Two questions on interview minutia

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Hzreio

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Hello,

With the virtual setting, I find it is difficult to introduce myself as there is no room for handshakes. My interviewer and I have usually just exchanged pleasantries, and then jump immediately into the questions. Inserting a "Hi my name is X" seems forced and almost even pointless as they already have my file open and our names are listed at the bottom of the screen. It is bad to have not formally exchanged names/titles with the interview under these circumstances?

Secondly, what is the protocol for thank you notes? In the interview, there rarely seems to be a reason to exchange contact information, which means that I would have to look it up? Would it leave a bad impression to do so?

TIA

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You're overthinking the greeting. Introduce yourself with your "my name is..." line if it makes sense. If the conversation flows without it, your interviewer won't give it a second thought.

Send a little thank you email. If you can find their contact information online that's fine but I think it's more typical to reach out to the interview coordinator at a given medical school and ask them for your interviewer's contact info.
 
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Please keep in mind that some schools will explicitly tell you NOT to send thank you notes to your interviewers. The review is often written and submitted within hours (by some physicians ,within minutes) of the end of the interview so there is no benefit to you in sending one.

When I interview you, both of us are, essentially, wearing huge name tags on our chests. I know that you are Hzrelo and you know that I am LizzyM. It is rather redundant to say your name. It might be better to say, "Dr. LizzyM", nice to meet you." Then I will say, "It is nice to meet you, Hzrelo." People love to hear their names so you saying their name is much better than you saying your own name which is clearly visible anyway.

As for handshakes, even before the shutdown, when the virus was just beginning to circulate but our interview season was over, we began talking at an adcom gathering about handshakes and how they were somewhat icky and maybe on the way out to be replaced by foot bumps or bows or some other form of greeting. I visited the eye doctor a few weeks ago and didn't shake hands which seemed natural but different than my prior visit when that would have been a standard way to start the visit. You'll get used to it and maybe even learn to love it.
 
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