Blog Archives

Do Interviews Matter?

There’s an interesting NYT’s article from this past week called “Do College Admissions Interviews Matter?” Although the article makes a convincing argument that undergraduate interviews may not matter in many cases, it does point out that many graduate school interviews do. It also recommends doing mock interviews.

The NRMP Program Directors’ Survey makes it quite clear that residency interviews matter a lot, which was also my experience as Assistant Residency Director at Harvard. I remember very robust conversations about even small comments that candidates had made in their interviews that adversely affected their ranking on our Match list.

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The Medical Residency Interview: What if You Haven’t Received an Invitation?

Once your ERAS has been submitted, getting into residency kicks into high gear with the interview season. But what if you’ve completed your residency application and yet haven’t been invited to interview?

First of all, realize that residency admissions have become increasingly competitive of late. This is especially true for “lifestyle” specialties like Radiology, Opthalmology, Anesthesia and Dermatology (often termed the “ROAD”). The number of applicants in those fields and others is generally increasing, as the number of medical students continues to increase. Thus, the lack of an invite may just represent overloaded admissions offices. Read more ›

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About Dr. Michelle Finkel

Dr. Michelle Finkel

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

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Listen to Dr. Finkel’s interview on the White Coat Investor podcast:

Listen to Dr. Finkel’s interview on the FeminEm podcast: