path residency interviews

[hematogone]

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I'm applying for the 2012 match. I know interviews can range anywhere from September through Jan. When did most people in recent years end up interviewing? Were they pretty wide spread or were you able to schedule them in within a span of a month or so?

Thanks.

 

[Euchromatin]

Most programs were fairly flexible and would let you interview pretty much whenever you wanted. Surprisingly enough, it was the less desirable/competitive places which had fewer possible interview dates (usually because they were the only places doing group interviews). I think I spread my interviews out from the very end of October into mid January, doing the majority in November, but you could easily condense yours down into a shorter time frame if you wanted.

 

[jenesaispas0005]

I submitted my application on Sept 1 and got my first offer about 2 weeks later. The interview was for Oct 15. I pretty much had an interview every 1-2 weeks from that point until the end of January. But it's variable, and depends on where you're applying. Most places I applied to gave 5-10 days where they had interviews scheduled, or just said "we interview on Thursdays and Fridays through the end of January" or something like that.

 

[Entgegen]

Agree with the above. You're generally given a range of dates and you take your pick, depending on how your schedule is running. Personally the best time for me to interview was December and January and I had no trouble getting things scheduled as I wanted them, provided one responds to the emails quickly and grabs the dates as soon as they can. Don't sit on the offers...respond and schedule immediately.

 

[Deucedano]

Is there a benefit to interviewing early? Im trying to rearrange my schedule, so I can take the electives I want but I would have to do most of my interviewing in January. Plus I want January off so I can go skiing.

 

[Ombret]

In my view, the timing of your interview is pretty neutral. Given the match, there are no basically rolling admissions. I can make an argument that coming either early or late to any given program is beneficial. People who come early might look better because there is not as much to compare them to, but those who come later are more memorable because they are so recent.

The exception is if you are dead set on a specific program. In that case you want to get on their radar screen early so that they can start thinking of you as one of their top choices (or so you hope) before the list gets crowded. Potentially they could offer to rank you to match and then you would be done worrying about it.

Programs are so variable in their interview schedules that it is going to be hard to time them precisely anyway. I would say, if you are applying to the usual number of programs, you have to plan on several months of swiss cheese participation in clerkships or whatever you are doing.

 

[hematogone]

Thank you for the input, everybody.

Is it pretty crucial to avoid interviewing while on sub-internships? (Assuming you have that flexibility)

A concern I have, is that my sub-i's are timed pretty late - definitely overlapping with interview season. However, I do have 1-3 week gaps between my sub-i's. In general, is it recommended to do whatever you can to not schedule interviews during sub-i's? I figure that though the faculty at sub-i's may be understanding if you take time off to interview at another program, it probably doesn't help your case at that particular program.

 

[mlw03]

My prior program does interview October thru early January, and that was what I experienced as an interviewee as well. Especially programs in places where snow can affect travel, expect to interview mostly in October and November. Agree with the comments that timing of interview date is irrelevant - you'll be liked or disliked based on your merits. One piece of uncolicited advice to all applicants: for the love of pearl, talk on your interview day. If you just sit there quietly no one will get to know you. It's to your benefit and the program's if candidates ask questions about the program, the city, and other things to show you are actually interested in learning about what it'd be like to be a resident at program X.

 

[MirkoCrocop]

One piece of uncolicited advice to all applicants: for the love of pearl, talk on your interview day. If you just sit there quietly no one will get to know you. It's to your benefit and the program's if candidates ask questions about the program, the city, and other things to show you are actually interested in learning about what it'd be like to be a resident at program X.

amen to that -- being friendly and showing you can socialize to some extent goes a long way

 

[Euchromatin]

for the love of pearl, talk on your interview day. If you just sit there quietly no one will get to know you. It's to your benefit and the program's if candidates ask questions about the program, the city, and other things to show you are actually interested in learning about what it'd be like to be a resident at program X.

I couldn't agree more. Even if you've already collected all the relevant info you want about the program from the website, a prior rotation, interviews earlier in the day, etc., find something (even non-pathology topics or hobbies or something!) to talk with the residents about when you are given time to interact with them. I'm not saying you have to obnoxiously chatter to the point that no silences are allowed to occur (or ask questions you already know the answers to), but people that don't say much tend to seem uninterested.

To address your question about sub-i month interviewing: My med school gave us fewer days on sub-i months vs. elective months to use for possible interviewing (I think it was 2 or 3 vs 5, respectively) to discourage us. I think the most important issue would be whether you care about your sub-i grade or not. Given that your sub-i is late in interview season, and the fact that most path programs could care less what your sub-i grade was, it probably doesn't matter. If you were trying for honors, you probably shouldn't take lots of interview days off when other students/residents on the service will have to cover for you.

I wouldn't worry too much specifically about whether the sub-i is at the same program that you want to go to for residency. I think it is unlikely that the surgeons or internal medicine docs (or whoever you do the sub-i with) would know the pathologists well enough to even mention you to them unless you do something drastically out of the ordinary (good or bad), or that they would care where you were interviewing that day.

 

[KCShaw]

(snip) One piece of uncolicited advice to all applicants: for the love of pearl, talk on your interview day. If you just sit there quietly no one will get to know you. It's to your benefit and the program's if candidates ask questions about the program, the city, and other things to show you are actually interested in learning about what it'd be like to be a resident at program X.

👍

If you're the type that has a hard time doing this, take some time to think up some open ended questions, and feel free to repeat many of them to the different people you meet throughout the day and of course the interview season. Cruise their website for program-specific questions. Ask not only things about the program, but about the city/region, things they -- and you -- like to do away from work, etc.

You were offered an interview because the program felt that on paper you might be a fit with them. The interview is your chance to get to know them personally, and vice versa. If you don't make an effort to actually do that, then it's pretty much wasted time.

 

[mlw03]

another piece of unsolicited advice for those about to start interviewing. ask about board pass rates for the programs. i think you'll see discrepant numbers, and in my opinion, the single most important thing towards passing the boards is good residency training. and by that i mean actually spending time at the microscope or reading and NOT being a gross room puppy. the board pass rate for my program has been quite high, and i think that's because we get time at the scope with good faculty. also, please, please, please try and find out if the residents are generally happy. i also think that's very important.

 

[BU Pathology]

It is entirely appropriate to ask about where the residents get fellowships, and where the fellows get jobs.

 

[Euchromatin]

It is entirely appropriate to ask about where the residents get fellowships, and where the fellows get jobs.

This is definitely important. I made a point of asking the PD these questions at EVERY interview. Everyone was more than willing to share where their residents went for fellowships (this was often listed on the website, even). However, I was very surprised that the majority of PDs totally dodged the question about where their prior residents (and/or fellows) actually ended up working. It seemed like intentional evasion in a few cases and some of the others claimed they didn't know/had lost track of former residents when they left for fellowships.

 

[mlw03]

that answer would make me nervous, especially in a small residency program. agree, good idea to ask about eventual job placement.

This is definitely important. I made a point of asking the PD these questions at EVERY interview. Everyone was more than willing to share where their residents went for fellowships (this was often listed on the website, even). However, I was very surprised that the majority of PDs totally dodged the question about where their prior residents (and/or fellows) actually ended up working. It seemed like intentional evasion in a few cases and some of the others claimed they didn't know/had lost track of former residents when they left for fellowships.

 

[kruppe]

that answer would make me nervous, especially in a small residency program. agree, good idea to ask about eventual job placement.

Where and what fellowships the residents get would be more important I think because job placements are usually facilitated by the fellowship program rather than the residency.

 

[Entgegen]

You may need to phrase the question differently depending on whether the program has a lot of in-house fellowships or not...asking about job placement would make sense if the program has lots of its own fellowships.

 

[KCShaw]

A lot of programs lose track of their residents after they head off for fellowship. Some go out of their way to get back in touch, or they hear rumors, etc. So while it might be a bit of a red flag if the program is acting dodgy about it, keep in mind they may simply not know and not want to say so. Residents come, residents go, and you spend so much time on the new ones that it can be difficult to keep up with the old ones.