Hello All. I'm sure I'm with everyone else on the whole "holy freaking jesus I've been interviewing for the past 2 months and now it needs to be over NOW". I had booked 12 interviews, but will end up cancelling 1 (if I ever stop procrastinating) so I will end up with 11 total. I have 2 more left in Jan and then I AM DONE. So, I will run down my 9 interviews. And you know I've met some weirdos.
Interview #1: I was nervous as hell and now looking back I should have been a huge bitch. But, it was my first and I was so worried about making a good impression and them liking me (yeah, should have just walked out after lunch.). So I fly out, stayed in a hotel which I had to pay for (you will come to see that most places paid for my hotel) then get to the interview to be blindsided. The entire worst part was the fact that for lunch they ordered PAPA JOHN'S PIZZA (yes, you read right) and then the residents took ALL the garlic sauce for themselves and didn't even offer to share with anyone. Now, it was my impression that interviews are somewhat of a recruitment tool. Most places have taken me somewhere nice or even just fed me the catered cafeteria food. But fast food pizza? seriously? come on people. Besides, the residents were weird, talked amongst themselves and pretty much ignored the 3 of us during lunch. Then, one of my interviewers took me to the cafeteria to interview me. ok, kinda weird. then proceeded to sit down, NOT LOOK AT ME (he looked off in the corner and made no eye contact), act like a jackass, and just went "so what questions do you have for me" without any tell me about yourself or anything. I left that interview petrified that all of them would be like that. Really BAD experience.
Interview Dos: Well, it was the home institution. Reaffirmed how much I love the faculty, LOVE the residents, LOVE LOVE LOVE everyone. It really has shown me that our med school has a kicking path program (it's probably one of the better programs I've seen).
Interview Three: This is the awesome of awesome stories. Being in path, most of my itineraries for the interview day come a couple of days before. Well, I flew out the day before my interview. That morning I didn't have anything in my email from the program. So I email the secretary explaining that I haven't gotten an itinerary yet and will be traveling for the entire day and won't be able to check it until I get into town that night. So I get in around 630 pm and there is STILL NO EMAIL. So I start calling the dept hoping to find someone still there. I get nothing. So, with my interview that next day I don't know where to be, what time to be there, nothing. I start flipping my shit. So with the good council of some friends, I got up the next morning, got all dressed and ready, then started phone bombing the dept until I talked to a person. I basically was told that I needed to be there RIGHT THEN (at 8 am) and they'll tell the secretary I'll be late and to just head in. I took a cab to the hospital and made it to the dept by 8:05 am. The secretary didn't show up until 8:30. She then proceeded to tell me that she didn't have me down on her schedule and must have "overlooked" my reply email confirming my interview date. Plus, she had taken the day off the previous day and didn't get my "holy crap" email until that morning. But it was "okay" and they "threw together" an interview day for me since I was already there. By the time I got to the program director there was apology after apology how it had never happened before and I will definitely be remembered (in a good way). I was thanked for being persistent and coming in anyway. Luckily the people there were nice and the program had a home institution feel to it. Although my adrenaline was flowing!
Interview IV: Place set me up as far as hotels. I had my own suite! It would have been nice to have the boy there with me. Dad and I actually drove (whenever I drive he wants to come. I've found that we have an 8hr limit. After that we start bickering in the car). The residents were nice but I didn't get that "click" and the program director kept talking about how he wished one of the now pathology attendings at my institution would have gone there instead. So it was a little awkward. But everyone was nice. And took us out the night before and for lunch. Both to awesome places. they do it right. Otherwise it was an uneventful interview. Had to drive straight back in the TERRIBLE weather to take my review of histo test the next day. That I ended up passing by some grace of God.
Interviews 5-8 were in one massive 2 week long voyage. By 8 I was missing home and the boy so much I let my hair down and just didn't care anymore!
Interview 5: The residents and faculty were cool. I really clicked with one resident over our love of kidney path and lack of daily proprioception completely sober. No weirdness whatsoever on the program part. There was a DO student with us that took some away rotations at the institution. She just acted like she was a shoe-in and kinda like an ass at times in my opinion. Oh well. It was a good experience.
Interview 6: Again, nothing impressive. It was way up north and the snow was taller than I was. it was the first interview where I was the only one that day. Which was weird to have all the attention just on me. I only met 3 residents while there, which seemed odd. They took me to lunch at a nice place with awesome dessert. One resident was a little too enthusiastic about me, and kept saying "oh PLEASE come here!". And the chairman wasn't there and I'm supposed to have an interview set up over the phone but it was never followed through... oh well. I even got a parting gift from this place (one and only time) but except the chocolate I couldn't take any of it with me. Mainly because I refused to pack anything bigger than a carry-on because airlines are out of their mind for charging $25 bucks a pop for checking in a bag. Since I only had a carry on it was stuffed to the max and the large jar of some local sauce wouldn't have been kosher on the plane.
Interview 7: Let's just say that if I hadn't taken the hotel shuttle to the interview I would have just walked out halfway through the interview. When I met with the Program director she proceeded to tell me how the 3rd year residents go to mandatory board review classes paid for by the program because residents were FAILING THEIR BOARDS. Plus, all the residency positions were funded 100% by medicare and therefore they had a cap enforced by the government. So, no internal funding of resident spots. Then, they'll be merging with several other hospitals in the area, and the residents will just "absorb" the increased workload. And the only way to get pediatric path exposure was to go to a DIFFERENT STATE. Yeah, I wish I had just walked out. Plus there was one resident with the personality of a saltine cracker and another who made it clear this wasn't his first choice. Or he may have scrambled for all I know.
Interview 8: Not too bad, kinda ho-hum. Largest group with 5 interviewees. One girl was late getting to the shuttle in the morning but we all ended up getting there on time. She was weird, she was laying on the couch during the pre-interview appetizers the night before. Plus she looked chronically pissed off and her hair was a mess and honey child could have used some foundation and lip gloss. Just sayin'. and there was one guy who didn't say a word until, oh, lunch the next day. Weirdest group of fellow interviewees by far. I think the most offsetting point of the program was the response of "Well, most of them are...." to the question "are the attendings approachable". Yeah, red flag of malignant attendings. And it was a program that the response to having a kid during residency was "Well, they can't STOP you from getting pregnant". Other than that they were all friendly and normal.
Interview 9: I drove to it with my dad. It was uneventful except for the fact that I think I walked away with a vicious cold as a parting gift. I got a lot of "we like you come here" and promises of "if you come here we'll do _____ for you". Which was a first. And I interviewed with a WEIRD person. Very socially awkward. But nice.
So that wraps up the interview trail so far. I have two more places. Then Match day. I can't wait. I just hope I get my #1 choice. I hope we all do.
Picture post of my travels to follow!
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