Questions to Ask and Not to Ask at an Interview

[drbon]

I just want to see what kinds of questions applicants ask program directors when given the opportunity at an interview. I'll start with a couple:
1. What percentage of your residents decide to go onto fellowship?
2. How available are attendings for teaching sessions? or How often do residents get exposed to teaching rounds per week?

I also want to know what's taboo. Example: Iserson's Guide to Getting a Residency says NOT to ask about on-site or subsidized childcare at an interview. This is important to me and I was going to ask about it, but now I'm scared that I shouldn't. What does everyone think?

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[NotAProgDirector]

This thread is an SDN classic on this topic.

Iserson's is full of so much BS it makes me ill that they continue to sell it and make money.

 

[drbon]

This thread is an SDN classic on this topic.

Iserson's is full of so much BS it makes me ill that they continue to sell it and make money.

so does that mean inquiring about on-site childcare operating hours and wait-lists is ok? of course, it would be one of the last questions i ask....after all the academic stuff

 

[Doowai]

I think a more appropriate answer to #37 is : should I date my instructors. Classmates are a given.

 

[gutonc]

so does that mean inquiring about on-site childcare operating hours and wait-lists is ok? of course, it would be one of the last questions i ask....after all the academic stuff

At the most, you should ask about the presence of an on-site daycare and if there's a subsidy available and you should ask this in the general orientation session in the morning or privately of the prog coord. The chances that one of your interviewers knows or even cares about this stuff is slim. During your interview day, you will get to meet w/ lots of different people in lots of different positions. Target your questions accordingly. Don't ask the Dept chair about daycare, don't ask the prog coord about how well the house staff get along and don't ask other residents about faculty recruitment, ask people questions they know and care about.

 

[fantasty]

Isn't the daycare question included in Frieda?

 

[drbon]

Isn't the daycare question included in Frieda?

yes but some programs don't have that information listed, only contact info

 

[fantasty]

I've been told repeatedly to NOT ask anything during the interviews that is something you could easily find out online or from another source.

 

[Top Gun]

I also want to know what's taboo. Example: Iserson's Guide to Getting a Residency says NOT to ask about on-site or subsidized childcare at an interview. This is important to me and I was going to ask about it, but now I'm scared that I shouldn't. What does everyone think?

The chairman or program director might not be the appropriate person to go to with this question. However, you could try asking a resident. There are probably at least a few residents with kids at each of the residency programs, so this is the kind of issue that would be important to them.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

so does that mean inquiring about on-site childcare operating hours and wait-lists is ok? of course, it would be one of the last questions i ask....after all the academic stuff

As gutonc mentioned above, it's a great question for the program administrator / coordinator.

 

[drbon]

thanks for all the advice guys...i guess once i go on my first interview next week i'll be slightly less clueless as to how these things work

i didn't mean for this thread to get hijacked and turned into a daycare discussion though! if anyone has anything to add to the original question, good questions to ask on your interview, please do...i'm sure there are important things that not everyone has thought about that would be nice to ask on interview day!

 

[zeloc]

This thread is an SDN classic on this topic.

Iserson's is full of so much BS it makes me ill that they continue to sell it and make money.

I think that the original poster was asking for questions to ask interviewers, not questions to be asked of the interviewees. But that's a great thread on interview questions, thanks for posting it.

 

[Bitsy3221]

You will be expected to ask questions during your individual interviews, but realize that many of the things that you might ask will already be answered during the "program presentation" they usually give before you break off for interviews (fellowship placement, 80 hr work week compliance, benefits package, research funding, etc), so you have to be prepared.

Some asked along the way:
How is the department funded?
How do you evaluate your residents?
How do your residents provide feedback to your faculty?
If you could change one thing about this department tomorrow, what would it be? (a nice spin on the "what is the weakest part of your program" questions)
What major faculty/curriculum changes do you forsee over the next five years?
Would you like to be a resident in this department? (Amazingly, someone said no!)

Another thing I found helpful was to read the "news" section of the program's website before the interview; you can incorporate new changes posted there into your questions (i.e. "I saw that there will be a new imaging center opening next year. Are there any plans to redistribute residents to rotate there?" or "How will the new affiliation with XYZ Community Hopital affect resident education?)

 

[AsherAysh]

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