Interviews are over ....

“The greater the difficulty, the more the glory in surmounting it.”

~Epicurus

Today was our last day of interviews. The rank list is done. The more I am involved in this process; the more I realize that it is not that scientific process. It gets difficult when you get to the last few applicants. What I have learned this year?

As I previously posted, I asked all of the applicants the same group of questions. In most of my interviews, these questions an provided the opportunity for further conversation. A couple of interviewees fell flat. I don't mean that the answered wrong or poorly, just that were flat. It is like a girl who likes a guy. She gives him every opportunity to "impress her," and he misses the cues. You know what I mean? All in all, the questions went pretty well.

For my first question, I asked, "in one sentence, tell me who you are outside of medicine?" To this question, the common themes were:

• hard working
• loves outdoors
• loves being with friends and family
• easy going
• loves sports

Very few actually gave me a sentence. Most just gave a bunch of adjectives that described attributes that they think would be good attributes in an orthopaedic resident. For the few that gave me sentences, here are a couple I liked:

• I am a geeky girl from the midwest.
• I am a father, husband and friend, that loves music and the outdoors.

To the second questions, favorite book and author, I surprisingly got some interesting answers. Mostly popular authors and books. Several people enjoyed Dumas. A few like historical and biographical books. For most of them, this was not a difficult question to answer.

To the third group of questions, favorite song/album and artist/group, the answer was not as obvious. Most had multiple choices from Country to Indy rock. U2 and the Beetles where probably the overall winners. Groups like Shane and Shane were new to me. GNR and metallica were also popular choices. Lupe Fiasco and Tupac came out of no where from one application. I liked that.

Overall, I think the questions did what I wanted. They initiated conversation made most feel comfortable. I learned a non-medical side of the applicant. I got a glimpse into their psyche. It surprised me that no applicants in their review of our program prior to coming found my blog with the questions. Oh well, I tried to give a heads up.

I do think I will use these again next year. I may change them a little. May be I will ask what ringtone they would give to my phone number. Maybe they would use the Imperial March from Star Wars, like I use for all of my partners (other attendings).



One of my residents just told me he tagged my number with Pantera's Walk. That was FFT.

Pantera's - Walk


Avenged Sevenfold's - Walk cover


May be I will ask what CD's are in their car or songs on their IPOD's recent played list? Or may be I will ask what their ring tone is? I will continue to search for ways to assess an applicants past the USMLE and grades. I look forward to this next year.

“What is not started today is never finished tomorrow.”

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Orthopaedic Surgery Interview

“Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Twice a year, we have mock oral boards. You may say oral boards sound like it's malignant, but it's not. It is just another assessment tool. Like the real orthopaedic mock boards, it always us to assess your understanding of orthopaedic knowledge in a dynamic setting. It does cause many residents a great amount of anxiety, but it is helpful. As the years progress, you can see a increase understanding of orthopaedic surgery. The residents feel that it is a mega pimp session. I guess, by definition, it is a question and answer session done without a #2 pencil and multiple choices. The purpose is not to make the resident uncomfortable and sweat; the purpose is the assess your application of what you learned.

Today, we had oral boards. It got me thinking. When we give the examination, the resident brings a known case and a is given an unknown case. Why don't we give the resident applicants a known question?

Our interview season is beginning this month. For those who are interviewing at out program (St. Louis University orthopaedic surgery), here is your question when you come into my room: "Tell me about yourself." Please keep your answers short and don't recite your resume. You can take a hint from a previous comment I make on the "tell me about yourself" question and answer.

Good luck all

“Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.”
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe