Today’s inane image of the day:
If you’ve come to this page, it’s probably because you’re a 4th year medical student searching how to figure out how to excel at your residency interviews. I have had the experience of interviewing for anesthesia, preliminary medicine, and transitional year programs when I was a medical student [back then, it was in person] and also the experience of being an interviewer [in a virtual setting]. I tend to like to give a lot of unsolicited advice, so here I am again sharing 7 residency interview tips that I think will help you get to a successful 2025 Match season.
Here are the 7 tips:
1. What questions do you have for me?
Do not be alarmed by this interviewer question! It will be standard at most interviews to offer an opportunity for you to ask questions. This is a very important opportunity to get a 1:1 chance to ask your burning questions about a place that you may spend 3+ years at. You should’ve done a lot of research into the program, which should lead you to questions that are relevant to your assessment of that program’s fit for you. Remember, you’re also interviewing the program, so use this opportunity wisely. I also discuss how when I got the interviewers names ahead of time, I would look them up to figure out if there’s a more specific or targeted question I could ask them.
2. We will [probably] ask about your hobbies
I think I was also taken aback when I was interviewing and was asked about my hobbies section. But at this point, it’s all over reddit and honestly it’s one of my favorite questions to ask. I want to know what you’re passionate about. I want to know what fills up your cup outside of medicine. Plus, I can often learn something cool from applicants. This is a pretty common question, so get ready to answer it with your favorite anecdotes that illustrate who you are.
Also in this section I go into a tangent about the Match algorithm – here’s the NRMP video on the process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvgfgGmemdA
3. Make sure you know *everything* in your ERAS application/supplement
You never know what seemingly esoteric experience you put in your application that your interviewer will get excited about. I personally did a lot for the American Medical Women’s Association [AMWA] so anytime I see AMWA activities on an application, I ask about it. Even if it’s at the bottom of your list. Sometimes it’s kind of obvious when the experience wasn’t very meaningful to an applicant… this doesn’t help us get to know you so please come prepared to discuss anything you put in your application.
4. Think about what “brand” you’ve curated with your application and emphasize that during your interview
Most applicants have some underlying themes about who they are. This is kind of hard to explain, but an example is from my own application where I really leaned heavily on the fact that I significant leadership experience and took a very non-traditional path as a premed/medical student. These were the themes that I referenced in some ways during my responses to questions and I felt were strongly conveyed in my application. Try to be consistent with what you submitted in your application!
5. Be prepared for the questions – a bunch of sample questions are in this section
I’d say that there are two buckets of questions – somewhat standard program questions that a lot of places will ask:
- Tell me about yourself
- Why X program
- Why X specialty
- Tell me something that isn’t on your application
- Where do you see yourself in X years
And also behavioral questions:
- Tell me about a time you failed. How did you deal with the situation?
- Tell me about a time your responsibilities got a little overwhelming. What did you do?
- Give me an example of a time when you had a difficult conversation with a colleague. How did you handle the situation?
Make sure you’ve searched for these lists of questions and prepped for many of the various categories they can fit into.
6. Practice, practice, practice!
Make sure you take advantage of opportunities to practice through your school, with friends, family… your dog? Just do it. You should consider recording yourself so that you can coach yourself on things that seem like they could go smoother. You should have also, by this point, looked into the common questions I alluded to above and have an idea of how you’d respond to most of them. Interviews are nerve-wracking so it’s important to try to make it almost like muscle memory and to practice figuring out ways to do your best and make a good impression. Interviews can help or hurt an applicant for their rank list position at a program so try your best to make it help you.
7. Do not neglect the virtual interview technology
A lot of residency interviews are still virtual, so make sure that your technology is as optimized as possible. I talk about not using a virtual background, stable internet [consider a wired connection], having great audio [like buying a wired microphone: https://amzn.to/40kgUzi – this is the one I use; this also usually means avoiding Bluetooth headphones], having a quiet environment to do the interview in, and considering an interesting background [I bought this room divider: https://amzn.to/3NFHone to add some texture to my background as an interviewer but I also saw some applicants with plants, instruments, books, etc].
Also, blog entry on virtual interview tips: https://blog.amandaxi.com/2020/10/26/practical-tips-for-your-zoom-interview/
Good luck!