Tricky/Unexpected Interview Questions Thread

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mreyno18

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I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread where people can submit some questions they got in interviews that were tricky or they weren’t expecting. I think that could be really helpful for interview preparation!
 
Not super helpful, but I will forever perseverate on the fact that one interviewer asked me about a speeding ticket I received 7 years ago for going <10mph over the speed limit...

Edited bc I don't know what time is anymore. It was 7 years, not 10.
 
You have to disclose speeding tickets? 😳😳
 
Evil questions I would ask as an adcom:

Do you think physicians are overpaid, why or why not?

What role does race play in health care?

Do you have any regrets?

What is your opinion on unions? Should physicians be allowed to form unions? Should they be allowed to strike?

Vaccines are controversial. At what point does patient’s informed consent become less important than public health?

Should a religious parent have the ability to refuse care on behalf of their child, even if it may result in a fatal outcome? Why or why not? How would you deal with such a situation?

Do you think it is appropriate for physicians to recommend abortion? In what cases?
 
One I had a long time ago in an MMI that I still remember: "You are a resident in the hospital who is treating a pediatric patient with heart failure. You are administering a medication your attending indicated and accidently give 10x the intended dose, killing the patient. What do you do now?"
 
Means said:
One I had a long time ago in an MMI that I still remember: "You are a resident in the hospital who is treating a pediatric patient with heart failure. You are administering a medication your attending indicated and accidently give 10x the intended dose, killing the patient. What do you do now?"
Click to expand...

Harvest the organs?
 
Means said:
One I had a long time ago in an MMI that I still remember: "You are a resident in the hospital who is treating a pediatric patient with heart failure. You are administering a medication your attending indicated and accidently give 10x the intended dose, killing the patient. What do you do now?"
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What do you even say to this. Legally isn't there just one answer?
 
Shorjand_U said:
What do you even say to this. Legally isn't there just one answer?
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I guess if you say anything other than "immediately remove myself from clinical activities and report to the appropriate supervising person/authority" then they know not to let you into med school?

The more nuanced version is "you accidentally give too much med/the wrong med, patient seems fine, what do you do?"
 
I’ve never heard of anybody having a stress test type interview but I’m assuming it could happen in an MMI station. But, I think everybody knows it’s MMI interviewers are following a script. I mean, to some people actually get angry/frustrated at MMI interviewers?
 
voxveritatisetlucis said:
I’ve never heard of anybody having a stress test type interview but I’m assuming it could happen in an MMI station. But, I think everybody knows it’s MMI interviewers are following a script. I mean, to some people actually get angry/frustrated at MMI interviewers?
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Stress interviews definitely happen, depending on the school and the interviewer. I've seen them reported on multiple threads, over multiple cycles, both in person and virtual.
 
KnightDoc said:
Stress interviews definitely happen, depending on the school and the interviewer. I've seen them reported on multiple threads, over multiple cycles, both in person and virtual.
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But are they intentional stress interviews or is it more like inadvertent euthanasia, "I've killed patients, but never deliberately."
 
LizzyM said:
But are they intentional stress interviews or is it more like inadvertent euthanasia, "I've killed patients, but never deliberately."
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Intentional. Apparently, some of your peers like to see how people think on their feet and perform under a little pressure.
 
N=1, but I definitely had an interview that was intentionally stressful. Like, they literally warned us that they were going to make it stressful lol
 
KnightDoc said:
some of your peers like to see how people think on their feet and perform under a little pressure.
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I do too but I do it while asking seemingly benign questions. Everyone has an enjoyable time and has no idea that I was voted "Interviewer Least Likely to HIghly Recommend Admission".
 
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iwannabeapod said:
I mean I guess I should know this stuff getting though the MCAT but I was asked about what I learned in biochemistry. He proceeded to quiz me on a metabolic pathway AND asked for every enzyme in between. Totally caught me off guard and I panicked. Goes on to ask me about physiology as well. Not cool. I even tried to admit that I was caught off guard and didn’t have anything committed to memory at the moment and he continued pushing it 😅

Another interviewer asked why I transferred out of a school that I went to for a brief amount of time. Kept asking me more about that school but I only attended for like 2 semesters, and took no science courses there. Didn’t see how it was relevant at all. Asked me no questions about my home institution, retaking courses, or anything else that you’d expect? Just was super concerned about this one irrelevant school lol
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The interviewer might have gone there, or perhaps a relative did.
 
Another favorite: In an interview with 2 interviewers in a room at a place with 8 or so other rooms each with 2 interviewers in them.

It was the 'research' oriented room.

One of the interviewers: "Ask me any question about my research"

Me: "Soooooo, ummmm....what uh...got you first, um...interested in your research?" 🤣

(Point being is that they were using this as a screening question to see if people researched all the research faculty (and probably clinical faculty) before the interview).

This was for residency, so I'm not suggesting someone learn about all the possible faculty that could interview you at a med school interview.
 
LizzyM said:
I do too but I do it while asking seemingly benign questions. Everyone has an enjoyable time and has no idea that I was voted "Interviewer Least Likely to HIghly Recommend Admission".
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Not to get too wrapped up in anonymous butt kissing here 🙂, but that's just a reflection of your skill and experience. I haven't been through it yet, but many years of SDN reports indicate that interviews (other than MMIs) are a mix of laid back conversations where the interviewer just wants the interviewee to relax and allow the interviewer to get to know them, and to sell the school, and stress interviews to see how people respond.

While you are clearly getting what you want out of the interview, and are apparently difficult to impress, you are simply not stressing people in the manner others are describing, so it's different, even though it might get you to the same place.
 
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Someone I know was asked to talk more about a private personal issue that one of the LOR writers decided to inappropriately divulge. Not sure how the interviewer would rate a candidate whose jaw drops to the floor then quickly gains their composure and proceeds to explain how it's no longer an issue. I can't decide who's worse, the LOR writer or interviewer.
 
Another one was not a tricky question but certainly unexpected and possibly tricky. One of the student interviewers actually commented that they were not happy with the school. imo, whether it was true or a trick, this is nearly a deal breaker. I think this is a school that requires Casper, btw. So it wouldn't surprise me if this was a real-world Casper test to see if you'll let admissions know about it.
 
ArtsyArtist25 said:
"Draw a football field."

Honestly-- I don't follow sports here. So, I was pretty clueless.
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That's aggressive! I'd split the paper in half, give it to the interviewer and say, "you draw a cricket pitch while I'm drawing the football field. Then you can tell me how this is relevant." That sort of cultural knowledge 5hit burns me up.
 
"Whats the difference between sympathy and empathy and give an example of each."

"Make me laugh"

"Convince me your not a sociopath"

"What is the school moto"
 
I've heard of applicants being quizzed on things like being asked to draw out the glucose/Krebs cycles.

These kind of questions seem ridiculous now frankly as an interviewer for residency and fellowship programs. But I guess I have no idea what med schools are looking for these days. *Cue cranky old man signal*
 
mreyno18 said:
I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread where people can submit some questions they got in interviews that were tricky or they weren’t expecting. I think that could be really helpful for interview preparation!
Click to expand...
I was asked to compare the cuban healthcare system to the US healthcare system (essentially comparing a universal healthcare system to our system at the time (pre-obama).
 
voxveritatisetlucis said:
What did you say?
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I didn't have a great answer ready for this. I talked about how it would be nice for patients not to worry about medical bills, but at the same time we have more resources. The tricky part was the questioner had phrased the question that forced me to bad mouth the US medical system. So it was phrased in a way that said why is the cuban medical system better. Overall I could only guess as to what their system was like to begin with. I didn't leave that room feeling good and I got waitlisted at this med school. The person interviewing me was also a PHD and not MD.
 
Honestly, the one that threw me off the most so far is why I decided not to take a gap year. Like ofc I have all my reasons but articulating that in the moment did not come easily
 
serotonin1 said:
Honestly, the one that threw me off the most so far is why I decided not to take a gap year. Like ofc I have all my reasons but articulating that in the moment did not come easily
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I'm surprised that was a difficult one. I feel like a simple answer would be "I was ready."
 
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