Worst/Funniest Interview Experiences

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You know, if one is genuinely stuck on a desert island, is that really so unreasonable? The increased appetite it confers will help with getting used to whatever diet you will be able to scavenge. I'd want really low grade, seedy shake, though. So I could plant the seeds and grow hemp for fiber and nutrition.

Personally, I would want a big stash of benadryl. I'm going to be allergic to something there. I'd say loratidine, except that the sedative side effect of diphenhydramine would actually be a mercy.

I know there is no "right" answer to these questions, but I'd be interested to hear better answers than the original.

Oh, it is completely reasonable to want the marijuana. It just isn't reasonable to mention it in a professional interview. The right answer? Anything medical that could potentially help in the case of an illness. Azithromycin, morphine, buproprion, escitalopram, ibuprofen; all of these have clear medical uses that are reasonably common. It wasn't a gaffe because the answer didn't make sense. It was just a situationally stupid thing to say.
 
You know, if one is genuinely stuck on a desert island, is that really so unreasonable? The increased appetite it confers will help with getting used to whatever diet you will be able to scavenge. I'd want really low grade, seedy shake, though. So I could plant the seeds and grow hemp for fiber and nutrition.

Personally, I would want a big stash of benadryl. I'm going to be allergic to something there. I'd say loratidine, except that the sedative side effect of diphenhydramine would actually be a mercy.

I know there is no "right" answer to these questions, but I'd be interested to hear better answers than the original.
A lethal dose of sleeping pills obvi
 
Oh, it is completely reasonable to want the marijuana. It just isn't reasonable to mention it in a professional interview. The right answer? Anything medical that could potentially help in the case of an illness. Azithromycin, morphine, buproprion, escitalopram, ibuprofen; all of these have clear medical uses that are reasonably common. It wasn't a gaffe because the answer didn't make sense. It was just a situationally stupid thing to say.
To be fair, they also phrased it as 'drug' instead of 'medicine', so maybe that primed the poor applicant. Or maybe I'm just biased on that one because it's been hammered into my head SO strongly that where I'm at right now, unlike at home, 'drug' and 'medicine' are not interchangeable words.
 
To be fair, they also phrased it as 'drug' instead of 'medicine', so maybe that primed the poor applicant. Or maybe I'm just biased on that one because it's been hammered into my head SO strongly that where I'm at right now, unlike at home, 'drug' and 'medicine' are not interchangeable words.

Or perhaps it was an unconscious test to see if ambiguity in an interview situation results in a professional or unprofessional answer. Who knows?
 
Or perhaps it was an unconscious test to see if ambiguity in an interview situation results in a professional or unprofessional answer. Who knows?
Haha, fair enough. I could totally see myself falling for that one though:

mehc's brain: Crap, they want me to list a *drug* I'd take? Obviously I can't say anything too hard...does alcohol count? No, doubt it...****, do they want like LSD or something? I don't know much about these! Oh, wait, marijuana counts! I can say marijuana, people don't judge that so much anymore!

"Marijuana"

*PD glares incredulously*

mehc's brain: Wait, why did I say that, they obviously meant 'drug' as in 'medication', not 'drug' as in 'drug-drug'. Stupid, stupid, stupid...
 
I did 1000+ hours of research on a new device to diagnose cerebral malaria.

INTERVIEWER: How is cerebral malaria traditionally diagnosed, again? I forget. It's through lumbar puncture I believe, right?
ME: *breaks eye contact with interviewer, stares off to the side in silence, eyes widen* uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh *thinks omg this is the most basic question i know that I know this why is my mind blank omg i'm not getting into medical school somebody pull the fire alarm ahhhh* Yes. That seems pretty invasive though.

The thing is, it's pretty much NOT diagnosed that way. Lumbar puncture is primarily used to rule out bacterial meningitis in cases of cerebral malaria but isn't the main diagnostic tool by any means. I got home and debated for at LEAST a couple of hours whether to let that slide or to follow up with additional information. I decided to let it go and not draw attention to my idiocy. Right call? What do you guys think?

Haven't heard back from the school but will update when I do.

EDIT: forgot to include this gem from my second interview just an hour later at that same school...
INTERVIEWER2: How do you imagine making medicine less dehumanizing in the current healthcare system? (((In retrospect, this was probably a prompt for me to display my knowledge of the healthcare system and my role in it.)))
ME: *just say something* Well, throughout time there have been a number of advances and changes in both medical techniques and care systems, and this is just another iteration. I think, as doctors have over the ages, I, too, as a physician will adapt and change as necessary to the demands of the system. I'm sorry, I know that answer was a bit vague. I hope I answered your question.
INTERVIEWER2: Sort of. Moving on...

EDIT2: waitlisted 🙁
 
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INTERVIEWER: Tell me about your research in cerebral malaria in 2 minutes as if you were talking to a lay person.
ME: <gives a pretty good answer, little wordy and probably closer to 4 minutes but still solid>
INTERVIEWER: What was the control for your study? How did you avoid xyz possible misinterpretations of the data?
ME: <gives another slightly verbose but detailed/solid answer>
INTERVIEWER: How is cerebral malaria usually diagnosed, again? I forget. It's through lumbar puncture I believe, right?
ME: *breaks eye contact with interviewer, stares off to the side in silence, eyes widen* uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh *thinks omg this is the most basic question i know that I know this why is my mind blank omg i'm not getting into medical school somebody pull the fire alarm ahhhh* Yes. That seems pretty invasive though.

I got home and debated for at LEAST a couple of hours whether to let that slide or to follow up with information saying, "Lumbar puncture is used but mostly to rule out bacterial meningitis. Here are the primary tools to diagnose cerebral malaria: xyz." I decided to let it go and not draw attention to my idiocy. Right call? What do you guys think?

Haven't heard back from the school but will update when I do.

Humble Brag 1/10
 
Humble Brag 1/10
Alright, I admit there was some humble brag going on but only to make myself feel better for giving the wrong answer to what should have been an obvious question. I edited my initial post to be less obnoxious 😛
 
Nothing dramatically funny or bizarre but..
So I have this habit of laughing out (I just can't stop) whenever I am in a nervous/embarrassing situation. My interviewer was a psychologist.

Interviewer: So what kind of a doctor do you want to be?
Me: I have given a much thought of this Dr.X. In fact, I want to become a psychologist like you because I have a sister who struggled with depression for very long.. ( and I started to chuckle.. WTH am I doing?)
Interviewer: You know depression is nothing to laugh about right?
Me: (realized what I have done) .. Oh No, no way do I think it is funny.. It is just an habit of mine ..blahblah
Interviewer: .. (not pleased)

Result : waitlisted

Ummm I'm hoping you meant that he/she is a psychiatrist and you want to be a psychiatrist lol not that he/she is a psychologist and you said you want to be like her lol


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
@David513

Well, good on you for the edit. I hope you hear good news soon!
Thanks, me too! I promise to update when I find out. Also, I added to my original post another lovely moment from my second interview at that school. Not sure which of the two moments was worse but either way I'm feeling that my chances are pretty dim. At least I don't think I came off as a sociopath on any question. Oh but I'm remembering now that I used the term "ghost out" and then had to explain it to my interviewer. And also the term "ride the wave." FML.
 
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Me: Thank you so much for taking time to interview me! I really enjoyed discussing with you. (I should add that this happened on the VERY long walk that led back to the room where other applicants were).
Interviewer: I didn't have a choice.
Me: *chuckles nervously*

A lifetime later (I told you the walk was long)

Me: can I have your contact information please?
Interviewer: I know applicants like to send a thank you note and what not... but no you don't have to worry about it.
Me: No please, I would love to!
Her: No

Bruh! I almost ****ted in my pants.

I am waiting to hear back from the school.


UPDATE: Got waitlisted and then got a call from the dean that I got in. Turned them down. lol
 
Haha, fair enough. I could totally see myself falling for that one though:

mehc's brain: Crap, they want me to list a *drug* I'd take? Obviously I can't say anything too hard...does alcohol count? No, doubt it...****, do they want like LSD or something? I don't know much about these! Oh, wait, marijuana counts! I can say marijuana, people don't judge that so much anymore!

"Marijuana"

*PD glares incredulously*

mehc's brain: Wait, why did I say that, they obviously meant 'drug' as in 'medication', not 'drug' as in 'drug-drug'. Stupid, stupid, stupid...
Vodka is a perfectly good answer, it can be used to clean wounds. 😉
 
Vodka is a perfectly good answer, it can be used to clean wounds. 😉
True, but if I could actually only take one medication ever again, the one that would affect my life the most would be Advil. Gotta love me some Advil!
 
True, but if I could actually only take one medication ever again, the one that would affect my life the most would be Advil. Gotta love me some Advil!
Me too. Plus the idea of vodka minus the alcohol is too terrible to think about.
 
It's a great question! I'm so stealing it!

The question is good because it's asking how creative you can be.

I would love to have you as an interviewer. I'm sure I would get bombarded with rhetorical/open-ended questions. I would love to see how I preform under this kind of stress. Pressure can turn **** into diamonds, but can also turn **** into dust.
 
At the end of a mock interview between me and an actual adcom member:

Adcom: Well it has been a pleasure meeting you and I certainly wish you luck with your medical endeavors.

Freak7: [As I'm walking out of the office] Yeah... Me too.


Cringed so hard.
 
At the end of a mock interview between me and an actual adcom member:

Adcom: Well it has been a pleasure meeting you and I certainly wish you luck with your medical endeavors.

Freak7: [As I'm walking out of the office] Yeah... Me too.


Cringed so hard.
How did you get a mock interview with an actual adcom person? Through your undergrad?
 
During my interview with a med student:

Student: I see you went to college in Pittsburgh. I lived in the area for a while and love it. What's your favorite part of Pittsburgh?
Me: *first thing that pops into my head* IKEA!
Student: What did you say?
Me: uh......yeah I LOVE IKEA! *continues on rant about great furniture*

I liked plenty of things about Pittsburgh, but I had just gone to IKEA for the first time a couple weeks before the interview so it was fresh on my mind. I didn't want to take back my answer, so instead of taking his cue I just powered through it and pretended I really loved buying a basic table there. Everyone where I grew up drove to Pittsburgh (out of state) for IKEA so I didn't realize there were IKEAs everywhere.

Result: Accepted October 15th
 
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At one of my interviews. ... the Chair of Pediatrics interviewed me

Interviewer: so ElgauchoTejano, I see you spent 7 months volunteering at a women's shelter. Tell what motivated you?

Me: I felt like it....

Brief 5 second pause with the guy staring at me....

Me:... because I volunteered previously at a homeless shelter in high school and I wanted to continue to help victims of domestic violence move on from their ordeals and be ready to establish a stable lifestyle for their children and themselves after leaving

Result: waitlist....:asshat:🙁
 
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How did you get a mock interview with an actual adcom person? Through your undergrad?
It was a special program through a school that contacted me after my MCAT scores were released.
 
Reaching back 4 years of my memories to get these. My brain feels crammed at this point, but I got y'all some.

This was my first interview for medical school. So I was super stoked to even be there. However, 3 hours of sleep and 16 oz. of black coffee later, I wasn't the sharpest person in the interview room.

Interviewer: "So tell me about a time you made a big mistake"
Me: "Well, when I did organic chem research, I accidentally stuck myself with a syringe containing phenol"
Interviewer: "Oh my! Were you okay??"
Me: "Yeah. I survived, right?"
Oh my god, did I get snarky with the interviewer?
Me: "But it gets worse. I was so panicked that I scratched my PI whom was standing next to me with the same needle."
I knew that I could have stopped at my snarky comment. But I didn't. But wait, it doesn't stop there!
Me: We both ran to the restroom and washed the wound for at least 20 minutes. We went to the health center and I came out fine, but my PI had burns that went around the injury site."
Interviewer: "So what did you learn from that?"
There is no chance for me to screw this up. I can redeem myself here.
Me: "Nothing apparently. I had dry ice stick to my bare hand a week later."
The interviewer did not, against my better judgement, find that as funny as I thought it would be.

Result: Waitlisted
 
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Reaching back 4 years of my memories to get these. My brain feels crammed at this point, but I got y'all some.

This was my first interview for medical school. So I was super stoked to even be there. However, 3 hours of sleep and 16 oz. of black coffee later, I wasn't the sharpest person in the interview room.

Interviewer: "So tell me about a time you made a big mistake"
Me: "Well, when I did organic chem research, I accidentally stuck myself with a syringe containing phenol"
Interviewer: "Oh my! Were you okay??"
Me: "Yeah. I survived, right?"
Oh my god, did I get snarky with the interviewer?
Me: "But it gets worse. I was so panicked that I scratched my PI whom was standing next to me."
I knew that I could have stopped at my snarky comment. But I didn't. But wait, it doesn't stop there!
Me: We both ran to the restroom and washed the wound for at least 20 minutes. We went to the health center and I came out fine, but my PI had burns that went around the injury site."
Interviewer: "So what did you learn from that?"
There is no chance for me to screw this up. I can redeem myself here.
Me: "Nothing apparently. I had dry ice stick to my bare hand a week later."
The interviewer did not, against my better judgement, find that as funny as I thought it would be.

Result: Waitlisted

Lol! I thought that was funny, legitimately. I assume it's clear from you continuing your time at that lab and moving on to other accomplishments that you're a capable individual, so for you to have some healthy self-deprecation is hilarious! In fact, I'd say it's even BETTER than a "standard" answer!
 
is humor generally frowned upon during interviews? I mean my gosh I feel for these interviewers if each one is supposed to be heavy or cookie cutter.
 
is humor generally frowned upon during interviews? I mean my gosh I feel for these interviewers if each one is supposed to be heavy or cookie cutter.

I'd say it is much preferred over being too canned or too serious.

I heard an adcom today lamenting that her interviewee was boring her to death. I left before many details were shared, but apparently his/her answers sounded like they were being read out of some kind of script.

They really want to see that you are a real person. Be one, and if that means cracking a joke, do it. Just be sure that you know how to make jokes that aren't crude or mean. I think that someone knowing how to gently poke a little fun at themselves, if warranted, would be an excellent sign.
 
I have personally seen a candidate trashed in our Adcom meeting because in the eyes of the interviewer, the candidate was trying to do stand-up during the interview.

A self-deprecating wit is fine, but trying to be Jerry Seinfeld is a very risky proposition.


is humor generally frowned upon during interviews? I mean my gosh I feel for these interviewers if each one is supposed to be heavy or cookie cutter.
 
I have personally seen a candidate trashed in our Adcom meeting because in the eyes of the interviewer, the candidate was trying to do stand-up during the interview.

A self-deprecating wit is fine, but trying to be Jerry Seinfeld is a very risky proposition.
"And what's the deal with adcoms? I mean they're not ads. They're not even coms!"

Edit: [Laugh track]
 
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I have personally seen a candidate trashed in our Adcom meeting because in the eyes of the interviewer, the candidate was trying to do stand-up during the interview.

A self-deprecating wit is fine, but trying to be Jerry Seinfeld is a very risky proposition.

Understandable
 
I have personally seen a candidate trashed in our Adcom meeting because in the eyes of the interviewer, the candidate was trying to do stand-up during the interview.

A self-deprecating wit is fine, but trying to be Jerry Seinfeld is a very risky proposition.
On the other hand, I had an applicant this cycle who couldn't resist telling me how "witty" and "awesome" he was.
 
*barf*
How do people go through their whole lives without learning a crippling inability to speak favorably about themselves?!
It appears that he took the advice to "sell himself" a bit too literally...
 
Temple Video NoteCard:

10 male students make a facebook group and are the only ones with access to the group. In the group they talk about their sexual interest with female students. What do you think of this?

My terrible response which has nothing to do with the question:
"Uh..well I think its definitely not right. Its not right although those 10 are the only ones with access to the group. Especially female students sometimes don't view themselves at the same level as male students. & yeah that's what I think."

After the interview I was like why did I say any of that? 😵

What a strange question. Is there even a right answer?
I mean honestly the guys are allowed to talk about whatever they want.
 
I think it's unprofessional, but I'd draw the line there
Yeah that's true. But the weird thing is that it's just a circle of friends.
Is this a conversation I'd be interested in participating in? No. But is it really wrong? Not really?
 
It's not actually about the fact that he said "pu***", it's that he was bragging about sexual assault.
"10 male students make a facebook group and are the only ones with access to the group. In the group they talk about their sexual interest with female students. What do you think of this?"
It is the same behavior that's in the prompt.
 
Yeah that's true. But the weird thing is that it's just a circle of friends.
Is this a conversation I'd be interested in participating in? No. But is it really wrong? Not really?
Although I agree it's just banter, the problem is that you engaged in an activity with other students and the school would see it as a violation of their behavioral guidelines, which you agreed to follow by matriculating.
This person got fired from her residency even though she was off-duty and not on hospital property. It was funny when the article just came out and the hospital photoshopped her out of photos that were posted on their site. Claimed that she never worked for them and then eventually fired her.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...er-driver-viral-video-fired-article-1.2611674
 
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"10 male students make a facebook group and are the only ones with access to the group. In the group they talk about their sexual interest with female students. What do you think of this?"
It is the same behavior that's in the prompt.
There are plenty of ways in which someone could convey sexual interest without explicitly bragging about their desire to sexually assault someone, like Trump did.
 
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