Interview Questions:
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Over the past six years, we have studied the types of questions that students have been asked during their residency interviews. It is important that you be prepared to respond thoughtfully to these. It has become clearer that you can expect one specific question 100% of the time and that there are "good" and "bad" responses to it. Then there is another type of question to you that we call "provocative" (ugly) and you will get one of these questions anywhere from 10%-20% of the time.
Since there is one question that you can expect in every interview, it makes sense to prepare well for it. The question may sound like a throw-away, but it is not. The question is simply: "Do you (the applicant) have any questions of me?" Our debriefings of over 500 students describing thousands of interviews covering all disciplines have convinced us that this simple question plays a major role in the interview. Interviewers generally want to be helpful to you and certainly do not want to offend or turn off a good applicant. Thus, different from your medical school admission interview, the theme of "what do you want to know about us" plays a much larger role. Therefore, a little preparation on your part can give you questions that will reflect good things about you.
The Good
The types of questions you can ask the interviewers can be divided into good and bad. The good question is one that reflects that you know something about their program already. It is upbeat, gets them talking about something they are proud of, and shows them that you are genuinely interested in them. The actual answer they give may be secondary to the rapport that can develop when you demonstrate your familiarity with their situation.
- Example of a good question:
I have heard that you will be expanding the training program into Deaconess Hospital next year. Will that mean more opportunity for OB experience? [This type of information can be found in the brochure or "hallway" conversations with residents.]
This question shows the interviewer that you are taking their program seriously, know something about them, and see their future as an opportunity rather than a burden. You know you have hit the jackpot if the interviewer spends several minutes happily telling you abut the history of the hospitals, the training opportunities, the challenges ahead, etc. Getting your interviewer into a positive description of a strength of the program can end up helping your overall interview impression. These questions are not easy to come up with. They can come from the program's brochure or be developed from inquiries to the residents that you meet informally at the site. If you find that a question seems to bring forward a lot of positive information and rapport, you may wish to use it again on the next interviewer in that program.
The Bad
As a contrast to the "good" questions to have ready, there are "bad" questions to avoid. Remember, now, we are only talking about the formal interviews. Many of the "bad" questions must be asked, just don't do it in the interviews in which you are being evaluated. Workload questions, night call schedules, morale of residents, and vacation schedule information must be learned during your visit, but ask those questions during the informal sessions with residents and faculty and not during those two or three 20-40 minute sessions where the interviewer will end up rating you as a desirable or non-desirable applicant.
- Example of "bad" questions:
"What is the night call schedule?"
"Are your residents happy?"
"What support systems do you have for residents?"
"What paternity/maternity leave plans do you have?"
"Do residents in your program have problems with board exams?"
Again, you do need answers to all of these questions. But if asked in the formal interview, they may raise concerns in the interviewers' mind that you are not the hard-working team player that they are seeking. Get these answers from residents or faculty who are not part of the formal evaluation process and leave the best possible impression with your interviewers.
- Examples of not really "bad" questions, but not great questions:
"What is the future of this specialty?"
"Do you see any changes in this program in the next five years?"
"How are the teaching conferences arranged?"
"When do residents get experience in ?"
These questions are not great questions because they are either too broad and are asked by every applicant (the first two) or could have been easily learned from reading the brochure or asking some hallway questions (the last two). On the other hand, it is better to use these than have no questions at all. Even if you are tired, and it is the fifth interview of a long day, and all of your "real" questions have been answered, have some questions for this last interviewer because she/he will be rating you just like the first one did!
It is impossible to give you a list of "good" questions because to be good, they must be specific to the program. The common points across all good questions can, however, guide you in developing them. They reflect well upon you because they show the interviewer that you did your homework; they focus on strengths (the program's strengths and yours), and they encourage the interviewer to expand upon something that they are pleased about.
The Ugly
Interviewers will now and then ask you challenging questions. They can come in two forms. The challenging type that put you on the spot to see how you think on your feet, and the challenging type that focus on a more personal aspect of your application.
The strategy for the first type is to be aware that they will happen now and then (10-20% of the time) and try not to get rattled. The interviewer may be trying to see how you think under stress, so show them your good stuff!
- Examples of the less personal, provocative questions:
1. There are 1,000 applicants equally as qualified as you. Why should we pick you? What value can you be to our program?
2. Present an interesting patient case.
3. What are your strengths and what are your short-comings?
4. What kinds of patients have you had trouble dealing with?
5. What is the most daring thing you have done? What is the most difficult thing you have done?
6. What would you change about yourself? What would others change about you?
7. What was the last non-medical book you read?
- Examples of more personal, provocative questions:
1. Given that you grew up on the Northwest all your life, why would you want to come to the South?
2. How did you pay for medical school?
3. Why did you take five years to complete medical school?
These questions reflect something in your file that the interviewer is concerned about. If these areas are relevant for you, anticipate how you want to respond to them. Practice your responses with a friend or a mock interview before your first residency interview.
As a tip for the strengths and weaknesses question, just remember that they can be describing the same behavior; A strength of being a hard worker leads to the weakness of at times not taking enough time for yourself.
- Examples of potentially offensive, personal, provocative questions:
1. As a woman, what kinds of problems do you expect to encounter in regard to marriage, family, etc.? How do you expect to deal with those problems?
2. Are you (or your wife) going to have children during the residency training?
These are technically illegal questions in a job interview and you will need to be comfortable with yourself and how you handle this type of question should you experience this. They really don't happen too often, but when they do, these are certainly memorable! You are in a vulnerable position so how you handle it is, of course, a personal decision.
Some strategies used can be as simple as "I don't think that will be a problem; has that come up here as an issue?" Declining to respond to questions you consider offensive is also OK, but may be tough in these interview situations. Take heart, though, they do not occur too frequently. To help us address these areas, report back to Dr. MacLaren or me when you experience this type of question. There are efforts ongoing to educate residency interviewers on their good, bad, and ugly questions.
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To summarize, don't over prepare for the "ugly" questions because they don’t happen very often. Out of ten interviews, maybe one person will ask that type of questions. Anticipate the common questions of "what would you like to know about us?" In extensive debriefings of students after their interviews, they tell us to pass on to you that you need to be prepared to carry much of the interview through your own questions.
-D. Daniel Hunt, M.D.