I have vacation scheduled between Nov. 11th and Dec. 31st, but I have a core pediatrics clerkship beginning on Jan. 1st. Do you think this will leave me enough time for interviews? Do you have any general strategies that you used in scheduling interviews? I would guess it's hard to really strategize because we don't know where we're interviewing.
scheduling interviews
- Thread starter echod
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That peds rotation will be a problem. Most places have a small number of dates usually a couple in November or December and one or two in jan. it's hard to do more than 8 ortho 10 befor jan and that's really optimistic. You should be interviewing almost full time at least part of January. If anything you should have an easy elective that gives more time. I'm not saying it can't work out but it will make life hard on you. Some places just give you a date and if you can't make it that's too bad.
Unfortunately, January is a pretty important month for interviews in rad onc (at least it was last year when i was interviewing)
I had a core rotation scheduled for january (neurology)... and ended up getting a lot of interviews during that month. I was able to attend almost all of them (7 out of 8) because I had approached the course director very early on (like septemberish) :
I explained to her my predicament and how in radiation oncology, you have to schedule many electives and away electives early in the course of your fourth year to build your resume... and that because of this, you had to schedule mandatory clerkships during interview season. I profusely apologized in advance, told her that I would let her know as soon as possible about any interviews scheduled during January, and that I would make every effort to make up any time that I missed (potentially after the clerkship ended if necessary). I cc/ed the letter to my advisors in the deans office.
Everything worked out (aside from having to work on a few weekends). I think that most course directors are reasonable people and they realize that interviewing for residencies is ultimately one of the most important steps in your career. That being said, they also believe that learning what they have to teach...i.e. pediatrics or neurology, is also very important (which it is). If you show them respect and a willingness to make up missed days, they are far less likely to prevent you from going on January interviews. Also, a lot of students who make requests of course directors to miss mandatory clerkships due to interviews are being disingenuous. Many students COULD have scheduled vacation time all of interview season (Because fourth year schedules are pretty open) but CHOSE to schedule a mandatory clerkship then, hoping to miss some days on an exhausting clerkship. Part of the reason that I was able to miss so much of my clerkship was because I had shown my clerkship director my schedule so she understood my predicament.
...and most of all, keep in mind. It is a GOOD thing to have more interviews than you can attend.
I had a core rotation scheduled for january (neurology)... and ended up getting a lot of interviews during that month. I was able to attend almost all of them (7 out of 8) because I had approached the course director very early on (like septemberish) :
I explained to her my predicament and how in radiation oncology, you have to schedule many electives and away electives early in the course of your fourth year to build your resume... and that because of this, you had to schedule mandatory clerkships during interview season. I profusely apologized in advance, told her that I would let her know as soon as possible about any interviews scheduled during January, and that I would make every effort to make up any time that I missed (potentially after the clerkship ended if necessary). I cc/ed the letter to my advisors in the deans office.
Everything worked out (aside from having to work on a few weekends). I think that most course directors are reasonable people and they realize that interviewing for residencies is ultimately one of the most important steps in your career. That being said, they also believe that learning what they have to teach...i.e. pediatrics or neurology, is also very important (which it is). If you show them respect and a willingness to make up missed days, they are far less likely to prevent you from going on January interviews. Also, a lot of students who make requests of course directors to miss mandatory clerkships due to interviews are being disingenuous. Many students COULD have scheduled vacation time all of interview season (Because fourth year schedules are pretty open) but CHOSE to schedule a mandatory clerkship then, hoping to miss some days on an exhausting clerkship. Part of the reason that I was able to miss so much of my clerkship was because I had shown my clerkship director my schedule so she understood my predicament.
...and most of all, keep in mind. It is a GOOD thing to have more interviews than you can attend.
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Just wanted to add a few things (Agree with all of the above about January being an important month and on the importance of being respectful to the rotation directors!)
I picked up some tips for interview scheduling that I thought I'd share here!
1) If you don't have a smartphone, get one before September, and set your email up to push.
2) Get a google account, and use the calendar app to keep track of your interview dates.
3) Get interviews and do the following: Brief 10 second celebration, then check your calendar to see which dates you are free on, then call the coordinator to schedule your interview.
4) Always schedule for the first available date. This was crucial to me scheduling 19 interviews with only two conflicts. Many people scheduled for the middle date and then got hosed when other December interviews came out.
5) I can stress the timing of the call to schedule enough! Near the beginning I waited an hour (didnt get the invite cause I didn't have cell signal) and only one date was left. I heard from coordinators that they would use the restroom and then hit send on the invite because they would be sitting at the phone non-stop for an hour. I believe at MD Anderson every date is full within 2 hours.
Generally speaking the earlier the invite the earlier the dates, so it works out pretty well. November dates are your best friend if you want to get 15 interviews in, you almost have to knock out a few in November. Also, don't forget about TYs. Get as many of those done in September/October as you can!! I was done with TY interviews, except for 2, by the end of October which is another reason I was able to get so many interview in.
Finally, be prepared for some super complicated scheduling. I had 5 interviews in 6 days in December. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. So rest up, because December and January are crazy.
I picked up some tips for interview scheduling that I thought I'd share here!
1) If you don't have a smartphone, get one before September, and set your email up to push.
2) Get a google account, and use the calendar app to keep track of your interview dates.
3) Get interviews and do the following: Brief 10 second celebration, then check your calendar to see which dates you are free on, then call the coordinator to schedule your interview.
4) Always schedule for the first available date. This was crucial to me scheduling 19 interviews with only two conflicts. Many people scheduled for the middle date and then got hosed when other December interviews came out.
5) I can stress the timing of the call to schedule enough! Near the beginning I waited an hour (didnt get the invite cause I didn't have cell signal) and only one date was left. I heard from coordinators that they would use the restroom and then hit send on the invite because they would be sitting at the phone non-stop for an hour. I believe at MD Anderson every date is full within 2 hours.
Generally speaking the earlier the invite the earlier the dates, so it works out pretty well. November dates are your best friend if you want to get 15 interviews in, you almost have to knock out a few in November. Also, don't forget about TYs. Get as many of those done in September/October as you can!! I was done with TY interviews, except for 2, by the end of October which is another reason I was able to get so many interview in.
Finally, be prepared for some super complicated scheduling. I had 5 interviews in 6 days in December. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. So rest up, because December and January are crazy.
