taking notes & interviews

[SLUsagar]

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I've heard it's kinda helpful if you have jotted down some ?'s you wanna ask faculty/residents during interviews.

AND i've heard (and agree) that you really shouldn't take notes/replies to your questions when interviewing w/faculty.

BUT,


what do you say to taking notes/replies to ?'s when talking w/residents???

I mean i don't wanna seem like some Hugh Jass loser and write down every word they reply...but at the same time if i talk to bunch of residents often asking them similar questions, i'll wanna remember their indiv. responses. ADVICE? 😕 😕 😕

 

[cytoborg]

Hmm, I would say hold off on the mad scribbling until the end of the day. Trying to whip out your pad in the middle of a conversation might be distracting and awkward, and might even make you appear dorky (and we path people are much too smooth for that, right? 😉 ). Just keep your mind and ears open, soak it all up, and on the plane ride home regurgitate as much as possible prior to your next interview.

 

[yaah]

Programs will provide you with a lot of material, and you won't have to write down tons of things. Things that you might want to write down like resident's phone numbers, important websites, etc, is fine. But yeah, you don't want to be sitting in an interview saying, "wait, hold on a sec, I have to write that down."

And cytoborg is right, you will retain important stuff for a few hours so that you can write it down after you are finished - if it is something that is going to impact your decision, you will likely retain that info, or at least the gyst of it. If you still can't remember, then you can email a resident or the PD afterwards, they are always happy to clarify things.

 

[Doctor B.]

Hmm, I would say hold off on the mad scribbling until the end of the day. Trying to whip out your pad in the middle of a conversation might be distracting and awkward, and might even make you appear dorky (and we path people are much too smooth for that, right? 😉 ). Just keep your mind and ears open, soak it all up, and on the plane ride home regurgitate as much as possible prior to your next interview.

Agreed. After each interview, I sat in the car with my notedpad and jotted down things I wanted to rememer. I also had a typed list of questions that I referred to during my interviews ('cause my memory is sh**te under pressure unfortunately) and would fill in the answers to those when the day was done. I wouldn't pull out the notepad and starting jotting when talking to residents though; it'd be a little weird.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

I have a hard time writing and listening at the same time. If I were permitted to take notes, I could see myself jotting down one point while the next point flew over my head (which is why I could never go to med school classes).

I can see that during interviews there is a lot of information to absorb. Unfortunately for me, I have a poor attention span and a poor memory which is a very bad combination. Personally, I would try to just listen and absorb as much as possible by conversing with the faculty and residents....and then after the interview, like Doctor B said, jot down stuff like mad.

Anyways, since different people pick up on different things, I figure it was a good idea to have the Interview experiences thread...people could post different things about any given program 🙂

 

[yaah]

I have a hard time writing and listening at the same time. If I were permitted to take notes, I could see myself jotting down one point while the next point flew over my head (which is why I could never go to med school classes).

I can see that during interviews there is a lot of information to absorb. Unfortunately for me, I have a poor attention span and a poor memory which is a very bad combination. Personally, I would try to just listen and absorb as much as possible by conversing with the faculty and residents....and then after the interview, like Doctor B said, jot down stuff like mad.

Anyways, since different people pick up on different things, I figure it was a good idea to have the Interview experiences thread...people could post different things about any given program 🙂

What was that? I wasn't paying attention. 😛 😛 😉 😉

I, for one, do not absorb material. I adsorb it.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

What was that? I wasn't paying attention. 😛 😛 😉 😉

I, for one, do not absorb material. I adsorb it.

😡 🙁 👎

 

[Mrbojangles]

Man oh man. I've been taking notes all this time during my interviews and now I'm finding out that that's dorky 😕 and even loserly 😱 . My first two interviews I would ask the faculty interviewers if it's OK to take notes at the beginning of the interview and all of them had no problem with it. So for my third interview I just assumed that it would be OK. I have a bad memory especially when talking to several people back to back (no wonder I would mix up my patients on the wards ). I probably would remember the important points but admittedly I don't want to miss any minutia. I have the ability to write notes without looking at my handwriting too much. But I do sometimes lose what the interviewer would be saying when I'm scribbling but not too much, but it hasn't gotten me in trouble. I don't copy what the residents say during lunch or in an informal environment. But immediately after I try regurgitating everything that they say.

So taking notes during an interview is a real no-no?

 

[SLUsagar]

Man oh man. I've been taking notes all this time during my interviews and now I'm finding out that that's dorky 😕 and even loserly 😱 . My first two interviews I would ask the faculty interviewers if it's OK to take notes at the beginning of the interview and all of them had no problem with it. So for my third interview I just assumed that it would be OK. I have a bad memory especially when talking to several people back to back (no wonder I would mix up my patients on the wards ). I probably would remember the important points but admittedly I don't want to miss any minutia. I have the ability to write notes without looking at my handwriting too much. But I do sometimes lose what the interviewer would be saying when I'm scribbling but not too much, but it hasn't gotten me in trouble. I don't copy what the residents say during lunch or in an informal environment. But immediately after I try regurgitating everything that they say.

So taking notes during an interview is a real no-no?

i think what you'd be doing is fine bojangles 👍 ...i mean esp if you asked the interviewer ahead of time. I wouldn't worry one bit. Plus, you're bigpimping if you can jot done notes w/o really needing to look at the sheet. Me, if i did that it'd like a seismograph's 8.2 Richter scale.

 

[Mrbojangles]

i think what you'd be doing is fine bojangles 👍 ...i mean esp if you asked the interviewer ahead of time. I wouldn't worry one bit. Plus, you're bigpimping if you can jot done notes w/o really needing to look at the sheet. Me, if i did that it'd like a seismograph's 8.2 Richter scale.

Occasionally I'll take a look in case my handwriting becomes disproportionately large or if it starts rolling like 8.2 Richter seismograph 😉.

 

[cytoborg]

To play devil's advocate to my previous post, note-taking could be interpreted as interest in what the person is saying which could be flattering to the interviewer, and show that you pay attention to detail which is a good thing in a pathologist. I'm not doing it...but then again, I'm a slacker. 😀 Do whatever works for you!

 

[b&ierstiefel]

Hey, what about using one of those hand-held tape recorders?

 

[deschutes]

Hey, what about using one of those hand-held tape recorders?

I dare you.

 

[Pookies]

I was thinking of getting one of those Dave Chappelle home stenographer kits to take on my interviews.

 

[PFCortex]

ok

I dare you.