Quick Interview tips for USMLE residency
Residency interview is one of the deciding factor for matching into a residency program in USA. Rock your interview with these tips.
Before the Interview:
- Research about the program
- Research about the location and population diversity
- Research about places to go round
- Learn about the faculties
- Reach out to people you know in the hospital or program and learn more about it.
- Be well versed with things written in your CV and personal statement.
- Go through your research articles.
- Rehearse / practice common interview questions and styles.
- Make your body language fine, some hand movements, expressive speaking, smiles, appropriate laughter when needed.
- Mind the intonation so you don’t sound rude.
Day before the interview: The fact that you rarely need to travel for interviews now because of Virtual preference is a boon as well as a curse. You save money, time and you can interview from home comfort but on the other hand, you may not be able to present self well and adequately, and you get less interviews if you are an IMG because of less IV cancelations. Here are things to do at home-
- Make sure you checkup your final setup of audiovisual, applications or programs like Zoom and Skype that are required for interviewing.
- Prepare the room with lighting and chair and desk setup.
- Perform a test with a family or friend via Zoom to check audio.
- Sleep well, next day is going to be a busy day and you don’t want to feel sleepy.
On the day of interview: The day might have long session, so prepare yourself accordingly.
- A light breakfast or lunch, depending upon the session, whether it is in morning or evening.
- A tea or coffee that will help you keep fresh starting in the morning.
- On your interview desk, keep a bottle of water, some cookies and snack that you can take a bite in free time.
- Keep a backup phone with network in case your internet connection goes wrong in the middle of interview.
- Look into the itinerary once again and keep your self aware about the day.
- Coat with tie for men, formal dress for women and anything formal as appropriate.
- Prepare to be yourself, trying to portray an image that is not you needs a lot of perfection and chance of ruining things. So, it is best to be best of yourself.
- Be cheerful and pleasant throughout the day. Don’t ever be rude to anyone. Everyone is an interviewer on that day. Each feedback may be valued.
- Send a thank you email to people who interviewed. Avoid communication if the programs say no to emails.
- Write down the review for ranking on a notebook.