I just had my first interview for a potential internal medicine residency! All in all, it wasn’t bad. At the beginning, the director of the program spent a decent amount of time highlighting key aspects of the program and why he thought we would enjoy it here. Then, I had a series of two interviews by faculty members. My first interview went very well. I walked into the room and the doctor asked me: “Tell me about your vinyl collection!” I can talk about this for hours and so this was a great way for me to relax and talk about something I’m passionate about. Then I was asked about my interest in the program, and the rest of the interview was the doctor providing me with more details about the residency.
My second interview was a bit more difficult but definitely manageable. I was asked questions like, what doctor do you aspire to be, describe a time where you had a conflict and how you resolved it, name a time you struggled and how you overcame the struggle, etc. While these questions were a bit more difficult, they weren’t anything I wasn’t expecting. In fact, there is a list of IM residency questions on the ACP’s website and other blogs that had those very questions. Essentially, I was prepared to answer those questions.
So definitely wasn’t a bad first interview! I enjoyed the process, and realized, for the most part, the interview was mostly about the program selling themselves to us rather than the other way around. Remember to relax and come prepared!
