In life, career advancement is typically tied to being able to compile a resume, personal statement or letter of intent, and an interview. For many medical trainees, residency interviews are the first real “job” interview. While medical school also employs an interview process, it is a very different flavor of interview. The tips offered below can be readily applied to almost any kind of interview… but they’re most applicable to residency.
The interview starts with the invitation
First and foremost, do not forget that warm, fuzzy, elated feeling that came with your first interview invitation. When times get tough during residency, it’s nice to have a positive moment to remember and relive. Anyway, most of you who are in the process of applying to residency have already figured out that it’s vital to turn on email notifications and respond immediately to secure an interview spot. There are several automated scheduling systems available that make the process much more streamlined, however some programs may still require you to respond to an email. This response matters. Our program coordinators are the lifeline of most programs and are heavily involved in the recruitment process. While they may not have a formal seat on the resident selection committee, most coordinators will not hesitate to speak up to the program director with concerns about a student’s candidacy.
In any email communication with a program, you should be professional, succinct, and follow instructions surrounding communications [e.g. include your AAMC #]. You should be gracious. You should double- and triple-check for typos. You should be nice. Basically, imagine getting hundreds of emails like the one you’re about to send and ask yourself how you’d feel in that position [and maybe ask yourself if the email is even necessary in the first place].
Practice makes perfect
Looking back, I think I could have listened to my own advice more on this point. There’s an art to handling “curveball” questions (i.e. behavioral or ones with no real “correct” answer) in a poised and thoughtful way. Also, it’s ok to take a moment to think about your response. It’s ok to let silence settle in an interview if your response is meaningful.
Some areas where I think it’s important to practice is:
- Small talk. But not rambling. Silence can be awkward but mumbling or rambling doesn’t help.
- Responses to standard questions. Do not script your response, but make sure you have a general idea of what you want to say.
- Being able to answer questions on anything included in your application. Even that 2-hour volunteer experience you did 4 years ago…
- Asking questions. You know that interviewers will provide time to ask questions, so make sure you’re ready. If you have a moment to look up information on your interviewer, consider asking a more personalized question.
Pre-interview receptions/dinners are for you
Most residency programs offer some sort of casual dinner or reception with its residents the night before the interview day. Yes, this means you can dress casually [not sloppy]. This was created to get the truth from current residents about the state of a program and whether you’ll fit in. Remember, these residents may be your future seniors or attendings. If you don’t enjoy sharing a meal with these individuals, how will you stand 24+ hour call with them?
Applicants often ask if the interview dinner affects your candidacy and rank. Most of the time, the answer is no. But like anything else, there are exceptions. Many of these dinners include alcoholic beverages as a form of social lubricant… don’t overdo it. Being boisterous or disruptive at dinner because you had a few too many drinks doesn’t bode well for you. While residents attending the dinner typically are not part of the selection committee or ranking process, they are looking out for their program and will not hesitate to speak up to their program director or other committee members about unprofessional or questionable behavior.
As an applicant, I made a point to attend all the interview dinners. It makes a huge difference to see firsthand how many residents attend, how exhausted they look, and how happy they are. Sometimes you can just look at the residents to assess how happy they are. Now that I’ve seen things from both sides, I want to encourage you to come prepared to the interview dinner with questions that residents would know. For example: early sub-specialty experiences; call schedules; vacations; moonlighting; research; attending conferences; and education stipends. These residents are living those questions, so they’re the best people to ask this… not the attending who you will be interviewing with the next day.
Early bird gets the worm
Schedule your travel so that you can figure out where you’re going early. Travel delays happen and programs are cognizant of weather disruptions. Those things won’t hurt your candidacy. But showing up late without good reason [e.g. accidentally slept in, hungover from drinking too much the night before, couldn’t find the right place] never looks good. It’s safer to be one of the earliest people there rather than the last person. Plus, it means you have an opportunity to collect yourself and meet the other candidates.
Dress for success
Interviews are expensive. Do not spend all this money on applications and travel to skimp out on your attire for the big day. You don’t have to spend tens of thousands of dollars on the suit, but make sure it is conservative, fits appropriately, and wasn’t rolled into a ball in your suitcase. Most interviewers will comment about “wearing the uniform” – meaning a standard black suit. Although we poke fun about this, the reality is, I wouldn’t risk my candidacy to make a statement at this stage in the game.
Please shower if you are concerned at all about body odor. Spraying fragrance is not equivalent to showering [and is sometimes detrimental… a lot of people are sensitive to scents and typically this is not well-tolerated in a hospital setting where patients may be irritated by the smell of cologne/perfume]. I understand that interviews are nerve-wracking [I’m the queen of underarm sweat], but at least try to be prepared in this department.
Wear shoes that you can walk in. Lots of interviews include a hospital tour. You’ll be getting your steps in. It’s not a great look to be wobbling or hobbling around. If you do decide to break in that new pair of shoes on the interview, then bring supplies to cover up the blisters.
Pack your suit in a carry-on. The horror of checking in a suit and then finding out it has been lost by the airline is a feeling I hope none of you will ever have to experience. [Though, there’s an urban legend during my interview year of an applicant that went to every interview without a jacket. When asked, this applicant said they spilled coffee on it early in the morning. Hm.]
Interview questions
There are an endless number of iterations of interview questions you can encounter. Specific to anesthesiology, I felt that the most common questions I encountered were on activities I mentioned in my personal statement [e.g. AMWA], my research, and what I enjoyed doing for fun. There were a handful of times I was asked, “Why anesthesiology?” “Tell me about yourself,” or “What was your greatest challenge/failure?” Since I was part of the inaugural class of my medical school, I was asked about that experience. If you do a simple Google search of residency interview questions, you’ll find plenty of common ones so you can be prepared.
What about those “off the wall” questions? I remember one question I didn’t get asked, but heard others did: “How many ping pong balls fit in an airplane?” I was amused by this and immediately thought of my response but could see how this type of question could cause applicants to stumble. Try to see these questions as fun puzzles – there’s often no right answer; interviewers want to see how you think.
Illegal questions – these can come up [especially for women], so be ready. Even though this resource was geared toward EM, this Powerpoint has good information on what constitutes “illegal” questions. If you’re being asked an inappropriate question… just think of it as a way to help you decide if that program is a good fit for you.
Be interested, but don’t lie
“You’re my top choice program!” should NOT be what you say on every interview. Seriously. In general, during the interview process, you should be evaluating every program to determine the level of fit. While you may have an idea going into an interview whether they’re near the top of your list, you really shouldn’t be making this assessment until you’ve visited most of the programs you plan to interview at. Sometimes programs surprise you in a positive or negative way. You really don’t know until you get there.
Follow-up or silent treatment?
I felt pressured to send follow-up emails, but ultimately didn’t do it because of how exhausting the whole process was. I interviewed at 25+ programs [anesthesiology and preliminary medicine/transitional year] and didn’t feel like I could send meaningful follow-up correspondence to everyone. Now that I’m on the other side, I can say that the hand-written “thank you” notes or emails really had no impact on my assessment of the candidate. This is not the case at every program, but larger programs need to interview a lot of candidates and as a result, it becomes difficult to remember everyone.
There may be value in following up if you do not have a lot of interviews, if you’re targeting a smaller program, OR if you’re 100% sure of your 1st choice.
Advice from #MedTwitter
I love sharing advice I have stumbled across on Twitter and Instagram… here are a few highlights [images are direct links to the post]:
Advice from Instagram #TalesfromtheTrail
Make sure to check out the hashtag started by @docfuji, #TalesfromtheTrail. Here are a couple of the highlights [images are direct links to the post] :
Most importantly…
…remember to believe in yourself, enjoy the experience of traveling across the country and meeting your future colleagues, and recognize that [at least for residency] the odds are in YOUR favor.
Happy interviewing! Let me know if you have any questions via email [or Instagram or Twitter].