College Of Medicine
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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Residency Interviewing:

Tips, Things to Write, Things to Know and Where to Find Them

By Susan M. Kies, Ed.D.

Your ERAS Application

The Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) is an on-line application service for students seeking residency positions.  The service is provided by the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP), a private corporation, sponsored by  (1) The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS);  (2) American Medical Association (AMA); (3) Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC); (4) American Hospital Association (AHA); and, (5) Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS).  Most residency programs use this service unless they are one of the following disciplines:  Neurology, Neurosurgery, Plastic Surgery or Ophthalmology. 


Medical students typically begin filling out the ERAS application during the summer before the fourth year of medical school.  Medical students complete an on-line application and a personal statement.  Residency programs to which the students wish to apply are selected here.  Also, students designate documents to attach to their applications.
Detailed information that students provide include the basic information that can be found in most professionals’ curriculum vitae.  These include general demographic information with birth date and mailing address; examination performance on USMLE; educational information including honors/awards and memberships in professional societies; work experience; and, research experience and publications. 


Although the process of application utilizing the ERAS materials is straight forward, much is written about it and is available on the web.  Below are web pages that are of interest to this process:

Writing Your Personal Statement

Medical students often struggle with this one-page statement.  Focusing on the following questions is often helpful to stimulate the writing process:

  1. What do I want to do?
  2. What stimulated my interest?
  3. What have I done to prepare for this discipline?
  4. What is unique about my background?
  5. Why would a residency program want to hire me?

Several web pages offer help in the preparation of personal statements.  These may be found at:

Selecting Those Places to Interview

There are several levels of decisions students must make before they can choose programs to send their applications.  First, students may find it helpful to make a list of priorities that include:  lifestyle issues, spouse/partner/family issues, etc.  Then students must decide if they are interested in academic residency programs or clinical residency programs.  Once that choice is made the next level is based on the priority list.  To match priorities with programs it is necessary to obtain accurate information.  Many students begin an online search, by residency discipline, to obtain the information about specific programs.  Also, searches of individual programs’ web pages and using the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Freida Data Base can be helpful.  The URL for Freida is:  http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2997.html
 

What to Wear

The consensus from a variety of sources regarding appropriate attire for residency interviews is to wear conservative clothing.  For men, dark suits are appropriate.  Women may wear either a suit with pants or skirt, or a tailored dress that is a dark color.  Jewelry should be limited and no bold cologne should be worn.

For web page reference students may wish to visit the following:

 
What to find out and write down

Depending on the priority list medical students develop, a list of questions with topics and issues should be carefully crafted before starting the interviewing process.  Below is a list of questions that cover most areas of interest to students as they make residency selections. 

  • Where did your residents do their undergraduate medical education?
  • What is the Call Schedule?
  • What is the level of supervision and resident responsibility for writing orders?
  • How are residents evaluated?
  • How are staff-faculty evaluated by residents?
  • What is the board pass rate?
  • Is the program fully-accredited by the ACGME?
  • Are moonlighting activities available?
  • What is contained in the resident benefit package?
  • Are spouse/family benefits available?
  • What is the Fellowship placement of graduates?
  • Do all the clinical sites involved in the curriculum have chief residents?
  • What are the patient demographics?
  • What percentage of the patient population is indigent?
  • What percentage of the patient population involves HIV management?

Where to write it down

Students often find that it is difficult to remember the individual program details as they interview at several programs.  Therefore, a note-taking grid is helpful in organizing the information and remembering key facts about programs visited.  A sample grid follows the question list.  Students may choose to keep this information in an on-line format or a handwritten one.  It doesn’t matter what format is used, as long as the information is organized and clear.

What to ask and to whom do you ask

At some point during every interview, students are asked if they have any questions.  The following lists are important questions that speak to the quality of the curriculum, its delivery and the organization of the program. 

Questions for the Program Director:

  • Are you on site full time or part time?
  • How does a second year resident’s responsibility differ from the first year?
  • Are section chiefs and attending physicians volunteer or salaried?
  • Are section chiefs and attending faculty selected based on teaching performance?
  • From where do ambulatory patients come?
  • How many patients per week does a resident see in his/her clinic?
  • How does the program maintain patient management continuity?
  • What is the hospital’s autopsy percentage?
  • How often is mortality conference held?
  • Are rotations available in the subspecialties of medicine and in neurology, psychiatry and dermatology (or others)?
  • How are residents evaluated?
  • Will I be observed performing a history and physical examination on a patient?
  • What is the average census in the first and second years on the in-patient general medicine service?
  • How do residents get experience as consultants?
  • What percentage of the three years (or program) is spent in ambulatory experience?
  • What is the mix of women and men, by age in the patient population?
  • May I see a copy of the conference schedule for this month?
  • Is there a journal club?
  • What percentage of your graduates passes the certifying examination?
  • Is this program fully accredited?
  • Do you anticipate major changes in this program in the next three years?

Questions for Residents:

  • Who writes the orders and who controls the patients?
  • How are you involved in evaluating the program?
  • Is there a residents’ association?
  • What has the residents’ association done this year?
  • How many patients do first year residents carry?
  • What are the backgrounds of the residents in this program?
  • Are residents generally happy here?
  • What are the problems in this program?
  • Would you choose this program again?
  • What is your outpatient clinic like?
  • How often do you get feedback on your progress here?
  • What are teaching rounds like?
  • What are conferences like?
  • What are the strongest aspects of the program?
  • What are the weakest aspects of the program?
  • Are emergency services readily available?
  • Does the hospital provide IV and blood drawing teams?

What to be prepared to answer

  • Depending on the clinical discipline chosen, students will find different kinds of questions.  Some will find it important to have prepared a case to discuss, while others will see that patient management issues are not part of the interview.  There are some typical questions that are hard to answer, but if given some thought, will leave a good impression on the part of the interviewer.  Questions often encountered during the interview process sometimes include open-ended statements like, “Tell me about yourself,” or “Tell me about a difficult patient and how you handled it.”  There are also illegal questions asked like, “Are you married?  Single?  Gay?”  To avoid being placed in an awkward position, students find it helpful to think about these questions and the answers before the interview takes place:
  • How do you handle criticism?
  • What about our program is attractive to you?
  • Why do you want to be an internist/pediatrician/physiatrist/etc.?
  • What are your strengths?
  • What are your weaknesses?
  • What are your interests?
  • What can you do in our program that someone else cannot do?
  • Where do you see yourself in ten years?
  • If your house was burning, what three objects would you take?
  • Who are your heroes?
  • What will you do if you don’t match?

 
There are some additional web pages that are helpful to students.  These may be found at:

What to see on tour

Typically an interview will involve a tour of facilities.  Medical students can expect to see the following things:

  • Patient care areas
  • Intensive care
  • Emergency Department
  • Outpatient clinic
  • Conference space
  • On call sleeping rooms
  • Library
  • Computer facilities

What interviewers look for in a potential resident

Medical competency is generally assumed by the interviewer.  This will have already been addressed by the committee who reviews applicants’ ERAS materials.  Essentially, residency programs are looking for trainees who will fit into their program.  They are looking at personality, trying to judge integrity, work ethic and flexibility.  They want trainees who can take criticism and improve.  They want residents who will do their work and do what they are told.

What to avoid during an interview

Most of the following items seem rather obvious to medical students.  But it is helpful to review these to make certain the interview is a positive one:

  • Inappropriate dress
  • Dangling, clanging or excessive jewelry
  • Wrinkled or dirty clothing
  • Strong perfume or cologne
  • Chewing gum
  • Smoking
  • Limp handshake
  • Being tardy
  • Poor attitude, even though you’d decided that you are not interested in the program.
  • Acting bored
  • Unprofessional behavior
  • Rudeness to secretaries or staff
  • Inappropriate comments or jokes
  • Overstatement of credentials
  • Asking no questions
  • Blaming others for problems you may have
  • Evasiveness

Two days before the interview:

Medical students should review their curriculum vita and personal statement.  Questions often come from these documents, because they give interviewers a base for the conversation.  If students have research or publications in the application materials, they should be ready to discuss these, without going into minute detail.

Students should review the information initially found about the program and visit the program web page.  It is often helpful for students to familiarize themselves with special attributes of the program and make a list of questions to ask interviewers.

Travel plans, clothing and other materials should be double checked by the student to be certain they are ready for travel.  Students should take materials to write notes and organize information learned on the interview trail.

Tips for the interview

  • Be on time.
  • Dress professionally.
  • Be nice to everyone, especially the staff.
  • Be enthusiastic and assume this is the program for you.
  • Be positive about your education and confident in your goals.
  • Be positive about the program you are visiting and keep all options open.
  • Ask questions.
  • Be relaxed and honest.

Web pages with excellent tips on the residency interviewing process may be found at:

After the interview

A thank you note should be written to those with whom the student spoke.  It is acceptable to send an e-mail note, but handwritten notes are often more impressive.

If there are additional questions, students should ask them through e-mail.  Students often want to do a second visit to certain programs and it is appropriate to ask about second visits after the interview.

At the end of the interview day notes should be written about the program.  This will help students stay organized and keep from becoming confused about the characteristics of each program visited.

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