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Good advice all through, but I would definitely treat it more as a social outing than a business dinner. Just don't act like a weirdo or get hammered. And you can have a beer. I think 2 or 3 of my interviews last year were at breweries/bars.
That being said, the residents do discuss the interview dinner with the resident selection committee.
Agreed. There's nothing wrong with having "a" drink if it's not a dry event unless none of the residents are having one. Don't order three. Don't go out drinking afterward. There's nothing wrong with being "boisterous" or asking lots of questions either so long as you can do it in a conversational, fun to have on the team way rather than an obnoxious or pushy way. The worst dinners have been where applicants mum up and it's like pulling teeth -- the ones who have lots to ask and are genuinely curious and social at these events do best. I do agree that these events are not the time to try and break the bank and order the most expensive thing on the menu. Have your steak and lobster dinner on your own dime. This isn't about wining and dining you, it's about getting you in a social setting so the residents can see if you are someone they can get along with and vice versa-- you'll be working in the trenches with these people a looong time.
I again would echo some of the statements above, that this is actually an important part of the interview process at a LOT of places, both for you to get some candid information about the program, and some of the personalities you might be working with for te next few years, and because the residents are absolutely going to weigh in on who they liked or disliked and the PD is going to take that very seriously and it will affect how he and the committee rank people. At many programs the chief resident is part if that committee and they show up with the input from their resident colleagues as to who they want or don't want. No PD is going to rank someone he thought he liked in his brief interview if the residents say he was a jerk at the dinner, and you'd be surprised how high someone's stock will rise with the committee if the residents all thought that someone was great.
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