Postgraduate Medical - Page 6
The following are important suggestions to help
you secure a suitable position. Many of the
pointers noted in the premed interview
discussion (see page 108) are relevant here as well.
Do Your Homework
Familiarize yourself with the program for which
you are being offered an interview. It is
risky to go unprepared, since you can make poor
choices of places to visit and appear
uninformed at the interview. Carefully study
published residency program material that
was sent to you or a classmate or is on file at
your medical school. Such material could
provide information concerning facilities,
faculty-resident ratio, and the philosophy, cur-
riculum, work hours, and support staff at the
teaching hospital.
Setting up a card file on all prospective
interview sites is useful. It will help you
refresh your memory just prior to a visit. Add
new information and your impressions
after each visit for possible future reference.
Sequence your interview schedule so that
the interviews are not so close that you do not
have time to recover from one before you
present yourself for another and you can arrive
fresh and enthusiastic for each interview.
A "practice" interview at a program low on your
acceptance list is a good way to
develop self-confidence. Your highest priority
interview should be scheduled in the mid-
dle of your interview cycle. By that time you
should have an adequate amount of experi-
ence and will not be physically drained by this
demanding process. Remember that
making a good initial impression can be
enhanced by a firm handshake and proper
grooming.
Know Yourself
It is important at the outset of the entire
interview process to define your goals career-
wise. Completion of a personality test and
discussion with faculty members with whom
you are close about your goals, interests, and
strengths can be helpful. After this process
you should be able to clearly articulate your
career plans and defend your choices. This
should include knowledge of your choice of a
clinical or academic career and the type
of the residency you are seeking.
Anticipate Obvious Questions
Although interviews vary widely, many questions
asked are standard ones. Among the
most favorite ones are:
1. What are your short- and long-range
goals?
2. What are your strengths and
weaknesses?
3. Why do you seek admission to this
program?
4. What do you want out of life?
5. Why did you choose medicine as a
career?
6. What have been your most important
accomplishments so far?
Practicing answers to these questions is
advisable so long as they do not sound
rehearsed when you deliver them. Mock
interviews with fellow students can prove use-
ful in preparing for the real
ones.
Ask Tactful Questions About the
Program
You should seek to learn about the program in
the context of the interview session by
inquiring as to the program's commitments to
education versus service obligation. Tact-
ful questions are appropriate; therefore,
rather than asking about a program's weakness,
phrase your question as an inquiry. You may
wish to ask the interviewer if the program
has received an unrestricted grant, what areas
it would be invested in. The most appropri-
ate questions to ask are those relevant to
education and the quality of patient care. In any
case, the questions you ask should be
determined by the position of the person to whom
you are speaking. In other words, when being
interviewed by a department head, an
inquiry relevant to salary or housing would not
be appropriate but should be directed to a
resident. Questions about the philosophy and
curriculum of a program should obviously
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