Nailing the Residency or Medical School Interview (or "Just the Facts, Ma'am")

Google had a problem.

As an oldie but goodie New York Times article describes it, over a decade ago Google executives were growing increasingly aware they were not hiring enough women, and they were attracting negative attention about it. So, Google did what Google does best: They amassed data and mined it.

In their analysis, among other findings, Google concluded that the company was overlooking women who tended to be more modest than comparable male applicants during interviews. The interviewers inappropriately perceived the women applicants to be less accomplished, and the female candidates were not offered jobs. (Once they understood the problem, Google asserts they altered their internal hiring policies accordingly.) 

This story is instructive in understanding the importance of your residency or medical school interview.

Let’s start with your overarching strategy, one that can be gleaned from the Google story: The residency and medical school interview processes are persuasive ones. Your role is to convince faculty that you deserve a slot at their institutions. The best way to persuade is with facts, just like a lawyer does when s/he is trying a case in front of a judge. Saying you are compassionate or hardworking is not convincing, and it doesn’t distinguish you from the scores of other people the interviewer is meeting. You need to prove your worth by highlighting your academic, clinical, research, community service, leadership, international, and/or teaching achievements.

When mentoring applicants, I hear them ask: Michelle, if I showcase my accomplishments in my residency/ medical school interview, doesn’t that mean I’m being redundant? My answer: Absolutely! Think of the medical admissions process like building a house. Your ERAS®/AMCAS® and letters serve as one layer of that house – like scaffolding. In other words, your accomplishments are conveyed simply and succinctly there. The personal statement is your opportunity to apply a thicker layer, one in which you flesh out your achievements, thus persuading the reader of your distinctiveness (plumbing, pipes, electrical). Finally, the interview is your chance to add on the thickest peel (exterior, roof). Discussing your accomplishments in detail can seal the interviewer’s positive impression of you. 

Applicants also ask me if showcasing their achievements is bragging. Not if you state "just the facts, ma'am," meaning you can be polite, confident, and accurate without being arrogant. When candidates still feel shy about drawing attention to their achievements, I remind them that occasionally residency and medical school interviewers don't leave adequate time to review materials for the candidates they will ultimately judge, or they are asked to interview such a large number of applicants they might understandably get candidates confused. If you treat every residency and medical school interview as though it were a “blind” one, you address these obstacles. 

Determine in advance how you want your interviewers to remember you when they represent you to the committee, and tailor your interview to leave that impression. At the end of the week, when your interviewer asks what others thought of the "young woman who volunteered with Mother Teresa while doing malaria research and competitive hammer-throwing,” all the other admissions officers know immediately she is referring to you.

Medical School and Residency Interview Questions: How to Handle the Illegal Ones

In the United States, a professional interview is subject to basic legal rules. Specifically, admissions officers and residency directors should refrain from asking interview questions that are not relevant to the position the interviewee is seeking. Questions about race, religion, sexual orientation, and marital or family status fall into this category.

If you are asked these types of questions, you can respond by addressing the intent of the question without revealing personal information. ("I think you're asking if my home life will affect my ability to carry out my medical school studies or my clinical duties. I can assure you it won't, and I’ll complete my full tenure here at your school.")

If you have the opportunity to give feedback to the institution about your interview questions or experience, you can consider doing so after the interview. When I was interviewing for residency, I was asked by a faculty member if I had a boyfriend. After the interview day, I talked to a faculty mentor at my school who reported the situation to the other institution. The faculty member who asked me the illegal question was no longer permitted to interview.

Managing Difficult Medical School Interview Questions: Rehearse Your Elevator Pitch Now

An important key to preparing for tough medical school interview questions is realizing that a) interviewing is a skill and b) practice improves performance. Every year too many medical school (and residency, fellowship, and dental school) candidates expend tremendous energy assembling fantastic applications, only to undermine their chances by approaching the interview with twisted laws of entropy and enthalpy: They prepare for it with maximum randomness and minimum energy.

Once you’ve done adequate groundwork, the medical school interview represents your opportunity to distinguish yourself and impress your interviewers as the type of candidate they’d love to have at their institution.

That’s not to say every interview will be full of hugs and puppy kisses. Like the story of the interviewer whose window was nailed shut, there may be uncomfortable moments and even illegal questions. With a bit of preparation, you can learn to hit these curveball questions out of the park. Let’s explore an example that has come up in the not-so-distant past.

Rehearse Your Elevator Pitch

While most interviewers take the time to read your application materials in advance, don’t be offended by the faculty member who did not prepare, is blankly flipping through your application right there in front of you, and who asks open-ended (and dreaded) medical school interview questions, such as “Tell me about yourself” to be brought up to speed. View it this way: These faculty members are offering you the opportunity to define how you’d like to be remembered.

Your goal should be twofold: 1) to persuade them how much you’d add to their institution and 2) to make their job easier by giving them the bullet points they’ll need to persuade their peers about your candidacy’s worthiness. When your interviewer sits around a table advocating on your behalf, steer her to use terms that will be germane to your candidacy. Are you the “global health advocate who volunteered with Mother Teresa and ran his school’s homeless food program?” Or perhaps you are the “first-generation college graduate who held premier leadership positions in medical school?” Help your interviewer help you.

In the end, difficult interview questions are less intimidating if you both prepare well and have an attitude that they are an opportunity to clarify and further your candidacy. For help, secure your Mock Interview slot with me. I'm booking a few weeks in advance, so sooner is better than later.

Supplemental ERAS Application

A few clients have asked me about the new supplemental ERAS application for dermatology, internal medicine (categorical and preliminary), and general surgery (categorical) applicants. The application is more work for these candidates, but the AAMC says the supplemental app will foster a more holistic approach to the residency process. For more information, check out the PowerPoint presentation from a recent webinar the AAMC held on the topic. The supplemental application opened last week.