Worst/Funniest Interview Experiences

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Ace Khalifa said:
I disagree with your statement, and I can see why your interviewer may not have liked your answer. To me, medicine is first and foremost a service profession, so every great physician needs some level of empathy and altruism to succeed. It's not just about having the medical knowledge and clinical skills; you need to be able to connect with patients too. One awesome quote from Sir William Osler that kinda ties into this is: "The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease."
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And I will add and addendum:
"The rich physician uses his degree to set up a pill farm and pour off prescriptions into the hands of drug dealers"
 
You can treat someone as a person by being respectful. Altruism isn't the same thing and empathy can be taught or faked.

Having worked with physicians and seen them with patients and outside of those interactions, I can tell that a certain level of empathy is necessary, but not the most important thing.

Tell me how exactly you relate to a patient with breast or prostate Mets to the spine lungs and liver? I think it's insulting to act like one could possibly understand what they're going through.

What about a newly diagnosed HIV patient that's still in the closet and came in to get tested after a condom broke with someone they trusted? Have any life experience to relate to that?

How about someone dying of AIDS in a third world country with no access to medication? Relational knowledge?

I think empathy implies understanding. Compassion is completely different. I've seen the three cases above and many of them. I can't understand, but I've been able to be compassionate. Those things are related, but not the same thing.
 
ridethecliche said:
You can treat someone as a person by being respectful. Altruism isn't the same thing and empathy can be taught or faked.

Having worked with physicians and seen them with patients and outside of those interactions, I can tell that a certain level of empathy is necessary, but not the most important thing.

Tell me how exactly you relate to a patient with breast or prostate Mets to the spine lungs and liver? I think it's insulting to act like one could possibly understand what they're going through.

What about a newly diagnosed HIV patient that's still in the closet and came in to get tested after a condom broke with someone they trusted? Have any life experience to relate to that?

How about someone dying of AIDS in a third world country with no access to medication? Relational knowledge?

I think empathy implies understanding. Compassion is completely different. I've seen the three cases above and many of them. I can't understand, but I've been able to be compassionate. Those things are related, but not the same thing.
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I don't know who you're responding to, but I'll answer back.

I agree that compassion and empathy aren't the same thing, but I still believe both must be thoroughly ingrained in a physician before they can be allowed to see patients. You don't necessarily need to have experienced every possible illness or ailment in order to understand that a patient is going thru a difficult time or feels extremely vulnerable (because it's impossible to have experienced every possible ailment a patient could tell you they have). There's a difference between "I understand exactly how you feel" and "I understand that you feel hurt/uncomfortable because of your condition/situation right now."

If this is what you told your interviewer, then I don't see how it could have been that bad of an answer.
 
masaraksh said:
... Ouch. I don't know what I think about the importnatce of altruism but I think some amount of empathy for those around you is pretty important.

We were shown this video at one of my interviews and I really like it.
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Actually cried the first time I saw this (during an orientation session at the hospital).

v embarrassed
 
Ace Khalifa said:
I don't know who you're responding to, but I'll answer back.

I agree that compassion and empathy aren't the same thing, but I still believe both must be thoroughly ingrained in a physician before they can be allowed to see patients. You don't necessarily need to have experienced every possible illness or ailment in order to understand that a patient is going thru a difficult time or feels extremely vulnerable (because it's impossible to have experienced every possible ailment a patient could tell you they have). There's a difference between "I understand exactly how you feel" and "I understand that you feel hurt/uncomfortable because of your condition/situation right now."

If this is what you told your interviewer, then I don't see how it could have been that bad of an answer.
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I don't think there was enough time due to the format. But something to learn for next time. I think I can direct an interview more than I think I can!

Anyway, bring on the stories!
 
This probably isn't a big deal, but I was kicking myself for it anyway... I thought my interviews on Monday went very well, with just a few answers I would have tweaked if I could do it again. The only thing I really wish I hadn't done is say the word "assload" when we were getting up from my student interview. I'm assuming this isn't enough to get me cut, but just... whoops. :smack: Better than in the faculty interview. Maybe.
 
Saw a friend that's an MS1 last night at a party and we were talking about interview stuff.

Friend : I had an IA so interviews were always interesting.
Me: how so?
Friend: well one person asked me about it and the alcohol class I had to take at an interview so I gave the cliche answer that I learned something from the experience. My interviewer asked what I learned and I told him that I learned how many cheeseburgers I had consumed in drink form.

He was not amused.

/me almost spits out beer laughing.

Turns out the class had gone over the calories in drinks and the equivalent number of burgers consumed and that's all that came into her head at the time.

Hilarious.
 
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Not the worst, but certainly not something you want to do!
My first II had interviews at the very end of the day. So long informative day: presentation, q&a session, talking to med students, lunch and talking more to med students, informative tour, and then have my first interview. Everything is going great. I leave the first interview to go to the second, the interviewer is late, stuck in clinic (it happens). So I wait around, told to wait in a conference room, and the admission's office closes, but the office assures me my interviewer will be there and they apologize. After a while, I'm feeling tired and the interviewer comes. We make small talk and I answer her questions.

Interviewer: Do you have any questions for me?
Me: Nope.
Interviewer: Okay, I guess we're done.
:bang:

Moral of the story: Have a list of questions and ASK them even if they have been answered 20 times already and you are tired as s*** after an 8 hour day!
Still waiting form that school...
 
Interviewer: So I see you work two jobs and you've done a bunch of shadowing. Tell me what you like to do in your free time?

Me: (completely serious) I like to play fantasy football and watch TVs or movies. (I proceed to tell him about my current fantasy situation)

Interviewer: oh well that's nice


(Not the worst answer but I'm sure he wasn't expecting it)

Result: Accepted.
 
Mrduralast said:
Interviewer: So I see you work two jobs and you've done a bunch of shadowing. Tell me what you like to do in your free time?

Me: (completely serious) I like to play fantasy football and watch TVs or movies. (I proceed to tell him about my current fantasy situation)

Interviewer: oh well that's nice


(Not the worst answer but I'm sure he wasn't expecting it)

Result: Accepted.
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Nice! That's not a bad answer though! Your interviewer probably just isn't into fantasy haha!
 
Not sure how damaging this might have been, but at a notoriously conservative school (in a very conservative area) I accidentally started talking about how I'd worked with a gay rights group during college.

I'm hoping we're past that being controversial, but it still made me nervous afterward.
 
lizzietx615 said:
Not sure how damaging this might have been, but at a notoriously conservative school (in a very conservative area) I accidentally started talking about how I'd worked with a gay rights group during college.

I'm hoping we're past that being controversial, but it still made me nervous afterward.
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To be fair if it changes their opinion on you the fit definitely isn't right!

That's what I tell myself about my interviews.
 
AspiringERMD said:
This probably isn't a big deal, but I was kicking myself for it anyway... I thought my interviews on Monday went very well, with just a few answers I would have tweaked if I could do it again. The only thing I really wish I hadn't done is say the word "assload" when we were getting up from my student interview. I'm assuming this isn't enough to get me cut, but just... whoops. :smack: Better than in the faculty interview. Maybe.
Click to expand...

I let out the word "hell" accidentally during one of my student interviews. Immediately thought "What have I done..."

But then like 2 minutes later the interviewer let out of a barrage of f-bombs while telling a funny story. Phew.
 
Interviewer: As a physician, you do understand that you will experience failure correct? How will you combat such failures?
Me: Well... (trying to formulate a heroic response).. I would look at failure in the face..and tell it to f*** off.
Interviewer: ...
Me: ....
Interviewer: That is all. Good luck in your cycle.
Me: :boom:
 
Perseverance13 said:
Interviewer: As a physician, you do understand that you will experience failure correct? How will you combat such failures?
Me: Well... (trying to formulate a heroic response).. I would look at failure in the face..and tell it to f*** off.
Interviewer: ...
Me: ....
Interviewer: That is all. Good luck in your cycle.
:boom:Me:
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Well I think that's a heroic response. :clap::clap:
 
Perseverance13 said:
Interviewer: As a physician, you do understand that you will experience failure correct? How will you combat such failures?
Me: Well... (trying to formulate a heroic response).. I would look at failure in the face..and tell it to f*** off.
Interviewer: ...
Me: ....
Interviewer: That is all. Good luck in your cycle.
Me: :boom:
Click to expand...
I literally facepalmed.

-_____- hopefully you realize now that a more appropriate answer would have been something like, "I would take each failure as an opportunity to learn from my mistakes and further improve myself so that I can avoid making such mistakes in the future. I would take the time to reflect on my experiences with each failure and adjust how I work and study if needed to improve how I care for patients." Oh, and of course, don't say "f***" or any other vulgar language during an interview.
 
"What is a recent book you read, and why did you like it if you did?"
"Oh I don't read books for fun....I mean lately, I've been so busy with work..I barely can finish a book all the way." Then went on to mention how I started "The Help"...and asked her if she saw the movie. Because I didn't finish the book.
LOL

Kicked myself after. There are some great books I have read, just totally blanked out for a second. Probably cause this was at my top choice 🙁
 
AspiringERMD said:
This probably isn't a big deal, but I was kicking myself for it anyway... I thought my interviews on Monday went very well, with just a few answers I would have tweaked if I could do it again. The only thing I really wish I hadn't done is say the word "assload" when we were getting up from my student interview. I'm assuming this isn't enough to get me cut, but just... whoops. :smack: Better than in the faculty interview. Maybe.
Click to expand...
That is pretty dorky lol.
 
Perseverance13 said:
Interviewer: As a physician, you do understand that you will experience failure correct? How will you combat such failures?
Me: Well... (trying to formulate a heroic response).. I would look at failure in the face..and tell it to f*** off.
Interviewer: ...
Me: ....
Interviewer: That is all. Good luck in your cycle.
Me: :boom:
Click to expand...
and I thought I was the most awkward and potty mouthed person in the world. you beat me.
 
Why do people get so miffed over "swear" words? They're words. They're just a part of the language. If the word fits the meaning and emotion that is attempting to be conveyed, why look down on someone for using it?
 
FriendlyFH said:
Adorable.
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Given your lack of actual argument, I'm going to assume your condescension is because I am expressing an opinion that does not agree with cultural norms. Since my post was questioning those norms to begin with, I would conclude that you are either a) defending the status quo to save face because you don't know why they exist either or b) don't know how to apply new thoughts to a current situation and provided a response out of confusion/fear.

Neither of these scenarios say much about you, but I would like to think that I am somehow wrong given that you expect to be a doctor.
 
Rogert said:
Given your lack of actual argument, I'm going to assume your condescension is because I am expressing an opinion that does not agree with cultural norms. Since my post was questioning those norms to begin with, I would conclude that you are either a) defending the status quo to save face because you don't know why they exist either or b) don't know how to apply new thoughts to a current situation and provided a response out of confusion/fear.

Neither of these scenarios say much about you, but I would like to think that I am somehow wrong given that you expect to be a doctor.
Click to expand...

Was anyone wondering why we can't have nice things?

Well there's your bloody answer.
 
Rogert said:
Given your lack of actual argument, I'm going to assume your condescension is because I am expressing an opinion that does not agree with cultural norms. Since my post was questioning those norms to begin with, I would conclude that you are either a) defending the status quo to save face because you don't know why they exist either or b) don't know how to apply new thoughts to a current situation and provided a response out of confusion/fear.

Neither of these scenarios say much about you, but I would like to think that I am somehow wrong given that you expect to be a doctor.
Click to expand...
I actually agree with this in principle. With the exception of derogatory words, which are inexorably liked to pain and inequality, I don't understand how some words have gained a status as "bad" or "swear" words. I'd be interested in learning about how that came to be. But it strikes me as dumb and arbitrary.

That said, due to cultural norms, I would of course do my best to remain professional and never use them e.g. in front of patients or superiors.
 
Rogert said:
Given your lack of actual argument, I'm going to assume your condescension is because I am expressing an opinion that does not agree with cultural norms. Since my post was questioning those norms to begin with, I would conclude that you are either a) defending the status quo to save face because you don't know why they exist either or b) don't know how to apply new thoughts to a current situation and provided a response out of confusion/fear.

Neither of these scenarios say much about you, but I would like to think that I am somehow wrong given that you expect to be a doctor.
Click to expand...

It is an interesting argument, I've discussed it a few times in social psych classes. It has never reached an actual conclusion. The fact is that it is simply a cultural norm, so deeply ingrained that we have been conditioned to find it offensive. One interesting example is the word "damn" mostly parents find this offensive from their minor children, but insert "darn" with the same attitude, emotion, intensity, and most parents have no reaction at all. It's simply the word we learned to take offense to. You are right it is just a word, we shouldn't be miffed, but we have been conditioned to be miffed. Still, since we created the word and attributed it to offense, we have artificially created the offense itself.
 
WhittyPsyche said:
It is an interesting argument, I've discussed it a few times in social psych classes. It has never reached an actual conclusion. The fact is that it is simply a cultural norm, so deeply ingrained that we have been conditioned to find it offensive. One interesting example is the word "damn" mostly parents find this offensive from their minor children, but insert "darn" with the same attitude, emotion, intensity, and most parents have no reaction at all. It's simply the word we learned to take offense to. You are right it is just a word, we shouldn't be miffed, but we have been conditioned to be miffed. Still, since we created the word and attributed it to offense, we have artificially created the offense itself.
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This is where I am on the subject as well. I just wish that more people were aware of the arbitrariness (which I just found out is an actual word) of it. In particular, people with decision making power. Whenever I see someone get rejected because they accidently swore in an interview, I feel sorry for them due to the unfairness of it.

Then again, if such people were aware, it wouldn't be a norm and we wouldn't be having this discussion.
 
Rogert said:
Given your lack of actual argument, I'm going to assume your condescension is because I am expressing an opinion that does not agree with cultural norms. Since my post was questioning those norms to begin with, I would conclude that you are either a) defending the status quo to save face because you don't know why they exist either or b) don't know how to apply new thoughts to a current situation and provided a response out of confusion/fear.

Neither of these scenarios say much about you, but I would like to think that I am somehow wrong given that you expect to be a doctor.
Click to expand...

Woah I think she was just trying to convey an emotion.
 
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**** actually comes from roots meaning "Die before your time." Just thought I would throw that in there as a fun fact.

I personally think the stigma against swear words is rather silly but I am glad it is there because it makes them more colorful.

I think the stigma is silly, in part, because words on their own are so fascinating and I dont see the point in omitting them from the world if they still have a good use.

As an example, this passage refers to **** and was written by Lewis Thomas: (from "Living Language", links to a blog, I dont know whose blog that is though and it is unrelated)

"It is a field in which the irresponsible amateur can have a continually mystifying sort of fun. Whenever you get the available answer to a straight question, like, say, where does the most famous and worst of the four-letter Anglo-Saxon unprintable words come from, the answer raises new and discomfiting questions. Take that particular word. It comes from peig, a crawling, wicked Indo-European word meaning evil and hostile, the sure makings of a curse. It becomes poikos, then gafaihaz in Germanic and gefah in Old English, signifying “foe.” It turned from poik-yos into faigjaz in Germanic, and faege in Old ‘English, meaning fated to die, leading to “fey.” It went on from fehida in Old English to become “feud,” and fokken in Old Dutch. Somehow, from these beginnings, it transformed itself into one of the most powerful English expletives, meaning something like “Die before your time!” The unspeakable malevolence of the message is now buried deep inside the word, and out on the surface it presents itself as merely an obscenity."

This is funny because the word seems to have made some very daring jumps over its lifetime and it makes the age-old concept of a life-long feud at once prophetic and oddly paradoxical.

/hijack over

Keep the stories coming, anything left over from the tail end of this interview cycle?
 
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@Rogert
Rogert said:
This is where I am on the subject as well. I just wish that more people were aware of the arbitrariness (which I just found out is an actual word) of it. In particular, people with decision making power. Whenever I see someone get rejected because they accidently swore in an interview, I feel sorry for them due to the unfairness of it.

Then again, if such people were aware, it wouldn't be a norm and we wouldn't be having this discussion.
Click to expand...
Put a sock in it.
 
Rogert said:
Whenever I see someone get rejected because they accidently swore in an interview, I feel sorry for them due to the unfairness of it.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's necessarily unfair. They aren't being rejected because the adcoms think they are a bad person for using a "bad" word. Part of the whole point of the interview is to ensure that you CAN conform and that you have a filter that works. It is possible to find adherence to cultural norms to be a positive trait. Not all of medicine is about science.

For the record, I certainly wish it wasn't the case. I wish more people put logic and reason above emotion and rhetoric, but the simple fact is.....they usually don't.
 
Emphatic swearing all the way. Nothing describes social norms like "BS".
 
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Rogert said:
Given your lack of actual argument, I'm going to assume your condescension is because I am expressing an opinion that does not agree with cultural norms. Since my post was questioning those norms to begin with, I would conclude that you are either a) defending the status quo to save face because you don't know why they exist either or b) don't know how to apply new thoughts to a current situation and provided a response out of confusion/fear.

Neither of these scenarios say much about you, but I would like to think that I am somehow wrong given that you expect to be a doctor.
Click to expand...
Sorry about the brief reply. I just woke up at the time and was just browsing SDN in bed and avoiding getting up for a few minutes, but then I had to get up and go. It was a full day.

What I meant by my original response was that, I like that someone is thinking outside the box and it makes me smile. No condescending intended. I love people who ask "but why not question". I actually have an advance degree during which I basically sit around with some other students and talk about "but why not"s.

I agree with you that it's arbitrary, but all cultural and social tradition are arbitrary. It is one thing to recognize it, another to actively work against it. There are times you should not conform to social norms for example those that discriminate, those that causes harm. But there are times when you want to be part of something greater than yourself, you must show that you are able to respect the various culture, traditions and norms within the large structure. Maybe it seems not only arbitrary but also absurd that Jewish people cannot carry stuff on Saturday, or not eating pork, but they deserve to have their custom respected. The same goes in the interview.

If you must know that I am one of the most potty mouthed people. I love the emotions conveyed by cursive words when they are called for. However, I put a very effective filter on it whenever I'm in a professional setting.
 
FriendlyFH said:
Sorry about the brief reply. I just woke up at the time and was just browsing SDN in bed and avoiding getting up for a few minutes, but then I had to get up and go. It was a full day.

What I meant by my original response was that, I like that someone is thinking outside the box and it makes me smile. No condescending intended. I love people who ask "but why not question". I actually have an advance degree during which I basically sit around with some other students and talk about "but why not"s.

I agree with you that it's arbitrary, but all cultural and social tradition are arbitrary. It is one thing to recognize it, another to actively work against it. There are times you should not conform to social norms for example those that discriminate, those that causes harm. But there are times when you want to be part of something greater than yourself, you must show that you are able to respect the various culture, traditions and norms within the large structure. Maybe it seems not only arbitrary but also absurd that Jewish people cannot carry stuff on Saturday, or not eating pork, but they deserve to have their custom respected. The same goes in the interview.

If you must know that I am one of the most potty mouthed people. I love the emotions conveyed by cursive words when they are called for. However, I put a very effective filter on it whenever I'm in a professional setting.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear! I probably took that more personally than I should have, but I'm glad when I'm wrong 🙂 It means I'm learning something.

In my opinion, rejecting otherwise good applicants because they swore does cause harm, assuming that was the only reason they were rejected. It's rejecting someone based off of a subjective behavioral criteria little different from rejecting due to an accent or dialect. Additionally, it is an easy assumption that "bad words are bad" is a norm of culture at large, but the question should be "does this norm apply in medicine" which I see little ground for.

The only reason I can think of for a doctor to not swear in front of patients, and more importantly rejecting applicants based on potential violation of this, is the projection of some sort of image. In my opinion, restricting yourself based on adherence to this image is, at best, disingenuous. Such behavior says "I want you to believe this false image of me is who I actually am."
 
Rogert said:
Glad to hear! I probably took that more personally than I should have, but I'm glad when I'm wrong 🙂 It means I'm learning something.

In my opinion, rejecting otherwise good applicants because they swore does cause harm, assuming that was the only reason they were rejected. It's rejecting someone based off of a subjective behavioral criteria little different from rejecting due to an accent or dialect. Additionally, it is an easy assumption that "bad words are bad" is a norm of culture at large, but the question should be "does this norm apply in medicine" which I see little ground for.

The only reason I can think of for a doctor to not swear in front of patients, and more importantly rejecting applicants based on potential violation of this, is the projection of some sort of image. In my opinion, restricting yourself based on adherence to this image is, at best, disingenuous. Such behavior says "I want you to believe this false image of me is who I actually am."
Click to expand...

Feel free to remain sincere and true to yourself in your private life. The moment that you assume the role of a physician, your patients' interest comes before yours. Your professional code of conduct come before your own moral boundary. Your peers and your patients' need to engage in a civilized, respectable conversation comes before your need to express your personal, political and cultural stance.
 
Rogert said:
Glad to hear! I probably took that more personally than I should have, but I'm glad when I'm wrong 🙂 It means I'm learning something.

In my opinion, rejecting otherwise good applicants because they swore does cause harm, assuming that was the only reason they were rejected. It's rejecting someone based off of a subjective behavioral criteria little different from rejecting due to an accent or dialect. Additionally, it is an easy assumption that "bad words are bad" is a norm of culture at large, but the question should be "does this norm apply in medicine" which I see little ground for.

The only reason I can think of for a doctor to not swear in front of patients, and more importantly rejecting applicants based on potential violation of this, is the projection of some sort of image. In my opinion, restricting yourself based on adherence to this image is, at best, disingenuous. Such behavior says "I want you to believe this false image of me is who I actually am."
Click to expand...
Are you in high school? I remember having this argument in the tenth grade.
 
Interviewer: "What is your greatest professional accomplishment?"
Me: "Well, When I was 18 the company I was working for allowed me to drive their delivery vans. I thought that was a huge liability and was proud that I was able to do that"

I got the job...
LOL
 
Evisju7 said:
Interviewer: "What is your greatest professional accomplishment?"
Me: "Well, When I was 18 the company I was working for allowed me to drive their delivery vans. I thought that was a huge liability and was proud that I was able to do that"

I got the job...
LOL
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We are kids after all.
 
FriendlyFH said:
Feel free to remain sincere and true to yourself in your private life. The moment that you assume the role of a physician, your patients' interest comes before yours. Your professional code of conduct come before your own moral boundary. Your peers and your patients' need to engage in a civilized, respectable conversation comes before your need to express your personal, political and cultural stance.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure why you talk about the two concepts as if they are mutually exclusive. The role of a physician is to heal. As long as you aren't acting counter to that there isn't a problem. I would argue that disengenuousness through projection of some preconceived notion of how a physisican should act actually is a hindrance to patient care as it displays a lack of trust between patient and physician.

And I feel like I'm missing something in your position as those last two sentences seem like non sequiturs from the first two. The "code of conduct before moral boundary" is actually counter to what we were taught in ethics courses. My Lai and all that. But again, feel like I'm missing something.
 
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