Вопросы для интервью

Для тех, кто планирует участвовать в грядущем матче, время скоро начнет просачиваться сквозь пальцы под ворохом задач. Выкладываю свой список вопросов к интервью. Надеюсь, кому-нибудь он поможет сэкономить время. Этот список вопросов не содержит всех возможных вопросов, но проработав его и написав ответы, можно будет чувствовать себя более менее уверенно. Часть вопросов будет точно из списка, часть будет похожими, а часть вы услышите первый раз на интервью. Подготовка поможет вам не быть застанным врасплох даже незнакомым вопросом. Сейчас трудиться на этой задачей может рановато, но к сезону стоит быть готовым заранее, чтобы непосредственно перед интервью оставалось только освежить. Оглядываясь назад, я бы начинал работать по этой задаче в июле по паре-тройке вечеров в неделю. Возможно, стоит написать ответы на 5-10 вопросов уже сейчас, чтобы понять объем трубуемого времени, при выполнении в вашем темпе. Сочиняйте ответы полностью. Сочинять на интервью будет проблематично. Проговаривайте каждый вопрос/ответ. Разогревайте речь, если нет постоянной практики языка. Говорят, что записывать себя и слушать помогает, хотя я не пробовал. Интервью это кульминационный момент задачи попадания в резидентуру, но вы не AMG и роскоши в 20 инвайтов вам, скорее всего, не видать, поэтому когда представится шанс, отработать надо достойно. Всем удачи.

  1. We have many good applicants. Why should we choose you? How do you see yourself contributing to our program?
  2. Why did you choose to apply to this program?
  3. Tell me about yourself.
  4. What have you learned about yourself from previous jobs?
  5. How do I know you can show initiative and are willing to work?
  6. What are your interests outside of medicine?
  7. What would you say are your major strengths? Weaknesses?
  8. Why did you choose this specialty?
  9. Tell me about your medical education.
  10. Tell me about your previous clinical experience.
  11. Tell me about your experience with the USMLE exams?
  12. Have you ever worked in an American hospital? Tell me about that experience.
  13. How do you get along with nurses?
  14. Have you ever taught medical students?
  15. Tell me about your research experience.
  16. Why do you have not many publications/research?
  17. Are you interested in research activity?
  18. Have you ever made any presentations before a professional group?
  19. Have you assisted in surgery? On what procedures? Tell me how you were involved.
  20. What are your long term goals?
  21. What books have you read lately? Tell me about (book, article).
  22. Do you plan to practice in this state?
  23. How would you describe your decision-making style?
  24. Tell me about a difficult decision you’ve made in the last year.
  25. Describe the worst or most disappointing clinical experience you’ve had so far.
  26. What will you do if you don’t match into this specialty?
  27. What is your visa status?
  28. Describe a difficult time in your life and how you dealt with it.
  29. What do you do to cope with stress?
  30. Have you taken any CME courses? If not, why not? (asked to measure applicant’s
    initiative in seeking exposure to US-style of health care delivery)
  31. Have you held any leadership roles? Elaborate.
  32. What factors would lead you to rank a program very highly?
  33. What factors would lead you to lower your ranking of a program?
  34. What kind of personality traits do you find most difficult to deal with in coworkers?
  35. What challenges do you foresee that will potentially affect this specialty in the
    next ten years?
  36. What kind of patient do you find it most difficult to relate to? What tactics would
    you use to establish optimal rapport with such a patient?
  37. If you were asked to describe yourself in 3 words, what would they be?
  38. In your Curriculum Vitae (CV), there is a gap of 1 year. Why?
  39. How do you handle adversity?
  40. Have you taken/passed USMLE Step 3?
  41. Tell me about a case that you found interesting and what you learned from it.
  42. Tell me about a time you worked effectively under pressure.
  43. Tell me about a stressful situation you experienced in medical school and how you handled it.
  44. Tell me about a patient care mistake that you made, and what you learned from it.
  45. How would you handle a bad clinical outcome?
  46. Tell me how you would you deal with a resident who wasn’t doing his share of the work.
  47. Tell me about a time when you were disappointed in your performance.
  48. Tell me about a time you had to build a relationship with someone you didn’t like.
  49. Tell me about a time you when you tried to accomplish something and failed.
  50. Why did you become a doctor?
  51. What do you see as the positive aspects of this specialty?
  52. What do you see as the negative aspects of this specialty?
  53. Are you interested in academic medicine?
  54. Do you plan on pursuing a fellowship?
  55. What accomplishment are you most proud of?
  56. How do you deal with conflict?
  57. You have spent your entire life on the west coast and your family is on the west coast.
  58. If you weren’t a doctor, what would you have been?
  59. Tell me a good joke.
  60. Teach me something non-medical in 30 seconds.
  61. Tell me about your favorite non-medical book/movie.
  62. Tell me about a patient you had who was especially significant for you.
  63. Which courses and clerkship did you like best/least? Why?
  64. What is the worst part of this specialty?
  65. What would you do if you won millions in the lottery?
  66. What is your favorite sports team?
  67. What professional teams do you like to watch on TV?
  68. What was your Halloween costume last year? Or your favorite one?
  69. What bad things have you heard about our program?
  70. What are your intellectual pursuits outside of medicine?
  71. What is your ideal mentor like?
  72. Who is mentoring you?
  73. What is your typical day like?
  74. Would you say you’re a leader or a follower?
  75. Tell me about one hardship you faced during a clinical rotation and how you handled it.
  76. Suppose you had an unmotivated student, what would you do as the preceptor?
  77. What is one word to describe yourself?
  78. If you were an animal, which animal would you be and why?
  79. Do you think grades that anything to do with how well you perform in your career?
  80. What motivates you?
  81. If you could do medical school over again, what would you change?
  82. Do you see any problems managing a professional and a personal life?
  83. Are you prepared for the rigors of residency?
  84. Describe the best/worst attending with whom you have ever worked.
  85. What is the greatest sacrifice you have already made to get to where you are?
  86. Describe a particularly satisfying or meaningful experience during your medical training. Why was it meaningful?
  87. How well do you take criticism?
8 лайков

Так же я делал кое-какие заметки по этой задаче - как себя вести, как отвечать на вопросы. Наиболее интересные сохранил в фалике. Может кому-то они тоже пригодятся.

Еще ютуб стоит посматривать. Там достаточно видео с реальным опытом людей, все не пересмотреть. Можно много полезного почерпнуть, хотя и стоит проецировать чужой опыт на себя осторожно, в соответствии с вашим раскладом.

Maintain eye contact.

Be energetic and communicative.

A lot of interviews are very loosely structured so you may need to take initiative in bringing this forward yourself.

Familiarize yourself with each program’s website and don’t include questions that are answered on it.

Know your CV and your application very well, you will be asked questions on it.

Most questions have an ulterior motive that has nothing to do with the answer requested. The content of the answer is never as important as the way in which you say it. The interviewer has requested your personal presence to see who you are, not to hear what you have done(See body language). In almost all cases, the qualities they want to see are confidence, insight, sincerity, self awareness, and interpersonal skills. Focus on how you answer the question, not what the answer is. Each answer should have the same three components:

  1. A confident response.
  2. Lead your answer to one of your strengths.
  3. After you have answered the question, always spin it back to the program in a way that allows the interviewer to comment on one of the program’s strengths that happens to coincide with your strengths. This will make you look like a perfect match for the program.

After several iterations of this, the interview will take on a life of its own. Your interviewer will be completely focused upon the positive attributes of his program, and these attributes (because you have directed him to talk about them) will magically appear to coincide with your strengths.

Question 1: Tell me about yourself. It doesn’t matter what you say, as long as the answer is confident. They already know everything about you that matters to them: it is all in your ERAS application. This question is designed to assess your self-awareness and to see what matters to you. If you do not have a pre-planned answer to this question (whatever it might be) you have shown a lack of self-awareness and insight. Also, do not be ordinary. A bad example, “I grew up in Oklahoma and then decided to go to college to study biology. I was then accepted into medical school where I have… blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.” A better example, “Well it’s interesting. I went to medical school thinking I would be a surgeon. While I still respect that profession, it was the bedside care of my internal medicine patients that really inspired me. I have enjoyed the role the internist plays in the longitudinal care of his patients. Etc. I get the sense that bedside medicine is still a strong feature of your program. Is that been your experience here?” The answer focuses on an attribute or value (interpersonal skills) that is important to you, not upon a biographical list of facts.

Question 2: What do you want to do with your career? Again, the answer is unimportant, but having an answer is. There is a balance here: if you are too specific, you run the risk of appearing dogmatic and rigid; if you are too vague, you will appear aimless and without focus. The key is to appear as if you have thought about this before, and you are already acting to help make your final decision. If you have made a final decision, you want to show that there is some reason for why you have chosen what you have. This is a prime opportunity for inserting one of your strengths. In answering the question, lead with one of your strengths. For example, “I have liked elements of everything I have done, but I have particularly enjoyed cardiology and pulmonology. Both careers provide an opportunity to work with your hands, while still relying upon a strong understanding the physiology of disease. While I am not as good at memorizing things as other people, I am pretty good with these skills, so I think that might be a good fit.” The other variants to this question are, “What is your seven year plan?” or “What do you see yourself doing seven years from now?” It doesn’t matter what your plan might be, as long as you have a plan. A good answer comes quick (showing that you have thought about this) and begins with, “In seven years I have to have accomplished the following…” or “In seven years I want to have established myself in a practice doing… etc., etc.” Then spin the question back to the interviewer. “What do most of your residents go on to do after residency?”

If you are interviewing at an academic program, and the interviewer asks you about your career interests in academic vis a vis private practice, always reply that you have an interest in academic medicine. This is not entirely a lie: over three years you may develop an interest in academic medicine, even if you do not have one now. Academic centers have a mission to perpetuate academics; it is understandable that they want to invest their training resources in people who may turn around and perpetuate the mission.

If you are asked about a specific weakness in your application (“It doesn’t appear that you have done much research.”), turn it in your favor. The real reason for the question is to see your response, not to hear your answer. A confident, self-assured answer (whatever it is) is far superior to an apology. A good response: “I spent most of medical school learning the fundamentals of medicineand getting the most from my clinical years. I think good research ideas are born from a careful observation of clinical disease and keeping up with the medical literature. My hope is that this foundation when combined with good mentorship will enable me to do meaningful research as part of my residency. What type of mentorship and research opportunities do your residents have as part of their training? ” When it comes to research, the program does not care what you have done in the past, they care what you will do for them. Past research experience is important only to the extent that it portends that you will be successful in research in the future. The above answer does three things: 1) It shows that your lack of research is not a function of disinterest or laziness, 2) It shows that you have some insight into what research requires, and 3) It shows you have a desire to do research with them. That is all that they care to know.

Question 5: “What are your weaknesses?” Do not try to create a clever pseudo-weakness (“I tend to care too much for my patients”) and above all do not point out a real weakness (“I am frequently late for rounds.”) Immediately change the question from “weakness” to “an area that I would most like to improve.” Medicine requires many skills, and everyone has strong and weak points. Craft your answer so that you show insight into this feature of medicine, and then discuss an area in which you would like to improve. Solidify the answer by giving some evidence that this is not the first time you have considered this, and you are actively working to strengthen yourself in this area. A good response, “Each physician, like a decathlete, has his strong and weak events. Over the last year I have focused upon improving my physical examination skills. I have hooked up with a great mentor and seen extra patients on the wards, which has started to really make a difference in my proficiency. I understand the patients you see have a diverse range of diseases. Do your residents see many physical examination abnormalities as part of their service?” The implicit message is that you have insight into your strengths and weaknesses, and because of this insight and your motivation, the weakness will not be weak for long.

Question 6: “Describe a patient you have cared for?” It doesn’t matter what you answer, but you should have an answer prepared for this. Do not make it up, because you may get questions about the details. Always choose a case that you have been involved in: the purpose is not to hear a fascinating case, but to see your involvement in the case. If you did something great to save the patient, give credit to the team, not to yourself. “… then we stuck a needle in the chest and drained the pericardial fluid. It was a great moment for the team.” I.

Question 7: “What has been the most important moment in your medical school experience?” This question is focusing on your interpretation of the moment in an effort to gain insight into you; the actual moment is irrelevant. Whatever the moment, avoid describing your mistakes, avoid self agrandizement, and avoid being over-dramatic. Focus on moments in which teamwork led to a good outcome, followed by a question about the strength of teamwork in the program at which you are interviewing.

Question 8: How is your medical school? It’s great, even if it isn’t. This question is designed to see if you are a complainer. Second reply: “Your medical school has a great reputation, how are things here?”

Question 9: What do you like to do outside of medicine? Be honest. Your greatest risk here is insincerity. If you claim to be a huge jazz fan, be prepared for questions about jazz. If you are asked about Miles Davis, and you draw a blank: you will look like a fraud. Knowing jazz wins you nopoints; appearing as a fraud loses it all. Be honest, but think ahead. Are there features of your avocation that have made you a better physician? For example, your participation on the rugby team may have taught you teamwork, or your practice of the violin may have taught you discipline. If you can, spin the answer to highlight one of the skills important to your profession. Be subtle; don’t make it look as if the only reason you have fun is to get ahead in medicine. For example, “I like to play the violin.” Talk about it awhile, then “It’s interesting… I think playing the violin has actually made me more disciplined in my studies, too.” As before, spin the conversation back to the interviewer (and the program or the city). “Do any of your residents play instruments?” or “Does this city have opportunities for people who like to do (your avocation)?”

Prepare two cases to discuss. Talk about one that you found interesting, one in which something went wrong. Be able to elucidate what you learned from these experiences. Do not use the one you wrote about in your personal statement. What type of patients are difficult and why? Tell me about an interesting patient.

What are your weaknesses? Use an example that you can turn into a positive trait that isn’t a real weakness. “I am very detailed-oriented. For example, my history and physicals notes are quite comprehensive. I am already figuring out how to streamline them.” “I can be soft-spoken and I like to think through what I say before I offer an opinion. Some people may wish I were more outspoken, but I think that my style can help patients feel at ease. I also hope that this trait keeps me from jumping too quickly to a diagnosis when I have a patient with a complex presentation of symptoms.” “Sometimes I find it difficult to delegate work to others, for example at patient signout. I would much rather finish things up myself then let someone else do it.

Tell me about your failing grade in this course, on Step I? “I learned a lot from this experience. When I began medical school, I quickly became involved in the pediatric interest group as well as one that looked at providing care to the urban underserved. I also helped organize student panels on health care reform. I have a lot of interests so it was difficult at first for me to realize that I couldn’t pursue them all.” “There was one particular test format that an older professor used that I had difficulty with. I was retested using an oral format and it reinforced my sense that the failure didn’t represent a lack of understanding of the material itself. I also feel that it gave me an opportunity to overcome the challenge of not getting something right the first time and having the determination to improve.”

Illegal questions Interviewers’ questions about marital status and plans for a family are less frequent now than they used to be. Still the law prohibits discrimination based on gender (including pregnancy and childbirth), race, religion, national origins, age and disability. If you are asked questions about any of these issues, you are not required to answer them. If you do choose to respond, you can deflect. - “My focus is on my residency education. I have also been someone who has been able to juggle multiple responsibilities at once.”

6 лайков

Еще один важный момент. Хотя бы приблизительные вопросы к интервьюверу должны быть у вас в голове заранее. Часть из них могут быть шаблонными, а часть должны быть применительны к данной программе, поэтому тщательно изучайте изучайте их сайт и собирайте любую информацию о программе. Например, на studentdoctor бывает пишут о программах. На просторах интернета я находил много вопросов, но существенная их часть была ко мне неприменима. Ниже список шаблонных вопросов, которые я оставил. Пользоваться списком, который вы подготовите, нужно аккуратно и ориентироваться по ситуации. Задача ведь не в том, чтобы продолбить все подготовленные вопросы, а показать необычайную заинтересованность, инициативу и способность поддержать беседу. В идеале нужно заставить говорить интервьювера, превратить интервью из обороны, в позитивную дискуссию. Это будет означать, что он открылся и сотрудничает с вами.

  1. How many hospitals participate in your residency program?
  2. What are the required rotations for the first year? Subsequent years?
  3. What proportion of time is spent in surgery compared to subspecialty rotations?
  4. Are any of the required rotations take place outside of the city?
  5. How much elective time is in the curriculum?
  6. What programs exist for resident education (e.g. , lectures, journal clubs, grand rounds, board review courses)?
  7. What are the informal learning opportunities (i.e., bedside rounds, etc.)?
  8. Does the residency encourage/require its residents to do research? If so:
    a. Is there a possibility of “protected” time for research?
    b. What residency research opportunities do you offer?
    c. Do you have any ongoing residency research projects?
  9. Is a thesis or publication required during training?
  10. How are residents evaluated? How often? How are they given feedback?
  11. Does the residency offer any formal teaching or exposure to healthcare policy and management?
  12. What teaching responsibilities for medical students are expected of residents?
7 лайков

Cпасибо большое, я только начну подгоовку к СS, но после первого степа время летит со страшной скоростью и я поняла,что нужно собирать всю информацию и сортировать,что бы не было ощущения снежного кома.

Privateer9, а на какую специальность вы подавались и сколько интервью у вас было?

Офто - 1
IM - 4

Круто! Удачи в матче!

Спасибо. Вам тоже.