A list of most common interview questions.

    What do INTERVIEWERS ask?

  1. Tell me about yourself?
  2. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
  3. Why are you interested in our program?
  4. What are you looking for in a program?
  5. Why should we choose you?
  6. Can you tell me about this deficiency on your record?
  7. Why are you interested in this speciality?
  8. What do you see yourself doing in the future?
  9. How do you think the current changes in health care will affect the speciality?
  10. Do you have plans for a family?
  11. What do you do in your spare time?
  12. Describe an interesting case that you had?

    What do I ask the interviewer?

  1. What do you like most about your training program? In what areas can the program improve itself?
  2. Where have your residents gone after graduation?
  3. What process do you have for improving the residency? For evaluating rotations?
  4. What recent changes has the program undergone? What changes do you forsee?
  5. What research opportunities are available? What is the availability of funding for research? What kind of mentor support is available from the faculty?
  6. What opportunities are there to attend regional and national conferences and seminars?
  7. How well do residents perform on board certification exams?
  8. What is the structure of the last year of residency? Does the program offer elective time? Mini-fellowships?
Avoid questions during the interview about salaries and benefits, vacation, moonlighting, call schedules, and other aspects of the day-to-day operations of the program.


    What questions do I ask the house staff?

    General Questions
  1. What features of the program do residents like or dislike?
  2. How strong are the residents? From where did they graduate?

    Reputation
  1. Do graduates of the program have problems finding jobs?
  2. How difficult is it for residents to get a good fellowship?

    Education
  1. Is the program fully accredited?
  2. How are the residents evaluated? By whom?
  3. Is there an organized curriculum? What is the emphasis?
  4. How many conferences/week are there? Do conferences empasize practical knowledge or state-of-the-art research?
  5. What is the quality of the attendings? What are their responsibilities?
  6. How interested are the faculty in the education and welfare of the house staff?
  7. What proportion of the attendings are private?
  8. Are there medical students on the wards? What school(s) do they represent? What are the residents teaching responsibilities to the students?
  9. What research opportunities are there?

    Work Environment
  1. What is the patient load like?
  2. What are the typical admissions diagnoses?
  3. How many cases are treated by the average resident?
  4. Is the case load sufficiently varied?
  5. How much autonomy do residents have to manage patients?
  6. What is the patient population like? Ethnicity/Language? SES?
  7. Is there continuity of care for patients after discharge?
  8. What is the quality of the ambulatory experience?
  9. How strong is nursing support? Consult services? Radiology?
  10. Pathology? ER services?
  11. What is the typical call schedule?
  12. How does the work environment vary from service to service? From hospital to hospital?
  13. How busy are call nights? How much sleep do you usually get?
  14. How available are the attendings? Can you call them at night?
  15. Is there a backup available when you are on call? Is there a night float system?
  16. How many hours do you work each night?
  17. How much time do you get off each week?

    Salary
  1. What is the starting salary for an intern? For an R2?
  2. What about the cost of living in the area?
  3. Is moonlighting permitted? If so, how does it work around here?

    Benefits
  1. What health benefits are available?
  2. What is the maternity/paternity leave policy?
  3. Is parking provided? Is subsidized housing available? What is the vacation schedule setup?



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