● “DOS AND DON’TS” OF RESIDENCY INTERVIEWS

Credits: Dr. Christina Shenvi, MD PhD (Assistant Program Director, University of North
Carolina)

Interviews can be stressful, especially when your future job is at stake and in the hands of
the somewhat mysterious match process. How can you set yourself apart from hundreds
of other applicants as someone who is a good fit for a program, who should be ranked
highly, and who will be a great future resident – all in the course of a 15 minute
interview? This post will walk you through some important “Dos” to make you stand out,
and some devastating “Don’ts” that can sink you down lower on a program’s rank list.

First off, you should know that residency interview spots are precious. A program would
not invite you unless they were seriously interested in you and thought you had a chance
at matching there. So be encouraged! Often the program is trying to recruit you just as
much as you are trying to impress them.

Residency programs are looking for applicants who will fit well with their individual
program, but there are some general traits that all programs are looking for, and the first
and most important one is NOT board scores! Personality traits are more important than
board scores. Interviewers are using that 15 minute interview to try to figure out if you
have what it takes to be a good resident. The most important characteristics are intangible
things such as:

Reliability
Common sense
The ability to work well with others
Compassion
Determination
Teachability
Humility
Excitement about learning and curiosity
Professionalism
Maturity

We can see things like leadership experience, grades, volunteer work, and research
experience from your application. During the interview we are looking at you as an
overall person. Programs want to avoid matching residents who will later drop out, who
will be difficult to work with, who will be high-maintenance and expect special
treatment, or who act unprofessionally.
When does the interview start?

The interview process starts with your first contact with the program. If you are rude to
the residency coordinator or require an extraordinary amount of help with scheduling,
you can be sure the residency leadership will hear about it.

Do be polite to everyone you meet. No exceptions.

Do get any paperwork in on time. Residency involves a lot of paperwork, from

credentialing to immunization reviews, to completing your charts. Programs may shy
away from residents who have to be emailed personally multiple times to fill out their
paperwork or schedule their interview, as it is a red flag for requiring a lot of extra help in
the future.

Do take responsibility for your own travel details. Look online to schedule things like
airport shuttles and places to stay. Do not expect the residency coordinator to help you
with that. Programs may have lists of residents who are willing to host interviewees, and
it is fine to ask for that. But remember, you are interviewing the entire time you are
staying with that resident, because any concerning behavior will make it back to the
program director.

Don’t cancel the day before. If you cancel an interview spot, then that is one spot wasted
that could have been offered to one of the hundreds of other applicants who were turned
down. It is poor form and reflects poorly on you and your school. Give as much notice as
possible if you have to cancel.

The pre-interview dinner

These are a great time to informally meet with residents and find out more about the
program and see if it is a good fit for you. However, they can be dangerous if you are too
informal. If you act inappropriately or unprofessionally at the interview dinner, the
leadership team will find out about it.

Do ask lots of questions. This is important for you, and also allows you to be more
prepared and informed when you go for your formal interviews.

Do keep your conversations and language professional.

Don’t drink too much.

Don’t bring up controversial topics. You do not want to risk getting into an argument
with one of the residents who may have strong, opposite opinions.

The interview day

You will probably have various slide presentations about the program and also a tour.
The days can be long and can run together.

Do keep up the energy and interest level. If you can’t even keep your energy up for one
interview day, we will have concerns about how you would function on a long string of
tiring night shifts.

Do take notes. It will give you something to remember about the program, and also some
ideas for questions to ask of the interviewers.

Dress professionally. You may be eccentric and creative in your dressing at home, but on
interview day, you want to fit in when it comes to your attire, and stand out when it
comes to your personality.

The interviews

“Hi! Thank you for giving me this opportunity to interview with you. How are you?”

You will likely have 4 or more interviews of 10-20 minutes each. If you can, know who
your interviewers are, whether they are the program director, the chair, a faculty member,
or a resident. That way, you can tailor your questions to their role.

Do be on time. You’ve probably heard the saying “10 minutes early is ontime.". On time
is late, and 10 minutes late is unacceptable. " Certainly, catastrophes and transportation
hiccups can happen, in which case, call the coordinator to let him or her know as soon as
possible.

Do start well. Smile, have good eye contact, and sit up straight. This is an interview, after
all.

Do be excited to be there. If the interviewer asks you how your day is, avoid responses
like “pretty good” or “ok, but I’m pretty tired”. Even if your flight was delayed and you
are working on 2 hours of sleep, put your best foot forward and answer with how great
your day has been and how excited you are to be there. You will have days in residency
when you are functioning on little sleep, and we want to know that you can keep up your
energy despite being tired.
Minimize the speaker’s video & keep it beside the camera.

Finish off your sentences. Complete them. Don’t leave them midway.

Have a good internet connection.

Always be honest. If you exaggerate your capabilities, such as saying you are fluent in
Spanish when really you only took a year in high school, you may find yourself caught if
the interviewer is fluent and decides to conduct the interview in Spanish (this has
happened). Also, being honest is just the right thing to do.

Be excited about your activities and accomplishments. An interviewer will probably ask
you about the research, teaching, or volunteer experience that you listed on your
application. be able to speak about it articulately and with excitement. Excitement is
contagious... and boredom is too. Talk about how much you enjoyed the research project
and what you learned from it. Avoid saying things like “I was just a tech on that project
to meet the research requirement for my school,” or “I learned I hated research.” Always
focus on the positive parts of the experience.

Do practice your answers to the most common questions. Most of the questions you will
be asked are predictable. You will always have a few “off the wall” creative questions,
but most of the time, it is standard interview questions (see the end of the post for a list).
You should have answers that you have thought about and practiced for these. You do not
need to memorize your answers, but at least be able to articulate them well.

I do have a plan for after residency. No one expects you to have your life all figured out
yet. But at least you have thought about your interests: Do you want to work in a rural
setting? Do a fellowship in something? Working in a major academic center? Do
research? No one will look back in the future and hold you to these answers, but at least it
shows that you have thought through your interests.

Do be genuine. We want to find out about your personality, who you are, and whether
you are a good fit. If you plan to go back to your small hometown and be their ED doc,
do not pretend that you want to do a research fellowship and become an NIH-funded
researcher. First of all, not all programs are looking for that, and second of all, the
interviewer will sense that you are telling them what you think they want to hear rather
than what is true.

Do speak articulately. We all use word fillers such as “like, um, you know." Avoid these
when you can as much as possible. Also, avoid inflecting every answer as if you are
asking a question. For example, when asked about what your plans are in 10 years, think
about what the following would sound like: “In ten years? I really enjoy teaching? So I
would see myself working in academics? And I will probably do an education
fellowship? And then I would want to be involved in research. "

Do sell yourself. Interviewers may ask you about something you are proud of doing or a
major accomplishment. Talk about it! This is your chance to impress them and sell
yourself.

Don’t be annoyed if the interviewer hasn’t read your application or has forgotten parts of
it, such as where you went to college. Many of the interviewers are coming in to
interview on a day they would otherwise have had off. They probably glanced at the
applications the night before, but may not have read all of them. Some interviewers read
your personal statements, and others do not. Always be polite and respectful in your
answers. Even if the interviewer has read your application, they have also likely
interviewed 19 other people that day, and the applications can start to run together just as
the programs start to all look alike to you.

Don’t ramble. When an interviewee starts to ramble, the interviewer may worry that they
will ramble when presenting patients on a clinical shift. After all, the interviewer is trying
to find applicants who will work well as residents in the ED. A big part of being a good
resident is being a good communicator. Hone your communication skills by preparing
your answers.

Don’t speak negatively about other programs. If asked about your experience rotating at
another place, or even at your home institution, do not speak negatively about them. You
can compare and contrast them, but “bad-mouthing” other residents or programs is a big
red flag.

Don’t speak negatively about other specialties. It is inappropriate to do so, and you never
know if the interviewer’s significant other or parent might be a doctor in that specialty. If
you had a challenging experience on a rotation with another specialty, reframe it around
what you learned through the challenges.

Don’t be arrogant. You are a medical student. You have a lot to learn, which is why you
are applying for residency. Do not criticize practices you have seen in an arrogant way. It
is ok to talk about differences in practice, and how you learned from it or read up on it to
find out the evidence base for something, but hubris is another big red flag.
Don’t be casual, even if your interviewer is a resident. They often have just as much say
in the decision of where to rank you and how to score your interview as any of the faculty
interviews. So stay professional.

Do have questions. At the end of the interview, most interviewers will ask if you have
any questions. This is in part to help answer anything you may have, but also it gives us a
sense of how interested and prepared you are. I have a few questions about the program.
They can be generic, such as “What are some things you have recently changed about the
program?” or “Are there any things you see changing about the program in the future?”
Or they can be specific about how the rotations are structured, how much time residents
spend in the ICU, etc. Make a list of questions ahead of time that you want to ask. It can
lead to an awkward silence if the interviewee has no questions.

Do end well. Again, the interviewer is probably there on their day off. Make them happy
to have spent 15 minutes with you. Thank them for their time or for answering your
questions.

After the interview

Do be honest if you tell a program you are ranking them #1. You can only have one #. If
you change your mind later, let the program know that. If you are ranked in a match-able
range and do not match there, the program leadership will know that you were dishonest.
This reflects poorly on you.

Be professional. It is not required to send a thank you letter. But if you do, make sure it is
professional and legible (if handwritten). An email is acceptable as well.

Hopefully, the “Dos and Don’ts” here will help keep you from committing any major
interview faux-pas. Enjoy the time that you have traveling, seeing other programs, and
meeting future colleagues. Good luck!