Why do people ask you where else you're interviewing at?

[sharkbait]

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For attendings out there, why do people ask "where else are you interviewing at?" I've gone to more than a few places where they asked me that question, and they wanted me to be specific about it too. Do PDs write the schools down and "compare notes" with the other PDs? Or is this a way to "size up" the applicants, to see where else we're interviewing at and see how competitive we are? Just curious.

 

[amyl]

i don't know if it is to size up how competitive we are. i mean they have seen our app -- they pretty much know how competitive we are. I think it is more to see if we are sticking to a certain geographical region etc.

as much as where specifically, i have been asked how many interviews i am going on. what is this question about?!?! are they trying to determine if i am that crazy person going on 20 interviews or the other crazy person ranking 2 programs?

 

[coprolalia]

Small talk. Nothing more. Personally, I don't particularly remember or care where individual candidates have been. But, it's definitely a way to informally gauge on how weary you are on the trail, how much more you have to go, and to comiserate on the process. No one writes that stuff down. It has no bearing on how you'll be ranked.

Would you rather we talked about the weather?

-copro

 

[camkiss]

I agree. This is nothing but small talk. You have to remember that we see a ton of applicants throughout this process. There is no way we remember stuff like this for ranking. The world of anesthesia is very small; we might know someone at a particular program and want you to say hi for us. To be honest, I ask when I have run out of things to say at lunch and nobody has any more questions for me.

 

[sharkbait]

Cool, thanks. I was just curious. I only asked because I've heard (prolly crazy rumor) that PD's write the schools down and call up the PD's from the list and talk about the applicants (hey, did you guys interview Johnny Cash and what do you guys think?). Sounds kinda absurd, I know...

 

[Dr Serenity]

I think our minds are conditioned nowadays (referring to us going through the interview process) to be more "paranoid" (for lack of a better word) given that we are "taught" (or conditioned to believe) that anything we say or do during interviews can and will be used against us...which, in a sense, is at least partly true. 😀

I will agree with the assessments, though, that interviewers, residents, etc asking where else we're interviewing are just trying to make conversation, nothing more.

 

[Arch Guillotti]

Small talk.

 

[Winged Scapula]

This was being discussed elsewhere (?General Res Forum) and the agreement lies squarely in the "small talk" realm.

I know I've asked to get a feel for where/what type of program the applicant is looking for. If they are going to all inner city places then I might have wondered why they applied to my suburban hospital program. If most of their interviews are in a region distant frm my hospital, I might again wonder why the heck they're looking at my place.

PDs do not have the time nor interest to call other PDs for every applicant. On rare occasion, they might call one of your letter writers but that's about it.

 

[HotFratBoy]

I don't think it is all necessarily small talk. I have had a few PDs and a few chairs (at least 4 or so) ask me where I have interviewed at and what I thought of each program. They would then go and give me their opinions of the programs. I find it sort of underhanded.
Further, I have had people ask me to disclose my rank list thus far. I thought this was a violation of the NRMP stuff?

 

[Lonestar]

yeah, all these programs are so altruistic. lets just put it this way. they have no competition. they will get a decent resident regardless during this time span. good luck with plantation hunting. maybe one these "plantations" will be nice to you and treat you like a future colleague.