Some possible 'Illegal Questions' on the Residency Interview

Here I attempt to enlist such questions and try to frame answers - I may not have answers for all, but reader suggestions are more than welcome. Additionally, if you have any more illegal questions stored in your brain attics - spill it out here = Click on the Comments link below and type away :-)


Q. What are your plans for a family? Any Marriage plans ? Got a Significant Other ?

Possible Answer: "At this point I am entirely focussed and driven to succeed in my medical career. Family may be a possibility in a couple of years, it is not an important issue for me right now"


Q. How old are you?

Possible answer: "Am ____ years old but young enough to be your most hardworking resident" ;-)


Q. If we offered you a position today would you accept?

Every residency interview - whether the program is known to offer prematches or not, you should be ready to answer this question. If it's a program you really want - then sure you say Yes. If not, you can say something like "That would be great, but I probably could only finalize my decision after I finished attending the remainder of my few more Interviews".

Some people say its good to say "yes" anyways and then decide AFTER you are offered the Prematch, depending on how the scene looks for you overall for a match.

Hmm.....no easy answer :-)

Comments awaited.





Search keywords to this article:

- "how to answer tough questions on residency interviews"
- "scripts for answers to residency interview questions"
- "sample illegal interview questions with replies / answers"