Unprofessional Interview

[mfcus]

What can you do when you go through an interview and the quality of the interviewers is so unprofessional and abbrassive that you want to make the school aware of this? I am really unsure as to what to do. Should I write a letter to the Dean of the School or should I just let it go and move on?

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[smc927]

I guess if I were you I'd consider the political ramifications and determine if it is worth it. If it is, then go with your gut and send a letter to the dean of admin. Be sure to keep your letter professional and specific. And, after you write it, stop and read it from the dean's point of view to determine if you are being fair and appropriately specific.

Good luck!

 

[mfcus]

I guess if I were you I'd consider the political ramifications and determine if it is worth it. If it is, then go with your gut and send a letter to the dean of admin. Be sure to keep your letter professional and specific. And, after you write it, stop and read it from the dean's point of view to determine if you are being fair and appropriately specific.

Good luck!

Thanks, I agree and that is why I am taking pause and thinking about the ramifications of writing a letter because I am still waiting on a few schools to date. My problem lies with innapropriate comments by the interviewers and lack of preparation. These are not things that I can prove considering it was only the three of us in a room. I guess I will stick to posting the interview experience on this site and responding to anyone that has questions about the school in the future.

 

[Bull's eye]

Thanks, I agree and that is why I am taking pause and thinking about the ramifications of writing a letter because I am still waiting on a few schools to date. My problem lies with innapropriate comments by the interviewers and lack of preparation. These are not things that I can prove considering it was only the three of us in a room. I guess I will stick to posting the interview experience on this site and responding to anyone that has questions about the school in the future.

Whatever! Man I'm sick of the overall mood on this site like "Man I should be glad to be here." Screw that. If you feel like you've been insulted or been exposed to innappropriate behavior... TELL THEM ABOUT IT. It's not like after that experience you are going to go there. I mean really and you're not shooting yourself in the foot at other schools. Med school is a business and I Guarantee you that if you sent a certified letter to the VP of Academic Affairs, the Dean, or the President of the school. It WILL be brought up. The last thing they want is a lawsuit and believe it or not, they are trying to attract you there. No one deserves to be treated badly in such a high pressure situation, stand up for yourself. Remember, these people are professionals not scheming criminals. The worst that will happen is you don't get in (big loss there right) and they internally take care of the matter.

 

[OSUdoc08]

What can you do when you go through an interview and the quality of the interviewers is so unprofessional and abbrassive that you want to make the school aware of this? I am really unsure as to what to do. Should I write a letter to the Dean of the School or should I just let it go and move on?

There are no "rules" for interviewing. Things are said in interviews to get to know you, and how you would react to criticism and unusual situations. I have seen interviews be anywhere from discriminatory to insulting. This is certainly not the norm, but "anything goes" in an interview. If you have a chance of getting accepted, I would keep my mouth shut until I have matriculated. If you still feel upset about it, then perhaps you can make people aware of the situation.

 

[cooldreams]

Whatever! Man I'm sick of the overall mood on this site like "Man I should be glad to be here." Screw that. If you feel like you've been insulted or been exposed to innappropriate behavior... TELL THEM ABOUT IT. It's not like after that experience you are going to go there. I mean really and you're not shooting yourself in the foot at other schools. Med school is a business and I Guarantee you that if you sent a certified letter to the VP of Academic Affairs, the Dean, or the President of the school. It WILL be brought up. The last thing they want is a lawsuit and believe it or not, they are trying to attract you there. No one deserves to be treated badly in such a high pressure situation, stand up for yourself. Remember, these people are professionals not scheming criminals. The worst that will happen is you don't get in (big loss there right) and they internally take care of the matter.

haha..

hey man havent seen you post on here in a while, glad to see you are still around.

 

[Dr Sum Day]

What can you do when you go through an interview and the quality of the interviewers is so unprofessional and abbrassive that you want to make the school aware of this? I am really unsure as to what to do. Should I write a letter to the Dean of the School or should I just let it go and move on?

I read the feedback section for that school. Wow, it sounded more like an interrogation instead of an interview! This makes me wonder if they were testing your patience, "literally", because you'll likely have patients analogous to their behavior. There's no better way to do it than a military basic training style. It sounds like you kept your bearing.

 

[Firebird]

There are no "rules" for interviewing. Things are said in interviews to get to know you, and how you would react to criticism and unusual situations. I have seen interviews be anywhere from discriminatory to insulting. This is certainly not the norm, but "anything goes" in an interview. If you have a chance of getting accepted, I would keep my mouth shut until I have matriculated. If you still feel upset about it, then perhaps you can make people aware of the situation.

This is not entirely true. There are rules and guidelines for interviews in the United States. There are things that theyshouldn't ask (i.e., the rules are not legally set in stone...they really should not be asked where else you applied) and there are things that they can not legally ask (e.g., how old are you?). Actually, I'm not sure that they can legally ask where else you have applied, although I think a lot of schools do.

It is perfectly ok for them to try your patience, but it is not ok for them to insult you. They can ask a lot of off the wall questions (I have personally asked interviewees how many quarters tall is the Empire State building...yes that was a disaster of a question) but the interview must remain professional. Most certainly, interviews may NOT be descriminatory. If they are, that school is sitting on a ticking time bomb of Lethal Weapon 3 purportions.

Oh, and I'm really curious as to what school we're talking about...would you PM me and let me know? If you don't want to, I totally understand.

 

[dr.z]

I was once told by my pre-med advisor that a student went for an interview. At the interview, the interviewer asked some inappropriate questions. When the student returned from interview, she talked with pre-med advisor who called up the school. She was then invited back for a new interview after that. So if your school has pre-med advisor, you might want to contact him/her.

 

[RachelD]

I recently had an interview that broke all of the "rules". The first thing said was "so you're 31". They also asked me how many children I have, how old they are and if I had applied anywhere else. The first 30 of the 50 minutes was a total interrigation. They also told me that I needed to become an EMT or nurse practioner to get some hands on "in the trenches" experience. They same group interviewed two other's and they both reported the same type of experience (they were both male however and were not asked about how many children they have). The worst part is I thought I held up pretty well. Do they just point out your weakness's to see how you react? Does it mean I won't get in?
Who knows!

 

[Buckeye(OH)]

I was a little bit pissed when one of my interviewers at CCOM sat there and said, "I shouldn't be asking you this, but I am going to do it anyways."

What did I do? Not a damn thing. They are there to interview you, whatever they ask, I guess, is fair game. It's not like you can sit there and make a scene about it...that definately won't get you anywhere. Part of it, I think, is to see how you handle stress/adverse situations.

 

[OSUdoc08]

This is not entirely true. There are rules and guidelines for interviews in the United States. There are things that theyshouldn't ask (i.e., the rules are not legally set in stone...they really should not be asked where else you applied) and there are things that they can not legally ask (e.g., how old are you?). Actually, I'm not sure that they can legally ask where else you have applied, although I think a lot of schools do.

It is perfectly ok for them to try your patience, but it is not ok for them to insult you. They can ask a lot of off the wall questions (I have personally asked interviewees how many quarters tall is the Empire State building...yes that was a disaster of a question) but the interview must remain professional. Most certainly, interviews may NOT be descriminatory. If they are, that school is sitting on a ticking time bomb of Lethal Weapon 3 purportions.

Oh, and I'm really curious as to what school we're talking about...would you PM me and let me know? If you don't want to, I totally understand.

I didn't realize there was a "rule book" for interviews to follow.

Likely, because there is not.

 

[Ypo.]

There are no "rules" for interviewing. Things are said in interviews to get to know you, and how you would react to criticism and unusual situations. I have seen interviews be anywhere from discriminatory to insulting. This is certainly not the norm, but "anything goes" in an interview. If you have a chance of getting accepted, I would keep my mouth shut until I have matriculated. If you still feel upset about it, then perhaps you can make people aware of the situation.

I'm pretty sure that most schools discourage their interviewers from asking certain questions.

 

[DD214_DOC]

I didn't realize there was a "rule book" for interviews to follow.

Likely, because there is not.

"The rules of etiquette once dictated that you avoid discussing sex, religion or politics in a social setting. While that standard has been relaxed, it still applies to job interviews--and you must also avoid focusing on an applicant's age, ethnicity, birthplace, or marital and family status. Basically, it's illegal to do so"

Actually, there is. Federal law prohibits the asking of certain questions, and state laws go on a bit further. Whether admission interviews are subject to the same laws of employment interviews is debateable.

On the "etiquette" side, asking certain questions in an interview could subject the business or school to a future descrimination lawsuit if the applicant was not hired or accepted.

http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/em...ployment-employer-hiring-interview-legal.html

That should get you started.

 

[OSUdoc08]

The medical school interview may break the rules of etiquette for the purpose of finding your true character and identity, as well as to see how you would react to situations with peers or patients. As a physician, you must be able to endure such discussions with ease.

If you read "Princeton's Guide to Medical Schools," there is an interview section, which discusses possible questions asked at interviews, and many would qualify as offensive. They are nonetheless asked, and there is nothing wrong with this, in my opinion.

The question is less aimed at finding out this information, and more aimed at how you would react to such a question. In all cases, when a question is asked that one is not comfortable with, a declination to answer is always an acceptable response. On the other hand, if the interviewee "threw a fit" and "was embarassed," this would show how they would react as a physician, if such private matters were to be brought up from a patient.

 

[mfcus]

The medical school interview may break the rules of etiquette for the purpose of finding your true character and identity, as well as to see how you would react to situations with peers or patients. As a physician, you must be able to endure such discussions with ease.

If you read "Princeton's Guide to Medical Schools," there is an interview section, which discusses possible questions asked at interviews, and many would qualify as offensive. They are nonetheless asked, and there is nothing wrong with this, in my opinion.

The question is less aimed at finding out this information, and more aimed at how you would react to such a question. In all cases, when a question is asked that one is not comfortable with, a declination to answer is always an acceptable response. On the other hand, if the interviewee "threw a fit" and "was embarassed," this would show how they would react as a physician, if such private matters were to be brought up from a patient.

I agree with the fact that it is appropriate to test a candidate with a certain line of questioning but when they put their two cents on the table about how they feel about you and your personal situation within 20 minutes and that it is an indication to them that you are not capable of making it through medical school because of my personal situation of having a kid then that is a problem. To this person this was "an indication that you are unable to handle stress" because I stated that I wanted to spend SOME time with my daughter. Of course you never to decline to answer questions because that is the sole purpsoe of being at an interview. My issue was that these judgments where stuck in my face with no chance at rebuttal and it was painfully obvious that they never bothered to look through my application because I was holding my transcripts trying to show them where AACOM lists the grades because they had problems trying to figure out where they where. Also, one of the few things I have going for me in those whole process is my ability to present myself at an interview. I am not crying over spilled milk I just thought there where so many innappropriate things that occurred that I was wondering if someone at that institution should be forewarned that these two people where totally unprepared, discriminatory, and abbrassive. In the end the interview is not only the schools way of seeing a candidate but it is also the most indiciactive of the university because the interview panel is normally made up of faculty. Everything else around an interview is bells and whistles but the interviewers are the face of the university and these two individuals did not reperesent that institution in a positive way.

 

[llort]

mfcus,
first, what exactly did they do that was so bad? the only thing I gather is about you having a daughter. second, I am a non trad, med school is my second career, so my background is a little different, but I have never been interogated, harrassed, etc because of it, in fact I have never been asked a question that strayed from why do you want to be a doctor? etc... I think they look for weakness and then expose it. if you watched the presidential debates this year, you would learn that you should go into the interviews with an agenda and make sure you get it out. you run the interview.
thanks

 

[lemurlover]

What can you do when you go through an interview and the quality of the interviewers is so unprofessional and abbrassive that you want to make the school aware of this? I am really unsure as to what to do. Should I write a letter to the Dean of the School or should I just let it go and move on?

Contact the school right away. Be as objective as possible and don't come across like you're bitter or uptight. I have a friend who is now an MD shrink and he had a hostile interviewer and went right back to the admissions office and requested another person and explained his reasons. He got into the school. I think it's likely that if someone interviewing you is unprofessional or comes across like a j*ckass, then the people who work with him/her know that already and won't be all that surprised!

 

[Khenon]

I'm going to have to agree that while it is acceptable for the adcoms to try to arouse your emotions (ie mentioning something that maybe isn't the most "legal" question), it makes no sense for them to attack and not wait for a response. If they do say something to try and see how you respond to adversity, or under pressure, or something that would expose a weakness, the point is to see how you respond. It's not supposed to be a chance for them to tell you off, then show you out the door. If you're invited for an interveiw then it's obvious that there's something about the applicant they like. Why would an interviewer tear someone apart? What does that accomplish?

I think the OP should write a letter with specific details on the interview. Like others have said, it would be best to stay objective and not use emotional phrases or terms. Just give the facts. Just because everything is game in an interview, does not mean that the interviewee's aren't people that deserve a certain amount of respect. Abuse, harrassment, and demoralization is inappropriate in any environment.

 

[Firebird]

The medical school interview may break the rules of etiquette for the purpose of finding your true character and identity, as well as to see how you would react to situations with peers or patients. As a physician, you must be able to endure such discussions with ease.

If you read "Princeton's Guide to Medical Schools," there is an interview section, which discusses possible questions asked at interviews, and many would qualify as offensive. They are nonetheless asked, and there is nothing wrong with this, in my opinion.

The rules of etiquette and the rules of the federal government are two different things. They can not ask racially or socially offensive questions. Yeah, your patients might, but that is no excuse to ask them in an interview. They can train people how to react in a clinical setting if they're unable to handle that type of situation on their own.

And almost every other profession that deals with the public has to be able to handle these types of situations with ease, as well.

 

[liverotcod]

Maybe one of our resident lawyers can answer this question: do the rules established in law for job interviews apply in medical school admission interviews? I would not assume that they do.