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Wondering How to Evaluate a Medical School or Residency Program? Consider Your Happiness and Trust Your Intuition.

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Medical school and residency applicants routinely ask me how to evaluate institutions, especially since most interviews are virtual. This is a huge topic, but here are some thoughts:

  • To me, geography is one of the most important factors – at least equal to the reputation of the institution. You want to make sure you are in a location that will make you happy – near community, family, friends and/ or the ability to enjoy your hobbies.
  • Cost is sometimes a deal breaker when it comes to medical school. There can be significant differences – especially state versus private institutions – and scholarships can make a huge impact in your debt profile going forward.
  • Of course, didactics and academic opportunities are critically important for both medical school and residency. However, many programs of similar caliber have equivalent curricula and offerings. You likely could be happy at many different institutions. With regard to residency specifically, it’s important both to ensure you’re getting a lot of hands-on experience and to look at what fellowships are available, with your interests in mind.
  • Faculty is hard to assess because – like anything – there are good and bad ones. Also, faculty come and go. Having said that, if you are applying to residency, the program director is critical (understanding that he or she could leave at any time 🙁 ).
  • With regard to residency, call schedule and overall work hours are important to consider. Certain programs within the same specialty require a lot more hours and scut work than others.

One of your best bets is to talk to current medical students or residents. Oftentimes they will be very honest about the pros and cons of their institution.

Once you’ve assessed all of the above – narrowing down your list by geography and quality – I would analyze the vibe you have. If this sounds too touchy-feely, remember that intuition is not a magical assessment; it’s based on major and minor facts that you consciously and subconsciously analyze.

Remember: If you’re a medical school applicant, consider yourself fortunate if you have more than one option to choose from. Earning admission to medical school is extremely challenging; it’s a great problem if you have to struggle to decide among multiple schools!

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Your Residency Interview: What Do Program Directors Really Want?

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Imagine you’re a program director (PD) going through scores of ERASes and interviews. What questions would you ask yourself as you assess each residency candidate to avoid big headaches?

1) Can this person do the job? Is s/he competent?

2) Will this person “play well with others” and not create complaints from patients, faculty, or other services.

3) Will this person stick with the program and not leave prematurely? (A PD does not want to scurry around to fill an open call schedule/ residency slot.)

As you approach your interviews, consider how you can demonstrate your competence and collegiality, as well as your commitment to the field and the residency program. For the former, ensure you showcase academic successes, extracurricular activities that demonstrate teamwork, and – if asked – hobbies and reading materials that demonstrate your agreeable personality. For the latter, highlight research projects in the specialty, sub-internships, and knowledge about the program and city.

Simply making sure the PD knows you’re not going to cause him/her trouble is at least half the battle.

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Responses from Program Directors are as Valuable as the Email They’re Written On

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A strong residency candidate asked me to review an email a program director (PD) had sent him after interview day. The candidate wanted to know if I had any insights to the intent of the PD: Was the PD sending a generic note or was he really interested in the applicant?

I told the applicant honestly, who knows and who cares?

I wasn’t trying to be dismissive. The point is that it is impossible to know what a PD is thinking. Unfortunately, I’ve seen applicants heartbroken by false hope they read into a PD’s comments. More importantly, what a PD says should not affect your rank list anyway. The algorithm requires you to put your first choice first and your second second, etc. (More on that in a future blog post.)

As they say, kisses aren’t contracts and presents aren’t promises. Ignore those PD notes because they don’t guarantee a thing and don’t change management. 

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Where’s the Face-to-Face Time?

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Here’s a short piece written by Dr. Graham Walker, an emergency physician at Kaiser San Francisco, about how medicine’s technological uber-efficiency has adversely affected the collegiality – and even the patient care – in hospitals.

This issue has ramifications for residency programs: Trainees and their attendings need to interact across specialties in a face-to-face manner to improve resident education and patient well-being.

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Dine But Don’t Whine

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Many residency programs and medical schools are now offering applicants an opportunity to get to know their institutions through social events before the interview day – dinners or optional happy hours, for example. While I would recommend attending these events to score social points and familiarize yourself with the programs, please do remember that what you say can be repeated. Be discrete about your plans and preferences.
Take a look at this quick Guru on the Go® video for more information.

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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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