101 Residency and Fellowship Interview Questions
Interviews can be stressful. Especially for someone like me who considers herself an introvert. And definitely when that interview is going to determine your livelihood!
When I was getting my residency application together a few years ago, I spent loads of time perfecting the CV portion of my ERAS application. Since I was a foreign medical graduate (FMG/IMG), I had to make sure everything on my application was perfect.
Statistics have shown that the match rate for FMGs/IMGs is approximately 55%. Knowing this number, I wasn’t ready to take any chances on the match process. And that included prepping for the interview.
Getting an interview at a program is a key first step to your road to match. But a major factor to getting ranked highly is the interview. You want everyone you will interact with from the program to love you. Remember these 3 P’s: Polite, Personable, Persevering.
POLITE | Everyone from the program coordinators to the program administrators to the residents/fellows will be watching you! Remember to say please and thank you when appropriate. Although many programs may ask you not to send thank you emails/letters, remember to send them to the programs that allow it.
PERSONABLE | A smile goes a long way. Try not to frown or show dismay. Be open and friendly. Ask relevant questions. Try to engage in conversations with the current residents or fellows. Pro tip: If you are shy, have a list of 3-4 questions in your back pocket you can ask people. People love talking about themselves and you can lean back and listen! Remember to be kind throughout the interview trail, to others and yourself. There may be things that aggravate or frustrate you. But enjoy the interview trail because it is truly a unique experience! (especially when it was done in person prior to the pandemic).
PERSEVERING | At the end of the day, programs want someone who is NICE and HARDWORKING. That is truly what they’re looking for. If you have red flags but can explain how you jumped past the hurdles. Programs understand that applicants may have hiccups along their journey to become a practicing physician and as long as you relay your ability to overcome, learn and grow, that’s great!
Interview Questions to Master!
I did alot of research when prepping for my residency interviews. I had 41 interviews and made it to 26 so I definitely needed to get good at them! Below I have a list of 101 interview questions to master. I can confidently say that 95% of my interview questions came from this list!
What I did was type out answers to each questions and have someone ask me the questions as if I was in an interview. I practiced at least 10 times, to the point where I had most of my answers memorized and ready to go in case I was asked something off guard!
101 Interview Questions
1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Why do you want to go into internal medicine?
3. What are your ultimate career plans? Specialty?
4. Where do you see yourself in 5 yrs? 10yrs?
5. What is your biggest fear in the realm of medicine? (or questions concerning the state of medicine in general)
6. Why do you want to come to this program?
7. What makes this program appealing to you?
8. What do you hope to gain from our residency program?
9. Why should we want you to join our program?
10. Who do you depend on for support?
11. Briefly describe your research involvement?
12. Do you plan on pursuing academia/research as you progress in your career?
13. Tell me something about you that is not on your CV.
14. Give me some one word descriptors to describe yourself.
15. What are some of your strengths?
16. What are some of your weaknesses?
17. Tell me about your hometown.
18. Tell me about your medical school.
19. Why did you choose the medical school you attended?
20. Describe the best and worst incident that you encountered in your medical school career.
21. Who is your role model and why?
22. What are some of your hobbies/interests outside of medicine?
23. What is the most recent book you read? Tell me about it.
24. What have you learned from your previous work experiences?
25. How do I know you show initiative and are willing to work?
26. Tell me about your most recent clinical experience.
27. Tell me about your volunteer work.
28. Tell me about working in the ICU.
29. Tell me about our experience working in a skilled nursing facility.
30. How do you get along with nurses?
31. Have you ever taught medical students? If so, how was that experience?
32. How did you obtain your USCE?
33. Have you ever made a presentation in front of a professional group?
34. What are you avoiding in a training program?
35. What challenges do you foresee that will potentially affect this specialty in the next 10 yrs?
36. What are you looking for in a program?
37. Do you plan on practicing in XYZ state?
38. How do you describe your decision making style?
39. Describe the most difficult decision you ever had to make. How did you go about it?
40. Describe the worst or most disappointing clinical experience you’ve had so far.
41. What will you do if you don’t match into XYZ specialty?
42. Describe a difficult time in your life and how you dealt with it.
43. What causes you stress and how do you cope with it?
44. Have you taken any CME/research/educational courses?
45. Have you held any leadership roles? Elaborate.
46. What factors would lead you to rank a program very highly?
47. What factors would lead you to lower your ranking of a program?
48. What kind of personality traits do you find most difficult to deal with in co-workers?
49. What kind of patient do you find it most difficult to relate to?
50. Tell me a good joke.
51. Tell me about a patient care mistake you made. What did you learn from it?
52. Tell me about a failure.
53. What good/bad things have you heard about our program?
54. Teach me something non medical in under 30 sec-1 min.
55. If your house was on fire and you could only save 3 items, what would they be?
56. If you were an animal, which animal would you be?
57. How would you handle a bad clinical outcome?
58. Why do you want to become a physician?
59. Tell me about a favorite book/movie.
60. Tell me about a patient you had who was especially significant for you.
61. Describe traits/give examples showing how you are intellectually curious.
62. Which courses or clerkship did you like the best/ least? Why?
63. What is the worst part of your XZY specialty?
64. What would you do if you won millions in the lottery?
65. What is your favorite sports team?
66. What professional teams do you like to watch on TV?
67. What was your Halloween costume last year? Or your favorite one?
68. You are chief resident. One of the junior residents is continually late. How will you remedy this?
69. What are your intellectual pursuits outside of medicine?
70. Tell me about a time when you worked well under pressure.
71. Tell me about a time you made a mistake and had to tell the attending or resident.
72. Tell me how you would deal with a resident who wasn’t doing his share of the work
73. Tell me about a conflict you had with another team member and how you handled it.
74. Tell me about a time you were disappointed in your performance.
75. Tell me about a time you had to build a relationship with someone you didn’t like.
76. Tell me about a difficult decision you’ve made in the last year.
77. What have you done since medical school/gap year?
78. Tell me about a time your performance was criticized.
79. Tell me about what irritates you about other people and how you deal with it.
80. Tell me about a patient you had trouble dealing with.
81. Tell me about a time when you were upset with the behaviors of a faculty and how you dealt with it?
82. What do you plan on doing until July?
83. What accomplishment are you most proud of?
84. Where have you interviewed? How far along are you on the interview trail?
85. How would your friends describe you?
86. What was your favorite course in medical school?
87. How do you feel about the practice of medicine today? What about its future? (malpractice, insurance, reimbursements, etc)
88. What motivates you?
89. What is the toughest aspect of this specialty for you?
90. If you could do medical school over again, what would you change?
91. Do you see any problems managing a professional and personal life?
92. Are you prepared for the rigors of residency?
93. How much did lifestyle consideration fit into your choice of specialty?
94. Describe the most pleasant and unpleasant attending with whom you have ever worked?
95. What is the greatest sacrifice you have made to get to where you are?
96. What event are you proudest of in your life?
97. What was the most difficult situation you encountered in medical school?
98. How well do you take criticism?
99. Tell me about a patient you learned the most from.
100. How do you see the delivery of healthcare evolving?
101. What tactics would you use to establish optimal rapport with such a patient?
I will have more coming your way regarding interviews, applications, dress code, etc! Stay Tuned!
Please feel free to reach out in case you have any questions!