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- Jan 27, 2005
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Hello:
I can sense the heightened excitement of the upcoming match. I can't believe it's already been a year since I was in your shoes. There are 2 sub-Is on my team right now, both applying ophtho and needless to say they have questions for me every single day. I wanted to share a couple of things with all of you:
1. i think the ophtho interview is a bit different than the medical shool one. i bet dr. doan can give more specifics because he did a lot of them, but from my perspective they didn't spend a lot of time asking me "why do you want to be an ophthlamologist?" most of you will have already answered that in your personal statement. rather be prepared for the first question out of the majority of interviewers mouths to be, "so what can I tell you about blank program (wilmer or UCLA or U of Chicago, etc)?" you'll find that the majority of the interview is based more upon the program selling itself to you, than you selling yourself to the program (totally opposite of medical school interviews). another question you'll get form a lot of places is "so what's it going to take to get you to come to our program rather than your home one (as if you were already guaranteed a spot at both 😉 ). so do a little research on the programs before you go to the interview. i used to search their web page for a few minutes the night before at the hotel and try to think of a few intelligent questions above and beyond "so how many cataract surgeries do your residents do? or are your residents happy here?" . and be prepared for a whirlwind day. you'll interview with A LOT of people usually between 5-6 on average. but above all, relax, i only had one malignant interviewer, most people in ophtho are chill, right? that's why we did ophtho over g-surg.
2. thank-yous. i am a believer in thank-you notes...at the programs you are serious about. other people will tell you different, but the thought crosses most peoples minds. now, if you are interviewing with 5-6 people, it's hard to remember everyone you interviewed with. and it's a pain to write that volume of notes. the advice i got and what i followed was write one letter, typed, formal, addressed to the program director or department chair simply explaining why you want to go there. some will never read it, some programs put it in your file. it can't hurt.
3. enjoy the next few months, look at it as an opportunity to see parts of the country you have never been to before. cleveland is a rather nice city and i can say that i've been to oklahoma city and iowa city now!
4. oh yeah, a lot of rumors start flying around on the iterview trail. my advice: tune most of it out and stay calm. i was acutally very sick of talking about ophthalmology residency by december.
5. good luck! it's just a matter of time before your mail boxes get full with those obnoxious form letters from each program saying that your "CAS application is complete and expect a decision about interview by such and such date."
I can sense the heightened excitement of the upcoming match. I can't believe it's already been a year since I was in your shoes. There are 2 sub-Is on my team right now, both applying ophtho and needless to say they have questions for me every single day. I wanted to share a couple of things with all of you:
1. i think the ophtho interview is a bit different than the medical shool one. i bet dr. doan can give more specifics because he did a lot of them, but from my perspective they didn't spend a lot of time asking me "why do you want to be an ophthlamologist?" most of you will have already answered that in your personal statement. rather be prepared for the first question out of the majority of interviewers mouths to be, "so what can I tell you about blank program (wilmer or UCLA or U of Chicago, etc)?" you'll find that the majority of the interview is based more upon the program selling itself to you, than you selling yourself to the program (totally opposite of medical school interviews). another question you'll get form a lot of places is "so what's it going to take to get you to come to our program rather than your home one (as if you were already guaranteed a spot at both 😉 ). so do a little research on the programs before you go to the interview. i used to search their web page for a few minutes the night before at the hotel and try to think of a few intelligent questions above and beyond "so how many cataract surgeries do your residents do? or are your residents happy here?" . and be prepared for a whirlwind day. you'll interview with A LOT of people usually between 5-6 on average. but above all, relax, i only had one malignant interviewer, most people in ophtho are chill, right? that's why we did ophtho over g-surg.
2. thank-yous. i am a believer in thank-you notes...at the programs you are serious about. other people will tell you different, but the thought crosses most peoples minds. now, if you are interviewing with 5-6 people, it's hard to remember everyone you interviewed with. and it's a pain to write that volume of notes. the advice i got and what i followed was write one letter, typed, formal, addressed to the program director or department chair simply explaining why you want to go there. some will never read it, some programs put it in your file. it can't hurt.
3. enjoy the next few months, look at it as an opportunity to see parts of the country you have never been to before. cleveland is a rather nice city and i can say that i've been to oklahoma city and iowa city now!
4. oh yeah, a lot of rumors start flying around on the iterview trail. my advice: tune most of it out and stay calm. i was acutally very sick of talking about ophthalmology residency by december.
5. good luck! it's just a matter of time before your mail boxes get full with those obnoxious form letters from each program saying that your "CAS application is complete and expect a decision about interview by such and such date."
