's going to get my back and help me out? that's the kind of thing we're looking at.

so, not going to the dinner is a missed opportunity, nothing more. you should try to go. it shows effort, if nothing else. it's not going to be held against you if you don't. but, it's a missed opportunity. think of it that way.

good luck to everyone this year, if i haven't said that already. it'll be over before you know it. and, it should be a really fun time. you're about to begin your career before you know it. and, that's an awesome thing when you stop to think about it.

 

[amyl]

Take everything on this site with a grain of site with regard to previous post....


PS- I welcome any questions about interviews at UW, OHSU, Michigan, NYU, Columbia, and Louisville. Full disclosure, I like all 6 places.

would LOVE to hear about louisville if you have a second....

 

[wvumd]

I also would like some info on louisville

 

[TayShaun]

thanks for all of the advice! i was planning on going to as many dinners as possible but i was just worried about what might happen if travel arrangements made me miss any. sounds to me like the dinners are good opportunities to get a feel for the programs.

 

[jennyboo]

I missed 3 pre-interview dinners (out of a total 11 interviews I went on last year, 10 of which had these dinners).

Missing the dinner made me feel like I'd missed out on a moderate-sized chunk of information about the program. (I'd say I felt I missed maybe 1/3 of the relevant info about the prospective job site).

However, sometimes travel makes it not humanly possible to make one of your pre-interview dinners. Just do the best you can, and cut your losses when you can't make it without spending an extra $1000 to get there on time. Try to attend for your favorite programs, and as for the others, I don't feel like I missed out on much (I missed my BID and Cornell dinners -- and yes, I did feel like I'd missed out especially when they asked, "Did you go to the dinner last night?" but I didn't rank either of those programs very highly in the end).