What are the most important questions to ask...

[Cerberus]

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I'm hitting the interview trail heavily for the next month and would like your opinions on what I should be asking, and looking into for specific programs to consider in ranking?

 

[Kris1]

Meal allowance?

 

[RxnMan]

Assuming you want to go to say, CA (or other part of the country), and the program is not in CA, then you could ask: "How many of their graduates have been able to get jobs in CA?" Same for academics if you want to go into academics. Where have graduates gone (in general) in the last 5 years?

Structure of the residency - 12 vs 8s vs 10s, etc. Circadian scheduling, ICU time, months of ED time, how graduated responsibility in the ED is handled, procedure logs, who handles the traumas/airway, admitting privileges.

Benefits package, especially if you have a family. Salary, COL, do they give a rent allowance if the program is in an urban area? Other bennies (PDA, books, exam allowances, vaca time, free parking).

Have the PD tell you what plan they have in place to help residents with personal crises (depression, death in the family, etc.). Give examples of the plan in action and how that resident is doing now.

 

[pdp2001]

if there's a particular interest you have, ask how they plan to help you accomodate that.

 

[beanbean]

Peds - integrated into general ED, separate rotation, or a little of both
EMS - Are you interrested in ground or air EMS? If so, what opportunities does the program offer you for ride-alongs, teaching, research, etc.?
Ultrasound - Structure of training, availability of equipment, reviewing of scans (still or video), percent of attendings with US training
Airway - difficult airway training, SIM lab, adjuncts available in the ED, anesthesia rotation (how long?, avg numger of tubes, Pedi airway)
Off-Service rotations - general medicine and/or surgery month? ICU months - how many and which ones?, Ortho, hand, plastics, radiology, etc
Trauma - EM does airway only or runs the whole thing, dedicated off-service month?
Cards/STEMI: Procedure for activating cath lab, EMS activation?, how often lytics vs straight to cath
Shifts: length of shifts (8,10,12), number of shifts per month, average number of overnights per month, average length of time residents stay to wrap things up, expected average number of patients seen per hour by residents by year
Professionalism: Logging of procedures, duty hours, evaluations etc. Mandatory conferences, grand rounds, journal club etc.
Support: Network of support, administrative support, EAP, other residents if you need help (medical, financial, personal)
Vacation: How is it scheduled? How many weeks?
Schedule: How far in advance is it made? Handling of requests?

 

[Seville]

Peds - integrated into general ED, separate rotation, or a little of both
EMS - Are you interrested in ground or air EMS? If so, what opportunities does the program offer you for ride-alongs, teaching, research, etc.?
Ultrasound - Structure of training, availability of equipment, reviewing of scans (still or video), percent of attendings with US training
Airway - difficult airway training, SIM lab, adjuncts available in the ED, anesthesia rotation (how long?, avg numger of tubes, Pedi airway)
Off-Service rotations - general medicine and/or surgery month? ICU months - how many and which ones?, Ortho, hand, plastics, radiology, etc
Trauma - EM does airway only or runs the whole thing, dedicated off-service month?
Cards/STEMI: Procedure for activating cath lab, EMS activation?, how often lytics vs straight to cath
Shifts: length of shifts (8,10,12), number of shifts per month, average number of overnights per month, average length of time residents stay to wrap things up, expected average number of patients seen per hour by residents by year
Professionalism: Logging of procedures, duty hours, evaluations etc. Mandatory conferences, grand rounds, journal club etc.
Support: Network of support, administrative support, EAP, other residents if you need help (medical, financial, personal)
Vacation: How is it scheduled? How many weeks?
Schedule: How far in advance is it made? Handling of requests?

This is a great response. Thanks! 👍

 

[docB]

I agree with the above. Remember that a lot of those questions will get answered early on during the tour, overview part of the interview day.

I'd ask about educational allowance and what if anything the program does to support residents going to conferences like ACEP.

For US ask if the program is set up to certify residents and how they help you out with your documentation when you apply for priveledges at your future job.

Ask about radiology. Are you reading your own films at night or can you look at them on PACS or is stuff read offsite without you're ever seeing it?

 

[WilcoWorld]

There are lots of good questions listed above, but remember that you're being interviewed. It's important to get your questions answered, but it's also not a good idea to throw a bunch of hardball questions at the PD during your interview. If you can tactfully ask these questions (how late do you stay after a shift? have any residents recently left the program), they might go over better at the pre-interview social or at lunch with the residents.

 

[Seville]

There are lots of good questions listed above, but remember that you're being interviewed. It's important to get your questions answered, but it's also not a good idea to throw a bunch of hardball questions at the PD during your interview. If you can tactfully ask these questions (how late do you stay after a shift? have any residents recently left the program), they might go over better at the pre-interview social or at lunch with the residents.

Are you saying you consider the above postings to be hardball questions?

I've had every single interviewer ask me if I had any additional questions for them. I had most of my questions answered by the residents, the previous interviewers, and by researching the program on my list. It seems like this is a fine line=we don't ask something then we look like we are disinterested/haven't researched the program. We do ask something then we are asking hardball questions.

 

[EMFO]

I'm just an applicant at this stage, but I have family friends in EM. Accordingly to them, the 3 most important questions that are asked during attending job interviews are 1)how fast are you(patients per hour) 2)how comfortable with peds are you 3)how much critical care experience do you have

So I figure those are probably the 3 things we should ask residency programs, in terms of how well the program will prepare us in 1)speed/volume 2)peds 3)critical care

Apparently all that other stuff that medical students care about, like experiences in trauma, ems, flight, international...etc are not important when you look for attending positions in general.

 

[beanbean]

"All that other stuff that medical students care about" is very important. There is a lot more to an EM residency than speed, peds and critical care. Those are important basics that no one should leave residency without. However, finding a program that fits your interests and career goals while providing a decent work environment is what makes the difference between a horrible and a great residency experience.

 

[EMFO]

Yeah I agree you have to find whatever makes you happy during residency. I posted those questions because it kind of changed my mind when I first heard about it. For example, before, I would have totally wanted to go to a place that has more trauma than a place that has more peds, but now I realize you don't really need much training at trauma to be comfortable and instead you should spend time training at being comfortable at things like peds and critical care. I feel like many med students don't realize that. But of course if you feel that you can build a niche and be more marketable at things like EMS, wilderness...etc then you should definitely go for it.

 

[chasingdaylight]

from my limited experience as an interviewing MS4:

questions to PD's or other interviewers that kinda bring out weaknesses of the respective program should only be asked after careful thought to the wording.

I've decided not to ask them at all, unless I can word it in such a way that highlights a positive of the program in question. With so many applicants who would love to train in EM, no one wants residents who think their program is "second tier." I've seen several interviewee's burn themselves by throwing out too many "hardball questions."

I agree with above post that these questions are best saved for the informal resident meetings, and even then, expressed with caution.

gluck all

 

[RxnMan]

I found these on the internets. Both contain interview q's to ask. Hopefully they can help some of the current crop of interviewees:

J Collings interview presentation for 2009 SAEM

Residency Interview Guide from EMRA Career Resources

 

[beanbean]

Bumping this for the next round of applicants