09-30-2008, 06:41 AM
Tips on the Residency Interview
INTERVIEW
Advice from the Dean of Student Affairs
Success in the interview is critical. Once you have been invited to the interview (assuming that the program does some screening), you are justified in assuming that you are a competitive applicant "on paper." The outcome of the interview will strongly influence the ranking order of the selection committee. I am not simply expressing a personal opinion here because there have been surveys of program directors and several specialties through years past regarding factors influencing the selection process, and all considered the interview to be extremely important.
Dr. Kenneth B. Iserson has published through Camden House a book entitled "Getting Into A Residency--A Guide for Medical Students" which some people find useful. Chapters 9-13 deal with the interview and have some good pointers, although I personally do not agree with everything he says. By and large the advice is good. You can order his book through the bookstore. I do recommend it.
My own personal opinions are as follows:
When to Interview? Iserson says categorically, it is better to interview late in the season because you are better remembered when the committee meets and because early in the season, the interviewers do not have a good feel for the applicant pool and tend to grade down because they are awaiting for the "ideal applicants" to come along. As time progresses, they become more realistic and are more lenient in their ranking. Others argue that it is better to interview early because interviewers tend to "choose as they go along," and a lot of them may have fairly well made up their minds by the time the interview season begins to close. My own opinion is "you pay your money and you take your choice." Until I see a study demonstrating that there is actually a difference in the outcome of the committee's selection and ranking choice correlating to the timing of the interview, I will remain respectively agnostic on the matter. I don't think it makes much difference.
Timing the Interviews: Pace yourself. Don't try to crowd too many interviews into too short a period of time. You will get tired; you will get harried; and you will lose some of your cutting edge and not be quite as sharp as you would be in the case if you were well rested. Always get into town the day before the interview and try to stay near the hospital. Get a good night's sleep and be well rested. Don't drink alcohol the day before; don't take tranquilizers for the interview. Given the problems with substance abuse in this day and age, you want to be a paragon of sobriety and propriety. Report to the designated room or place thirty minutes beforehand. Never cut it close; never appear hurried or in a rush.
What to Wear: Everyone agrees on this point. Dress conservatively. For the men, the suit should be dark grey or dark blue. The shirt should be long-sleeved, white or pale blue, and you must wear a long tie and not a bow tie. Jewelry should be kept to a
minimum, earrings are forbidden and in surgical fields, it is best if you are clean shaven. Don't use cologne or aftershave lotions with a strong scent.
The women should dress with equal conservatism, and this is especially true if you are applying for surgical fields. However, it is good advice in general. Dark grey, dark blue suits are optimal, but a shirt worn with a jacket or a tailored dress are possibilities, if you simply don't want, for personal reasons, to wear a tailored suit, the less jewelry the better.
Presentation: Smile, introduce yourself (even though they know who you are), and offer your hand. Speak Modern English and not Saxon. The word gea in Old Saxon means "yes" and is pronounced "yeah." We do not speak Old Saxon, and in Modern English we say "yes, sir" and "yes, ma'am" (courtesy or William of Normandy). From the lowest secretary to the chief of the service, it is "yes, sir," "no, sir," "yes, ma'am," and "no, ma'am." If you don't understand a question, say "Sir?" or "Ma'am?" I don't mean that you have to speak with military precision, but with grace and good manners.
Conduct of the Interview: This is highly unpredictable. The people who interview you are generally not trained at interview techniques. They will usually ask you how you got interested in the specialty; so it is imperative that you be very familiar with the field and be able to discuss your decision to enter this field and do so with animation and enthusiasm. Very often you will be asked, "Why did you apply to this program?" Be ready with your answer. You will have read all the material that they sent to you, presumably discussed the list of places to which you are applying with faculty members, deans and house officers, and perhaps, in the case of surgery, read descriptions of the programs in "The Red Book." You must spell it out to them in a convincing way: They are well regarded and come highly recommended at Tulane (name the people who recommended them). They have teaching faculty with excellent national reputations (name them), and their teaching hospitals (name them) also enjoy national reputations. Be knowledgeable, and beyond being knowledgeable about the program, let the interviewer know that this is the sort of program that you believe will best fit your training needs for whatever reason. You must be prepared to discuss the goals and objectives that you are planning out for yourself and how these correlate with what the program has to offer.
Sometimes the interviewer will ask you questions testing your medical knowledge or present a case to you and question you about it. There is really no way you can prepare for that. However, it comes to pass every year that some of the students out on interviews are asked by the interviewer to present a case that the student found to be a very challenging or an interesting diagnostic or management problem. This is the "favorite patient" question, and it behooves you to have the answer readily available. They will, of course, ask you if you have any questions about the program. Standard questions are about fellowships and their record of placing their graduates in fellowships (if you are interested in a fellowship), research opportunities (if you are interested in research), teaching opportunities (if you are interested), and whatever else comes to mind through the course of your experience with the program that particular day. If you have
discovered that some sections are without a chief, e.g., Gastroenterology or Cardiology, you can ask about the search and when they think the position will be filled. If you have spoken with some residents and they are very pleased with their training, you may ask the interviewer, "I talked with three of your residents, and they were very pleased with their training. I was wondering if you think that reflects the outlook of your residents as a whole.
Your chances of getting accurate information about the residency will probably better come from the residents themselves. Of course, they will select the residents for you to meet with, which stacks the deck a bit. Still, if the residents are high on the program you can usually believe them, and if they are critical, you can believe that, too. Don't pay too much attention to the complaints of interns. Interns always complain. Interns are supposed to complain.
Things not to do: It's best not to ask about salary, insurance, benefits, vacation, etc. All of that should be in the information that they give to you, anyway. You will want to convey the impression that you absolutely thrive on hard work and revel in long and grueling hours, which is pretty hard to do when you are asking about vacation and time off. If they make some negative remark about Tulane, the South, your Dean's Letters, your grades, etc., simply respond courteously as best you can, but do not lose your temper or give them a sharp, defensive, or angry response. That's what they're looking for. They're checking to see if you have a short fuse or if you get flustered and can't land on your feet.
Let me also warn you that after psyching yourself up for the interview, you may get an interviewer who simply wants to talk about the restaurants in New Orleans or his student days at Tulane. You just do your best under those circumstances.
Follow-up: It is imperative that as expeditiously as possible (don't let it get stale), you write a letter or note to everyone who interviewed you thanking them for all the courtesies that they extended to you and for their graciousness in taking time out of their very busy schedules for the interview. Tell them in a very positive way what you liked about the program and what its specific strengths were. Sometime in February you will get a memorandum from me about the sort of letter that you should write to the school or program that you are going to rank number 1. That's later after you have completed your interviews, and you are getting ready to drop your rank order lis
INTERVIEW
Advice from the Dean of Student Affairs
Success in the interview is critical. Once you have been invited to the interview (assuming that the program does some screening), you are justified in assuming that you are a competitive applicant "on paper." The outcome of the interview will strongly influence the ranking order of the selection committee. I am not simply expressing a personal opinion here because there have been surveys of program directors and several specialties through years past regarding factors influencing the selection process, and all considered the interview to be extremely important.
Dr. Kenneth B. Iserson has published through Camden House a book entitled "Getting Into A Residency--A Guide for Medical Students" which some people find useful. Chapters 9-13 deal with the interview and have some good pointers, although I personally do not agree with everything he says. By and large the advice is good. You can order his book through the bookstore. I do recommend it.
My own personal opinions are as follows:
When to Interview? Iserson says categorically, it is better to interview late in the season because you are better remembered when the committee meets and because early in the season, the interviewers do not have a good feel for the applicant pool and tend to grade down because they are awaiting for the "ideal applicants" to come along. As time progresses, they become more realistic and are more lenient in their ranking. Others argue that it is better to interview early because interviewers tend to "choose as they go along," and a lot of them may have fairly well made up their minds by the time the interview season begins to close. My own opinion is "you pay your money and you take your choice." Until I see a study demonstrating that there is actually a difference in the outcome of the committee's selection and ranking choice correlating to the timing of the interview, I will remain respectively agnostic on the matter. I don't think it makes much difference.
Timing the Interviews: Pace yourself. Don't try to crowd too many interviews into too short a period of time. You will get tired; you will get harried; and you will lose some of your cutting edge and not be quite as sharp as you would be in the case if you were well rested. Always get into town the day before the interview and try to stay near the hospital. Get a good night's sleep and be well rested. Don't drink alcohol the day before; don't take tranquilizers for the interview. Given the problems with substance abuse in this day and age, you want to be a paragon of sobriety and propriety. Report to the designated room or place thirty minutes beforehand. Never cut it close; never appear hurried or in a rush.
What to Wear: Everyone agrees on this point. Dress conservatively. For the men, the suit should be dark grey or dark blue. The shirt should be long-sleeved, white or pale blue, and you must wear a long tie and not a bow tie. Jewelry should be kept to a
minimum, earrings are forbidden and in surgical fields, it is best if you are clean shaven. Don't use cologne or aftershave lotions with a strong scent.
The women should dress with equal conservatism, and this is especially true if you are applying for surgical fields. However, it is good advice in general. Dark grey, dark blue suits are optimal, but a shirt worn with a jacket or a tailored dress are possibilities, if you simply don't want, for personal reasons, to wear a tailored suit, the less jewelry the better.
Presentation: Smile, introduce yourself (even though they know who you are), and offer your hand. Speak Modern English and not Saxon. The word gea in Old Saxon means "yes" and is pronounced "yeah." We do not speak Old Saxon, and in Modern English we say "yes, sir" and "yes, ma'am" (courtesy or William of Normandy). From the lowest secretary to the chief of the service, it is "yes, sir," "no, sir," "yes, ma'am," and "no, ma'am." If you don't understand a question, say "Sir?" or "Ma'am?" I don't mean that you have to speak with military precision, but with grace and good manners.
Conduct of the Interview: This is highly unpredictable. The people who interview you are generally not trained at interview techniques. They will usually ask you how you got interested in the specialty; so it is imperative that you be very familiar with the field and be able to discuss your decision to enter this field and do so with animation and enthusiasm. Very often you will be asked, "Why did you apply to this program?" Be ready with your answer. You will have read all the material that they sent to you, presumably discussed the list of places to which you are applying with faculty members, deans and house officers, and perhaps, in the case of surgery, read descriptions of the programs in "The Red Book." You must spell it out to them in a convincing way: They are well regarded and come highly recommended at Tulane (name the people who recommended them). They have teaching faculty with excellent national reputations (name them), and their teaching hospitals (name them) also enjoy national reputations. Be knowledgeable, and beyond being knowledgeable about the program, let the interviewer know that this is the sort of program that you believe will best fit your training needs for whatever reason. You must be prepared to discuss the goals and objectives that you are planning out for yourself and how these correlate with what the program has to offer.
Sometimes the interviewer will ask you questions testing your medical knowledge or present a case to you and question you about it. There is really no way you can prepare for that. However, it comes to pass every year that some of the students out on interviews are asked by the interviewer to present a case that the student found to be a very challenging or an interesting diagnostic or management problem. This is the "favorite patient" question, and it behooves you to have the answer readily available. They will, of course, ask you if you have any questions about the program. Standard questions are about fellowships and their record of placing their graduates in fellowships (if you are interested in a fellowship), research opportunities (if you are interested in research), teaching opportunities (if you are interested), and whatever else comes to mind through the course of your experience with the program that particular day. If you have
discovered that some sections are without a chief, e.g., Gastroenterology or Cardiology, you can ask about the search and when they think the position will be filled. If you have spoken with some residents and they are very pleased with their training, you may ask the interviewer, "I talked with three of your residents, and they were very pleased with their training. I was wondering if you think that reflects the outlook of your residents as a whole.
Your chances of getting accurate information about the residency will probably better come from the residents themselves. Of course, they will select the residents for you to meet with, which stacks the deck a bit. Still, if the residents are high on the program you can usually believe them, and if they are critical, you can believe that, too. Don't pay too much attention to the complaints of interns. Interns always complain. Interns are supposed to complain.
Things not to do: It's best not to ask about salary, insurance, benefits, vacation, etc. All of that should be in the information that they give to you, anyway. You will want to convey the impression that you absolutely thrive on hard work and revel in long and grueling hours, which is pretty hard to do when you are asking about vacation and time off. If they make some negative remark about Tulane, the South, your Dean's Letters, your grades, etc., simply respond courteously as best you can, but do not lose your temper or give them a sharp, defensive, or angry response. That's what they're looking for. They're checking to see if you have a short fuse or if you get flustered and can't land on your feet.
Let me also warn you that after psyching yourself up for the interview, you may get an interviewer who simply wants to talk about the restaurants in New Orleans or his student days at Tulane. You just do your best under those circumstances.
Follow-up: It is imperative that as expeditiously as possible (don't let it get stale), you write a letter or note to everyone who interviewed you thanking them for all the courtesies that they extended to you and for their graciousness in taking time out of their very busy schedules for the interview. Tell them in a very positive way what you liked about the program and what its specific strengths were. Sometime in February you will get a memorandum from me about the sort of letter that you should write to the school or program that you are going to rank number 1. That's later after you have completed your interviews, and you are getting ready to drop your rank order lis