The Residency Interview - Some Tips, Questions to Prepare for

Your application is in and now you just wait for the interview requests (and rejections) to roll in. Sometimes you get a wave of interviews right in the beginning, sometimes things stop all together and then there may be another wave later one. It's hard to tell. Everyone, every program, every specialty is different.  But you will get interviews and rejections from the moment you submit your application till the end of January.

Once you get that interview you have to decide how important that program is to you. If you're getting many interviews and have a lot of great options, I would schedule interviews you care less about earlier to use as a practice run. Personally, my first interview was easily my worst interview. I was nervous, I did not have any cases prepared, and I was just unsure of how the day would be. After a couple of interviews, I got the hang of it and I definitely hit my stride. On the other hand, if you get few interviews and every single interview is important and you have to nail it every time, I'd schedule them a little later to allow for more time to practice with friends or family.

The following are the most frequently asked questions I encountered on the interview trail.
Questions to prepare for:
1. Tell me about myself.
2. Tell me about your medical school
3. Why the Caribbean?
4. What are your strengths? Your weaknesses?
5. What do you like to do for fun?
6. What do you anticipate being the hardest part about residency?
7. What are you looking for in a program?
8. Why do you like this program?
10. Tell me about an interesting case you saw.
11. How have you directly impacted the care or management of a patient?
12. Tell me about the research you've done. (If you've done research, know every aspect of it front and back because they will for sure ask you about it)


Interview outfit. Honestly people, it doesn't matter that much as long as it fits you, you're clean/neat, and professional. Ladies, you do not need to wear a suit. I wore a knee length dress and blazer for all my interviews. I had a fitted blue dress I wore with a grey blazer, and a black dress I wore with a brown blazer. I wore pointy toed heels (which I was told was a huge no), but you know what? I got so many compliments on my interview outfit from program directors, fellow interviewees and my interviewers. Do not look slutty under any circumstances. High necklines and knee length skirts and dresses!  Guys, you guys have to wear your suits, I'm sorry. But again, make sure if actually fits you, and it's clean. Blue, black, pinstripes, its all fine. Wear a slightly exciting tie if you want a conversation piece, it's not going to hurt you as long as it's not outrageous. But honestly, people are superficial beings and if you look good, you're already winning points without even opening your mouth.

Always be on time. Always. Over prepare if you have to.

Be nice, courteous, polite to every single person you encounter. Be friendly to the secretaries, the coordinator, the janitors, the kitchen ladies, the other interviewees, the residents etc. Everyone knows each other and one bad word about you from any of them, you bet you will be eliminated from that rank order list. Program directors will often times ask residents, the coordinator, others for feedback about your personality and behavior throughout the day.

If you go to resident dinners the night before, its okay to have a drink. Maybe even a second drink, but nothing more. This goes without saying but don't get drunk. You're there to get a sense of the program and what it would be like to be working/having fun with these folks for the next 3+ years of your life.

Be excited for god's sake. You're interviewing at an awesome program. Be happy! Be curious! Smile. Positive vibes can easily be picked up and people respond favorably.  

Write a thank you card to the program director or send a thank you email. I tried to do this with everyone I met with, but it gets hard. For my child neuro interviews, I'd meet with 8 or so attendings between pediatrics and neuro. Eventually I just started emailing the program director or any interviewers who I had a particularly good connection with. 

If you are worried about the number of interviews you are getting or you haven't heard from a particular program you really like, EMAIL THEM if they have not already rejected you. It cannot hurt you, only help. Email the coordinator or director and ask for an interview because you love that program for X, Y, and Z and think it would be a worthwhile interview for all parties involved. They may kindly decline you, ignore you, or maybe just go ahead and give you that interview. I recommend waiting till about early-December to do this. If you go too late, there may not be any interview days left, but you don't want to ask too early either. Many programs try to offer interviews to people who they want and believe will actually come to their program. Nowadays, it's so easy for applicants to just hit a check box to any program without any real consideration of going there.


That's all I got for now. Good luck everyone! If you're at UT, drop a line.

Benji had some tips he posted last year regarding the interview process, which I agree with--> Check it out here