This time of year, when the residency and medical school interview processes are in full swing, many of us feel overwhelmed. Here’s a brief but thoughtful piece regarding balance. As you consider your future career, it’s worth thinking about issues the author covers like clarifying what makes you happy and defining balance. In this day and age, one can choose a traditionally tough specialty but work in a practice setting that allows for some autonomy and flexibility. But you need to know what you want to guide yourself in the right direction.
Blog Archives
Residency and Medical School Applications: Don’t Make It Urgent
I’m writing this blog entry from the Compton, California Jurors’ Waiting Room, having been called for duty today. We were to arrive at 7:45am. After hearing a long introduction from the orientation coordinator here, I noted a woman arriving at 8:50. She sat next to me and asked me to repeat everything the orientation coordinator had said for the last hour.
Her lack of judgment prompted this entry. When approaching your interviews, try to anticipate problem issues and ensure you complete tasks early:
Responding to interview invitations immediately helps you target a time frame you prefer. Also, since some programs do not have enough slots for all of the invitations they issue, it also assures you a slot.
Arriving at your interview early decreases stress, which allows you to perform optimally. At times it also gives you the opportunity to better acquaint yourself with the coordinator or even the residency director. (Several years ago a residency candidate told me he had a fifteen-minute one-on-one conversation with the residency director because the applicant had arrived early. He felt confident that the individualized time furthered his candidacy.)
Sending your thank you notes immediately increases the likelihood they could make a positive impact on your candidacy since faculty may speak about your candidacy earlier rather than later.
So, don’t make it urgent. Plan in advance. If nothing else, the perception of control will help reduce anxiety and improve your interview days.
Residency and Medical School Interview Questions: How to Answer that Icky Decade One
“Where do you see yourself in 10 years?” the interviewer asks you, and you squirm…
An influential physician-administrator once complained to me that whenever he asked potential new faculty hires where they saw themselves in a decade they always said they were interested in global health or teaching. “They just say that because it’s sexy,” he remarked. “Many of them have nothing in their C.V.s to bolster their interest in either pursuit.”
When asked where you see yourself in ten years, consider what your accomplishments thus far support to show a clear evolution. This doesn’t mean you’re stuck with what you’ve done even if you didn’t like it. You could point out that having tried myocardial bench research, you realize that your real interest is in clinical investigations of new cardiac markers. Throwing out activities just because they sound appealing doesn’t make you look professional or your candidacy seem well-synthesized. The idea is to have a trajectory that you can back up, defend, and easily justify.
Many medical school applicants say they don’t know what field they want to go into. Of course not! And many residency applicants don’t know if they want to do a fellowship. That’s okay. Again, the point is to focus on your previous strengths and achievements and leverage them.
One more thing: If you are planning to seek mock interview help from me, please do it now. I am booking several weeks in advance.
Using Psychology to Further Your Residency or Medical School Application
In my last post, I spoke about the importance of knowing about a school or program in detail in order to show enthusiasm. This entry is a follow-up piece. Being genuinely complimentary (there’s no need to sell yourself down the river being disingenuous) can readily further your candidacy:
There is a psychological principle that asserts that if someone likes you, you tend to like him/her more. So, if I say, “I was just talking to Mike, and he always says the nicest things about you,” you now like Mike more (even though he’s not a real person in this case).
Use this strategy to your advantage. It’s hard to say, “I like you!” in an interview setting. But when speaking about a school or program during interview day, showcase what the institution’s strengths are and specifically, how they apply to you. If the program has a focus on public policy, mention your work with AMSA’s lobbying efforts. If the school is in Utah, note how much you like skiing. Demonstrating interest and zeal can go a long way to leverage simple psychology.
Tags: Interview Tips, Medical School, residency
Residency and Medical School Interviews: Don’t Be the “Guy with the Tie”
Check out this brand-new Insider Medical Admissions Guru on the Go© under-one-minute, stop-motion video called, “Spiffy Tie for the Dull Guy.” If you’re heading to residency or medical school interviews this season, you’ll want to learn about this effective way to protect your candidacy while you evade the fashion police.
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Dr. Finkel is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Medical School. On completing her residency at Harvard, she was asked to
stay on as faculty at Harvard Medical School and spent five years teaching at the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital.
She was appointed to the Assistant Residency Director position for the Harvard Affiliated
Emergency Medicine Residency where she reviewed countless applications, personal statements and resumes. Read more
