Best Questions to Ask on the Residency Interview Trail

Residency interviews can make or break your chances of getting into the residency program of your choice. Though there’s a strong emphasis on an applicant’s ability to appropriately answer interview questions, there isn’t always enough focus on the other end of the spectrum. Fourth-year medical students should all be prepared with a list of questions to ask on the residency interview trail. It’s essential that you think about what information you hope to gain from the process to ultimately help you decide on your rank list. Using this perspective, your questions should allow you to leave an interview day equipped with more information than when you arrived.

To help nudge you in the right direction, I’ve come up with a list of some of the best interview questions to ask on the residency interview trail. I’ve split these questions into a few categories, based on the appropriate audience.

QUESTIONS FOR PROGRAM DIRECTORS

Program Directors (PDs) play different roles depending on the program. Additionally, each PD has a different vision of what they want their residents to get out of the training process. Make sure to use any facetime you get with program directors to learn about what they value within their program.

1. What role do you see yourself playing in the personal and professional development of residents in your program?
2. How do you support the varying professional interests of your residents?
3. What is your vision for the program over the next 4-7 years (however long your residency training will be)?
4. What’s the biggest change to recently occur in the program? Was this change resident or PD-led?
5. How do you expose your residents to the varying options of post-residency career trajectories?
6. To what extent is work-life integration emphasized in your program?

QUESTIONS FOR RESIDENTS

When talking with residents on the interview trail, you should have a few goals. First, you want to get a sense of whether or not the residents like the program they’re at. Second, asking the right questions can help you figure out whether the program meets your selection criteria. Lastly, talking to residents helps you to get a sense of how much support the program offers its trainees.

The questions below can help you to suss out who really likes their program versus who just showed up to the dinner, lunch, or tour for the free food.

1. What’s a patient encounter that stands out to you?
2. What have been some highlights of your experience in residency so far? What have been some lowlights?
3. What are your evenings like when you get home from work?
4. How close is your residency class? The program as a whole?
5. Do you feel supported by the administration at your program? By your co-residents? By attendings?
6. If you moved from another program, how was the transition to a new city? New hospital system?
7. What do you believe are the strengths of this program? The weaknesses?
8. How easy is it for you to access funding for educational resources or conference attendance?
9. Are there opportunities to moonlight? How much do you make per hour moonlighting?

QUESTIONS FOR FACULTY INTERVIEWERS

Residency interviewers can be residents, fellows, attendings, and PDs. If your interviewer is a faculty member in the program, the following questions can help you get a sense of whether or not they like the work environment.

1. What do you believe are the strengths of this program? The weaknesses?
2. How has this institution supported you in achieving your career goals?
3. How do you incorporate resident education into your work? Is this representative of other faculty at the program?
4. What attributes about this program attracted you here? What has kept you here?

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To supplement the above questions, I crowdsourced some additional suggestions via Twitter. Be sure to check out the thread below for additional questions to ask on the residency interview trail!

Hey, #MedTwitter! Quick question for you:

What questions do you wish you’d asked on the residency interview trail to help you finalize your rank list?#womeninmedicine #somedocs #psychtwitter #psychrestwitter #medstudentchat

— Atasha Jordan, MD, MBA (@AtashaJordan) September 23, 2019

Curious about other aspects of the residency interview process? Be sure to check out my posts on How to Dress for an Interview and How to Have Fun on the Residency Interview Trail.