residency interview questions

[The Stone]

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I'm curious to know what kind of questions 4th year students, current residents and practicing Podiatrists where asked in their residency interviews. As a student you here old war stories from professors about the questions they were asked in interviews. But I realize that the few examples we get from a few professors doesn't represent a greater sampling.
So please feel free to add your war stories to this thread to help prepare the up and coming podiatrists.
Ideas can include:
science-based ?s
clinical ?s
social ?s
inappropriate ?s

in addition what are some good quesitons that you asked of residencies?

 

[Ezj391]

I'm curious to know what kind of questions 4th year students, current residents and practicing Podiatrists where asked in their residency interviews. As a student you here old war stories from professors about the questions they were asked in interviews. But I realize that the few examples we get from a few professors doesn't represent a greater sampling.
So please feel free to add your war stories to this thread to help prepare the up and coming podiatrists.
Ideas can include:
science-based ?s
clinical ?s
social ?s
inappropriate ?s

in addition what are some good quesitons that you asked of residencies?

I want to start off by saying that as a GENERAL rule, if you've externed at a place or visited several times they will be easier on you and by being there you will discover what they like to ask.

The type of questions you get also varies on the amount of applicants applying to the program. For example, this year had a very low applicant pool and a much higher number of residency spots. So most of the interviews were social except for the top programs which always have academic interviews.

The typical academic interview goes through a case.
a) history
b) physical
c) diagnosis (labs, x-rays ect.)
d) treatment

Some "interesting" questions I heard were:

1) Dictate an Austin (for those of you who are not familiar with dictation, after every sx case the resident or the surgeon dictates a verbal recap of everything the happened in the sx. )

2) Another place didn't ask any podiatry questions but asked every student internal medicine questions pertaining to the review of systems.

3) A student who didn't visit the program once got a difficult gunshot case with the interviewers constantly interrupting her with ,"why didn't you visit us? Why didn't you visit us?"

The typical cases you will get asked are:

1) Red Hot swollen foot
2) Bunion
3) Lisfranc's dislocation
4) Ankle fractures
5) Diabetic foot ulcer/infection

Some social questions I got were:

What is the last book you read?
Which clinician at your school do you dislike the most?
What can our program inprove upon?
Tell us about a journal article you read?


- 4th year student

 

[krabmas]

I want to start off by saying that as a GENERAL rule, if you've externed at a place or visited several times they will be easier on you and by being there you will discover what they like to ask.


Are the social questions followed up with why?

like what about the clinician do you like?
why did you choose the book or why did you like it....?
or do they just want a one word answer?

The cases a assume start with "patient presents with....." and then we work up the case?

 

[dpmgrad]

The cases a assume start with "patient presents with....." and then we work up the case?

There are a variety of types of academic questions. The previous posting by ezj391 have revealed several of them, such as dictating a procedure. The purpose of this is to demonstrate your knowledge of the procedure. The two type of academic questions that are more commonly encountered are 1. Case Workups and 2. Random questions. They can cover podiatric topics or internal medicine topics.

For case workups, it is exactly what you had said, "patient presents with ...." and you are asked to work up the case. As Ezj391 alluded to in his posting, it involves the student going through history and physical exam of the patient. The student then selects various diagnostic modalities. Next, student formulates a differential diagnosis and then narrow it down to a diagnosis based on the diagnostic test results. Lastly, the student formulates a treatment plan based on the diagnosis. In his posting, Ezj391 also included a list of some of the podiatry topics that are commonly covered in case workups. In the externship program at my residency program, I work with students on this since many students have trouble with this type of question. If anyone have questions as to how to approach this type of question, feel free to send me a private message.

For random questions, it involves the interviewer asking random questions about various topics in podiatry and medicine. This can range from rapid fire questions to occasional random academic question throughout the interview.

 

[Ezj391]

I want to start off by saying that as a GENERAL rule, if you've externed at a place or visited several times they will be easier on you and by being there you will discover what they like to ask.


Are the social questions followed up with why?

like what about the clinician do you like?
why did you choose the book or why did you like it....?
or do they just want a one word answer?

The cases a assume start with "patient presents with....." and then we work up the case?

Yes, they are followed up with a why. I made sure to pick someone who is universally hated. My answer to the why was "he's a jerk" 🙂

 

[APMAHelp]

Here's another resource for residency questions. You'll have to log on as an APMA member to access this information, but if you are a student and don't know your member number or log in, just contact APMA at 1-800-ASK-APMA. Ask for the membership department and they'll get you started. Good luck.

http://www.apma.org/s_apma/bin.asp?ID=339&DID=16542&DOC=FILE.PDF