Popular Questions on Interviews

[Loves_Chai]

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One question I get asked on a few interviews that stumps me is: So what do you have to offer our program?

What is a great way to go about tackling this sort of question? In asking this question what are interviewers looking for?







Also what are some other difficult questions you have gotten at interviews?

 

[doc_strange2001]

If you were the dean at your medical school what would you change?

 

[Samir Desai]

One question I get asked on a few interviews that stumps me is: So what do you have to offer our program?

What is a great way to go about tackling this sort of question? In asking this question what are interviewers looking for?

This is a variation of the question "Why should I hire you?" or "Why should we take you instead of the other applicants who are applying for the position?". Some of the keys to answering this question include being knowledgeable about what the program is looking for in a resident and conveying something compelling about yourself that highlights your qualifications and interest. In particular, focus on anything that sets you apart from other applicants or makes you unique. If you are having difficulty coming up with anything, you might consider reiterating your strengths (if you have already shared them with the interviewer). If you decide to do so, instead of just saying "I'm hard working, team player, ...", back it up with some examples. What often impresses people is when you talk about observations others have made about your work and strengths.

If you were the dean at your medical school what would you change?

Every medical school has its strengths and weaknesses. I'm sure there are many things that each of us would like to change about our medical school. Some of us may feel very strongly about certain aspects of our med school experience. You must refrain, however, from talking negatively about your med school. If you do speak negatively about your school, the interviewer may conclude that you would do the same when asked about your residency after you have completed your training. Residency program directors understandably want their graduates to sing the program's praises.

At the same time, you cannot answer this question by saying "I was completely happy with my med school. There is nothing I would change". How many people would believe that?

Instead, pick something relatively benign to bring up. Maybe your med school can do a better job of providing basic science students with exposures to clinical medicine. Of course, almost every medical school could do a better job in this area. Your interviewer will certainly recognize that. After you bring it up, why not say something like the faculty/Deans are responsive to student concerns like these and are constantly trying to improve upon what is already a solid educational experience. You've avoided anything that sounds negative and you have put your med school in a good light.

Hope this helps,

Samir Desai, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine

 

[Galaxian]

any questions?

 

[DrQuinn]

Hello, how are you doing today?

Q, DO

 

[Hop Toad]

Is anyone else not being asked any questions? My interviewers just want to chat about nothing much. I'd rather have some questions to answer to fill in the 20 minutes.

 

[avendesora]

Originally posted by Galaxian
any questions?

After nine interviews, this is the one that I have really come to dread. After a two hour dinner with residents, powerpoint presentations outlining the program, and folders full of vital statistics, it's really hard to come up with interesting questions when the actual interviews are at the end of the day. It's almost as if they want to see if you can carry a 20/30/45 minute conversation 🙂

 

[tussy]

In one gen surg interview i had i was asked "what is the blood supply to the stomach?" This came as the second question after "hi how are you today". It threw me off a little, but luckily i knew the answer so i didn't get too flustered.

 

[DrQuinn]

For EM, one that apparently got a lot of people was:

"What does EMTALA stand for and what does it mean?"

Luckily, I worked as a paralegal during medical school, so I knew this...

I never liked the "Why do you want to come here" questions mainly because as a DO, I felt I was the underdog in applications, so I clicked 40+ programs on ERAS... ended up getting more than enough interviews, but still went on a few "safety" programs. Didn't want to tell them "I REALLY want to come to bumfu$$ Pennsylvania because I didnt' think I'd match anywhere."

Q, DO

 

[Asher]

The most popular questions have been "Do you have any questions?" and "Why did you apply to our program?"

The most difficult questions have been
- You seem smart. Why did you choose to go to such an unprestigious undergrad and med school?
- Why didn't you continue to do research? (They didn't seem appeased by the fact I had completed my research project and classes had resumed.)
- Are you married? (Other illegal variations included comments on my not wearing a ring, asking if I planned to bring a partner with me, do I have to consider finding a job for my spouse, do you need to know about the quality of the school system for your children? etc.)

 

[HamSandwich]

my favorite so far....

"how can i help you today?"

ummmm you know i am here for an interview, right?

 

[ckent]

90% of my interviews began with "do you have any questions". This is the stupidest, laziest question that an interviewer can ask IMO, because it does nothing to gauge the applicant or tell you anything about the applicant, and it serves no purpose because 99% of the questions applicants have (call schedule, team structure, hours, etc), the faculty member either doesn't know or the applicant would not ask an interviewer that question for fear of looking bad or looking like he or she didn't research the program. I'm so glad that I'm done with all of my interviews, towards the end I was getting fed up and just saying "I've already gotten most of my questions answered" and just seeing what happened from there. If I ever become an interviewer, I'm actually going to ask my interviewee some real questions or at least pimp them a little on medical knowledge. If someone says that they want to be an ID specialist, but they still don't know which antibiotic you should start for something like neutropenic fever or cellulitis, then you might start to wonder whether or not their high clinical grades came mostly from social skills versus clinical skills.

 

[squeek]

"What should I ask you?"--that one stumped me.
"What won't I like about you after I get to know you?"--that one made me mad.
"What have you done to distinguish yourself in medical school?"
"Why should we take you?"
"Why Baltimore?"
"So tell me about your five-foot fiberglass fish!"

 

[HamSandwich]

Originally posted by ckent
90% of my interviews began with "do you have any questions". This is the stupidest, laziest question that an interviewer can ask IMO, because it does nothing to gauge the applicant or tell you anything about the applicant, and it serves no purpose because 99% of the questions applicants have (call schedule, team structure, hours, etc), the faculty member either doesn't know or the applicant would not ask an interviewer that question for fear of looking bad or looking like he or she didn't research the program. I'm so glad that I'm done with all of my interviews, towards the end I was getting fed up and just saying "I've already gotten most of my questions answered" and just seeing what happened from there. If I ever become an interviewer, I'm actually going to ask my interviewee some real questions or at least pimp them a little on medical knowledge. If someone says that they want to be an ID specialist, but they still don't know which antibiotic you should start for something like neutropenic fever or cellulitis, then you might start to wonder whether or not their high clinical grades came mostly from social skills versus clinical skills.

most of my interviews have started with this question. it is so annoying. however, i had an interview last friday with four different people at one program and i actually had *conversations* with each of them! aside from the program being awesome, that just was the cherry on top and will be ranked no. 1 because of the awesome faculty. hello to all the interviewers out there...it really does matter.

 

[sanfilippo]

When you're asked "Do you have any questions?" at the end of a really well-run interview day, you kinda want to hit yourself in the head. I mean, I honestly could not come up with anything that the residents did not manage to cover throughout the day.

I think most interviews for me have fallen into drawn-out conversations. I guess the worst question I had a tough time answering was, "Tell me what you learned about in the most recent journal article you have read." This was the follow-up to "Do you subscribe to any journals?"

I wish people would ask more clinical questions, but that's not the case. After all this, I keep asking myself how do they genuinely end up ranking people if the interviews just come across as perfunctory conversations about mundane topics...I mean, it makes it non-stressful, but then you wonder how it plays a significant role in the whole ranking process.

Any insights?

-S.

 

[lurkerboy]

My favorite (from my 1st interview, no less) was: "tell me what do your letters say?"

 

[ckent]

Originally posted by sanfilippo
When you're asked "Do you have any questions?" at the end of a really well-run interview day, you kinda want to hit yourself in the head. I mean, I honestly could not come up with anything that the residents did not manage to cover throughout the day.

I think most interviews for me have fallen into drawn-out conversations. I guess the worst question I had a tough time answering was, "Tell me what you learned about in the most recent journal article you have read." This was the follow-up to "Do you subscribe to any journals?"

I wish people would ask more clinical questions, but that's not the case. After all this, I keep asking myself how do they genuinely end up ranking people if the interviews just come across as perfunctory conversations about mundane topics...I mean, it makes it non-stressful, but then you wonder how it plays a significant role in the whole ranking process.

Any insights?

-S.

See, that's what I think is the weird part. Most programs only end up ranking half of the people that they interview, if that, so at some point, between the secretary looking over your file and deciding your numbers are good enough to interview and you actually showing up for your interview and "asking questions" during your interview, they decide whether or not to rank you. I suspect that they already have somewhat of an idea of where you will fall on their rank list numerical-wise based on your CV and numbers, but the decision to actually rank you or not to rank you seems to me to be largely based on your interview.