This is where academic medicine is different from most fields. In most professional settings, asking a job applicant where else they are interviewing is considered in poor form. It's just not anyone's business where else the candidate is looking for a job. Frankly, some answers could potentially hurt the applicant and rarely could any answer they give help them.
Asking where else an applicant has applied in order to find out what they're interested in is fine. But if an applicant gives an answer that doesn't rattle off a specific list of competitors, it doesn't take a lot of effort for the interviewer to essentially ask, "I'm trying to get an impression of what you are looking for in a program." And if an interviewee can't answer that one intelligently, that's a bad sign.
Asking where else an applicant has applied in order to do internal quality control or marketing is fine and understandable, but it's not really the role of the interview.
My instincts would be to initially give a diplomatic answer like Messerschmitts said. If an interviewer pressed the point, I think I'd give the name of a program or two and ask politely, "Can I ask why you're asking?" This gives the interviewer the opportunity to explain what they're looking for and I could give them what they want.
If I got the impression that an interviewer was tuning out after hearing the diplomatic answer and didn't bother with a follow-up question, that would be a red flag for me.
The straight answer to the question "Where else are you applying?" is "Why do you want to know?" but I'm not sure how well that would be received. It's definitely a simple question, but folks are reluctant to give a straight answer for the same reason that they're reluctant to give a straight answer to the simple question of whether or not we plan to have kids: from the applicant's seat, it's hard to know if the question is innocuous or not.
I'd hope that interviewers can understand candidates reluctance to answer that question. But hearing atsai3 and OPD's opinions and feedback is extremely helpful, particularly for those of us who came to medicine from other fields, in which we are careful not to speak about other hiring prospects with a potential employer. Since medicine is made up predominantly of folks whose professional experience is limited to the medical field, I think a lot of the culture, courtesies, and politics go unspoken and are assumed to be known.
I agree completely. And, thanks to OPD and atsai3 for their insight into this perplexing issue.
Really, though, the interview shouldnt be a time for the faculty to do QA. Not only is the interview for resident selection, but the applicant pool has
already selected the program as having attributes that they want in their program. It may be more effective to stand outside the program down the street and ask the applicants why they didnt apply over by you.
Particularly with this question, on the one hand the faculty is assuming that the applicant doesn't know enough about their program, and that they can point out how they offer something that the applicant seeks. On the other hand, they assume that they applicant knows the other program in some detail and has chosen them for having some particular features. Not only does this sound illogical, but isn't a red flag about the applicant that they don't know details about your program, and they ask you basic things that are answered on the program website? If I missed anything in my own research into the program, it was pointed out to me in the pre-interview dinner or in the welcome speech from the PD. Thus far, only
one time have I learned something from an interviewer that I didnt already know, which sold me more on the program. Although the thought may be well intentioned, I don't think there's anything that the applicant can gain from this question.
As far as letting the faculty know what we are looking for in a program... just ask me what I am looking for in a program. This is more straightforward, and will receive a straightforward answer.
Just like faculty is trained to interview, so are applicants. Just as faculty know how to identify red flags in an applicant, so do applicants know to identify red flags in programs.
E.g. being asked a medical question on the interview is a red flag suggesting that the program expects residents to arrive with a large fund of knowledge, and teach themselves - that the program is more concerned with running the clinical service than it is with teaching the residents.
And so, being asked what other programs I am interviewing at is a significant red flag for gamesmanship and creative rank ordering. If a program thinks I am interviewing at more competitive programs than they, they assume that they are a safety program for me, and rank me low. If the program is going to play games at the interview, what will they do if I'm a resident there?
By the by, another red flag for faculty is an applicant who has no questions to ask them at the end of the interview. Perhaps it means that the applicant really isn't interested in the program, or doesn't have any specific goals themselves? But what am I to think when the interviewer does not know the answer to my simple questions???
Anyhow, its nice to have some light shed on this topic. My own feeling on it is that nothing good can come of this question - only information which can hurt the applicant, not help them.
Who knows what you countryboys do out there...
