Pimping during interviews

[drlee]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I had an interview where the chairman and the vice chairman pimped me on random cases during separate interviews. I left feeling crappy and had doubts about the program. It's a smaller program in New York where most of the resident's are indian FMG's. Should I rank this program? IS this a bad sign for the comraderie, or lack thereof, for the program?

 

[doc_strange2001]

Was it Westchester?

 

[bdd115]

I would say it's not a great sign. I'm early in the interview process (4 anesth interviews and 1 ty interview). Only one of them pimped me and I do think it sort of sets the tone for a place. I am not going to totally exclude them just because of it though. You've gotta weigh other factors like resident happiness.

 

[ryanbeckworth]

I think that being pimped during an interview is pretty lame because most of us will not have much anesthesia knowledge at this point. If you're pimped about some moral/ethical issue, that's fine, because they want to know "who" they're potentially getting. But asking stuff about medicine is typically not done unless you're at a nasty program.

 

[bdd115]

Where all have people been pimped or had stress interviews? Yale was the only place for me (it wasn't horrible but definitely was a completely different tone from what I'd been used to)

🙄

 

[drlard]

I've notice that it is the "lesser" programs that pimp. I was pimped during an interview and will not rank the program because of this. I think pimping is totally unacceptable and is not a good sign.

 

[Gas]

I got pimped at one of my 12 or so interviews: UPenn. They gave me a patient, some history, and then asked me to devise an anesthetic plan. On top of that, they asked how I would manage various intraoperative and postoperative complications.

They also spent much time bashing the other Philly programs, which I thought was quite low. I still ranked it because it's UPenn, but it ended up far lower on my rank list than I originally thought and in retrospect I am glad I did not match there. My advice is to stay away from programs that pimp - there are plenty of places out there that give you great training without that malignant and stuffy attitude.

 

[dukeybootie]

I got pimped at UCLA and Beth Israel, although the latter was definitely more "incidental" pimping. The interviewer was quite friendly, actually stopped himself and said "...wait a minute, why am I asking you these questions. I never pimp on interviews." So that was kind of funny. Have heard similar stories from Penn and Yale which were definitely more complex situations/questions than I got at UCLA.

I must say though, I don't think there is anything wrong with some mild, beginner level pimping (as long as it's not condescending or mean-spirited). It is a job interview, after all. Bottom line being, the interviews I disliked had everything to do with interviewer attitude and nothing to do with pimping.

Just my opinion. 😎

 

[Himanshusingh]

What did you consider to be 'light' pimping at UCLA? What kind of questions exactly did you get?

 

[kickazzz2000]

Originally posted by drlee
I had an interview where the chairman and the vice chairman pimped me on random cases during separate interviews. I left feeling crappy and had doubts about the program. It's a smaller program in New York where most of the resident's are indian FMG's. Should I rank this program? IS this a bad sign for the comraderie, or lack thereof, for the program?

sounds like maimo 🙄

 

[doc_strange2001]

I hope I never get pimped on an interview because I dont know shat!!

 

[drlee]

yep it is maimonides...

 

[kickazzz2000]

I got pimped at rochester. I felt kinda bad, partly because I was not expecting it, and partly because the pimping began soon after the "why st. georges question." However, as it turns out, EVERYBODY got pimped that day by the same interviewer. Funny thing is the cheif resident said that he was very surprised and that this never happens...oh well.

 

[ketafol]

Anyone have any recent stories of pimping on interviews? Is it still going on and where? I read about the incident at U Rochester. I will be there in the next few weeks. Just wondering if I should bust out Miller and memorize that in the next week!

 

[badgas]

SLU pimped a little bit

 

[jennyboo]

Approach it with a smile and take the opportunity to show you have a brain and can think on your feet (even if you don't know all the answers).

I don't know about this program in New York, but I got asked basic science and clinical questions at Yale (I had to know the side effects of diabetes and to know what "rapid sequence induction" means compared to non-rapid sequence) and MGH (had to know all of BRS Physiology). I didn't know all the answers, but as I found out from other applicants, neither did they. Do think aloud (respectably) to show your thought process. If you don't know, try to show what you're thinking but ultimately don't be afraid to admit "I don't know." (That's sometimes considered a good quality. Hedging can look bad.)

Also, the presence of pimping doesn't say that much about the atmosphere of the program when you're working there. They use that opportunity to screen you not only for knowledge but for behavior.

 

[jennyboo]

duplicate post deleted

 

[ketafol]

SLU pimped a little bit

Any tips?

 

[chicamedica]

I got pimped at Penn. I didn't think it was that bad. The interviewer had me present a case i'd come across on my anesthesia rotations, andthen asked me some questions, some i got right some i got wrong. . .I guess i could have gotten more stressed about it, but as someone said, I didn't think we were expected to know everything about anesthesiology at this point. Hearing what ppl are saying about it being a bad sign about a program I guess I'm glad i didn't match there. Thinking back, things did seem a bit uptight there. The residents were great though. Great bunch. Great training too.

 

[badgas]

Any tips?

Sorry that was actually a joke. I did get pimped... on my hobbies. It may have been a little TOO laid back for me since we barely talked about the program or anything that should help them get to know what kind of applicants we are. I really think that their notes on the applicant consists of one line. "is applicant half normal? check yes or no"

 

[WorldsBestNinja]

I noticed that someone back in 2003 had a bad experience at maimo interview. So I just wanted to tell you they have a brand new chairman, Dr. Konstadt (he wrote the cadiac anesthesia textbook), and a new vice-chair, Dr. Feierman. I think they both came from Sinai. They are both very laid back and did not pimp at all during the interview. The only Qs were 'why anesthesia' and 'why maimo'. The residents consist of FMGs and carribean grads, DOs, and US MDs. The residents work really hard and learn a lot. They all seemed very satisfied with the program. They are very strong in OB, peds, and Cardiac. They are also expanding in pain and regional anesthesia -- they just got new attendings in those specialties.
Meals/parking are free only when on-call. They have a separate ambulatory surgery center with brand new equipment and next year they will have brand new general ORs that will replace all the current ORs. So this program is undergoing some changes and improvements. I hope this helps.