Applying for Residency/USMLE ? Tips about Residency Interviews for future MDs in USA!- a Fun & Informative Resource specially for the IMGs, with sample questions and answer scripts.
***International Copyright*** : Last Updated: Dec 5th 2008
Interview Tips from a Successfully Pre-Matched IMG
Thanks to a generously detailed and thoughtful write-up emailed to me by a gracious lady, we have tips on subtleties that this blog has not touched upon.
Since Anonymity was requested - it shall be respected :-) Read On:
The following are some of the things that I observed and found useful on my interview circuit during the 2008 Residency Match season. This is solely based on my experience. But if I were to repeat the process again (I don’t wish that on any one)…I would certainly keep these in mind. Lot of fellow IMG’s are so much into their USMLE scores that they forget that there are many other parts of ones application that are as or more important. I cannot emphasize enough this fact more – agreed that scores are important but remember that you as a person are much more than JUST A SCORE. Carry this perception and awareness with you while you put your application together and try to convey it to the residency recruitment committee.
After all how difficult can it be to convey that you are a person and not just a score? he he
1.SELLING YOURSELF RIGHT: In my opinion success in America is largely about selling your self. Take some time and REFLECT on this before you put together your application. I am sure all of you have amazing clinical experiences. Remember if you don’t write/mention something…….for the recruitment committee it’s like you never did it. I did my internship in India, so when I was putting together my application, I went on the MCI website and saw the detailed curriculum of internship. Of course you don’t have to copy/paste the entire website. IMG’s with much more valuable US clinical experiences and research experiences may not need to do all this. I had to, because my home country clinical experiences were all I had…and I had to find a way to present them in the best possible way. All I am saying is that you guys have done and accomplished much more than you think you have!! The goal is to present information in the most favorable manner, yet taking care about being HONEST. Please DO NOT LIE. Little things on your paper application might not guarantee you an interview. But once you are there for the interview you are asked things from your application and you get SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT. Trust me guys you really want that. That’s the only way you can show the interviewer that you can talk good English (which is one of the things they look for), and you have good inter-personal skills. You might be a gold medalist at your institution but if you cannot communicate and cannot work with a team, they have absolutely NO USE for you. And for the people who have some trouble communicating, or feel shy…..that’s probably one of the most important things that you need to work on. The way I look at it……a short interview where no body speaks any thing is often not memorable! 2.DRESS RIGHT: I feel IMG men and women should pay more attention to their dressing. The impression that you create on the interviewer when you enter that room is so important. Being a woman myself, I can only advise fellow IMG women. Girls please buy a decent business suit with a good fitting from any of the good stores like Ann Taylor, Macy’s or the rest. Personally, I never went for the black color, rather for colors and styles like grey, navy and pinstripes which might be equivalent or even better than black. Please have a nice silk / cotton collared shirt to go with your suit. No camisoles please! And please iron your suit. Little makeup is OK. Please have neat hair do. You don’t have do to much. All you need to do is look professional and trust me you don’t have to wear a black suit with a white shirt to do that. he he Please keep facial tissue to blot that oily nose and cheek which start developing after noon. 3. COURTESY: After you get that interview call, do send a thank you email to the program. DigitalDoc has written a very nice article on all that stuff. I did send Season’s greetings to the programs that I was really interested in. 4. On the interview day the following things are the most important: 1. your demeanor, dressing. 2. Your communication skills, your interpersonal skills. Last but not the least they wanna see if you will be happy in their program. During the interview tell them how much you like them. If you have a family connection in the city - MENTION IT! Letting the program know that they are all you have ever dreamed about during the interview itself is some thing that many IMG’s never do. Of course, do this only after gauging the situation and probably at the end of the interview if it went well. Do not sound desperate. Please be HONEST!! Say it ONLY to programs that are really your top choice. You don’t want to end up with a prematch at a program that you don’t like just because you told them that they are your top choice. Please be very careful regarding this. As digidoc said prematch can be a double edged knife! For my self I can say this was probably the best thing I did during my interview…telling them that there was no other place I would rather be!
5.PERSONAL STATEMENT: More than one program director told me during my interviews that my personal statement was one of the reasons that I was there for my interview…..that they could see from my personal statement that I was very dedicated. Mark my words “one of the reasons” ….there are many other parts of the application (e.g.: USMLE scores, USCE, Research etc.) which are equally important. Pay due attention to the personal statement….because you never know when it might make the difference.
6. HOBBIES & INTERESTS: More than one my interviews was entirely about dogs/ pets ( which I wrote were my interest )…..and more than one of my interviews were about my other interests like dancing…etc …. All I am trying to put across here is that pay attention to this part of the application. Ever so often I have seen people completely ignore this part of the application. For eg: If reading and traveling are their hobbies they would write 2 words: reading & traveling. I took some time to elaborate on each. Remember they give you 500 character space in ERAS…USE IT! The programs are trying to put together a diverse team of residents…every body brings something to their program….if you have a special quality ..not only mention it…but also elaborate on it….what you did…whether you were given any awards / honors for it.
The above mentioned are some of the things, I felt were helpful to me during my interviews. Please use your own judgment and act according to the situation that suit your background, temperament and goals. Most importantly be honest, be real, be charming, interact with other people, treat every body ( the staff and other applicants ) with respect, look professional, sound professional…..and enjoy your self !
Well written...Am Charmed :-)
Thank you - this will sure make many readers reflect deeper on the residency interviews.
Hullo Readers ! Valentine's day is around the corner and that oh-so-mushy feeling should make you wanna spare some love for me and help me build more resources for fellow IMGs and AMGs ;-)
He..he..You are requested to submit information about recent Prematch / Out-Of-Match Residency position offers that you either heard about, eavesdropped on or secured yourself (yeah - it's Anonymous..yipee !!) Click Here to check out the database and Scroll Down to see the Input form:
Submissions will be greatly appreciated and helpful for new IMGs :-)
Is it OK for you to ask Residency Programs for A Prematch ?
I have covered this a bit before, but some might find it useful to dig this discussion deeper. Prematches are not illegal for the eligible candidates, but it can be a sensitive topic with some program directors.
Hence, firstly, some consider it better to initially ask the program director during the interview as safe question like: "What's your program's policy on Prematches ..i.e. out of match positions ?"
That's like testing the waters before jumping in - Having the policies clear before you pop in that question is certainly something I recommend - even if the program is known to not offer prematches - coz policies change all the time. If the program clearly conveys that they are against offering prematches - do not push it :-)
[ Well...Don't you guys only wish there was a easy way of "testing the waters' before popping that important question to your favourite gal ? ;-) ]
Second, it is vital that you be doubly sure of accepting a prematch offer if you will be inquiring about it. You don't wanna say No after you asked yourself and screw your chances with the match too, with that program.
Third, to ask about a prematch offer, you can mention that in a proper way in your thank you emails after the interview and mention what interests you so much about the program to justify your request for a prematch.
How to say no to Prematches and yet not screw up your matching chances at that program?
It's one of those paradoxes of life - when something that you been wishing, sweating over and deliberating over for years comes along and suddenly you realize that you don't want it or it was not exactly what you wanted - strange thing this life, eh !
A lot of you will possibly find yourself doing a tight rope-walk when confronted by a decision to reject a Prematch offer from you a residency program that you are either not sure of taking up OR because you see bright chances at a much better program.
Now, this is a highly debatable tiopic, but many believe that declining a Prematch puts you at a disadvantage on that program's Rank order List, and I agree that I feel there may some degree of truth in that - coz technically if you don't accept, someone else after you may and reduce the total positions available for matching. But, you can always be tactful in your reason to decline and do a better damage control.
"I highly value your program and just recently I received a couple of more interview offers that I would like to attend. I hope you will understand that it may be too early for me to make a decision and I sincerely hope you will continue to consider me a strong candidate for your residency program"
After declining, give it some time and then you could work on keeping the good relations alive , like providing updates to your application, shooting an email with "more specific questions about the program", or even requesting a "second look" at the program, if you happen to decide to go to that program later on, to see if you could get the prematch offer again. etc.
One IMG resident from psychiatry told me how he handled declining his prematch offers - he politely denied accepting them like above and then, just before the middle of February, when program submit rank order lists, he wrote emails to ALL the 16 programs he had interviewed at, saying that he was ranking them at the top of the his list, (So that they know he is not given up on them). Diplomatic ? I don't wanna commit to advising this or its ethical concerns - it's your call ;-) But then knowing that lotsa program directors do the same too ..he he..i.e. tell every good candidate interviewed that they will rank them "high" and hope candidates will rank them likewise too.
What matters is - He matched comfortably....Ways of the world ..:-)
On the Legal side, do note that it is LEGAL for programs to offer Prematches to IMGs and for you to accept them - but not legal to force a candidate to accept it in anways or adverse modify their behaviour if declined.
Once again Prematches are double-edged weapons and you must as think carefully while declining as should while accepting it. Have discussed more about Prematches Here.
At this point, I feel it's pertinent to go over these words from the NRMP Site:
1. "Statements such as the following have been made by program directors to applicants who later did not match to those programs:
- "We plan to rank you very high on our list." - "We hope to have the opportunity to work with you in the coming year."
Such statements are not binding and frequently are misinterpreted, and applicants should not rely on them when creating their rank order lists. "
2. "The Match Participation Agreement permits program directors and applicants to express a high degree of interest in each other but prohibits statements implying a commitment."
AND
3. "A program director asks an applicant how he/she intends to rank the program, and states that the program will rank the applicant only if the applicant agrees to rank the program first on the applicant's rank order list. Although the Match Participation Agreement does not prohibit either an applicant or a program from volunteering how one plans to rank the other, it is a violation of the Match Participation Agreement to request such information"
First of all - Should you even be asking for prematches ?
a. Unless a Program specifically tells you that it does not offer Pre-matches, there is no harm asking about prematch policies, provided of course that you are totally sure you want that program. You gotta be sure, because a Pre-match offer can be a double-edged weapon, as discussed earlier.
b. Prematches are Legal for IMGs, Canadian Medical Grads, American DO Grads and American Medical Graduates who have already passed out from medical schools - unlike rumors about their 'illegalness'
Use tact !
- You don't wanna ask about Prematches right at the beginning of the interview and inadvertantly indicate desperation.
- If uncomfortable asking about one in person, a subtle request over email is a great idea. Here's a sample email request for Prematch position.
"Dear Dr. (Prog. Director)
Thank you for the opportunity to interview at your residency program. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, meeting the faculty, your residents and stand impressed by the range of training and the facilities. Specifically, the all-round training that a program gives and prepares the resident for the primary care scenario is appealing. I am convinced that I shall be able meet my goals at your program. Besides, I have friends (or relatives) nearby and would love to work in the small city (or large city or University Town) ambience that STUVWXYZ city offers.
I am happy to rank your program on the top of my list. Should your program offer a prematch position, I am willing to commit myself without delay. Kindly let me know if the possibility exists.
Thank you,
Sincerely,
Cai Zheng. "
Q. Which Months are Prematches more likely in?
Traditionally, the later months or December and January have been the more likely months - but note that such offers can come anytime. These days, just as IMGs rush to apply early to maximize interview chances, many Residency Programs, too, are offering prematches as early as September to improve their chances of filling as many positions as possible and get it done early.
Q. After an Interview, when is a Prematch offer Made ?
Again, no real rules on this one , coz an offer may made as early as immediately after the Interview OR even a month later. A lot of times, the offer comes via phone or email immediately after a candidate writes a "Thank you" email to the Program Director after the interview. So don't forget a thank you email after you have Interviewed ;-) Let's just say, generally speaking, the more a program has a history of unfilled positions, the more likely it is to offer a Prematch position.
Just A Personal Opinion: Until 2-3 years ago, many people contemplated going for the Match rather than accept a Prematch from a low-ranked program. But, these days of intense IMG competition, Prematches are going to be extremely valuable in the coming years. 2005 season was ample evidence of 'match' frustration with many instances of high scores going matched and lower scores/credentials getting a position via prematches.
Moreover, this trend will only make the Match more of a Gamble than it already is - because when prematch positions are given out and reduces the total positions available for the match, only the Program directors and the NRMP get to know that a candidate has withdrawn from a Match - not the other candidates who will be participating in the Match.
All this may prompt stricter regulations on prematches - coz if prematches get so promiment - the Match process itself may be threatened to be redundant and too risky for IMG candidates ..or maybe eventually either Prematches will be scrapped OR AMGs will be allowed to accept Prematch offers too...
Thanks to a generously detailed and thoughtful write-up emailed to me by a gracious lady, we have tips on subtleties that this blog has not touched upon.
people, treat every body ( the staff and other applicants ) with respect, look professional, sound professional…..and enjoy your self !
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