Happy Sunday!🌞
So far during the past few weeks of rounding, we've discussed tips for how to excel during an interview and how to craft a high quality elevator speech to start the residency interview off with a bang💥.
Now let's jump to the very end of the interview, where (time permitting) we should get the opportunity to ask a few questions of our own🙋♂️.
Don't let this opportunity go to waste!
As stress-inducing as residency interviews can be, one thing to always keep in mind is that as much as residency programs are interviewing you, you are also interviewing them!🤨
Asking questions can provide vital information about a residency program that may not be covered elsewhere during interview day. On the other hand, declining to ask questions at the end of an interview may give you interviewer the impression that you either don't care or are no longer interested in their program🫢.
My recommendation is that if you have a specific burning question to ask at the end of your interview🔥, go ahead and ask it.
If not, here are questions to consider asking to close out the interview:
- What brought you to this program, and what keeps you here?
- What is one thing you would change about this residency program?
- What opportunities does this program offer for (insert your specific interest here)? (examples: research, global medicine, volunteering)
- What initiatives does your residency have to promote wellness?
- Questions regarding specific benefits (salary, holiday scheduling, GME funds for books/conferences, etc.)
Why do I think it's worthwhile asking these particular questions during your residency interview? Shameless plug to check out the video below where I discuss exactly that😅! Click this link just in case the video below does not load properly.
At the end of the day, a residency interview day is a small sample to see if a residency program and its' culture are a good fit for you🧩.
We owe it to ourselves to get as much information as we can to answer that question.
After all, that question we are dying to know the answer to could be the deciding factor for where we rank a program and end up for residency!
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