Full transcript
0:00a mock interview session with real
0:02feedback with one of our Interview Prep
0:04Advisors. Every year around the
0:05interview season, we record this video
0:07to show you excellent answers to common
0:10residency interview questions, and we
0:12give you comments about these so you
0:14know how to prep and ace your residency
0:16interviews. So, before we get started,
0:17if you would like to get more sample
0:20answers, written sample answers to
0:22residency interview questions, 200 plus
0:24interview questions that you will see on
0:27your residency interviews, Interview
0:28Prep Guide, and multiple other
0:30resources, don't forget to sign up to
0:31the Interview Prep resources we will
0:33provide for you. You can access that by
0:34clicking the link in the description
0:36below. And now, let's get started.
0:38Welcome Adam to the program. We're very
0:39excited to have you here.
0:41>> Awesome. Thank you so much. I'm really
0:42glad to be here.
0:44>> So, I'm going to start by asking you a
0:45question you probably heard multiple
0:47times. Tell me a little bit about
0:48yourself.
0:50>> Of course. Yeah, obviously happy to be
0:52here today. My name's Adam, Adam
0:54Watkins. I'm a fourth-year med student
0:56at Geisinger Commonwealth School of
0:57Medicine in Scranton.
0:59I am uh originally from South Florida. I
1:02grew up in Fort Lauderdale, spent my
1:03first 18 years there, and then uh did my
1:05undergrad at Florida State University in
1:08Tallahassee. So, I spent basically the
1:10first like 22 years of my life living in
1:12Florida. Thought I was going to spend my
1:13whole life in Florida, but fortunately
1:17um I when I got into med school, I I got
1:19into Scranton, Pennsylvania, Geisinger,
1:21and so I moved across the
1:23uh across the country.
1:25And um and started like med school
1:27there. Um thought I wanted to do
1:29orthopedics, ended on anesthesia, and
1:31also fortunately with this move, I met
1:33my met my fiance uh in in Scranton, and
1:36now we're doing the couple's match
1:38together. But, in addition to to to
1:39going through our medical school, I um
1:41I also have found a passion for for
1:44research, worked on a number of
1:45different research projects, as well as
1:47a passion for for leadership. I've led a
1:49couple of different committees
1:51throughout medical school, as well as
1:52being student council president. Um and
1:55And I'd say probably one of my biggest
1:57passions is is mentorship. I uh do a a
2:00mentoring program uh for high school
2:01students um in the area as well as
2:04mentoring other medical students that
2:06are a couple of years behind me in
2:07training. So, those are some of my
2:09biggest extracurricular passions. I
2:11would say um outside of any of that, I'm
2:14a I'm a really big tennis and a really
2:16big soccer fan. I love playing tennis
2:17with my fiance, and I I love watching
2:19soccer with my buddies. And I'm really
2:22really passionate about anesthesiology.
2:23I've done a couple of uh sub uh
2:25sub-internships in anesthesiology as
2:27well. Um and uh
2:29really just solidified um solidified
2:32that this is the specialty for me, which
2:33I'm happy to talk about later. Um
2:37and uh I'm really excited to be
2:38interviewing with you here today.
2:40>> Amazing. What got you into anesthesia?
2:42What made you want to do this?
2:43>> All right. So, yeah, why anesthesiology?
2:45Obviously, a great question um because
2:47I'm sure you looked at my uh CV and saw
2:49that there was a lot of orthopedics
2:50experiences on there.
2:53Um came into med school thinking that I
2:54wanted to do orthopedic surgery. Loved
2:56orthopedic surgery. I had a lot of
2:58pre-med school experiences in orthopedic
2:59surgery. And so, I went all out doing
3:02all the orthopedics research, doing all
3:03the orthopedics mentorship. Um and even
3:07the the the few pre-clinical experiences
3:09I had with orthopedic surgery, while I
3:10loved it, there were some things that I
3:12felt were missing from the specialty.
3:13So, I went into my my clinical
3:15experiences with this little bit of a uh
3:18uh a question of if it was really the
3:20best specialty for me. And so, I started
3:23on internal medicine, and I loved it.
3:25And I I loved I found that there were a
3:26lot of things, a lot of intellectual
3:28curiosity that was in that specialty
3:29that I didn't necessarily find in
3:31orthopedic surgery. Um which was
3:33confusing for me because obviously, I
3:34loved that specialty so much up until
3:36this point. Um subsequently, went into
3:39my psychiatry rotation and loved that
3:41for a whole different set of reasons. I
3:43loved connecting with people, meeting
3:44them where they were, helping them
3:46through really challenging emotional
3:47situations. Um and again, some
3:50loved a lot of things about it that that
3:52weren't inherent to orthopedic surgery
3:54at that time. And then subsequently
3:56ended up on my surgery rotation where I
3:57found that I probably wasn't the best
4:00fit for surgery, and what I really loved
4:02was going on the other side of the
4:03curtain and talking to the
4:04anesthesiologist.
4:06Uh, I loved hearing about what was
4:08happening medically with the patient. I
4:10loved hearing all of the nuances of the
4:12anesthetic care, and none of that was
4:15was what I found in orthopedic surgery.
4:16And so I I ended up talking to an
4:18anesthesia mentor of mine who sent me an
4:20article that said, "Help wanted. Looking
4:23for someone with the mind of an
4:25internist, the hands of a surgeon, and
4:26the heart of a psychiatrist." And so it
4:27was really the icing on the cake for me
4:29in terms of addressing all those things
4:32that I loved about those other
4:33specialties and tying them up in a nice
4:35bow with anesthesiology. And so
4:37obviously lots of reasons that I love
4:38this specialty, but if I could tell my
4:40story about how I landed on
4:42anesthesiology in a couple of minutes,
4:43that's what I'd say.
4:45>> That's amazing.
4:46Uh, you know, you had multiple options
4:48to apply to multiple programs. What made
4:51you really interested in our program?
4:53>> Yeah, so um obviously your program,
4:58amazing program across the board,
5:00academically very strong,
5:01experience-wise very very strong. I
5:04think that goes without saying. But I
5:06think what really stood out to me the
5:07most is when I did my away rotation at
5:09the program.
5:11Um
5:12sub-internships are very challenging.
5:14You're in a new city, you're working in
5:16a health system that you don't totally
5:18know, you're meeting lots of new people,
5:20and I had a couple of pretty tough days
5:21on rotation where I felt like I wasn't
5:23doing the best job. And I actually had a
5:25couple of residents pull me aside and um
5:27and really encourage me and help me find
5:29my feet again and get me going. And I
5:31think that those couple of experiences
5:33really opened my eyes to the culture of
5:35the program and showed me that I
5:37probably have a lot of success this
5:38program with the level of support that
5:40they offer. Um in addition to obviously
5:43the strength of the program and and what
5:45is without a question an amazing
5:46training culture. I also um have family
5:50in the area. Actually, my fiance's
5:51family are from the area and so I think
5:53having that logistical support system in
5:55the area will make what is obviously a
5:57very challenging residency training
6:00program um a little bit more doable with
6:02that family support.
6:05>> Amazing. Um
6:07No, obviously we also have a lot of
6:09applicants that interview here each
6:11year. What would you say would set you
6:13apart from other applicants?
6:15>> Yeah, great question. Um so, obviously
6:19I've had the pleasure of meeting a
6:20couple of the applicants here today and
6:22I think um obviously they're all very
6:24strong. I'm sure that they'd all be
6:25great additions to the program. And I
6:27think a lot of the strengths that I have
6:29they probably share as well. Namely, I
6:31feel that I'm a particularly diligent
6:34person and I think I bring an attitude
6:36of going above and beyond. Uh I feel
6:39I've demonstrated this multiple times
6:40throughout my clinical training just
6:42showing up early to rotations, um
6:45staying late, looking for ways to help
6:47the team even when they don't
6:49necessarily expect it. And I think that
6:50sort of attitude is really really going
6:52to help me excel in your program.
6:55Additionally, um something that's a
6:57little bit unique about me is that I'm
6:58actually the first person in medicine in
7:01my family. So, none of my family
7:02members, no parents, no extended family
7:04work in the health field. And so,
7:07navigating this whole medical journey
7:09getting to even the point where I can
7:10apply to residency has been particularly
7:12challenging. And I feel that having that
7:15mentality, understanding how challenging
7:18navigating the health system can be will
7:20make me a really really strong patient
7:22advocate and will allow me to act as an
7:25advocate for my patients as well as
7:27advocate for other trainees in the
7:29program who might not have the guidance
7:32uh
7:32that that they necessarily feel is best
7:34for them. Uh in addition to to
7:36everything that I just mentioned, I also
7:38think that um that my clinical acumen
7:41will also make me a very strong addition
7:43to your program. Um Throughout all of my
7:45clinical rotations, I felt
7:49the diligence that that I previously
7:51mentioned has allowed me to really
7:53really grow
7:54procedure-wise and also intellectually
7:57as a clinician. And I think that that
7:59will allow me to slot in very very well
8:01into your program and allow me to kind
8:03of hit the ground running in terms of
8:05taking on the responsibilities of a new
8:07resident.
8:08>> Amazing. Any weaknesses you would like
8:10to work on over the next few years,
8:12things to improve?
8:15>> Yeah, so I think
8:17obviously residency is going to be a big
8:19challenge. I think that I anticipate I'm
8:21going to need to grow in a lot of
8:22different aspects, and I think that's a
8:24mentality that I'm going to bring. But
8:26if you made me pick one thing that I
8:27would I would narrow down to something
8:29that I really think I could work on, it
8:31would probably be patience with the
8:33process. I'm someone, and I think a lot
8:36of people in medicine are this way. I
8:38tend to be pretty hard on myself when
8:41when I make mistakes or when I'm
8:43experiencing failure.
8:45I really really like to be good at
8:47things. I think most people in medicine
8:48are that way. I think we like to be good
8:50at the things that we're doing. And
8:53throughout medical school, I mean there
8:55have been instances where I I felt like
8:57I wasn't good at things that I was doing
8:58the first couple of times that I tried,
9:00and I'd be very frustrated, very down on
9:01myself. Even had a couple of residents
9:04and attendings mention that, "Hey Adam,
9:06you're you're being pretty hard on
9:07yourself." And I realized that, you
9:09know, acting with some humility, acting
9:10with some forgiveness, and some kindness
9:12towards myself is something that will
9:14make this whole medical training process
9:16a lot more bearable and a lot less
9:18emotionally challenging. And that's
9:20something that I've really tried to
9:21start doing
9:23throughout my fourth year of medical
9:24school, and something that I think will
9:25actually help me grow even better as a
9:28resident.
9:30>> Where do you see yourself after your
9:32residency is done, 5 10 years
9:34afterwards?
9:36>> So, obviously in anesthesiology, there
9:38are a number of different fellowships
9:41that are available. I think um
9:43I'm pretty open to to a lot of them. I'm
9:46I'm going to try to go into residency
9:47with an open mind about about all the
9:49different fellowship options, but but if
9:51you made me pick one right now, I'd
9:53probably choose cardiac anesthesia. Uh I
9:56think those cases are are really
9:58intellectually stimulating, really
10:00technically challenging. I think the
10:01physiology is amazing. And um and if if
10:06I had to choose a fellowship right now,
10:07that's probably what I'd choose to do.
10:09Obviously, like I like I mentioned, I'm
10:10going to go in with an open mind and see
10:13see what speaks to me the best. Um
10:15but I think fellowship aside, I
10:18I think mentorship and and leadership
10:20are things that I I I really really
10:23appreciate. And so I envision myself um
10:26at least working at an academic center
10:28where there's trainees that I can help
10:30um help help raise up the next
10:32generation of medical trainees.
10:35Um and I'd also love to get involved
10:36with leadership in a department as well.
10:38Um
10:39what that looks like now it's it's it's
10:41kind of hard to say, but I think that
10:43that that working in some sort of
10:44leadership capacity in an academic
10:46center is something that I'll want to do
10:47as well.
10:49>> Amazing. And that's kind of the type of
10:50applicants we
10:52uh want to train at our program.
10:54Um understanding that each program has a
10:56certain fit, we are a program that tries
10:59to attract applicants who want to train
11:01the next generation, make an impact on
11:03patients' lives outside just the
11:05clinical care. Uh that brings me to my
11:07next question, which is give me an
11:09example of a patient that impacted you
11:11or patient you remember left something,
11:14you know, positive on you.
11:16>> Yeah, of course. Um
11:19I think
11:20like like a lot of people in medicine,
11:22uh probably our most uh emotionally
11:25impactful patients probably come in the
11:27critical care setting.
11:29Um when I was on my ICU rotation as a
11:31fourth-year med student, we had a woman
11:33who came in with some undifferentiated
11:35shock
11:37um and she had a pretty pretty
11:39challenging neurological outcome, but
11:41what stood out to me more was not
11:43necessarily the medical complexity of
11:45the case, but but more uh her family
11:48situation. I was I was really amazed to
11:50see how supportive her family was, but
11:52but much like my family, no one in in in
11:55this patient's family had any sort of
11:56medical background and so I found myself
11:59um in a in a unique situation to be able
12:03to act as their surrogate with the
12:04medical team and help them understand
12:06what's happening. And I saw a lot of
12:08myself, I saw a lot of my family in this
12:10patient and her family, and I was really
12:13really humbled um with how much they
12:15trusted me with their care and I think
12:17it opened my eyes to um
12:20to a very unique aspect of uh the role
12:23of a physician in in not just being the
12:26one who, you know, gives medications or
12:28does surgery or fixes things, but also
12:30the one who's there to hold the hands of
12:32patients and their families through
12:34arguably some of the most challenging
12:36moments of their life. And I think that
12:37it's something that in particular is
12:40very important for anesthesiologists
12:42who are are working with patients that
12:44are about to undergo surgery and are
12:46often times very very very scared about
12:49what's going to happen, and we have a
12:51couple of minutes to develop really deep
12:54trust with those patients. And so that
12:56experience um
12:58for multiple reasons was particularly
13:00moving and transforming for me.
13:02>> This is indeed a very impactful story.
13:05Uh now, do you have any example of a
13:07story where you had a misunderstanding
13:09with a team member, like another med
13:12student or resident or attending, and
13:14how did you handle that?
13:15>> So, certainly I can answer that. Um
13:18in my second year of medical school, I
13:20was working on a research project um
13:22with a research fellow who's taking a
13:24research year in uh orthopedics
13:27research, and um he asked me to help him
13:29with a project and the initial agreement
13:31was that he was going to be um the first
13:34author of the project and that I would
13:35be helping him with some of the uh the
13:37data management maybe some of the
13:39statistical analysis of the project but
13:41that the vast majority of the project
13:43was going to be completed by him.
13:45Um
13:46as time went on he was started to
13:48delegate more and more tasks to me. I
13:50was responsible for making tables for
13:53writing abstracts and then writing whole
13:54sections of the paper and by the end of
13:57the project I would say I probably ended
13:59up doing about 90% of the work for the
14:00project and um while I was happy to be
14:03included and it was a great learning
14:05experience I did feel like um
14:07with all the work that I did that it
14:09would be warranted that I would get
14:11first author on the paper um and so I
14:13went to him with this proposal and at
14:16first he was a little bit frustrated
14:18with me and it it seemed like uh there
14:20was maybe a little bit of a breakdown in
14:21communication but I found that when uh
14:24when we both took the time to pause and
14:26and look at objectively what was
14:28happening and kind of put our egos aside
14:30that um that ultimately we agreed that
14:33we could share first authorship on the
14:34paper which um ended up being a I think
14:37a good compromise for both of us because
14:39obviously I wasn't the one coming up
14:41with the project. I didn't do all the
14:43literature review and come up with the
14:45with the with the uh the question for
14:47the project but I felt like with the
14:49sheer amount of work I did that
14:52sharing authorship was probably
14:53appropriate and so it ended up being a
14:55uh a nice learning moment for both of us
14:57I think and the outcome was pretty good.
14:59>> I think it was very nice meeting you. Do
15:01you have any questions for me?
15:03>> Of course yeah thank you so much for
15:05giving me the opportunity to ask some
15:06questions. Um one question that that
15:09I've kind of come up with throughout the
15:10interview trail is um specifically about
15:12subspecialty exposure. So I'm curious um
15:16in your program how early are the
15:18residents um getting uh subspecialty
15:20exposure in anesthesiology?
15:22>> Great question. We the the way it works
15:24currently is that
15:26the subspecialty experience starts at
15:28the PGY-3 level.
15:30There is multiple residents interested
15:32in earlier exposure to that, so the
15:34program is seriously looking into
15:36adjusting the structure of our
15:37curriculum to start doing that around
15:40mid PGY-2.
15:43>> Awesome. Thank you so much. That sounds
15:44really awesome.
15:45>> Any other questions?
15:46>> Yeah, so
15:48obviously I'm interested in leadership.
15:50I have a a number of leadership
15:51experiences throughout my my second,
15:54third, and fourth year of medical
15:55school. And so I was curious if the
15:57program has any opportunities for
15:59residents to act in leadership positions
16:02in any sort of hospital committees or
16:03anything of that nature.
16:05>> Yeah, for sure. So currently the
16:08there is a resident fellow association
16:10body within
16:11the whole institution, and residents can
16:14serve as members or chairs of the
16:16different committees of that.
16:19Within the anesthesiology department, we
16:21try to involve residents in the
16:23different service lines that we have. So
16:26there is definitely plenty of
16:27opportunities for residents to be
16:29involved. And also we support our
16:31residents to get involved on the
16:32national level to go on to multiple
16:35meetings and be
16:37members of the different committees in
16:39our national associations.
16:40>> That sounds amazing. Thank you so much.
16:42>> Adam, again it was very nice meeting
16:44you, and I wish you best of luck in the
16:46rest of your interviews.
16:47>> Thank you so much. I really appreciate
16:49the opportunity to meet with you today.
16:50>> Adam, that was a great interview. I'm
16:52sure the viewers loved the way you
16:55interacted, how natural it was. I think
16:57that's one of the major thing I would
17:00take without looking into the details
17:02now of the questions. The overall vibe
17:04is someone who's confident, someone who
17:06knows what they're talking about, and
17:08very natural and nice to work with. So
17:11that's the vibe I get, and that's very
17:13important for our applicants to think
17:15about is what am I presenting myself
17:18overall?
17:19Don't be monotonous. Don't
17:22you know, just have a steady body
17:24language, very rigid. Just be natural,
17:27smile on your face. Thank at the
17:29beginning. Thank the interviewer at the
17:31beginning of the interview for being
17:32here. Thank at the end.
17:35It should be just I'm excited to be
17:37here. I'm grateful to be here.
17:40And you should try to make that fit
17:42happen early on. And we will go now into
17:45the details of each questions. But for
17:47people who are listening to this, if you
17:49would like to get interview prep because
17:51we will talk throughout the this
17:53interview how important interviews are.
17:55I cannot emphasize how important
17:57interviews are. If you would like to to
17:59get help
18:00because a lot of people don't think they
18:02need help. But once they start prepping
18:04for interviews with someone who is
18:06expert, they can start telling them
18:07about these nuances and and issues that
18:10they have. And you can see actually I
18:12recorded multiple videos with applicants
18:13as well. Applicants who are not already,
18:16they thought they're ready, but I
18:17interviewed them and I give them
18:19feedback about their performance and I
18:20really thank their courage for showing
18:22up on on the YouTube channel. But you
18:24can see that there is always room for
18:26for improvement. Don't just do it with
18:28your co-resident who's applying who also
18:30has the same issues and might not know
18:32what makes a good interview or not
18:34because once you get an interview, trust
18:35me, it's almost all about the
18:37interviews. There's still of course some
18:38factors about your scores and the other
18:40factors, but the interview is plays a
18:41huge role in you being ranked high. And
18:44you don't want to miss that especially
18:46now the ball is in your court. You got
18:47the interview, don't waste it. We have
18:4980 plus advisors, IMGs, US grads like
18:52Adam, DOs. We have literally from all
18:54specialties. You get to choose who you
18:56want to work with. If you don't like it,
18:58you literally get your money back. It's
18:59literally risk-free. Check the link in
19:00the description below and the links in
19:02the cards above. And if you have any
19:04questions, don't hesitate to reach out
19:05to us. So let's start by talking about
19:06the tell me about yourself.
19:09Adam, I I a lot to talk about the tell
19:11me about yourself. What is your thought
19:12about that or what went into structuring
19:14your answer?
19:15>> So,
19:16kind of the way I approach the tell me
19:18about yourself is it is your opportunity
19:21to
19:22kind of tell the interviewer
19:25your personal and professional
19:27trajectory. I I obviously I review a lot
19:30of these applications. I look at a lot
19:31of these ERAS applications and I know
19:34people put a lot of time and energy into
19:36telling their story through these
19:37things, but the best ones it can still
19:40be pretty difficult to figure out the
19:42trajectory that someone's taken to get
19:44to where they are applying for
19:45residency. And so I think it's really
19:47really really helpful to have a good
19:50narrative for how you got to where you
19:52are applying for residency
19:54so that the interviewer knows how you
19:57got to where you are and it helps
19:59contextualize your whole story.
20:01Um and so I I I've talked to people that
20:04that
20:05do a tell me about yourself and it's
20:07almost entirely about the specialty.
20:09It's almost entirely about all their
20:12extracurriculars or things that they're
20:13passionate about and I'm still like I
20:15don't actually know about how you got to
20:18where you are or about your about your
20:20life up until this point. And so it's
20:22really really helpful for me to to kind
20:24of build a mental schema of who you are
20:26as an applicant when I when I have a
20:28good tell me about yourself that tells
20:30me your whole like a brief version of
20:32your whole life story.
20:33>> Exactly. Exactly. That's exactly how I
20:35would do it. I would say the tell me
20:37about yourself is that 1 minute and a
20:39half to 2 minutes that you have to sell
20:43yourself to the program. Usually
20:44interviews start with that and that can
20:46just build the whole trajectory of the
20:48interview. So you'd either be here in
20:51the eyes of the interviewer or here. So
20:53you need to
20:54present yourself in the best way
20:55possible for that specific program.
20:58Because remember most of the other
20:59questions you will have a very specific,
21:02you know, why the specialty, why the
21:03program and you have to go that route.
21:05Here it's an open-ended question.
21:07They're literally giving you the floor
21:09to tell what you want them to hear. And
21:12Adam brought very good point. I see a
21:14lot of people who just talk about their
21:16personal life or talk about their
21:18hobbies and or people who talk about why
21:20they picked the the specialty. And for
21:23me, again, there are different
21:26schools of thought to tell me about
21:27yourself. For me, the tell me about
21:29yourself, I want in 1 minute and a half
21:30to 2 minutes understand your background,
21:33who you are, what got you here,
21:36very briefly why you got interested in
21:38this specialty. I want to hear a lot
21:39about what makes you who you are and why
21:42should we pick you. And maybe a little
21:43bit about some fun fact fun fact about
21:45you and some hobbies and interests. So,
21:47you see it's a lot, but you need to be
21:49very concise and
21:51and and try to get list of multiple
21:54bullet points and change that based on
21:55the program. Because if a program is
21:57very heavy on research, you might slide
22:00the research in there
22:01and remove the community service maybe
22:03from
22:05when you're interviewing with Harvard.
22:06When you're interviewing with a
22:07community program, maybe the research is
22:08not your
22:10top priority to include in this 1 minute
22:11and a half to 2 minutes. Maybe talk
22:13about the community service. So, you
22:14need to adjust that answer based on the
22:16program. And I want to
22:18kind of hear that story. If I don't ask
22:20a single other question to that person,
22:23I want to hear as an interviewer what
22:26does this applicant bring to the table
22:28from this 1 and a half minutes. And you
22:30know, we can talk about few pain points
22:31that Adam mentioned Adam summarized
22:34their professional career, where they
22:35went to undergrad, where they went to
22:37med school, some some a little bit of a
22:40humor by the fact of Florida to
22:41Pennsylvania. So, be careful with the
22:43humor. Don't go too far, but this was
22:45perfect touch, very light changing
22:47slight slight like slightly as an
22:48icebreaker in the beginning,
22:51decreasing the stress of the interview.
22:53Then they talked about
22:55what makes them who they are.
22:57Professionally, they're talking about uh
23:00involvement outside clinical and then
23:02clinical work and sub eyes that makes
23:05them a strong applicant. So, remember a
23:07lot of people don't have time to review
23:09your CV, or sometimes they don't even
23:12get your CV for purposes of bias. So,
23:15they might not know about the Nobel
23:17Prize you won and the 70 plus papers you
23:20have. So, this is your opportunity to
23:23kind of
23:24provide a brief summary of you, and then
23:26the interviewer can ask, you know, "Oh,
23:29tell me about this. Tell me about
23:30tennis." You know,
23:32"I I love playing tennis." And this
23:33could be a whole
23:35thing you talk about during the
23:36interview. So, present them with
23:38multiple things, and if you know that
23:40the interviewer has a specific interest,
23:42specific interest in research, specific
23:44interest in clinical, that might be your
23:46opportunity to mention it here, so it
23:48becomes a discussion point. You want to
23:50take control of the interview, even
23:52though you're not asking the question,
23:54by mentioning these things you need to
23:56take control of the interview. And I'm a
23:58huge
23:59I'm a huge advocate for including
24:01strength point in the your tell me about
24:03yourself. You are selling yourself. This
24:06is a job interview. This is a very
24:07serious high-end job interview with very
24:10well-qualified applicants. So, you need
24:13to stand out even in the tell me about
24:14yourself. Why should this program pick
24:16you? Even if you're not asked that
24:18question, you should have answered it
24:19through this or other questions in a
24:21very humble manner. Not arrogant, not
24:23I'm like the best applicant in this
24:25pool. No, nothing like that. Just
24:27strength of why the program should
24:29choose you as as a brief summary. Don't
24:31go into the details here because we will
24:32talk about the details in the other
24:34questions. Now, I want to jump to the
24:36next question, which is why this
24:37specialty. And you will find that the
24:40answer that Adam gave is slightly
24:42different than the prior interviews I
24:44had. Why? Because he had a different
24:45background. For people who have a very
24:48obvious interest in one specialty, and
24:50then they're applying to something else,
24:53you need to answer that question. You
24:54can't have like 50 papers in in ortho
24:57and apply to
24:59anesthesiology and not mention what what
25:01made that change happen.
25:03Uh what's what's your thought about
25:04that, Adam?
25:06>> Yeah, I totally agree. That was
25:07something that I was really nervous
25:09about when I was applying to residency.
25:11I I remember talking to a mentor I had
25:13who
25:14knew
25:15like my whole trajectory, how I landed
25:17on anesthesiology, and he made a point
25:20of saying, "Yeah, you really need to
25:21point out the fact that you made this
25:23transition because especially in
25:25anesthesiology, you don't want your
25:28interviewer to think that you're
25:29applying anesthesiology as a backup
25:31specialty. A lot of people do that, and
25:34I mean, that's that's okay. People
25:35people apply to specialties all the
25:37time. I have no issue with people
25:38applying to specialties, but you
25:39definitely want your interviewer to
25:41think that you're
25:43fully fully bought into anesthesiology.
25:46And I'm I'm sure it's the same
25:47philosophy with other specialties that
25:49you're dual applying. You to the best of
25:52your ability, you want to to make that
25:54interviewer think that this is this is
25:57the specialty that you're serious about.
25:59>> Exactly. You do not want the interviewer
26:01to think that you're applying to a
26:03specialty as a backup, very important
26:05point. And another point is once you
26:07when you mention that, you're taking
26:09charge of it now. You're not being
26:11asked, "Oh, this is like a red flag on
26:12your CV." And try to
26:15tell me why it's like that. I'm like
26:17taking accountability of it, and I'm
26:18explaining to them. And he brought
26:20brought this whole thing as a full
26:22circle
26:23talking about three specialties and
26:25combining them in one. It was it was a
26:27great answer. It was really good answer,
26:29and
26:30it another always very important point
26:32when it comes to expressing interest in
26:34the specialty, it comes from
26:35experiences. I've seen, and I'm sure
26:38you've seen the same, Adam, is that
26:39people tell me a list of anesthesiology,
26:42you get to take care of complex
26:44patients. You you know, taking care of
26:47patients in their most vulnerable times.
26:49I'm like variety of of pathologies and
26:51medical conditions. They have a kind of
26:54a list chat GPT generated or maybe just
26:56from a blog that
26:57>> Yeah.
26:58>> uh tell preaches the choir about the
27:00specialty. They already know these
27:01things. They want to hear from your
27:02experiences. From your experiences
27:05in anesthesiology, what made you
27:07interested in that? In IM, what made you
27:09interested in IM? And Adam brought it
27:11from his own experiences doing rotation.
27:14This is real. This is not just some uh
27:16hypothetical situation that he thinks
27:18that he's interested in anesthesiology.
27:20He actually
27:21did the rotations and liked the
27:23specialty. That That kind of gives the
27:26answer. It's It's power is that this is
27:28from my own experiences. So,
27:30you had a different story where you have
27:33like only one specialty throughout your
27:35whole career or you had this situation
27:37where you started with one specialty and
27:38then you switched. Make sure when you
27:40express interest in this specialty, make
27:42sure you bring it from your own
27:43experiences.
27:44Now, let's talk about why the program.
27:46You brought very important points. The
27:49You brought the away rotation.
27:51The probably most powerful thing you can
27:53say to a program, I've done an away
27:54rotation and start bringing from these
27:55experiences. You brought the family
27:57ties. Very important. Adam, a lot of
27:59IMGs don't know that this is actually a
28:01very good thing to mention. And
28:03you talked about the clinical strength
28:05of the program. Can you tell us what
28:07goes into your mind when expressing
28:09interest in the program, which could be
28:10you need to might sprinkle it throughout
28:12the interview if you're not asked about
28:13this
28:14question specifically because you want
28:16to identify fit with the program. You go
28:17You want to tell them, I know what you
28:19stand for and I I'm a good fit with
28:21that.
28:22>> Yeah, I totally agree with what you're
28:24saying. I I've talked to a number of
28:26different program directors about this,
28:28specifically in anesthesiology.
28:31They care a lot about you having a
28:33support system in the area.
28:36Um
28:37a lot of anesthesiology programs are
28:39going to be very strong. You're going to
28:40get very good training. This is doesn't
28:42even apply to just anesthesiology. A lot
28:45of training programs are going to be
28:46very, very good. They're going to make
28:47you a very well-trained doctor. If you
28:49can personally tie yourself to that
28:51program, whether that be through
28:54I've personally experienced the culture
28:55of the program and I love it or I have
28:58family members that will support me in
29:00the area. This is what program directors
29:02want to hear and what they care about
29:04because when it comes time to make the
29:06rank list and there's applicant one and
29:09applicant two and they have the same
29:11exact application profile, but applicant
29:13two's family lives down the street from
29:15the hospital,
29:17when it comes time for a tie-breaker,
29:19the person with family in the area is
29:21probably going to get going to get the
29:23tie-breaker.
29:24>> Exactly.
29:25>> yeah.
29:26>> And, you know, people don't know that
29:28programs want people to be happy cuz
29:31they know when they're happy, they're
29:33better residents and having that social
29:35support definitely makes that happen.
29:38Also, I I forgot to mention
29:40Adam mentioned in his tell me about
29:42yourself the couples match idea and this
29:43is question I get asked a lot Adam
29:46especially from IMGs. Should I mention
29:48that I'm couple matching or will that
29:50hurt me? I think it's the opposite.
29:52Actually helps you because, you know, if
29:54you have an interview from somewhere and
29:57your partner does not, they might get
29:58the interview based on the fact that you
30:00got one because they also want to keep
30:02people together.
30:03Well, do you have any other thoughts
30:05about that, Adam?
30:06>> I I totally agree with it. I Every
30:09single program that I talked to about
30:11the fact that I'm couples matching, they
30:13immediately asked, "Oh, does your fiance
30:16have an interview with their with our
30:17with their program?" And they they even
30:20said, "Oh, we'll reach out to other
30:21programs in the city for you that aren't
30:24even at the same institution." And so,
30:27in anesthesiology specifically, there's
30:2915 signals. You hope to get all 15
30:32interviews from the 15 signals. But when
30:34I applied, I actually got nine
30:36additional interviews
30:37um from programs that my fiance at the
30:40time interviewed at.
30:42And um and I didn't actually signal that
30:45program, but I emailed them and said,
30:46"Hey, my fiance's interviewing at your
30:48internal medicine program and I I'd love
30:50to interview for your anesthesiology
30:51program." And I got an interview that
30:53way.
30:53>> Yes.
30:54>> And it immediately, even on interview
30:56day, people said, "Oh, I heard that your
30:58fiance interviewed with us." So, you
31:00have a a built-in icebreaker, too, for
31:02whatever that's worth. And um and it it
31:05really really really helps the
31:06application, I think.
31:07>> Exactly. And I have a video actually
31:09about that, about couples match. I
31:11interviewed two couples who couple
31:14matched and they both matched at the
31:15same program and they agree with
31:17everything you said.
31:18For our viewers, if you're interested in
31:20getting, again, access to our 200-plus
31:23residency interview questions that
31:25actually Adam also contributed to this
31:26year, sample answers to common residency
31:29interview questions, interview prep
31:31guide, multiple tutorials, they're fully
31:33free. You just need to sign up with your
31:35email and they will come to your inbox
31:37and you can sign up to them by clicking
31:38on the link in the description below or
31:39the link in the card above. And if you
31:41need help one-on-one with residency
31:43interview prep experts, 100% money-back
31:45guarantee, you'll also see the links in
31:47the description of this video. Now,
31:49let's go to the next question we asked
31:51about, which is why you. Not always you
31:54get asked that question, but it's a very
31:56important question because these points
31:58that are in the why you should be
32:00included somewhere in the in your
32:01interview because you will see that
32:03every question could be an opportunity
32:05to tell about your strength.