Episode 19 - Showcasing Yourself on Interview Day

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Hello, and welcome back to another episode of Emotional Millennial. In my last episode, I basically talked about setting up for a virtual interview and what that looks like, including camera, ring, light, all that good stuff. So check out my last episode if that's something that you want to hear about today, what I'm going to be talking about more into the interview scene, okay. Specifically for residency interviews for medical students because I have a lot of personal experience with that. And this time I'm going to be talking about how to prepare yourself and your own answers to questions, your stories, kind of like creating your personal story, like, what story?

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What picture do you want to paint about who you are to residency programs, I think it's really easy to make the mistake of never doing this in the first place, and that can come off, like, extremely chaotic, in my opinion, to the interviewers. I think it's important to. Like. Take this time to sit down. Self reflect.

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And think about what it is that you want in a program. Who you are. What you can offer to a program. And also just. Like.

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Reflecting on your stories in medical school and the things that you've been through so that you can demonstrate personal growth. Self reflection. Communication skills. All of these really important things that residency programs are specifically looking for in their applicants. So when you're preparing for your interview day and you're thinking about who you want to be perceived as, like, what picture are you trying to paint for these people that are interviewing you?

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How are you going to stand out? Who are you? Who do you want to be? To them, there's, like, a lot of really big questions that come in the way that you choose to present yourself during your interview day. And I think it's really important to have a cohesiveness about who you are and try and keep it, like, more straightforward, I guess I can say.

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I think it would be it's a lot easier to remember someone by being like, oh, yeah, that's the girl that loves research or that's the girl who loves women's health, or something along those lines. So after I turned in my eras applications, and I'm trying to think about now, these interviews moving forward, how am I going to do this? Where do we go from here? One of the first things that I did, and this is also just because this is how my brain works is I sat down and I just started brainstorming major themes about myself or about my life and kind of who I am, what I want. These are very big questions, but I started out with just some descriptive words of what I think, like, my key best personality traits are for interviewing and kind of like, words I feel like encompass who I am and what I bring to the table.

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So I put selfmotivated empathetic, creative, passionate, teacher, and my ability to see situations from multiple perspectives and, like, create creative solutions. So those are just, like, some examples of the things that I wrote down when I was brainstorming about myself and who I wanted to present myself as, putting my best foot forward during my interview. You also want to start thinking about things outside of medicine. It's important to show them that there's more to your life than just medicine. Even though we all know that all we ever do is study and try to get good grades and are performing on clerkships.

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Like, we don't have time, really, for a lot of other things, but whatever the other things are in your life, hopefully you have a couple. We have to be able to talk about them to show that we're a person too, despite not feeling like a person in medical school. We have to at least try and pretend for these interviews. And it would be good to pull some of these hobbies and interests basically just from your eras application, going there and expanding on whatever hobbies that you wrote down there, making sure that you're actually able to talk about them, because a lot of people will bring up in interviews like, oh, I see you like to bake. Like, what's the last thing you baked?

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Or I like to bake too. Most of the time, those hobbies and interests are used as a common ground between an interviewer and yourself so that you can kind of, like, have a nice chat about something that is not medicine related. And I think that those conversations can really help you stand out to the interviewer. Things you can talk about include family, pets, interests, any fun facts that you have, any traveling that you've done. I always talk about hiking at national parks because that's something that I love to do.

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I also talked about going to concerts and music that I like to listen to. And then the one thing that I always use is the fact that I sell things online, like on Macari and such. And so putting in that fact that, like, I'm a seller and I've, like, made money through that, that's kind of like a fun little tangent side thing outside of medicine that I was able to talk about that was kind of interesting to some people. So if you have something like that, I think you should write it down or just, like, keep it in the back of your mind of, like, things that you could talk about with your interviewers honestly. The summary of this is go to your Interests and Hobby section on eras.

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Go line by line and make sure that you're able to hold a conversation and talk about things that you listed there. That's my best advice there. Those topics are the easiest way for you to connect with someone on the other side of the screen. And so those are just great little opportunities to connect make a connection with somebody and have them know more about you and make a better impression. End of story.

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Alright, now that we're done talking about non medicine related things, let's talk about things that you are proud of or things that you want to make sure that you touch on during your interview so that they know certain things about you. Yes, everything is in your application, but all these people, they're interviewing a lot of people. Okay, so like, unfortunately, we're not as special as we always think that we are. And so this person probably didn't read your personal statement. I mean, I think the best thing to assume is that the person interviewing you has not laid eyes on your application.

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Yeah, that is kind of shitty, but it's the reality of it and so it's better to go in with that assumption and just pretend it's a clean slate and like, you get to just kind of steer the narrative during your interview. So, for example, there were a couple of things that I always made sure that I wanted to get across during my interviews and that is how much I love to teach and the fact that I've been involved in teaching peers or teaching other students from undergraduate all the way through medical school. And that's something that's really important to me and something I want to continue throughout my career. And the other thing that I always wanted to talk about was my interest in women's health specifically. And then I would use the example that I sought out a virtual elective opportunity specifically in women's health because I didn't feel like I was getting that full cohesive education during like, my personal medical school experience.

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And so those two things were really important to me and I felt spoke a lot about who I am and who I want them to perceive me as. And so those things were kind of like at the forefront of my interviews, things I always wanted to make sure I got across, like while I was talking during my interviews, if that makes sense. So I recommend that you pick up like two, three, four or five things that are really important to you or what you think makes you unique and special. Just jot them down on a piece of paper along with whatever qualities you wrote down about yourself. So you can kind of start to paint this picture of who you are at your core and then you should be able to match up those qualities with some of your experiences you want to talk about.

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So, for example, for me, I can talk about like I love to teach. I've been teaching for however long. Teaching is important to me and being a teacher has taught me a lot about myself. I realize how fulfilling it is for me to be a teacher and a leader and I feel like my ability to empathize with students since I've been in their position before really helps me to excel at teaching. Yeah, kind of just like some random blurbs about how these things tie together that makes you who you are.

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Another example you could use is like, you're very creative, you're very innovative. That's why you've always been heavily involved in research and why it's important to you now and will continue to be important to you throughout the rest of your career. And that you want to go to a program that has research opportunities for you. Great. Beautiful.

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Chef's kiss. Wrap it up in a bow. Another one. You love to lead. You're like the leader of an interest group somewhere.

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And the connections that you made at that interest group and those mentors that you gained from being a leader of that interest group now has allowed you to see that you want to continue to mentor people. And you love being a leader and like putting things together, that kind of stuff. You're looking for a program that will allow you to have leadership positions such as the one you're currently in or you weren't in the past, because that's something that allows you to thrive. Great. Another great example.

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Or you love to work with other people. You love being part of a collaborative environment. You are in multiple groups right now, research groups, interest groups, whatever, other groups, and you want to continue to be a part of a collaborative group in the future because that's how you work best. You work best when you have ideas that are bouncing off of other people and it allows you to be more creative and more thoughtful and you're really motivated by having other people, like, keeping you in check and having those relationships to like, propel you forward. Lots of examples there.

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Maybe hearing me talk about this will help you spark some thoughts in your own brain about like, oh yeah, I can parallel that or give you an idea. I hope that's kind of the point of this. But anyway alright, let's move on. A question you are going to have to answer is alright, Annie, so tell me about yourself. How many interviews started with that?

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I don't even know. So many. And each interview day you're going to have maybe up to like five, six interviews. And so you might be answering this multiple times a day. So you have to have a good enough answer that sounds genuine, but that also is obviously a little bit rehearsed because you want to make sure you're touching on the same points like every time and that you're being fairly consistent.

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So what I did actually, and this is something that I recommend, is I have large note cards about I think they are like four by six. Yeah, the note cards are four by six and so they're a little bit larger than like a normal note card. And on here I wrote my notes for my tell me about yourself. Blurb so that I could, like, refer to this and have it right in front of me, but in a place where the interviewer can't see it on the computer. This is one of the pros of virtual interviewing, so obviously introduce yourself, your name.

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I said a little bit about where I was born and raised, and then I start talking about my interest in becoming a physician, where I went to undergrad, where I went to medical school, and then my not matching process kind of what that turned into, and then things I like outside of medicine as well. So that was kind of like my blurb. I think it's good to have, like, a two to three minute spiel that you can give that gives a very wellrounded viewpoint of who you are. So here is my blurb. I would say.

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Hi, I'm Annie. I'm born and raised in Michigan, and I'm hoping to stay in the area for as I practice medicine. I was interested in becoming a doctor before I went to college because I had an interest due to my mom's hearing loss. I was really fascinated with the way that her cochlear implants worked and helped her quality of life. And so this drew me to want to be able to make those types of changes in other people's lives as well.

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For undergrad, I got a degree in human biology at Michigan State University, and at that time, I started getting interested in teaching and I began teaching biology. Then I went to medical school, where I continued to teach, and I actually started a resale business during my first year medical school. I applied last year didn't match. And then after a lot of self reflection, I decided that I wanted to go into family medicine instead. During my year off, I had a lot of experiences at a local free clinic where I was able to connect with patients and kind of realize that primary care is where I meant to be outside of academics.

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I love to hike, and I have a goal of hiking all national parks in the United States. I love to write Bake and do yoga, and I also love to listen to music as well as podcasts. So that's, like, not exactly how I would say it. Obviously it wasn't perfect. I'm not in my rehearsed phase right now, but I used to be, like, have a very cohesive way of saying all of that.

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I practiced it a lot, and so I recommend doing something like that, putting the bullet points on a note card and then keeping that note card just like in front of your computer for day of interview, because if you're anything like me, you get anxious and sometimes your thoughts just go completely blank. You forget where you are, you forget your name, and you might need a note card to nudge you in the right direction. So that's what that note card did for me on many interview days when they're asking you to tell them about you. They just want to know that you're a normal human being. Like, they're interviewing you because they're going to say, oh, is this person going to mesh well with the other co residents we have?

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Is this someone that I would want around and like, be precepting with and have their energy in the room and have them contributing to our residency program? Do I want to eat lunch with this person? Just be normal, be easy to get along with, and you should be smooth sailing. They're just asking these simple questions like, is this person normal enough to hold a conversation and hang out with us? That's all.

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Trying to think about these interviews as an opportunity to get to know these people and an opportunity to show them who you are rather than like a test of you have to do these things perfectly in order to pass. It's not like that. Trying to focus more on connecting with the individual who's on the other side of the screen I think is a much better perspective to have on it because I guarantee, like, they are just as nervous as you are. Some people don't like interviewing. I don't think I'm going to really like it.

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I think I'm doing that soon. And that makes me nervous because I want to make a good impression on them. So focus on connecting with them. Focus on who they are as a person and not as, like, a superior, I guess, if that helps. The next thing you're going to be asked a lot is why this specialty?

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Why do you want to do family? Why do you want to do OB? All that kind of stuff. And so you also need to have an answer for that available and really do some self reflection. Like, why is it that I want to go into this specialty?

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Definitely don't say, because I can make a lot of money. Nothing like, superficial like that. Definitely tie it back to who you are and what you want out of your life and out of your career rather than like, what it's going to give you. You might also be asked, why is it that you want to be a physician in the first place? And kind of what led you down that pathway.

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A good thing to talk about there is like, any mentors that you may have had, any experiences you may have had growing up that got you interested in medicine, anything like that. So when I was asked why family medicine, I wrote these down on a sticky note and once again kept them right in front of my face during my interview in case I decided to blank out. But I have written down I had an AHA moment in the clinic. I realized these are the conversations I want to be having for the rest of my life. Interested in having patients long term and found myself thinking about my patient outcomes and wondering about how they're doing and checking up on them.

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So maintaining that relationship rather than a high and by type thing. And so those were aspects of family Medicine that I would talk about. I would also talk about how much freedom there is and like how I'm an independent person and I really like the idea of kind of carving my own pathway, doing my own thing. And Family medicine really allows the space to do that as well as the ability to do procedures and kind of tailor my practice to what it is I want to do. So now this podcast is turned into why you should go into Family Medicine.

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Just kidding. But yeah, I could talk a lot about that. So having those kind of bullet points also on a sticky note or on a note card that you keep nearby, really great thing to have. Next note card I recommend is what is it that you want in a program? What are you looking for in a program?

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So, for me, I was looking for a very supportive environment where yes, it's just supportive that it feels kind of like a family. Everyone cares about each other. Once again, these are my interests, this is what I'm looking for. I'm sure there are a lot of people that aren't looking for that, but this is my personality and like what fits my needs and how I know I'll be able to excel in a residency program. I want to be surrounded by equally passionate individuals.

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I really thrive in that type of environment. I wanted a program that would allow me to get full spectrum of care and the opportunity to tailor my training based on my interests. So those are things that I would mention for my Family Medicine residency programs. If you are in a different specialty, maybe you want a program that gives you leadership positions, that allows you to take part in research, allows you to teach, allows you to be, I don't know, whatever you can think of, but make sure that you have things that you are looking for in programs, so that when they ask you, you know what you're going to say. And I do think that that also takes self reflection, like looking inward and being like, OK, why is it that I actually want this specialty?

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And why is it or what is it that I'm specifically looking for in a program? How do I learn best? What are the things that I'm most interested in? All that good stuff. I think the first time around in my interviews, I was much more focused on what I thought they wanted to hear from me.

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And the second time around I was much more focused on actually portraying to them who it is that I am and what it is that I specifically want. And I do think that in the interview setting that comes across as more genuine. Like, I'm sure in my first round of interviews, it was probably some people could read between the lines and see that the things that I was saying were not actually true to who I was, but rather, I'm telling you what you want to hear type thing. So during my second year of interviews and now that I was applying to family medicine, and since I did so much selfreflection in that time, it was much more clear, or I'm sure it was much more clear to the people that I was interviewing with that I knew who I was, I knew what I wanted. I had that confidence about me, and it was very clear that I took part in self reflection.

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And that in and of itself is, like, impressive. I mean, that shows that you have the emotional intelligence. You have that capability to self reflect and know that you're wrong sometimes and that it's okay and that you're constantly growing and getting better. And I think if you're able to demonstrate that to the people that are interviewing you, they'll be like, oh, wow, this is a solid person, and they seem ready to be a good doctor. They seem like they're able to work on a team and, like, solve problems and that kind of stuff.

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Other things you will definitely be asked about a time you made a mistake, a time you were on a bad team or you had some type of conflict, and then meaningful experiences. And I've seen a lot of different takes on how you should approach storytelling in your interviews. But I'm just going to tell you the way I handled it, in my opinion, on telling interviews during I mean, telling stories during your interview. So I had three to four stories that I thought were excellent stories that I was typically able to, like, weave into whatever question it was that they were asking me, if that makes sense. So if they ever asked about a conflict, I would always tell this story.

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If they ever asked about a mistake, I would always tell this story. Something important that happened to you or a patient that was important to you, I would always tell this one story about me connecting with a patient, like, that kind of stuff. I think that if you have a solid three to four stories that you feel tell a lot about your character and who you are as a person, typically you'll be able to get the story you want across, no matter what it is. The question that they're asking, they could ask a lot of different questions. And if they say the word conflict, you can tell the story about your conflict.

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I hope that making sense. Pick a few stories that you feel speak volumes about who you are, how you handle the situation, and go from there. I wrote these stories down, like, on little bullet points, and I will kind of give the gist of the story so that you understand where I'm coming from fully. But let me just say I'm not I'm a little bit more rusty now than I was in my actual day of interview. I told these stories a lot better then, but hopefully my stories will just get some ideas, like, sparked in your head of like, oh, I had a similar experience, or something like that.

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All right, so for a time I made a mistake. I talked about some miscommunication that occurred between a patient and I. It was like, during morning rounds, I went in and I explained something to the patient, and I thought they fully understood what I said. But later in the day, turns out they didn't fully understand what I was saying. There was miscommunication between the teams and the patient was upset.

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And so I went back to the room. I apologize to the patient and, like, from now on, like, I always do a teach back method. I make sure that the patient understands what it is that I'm communicating. So basically I learned that having that closed loop communication with a patient is so important because the jargon and the words that we use, like, we can't always assume that they understand what we're saying. So that was my mistake that I talked about in better terms, I guess, but that was the gist.

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My conflict story or like, bad team type story, was from my first year of medical school anatomy lab cadavers. Great. We have, like, a team of five people, and there was one person on my team that never showed up or showed up late, was never prepared. I was joking around during it and stuff, and I found myself being very frustrated. And so what I ended up doing, actually was like, I befriended this individual because I couldn't find any other way to kind of, like, get to them.

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So that actually really helped the dynamic and kind of made us, like, a more cohesive group. And then I just kind of came to the realization that this person was not going to pull their weight, and I couldn't change that. So we adjusted as a team and, like, much less conflict from there on out. So, like, making friends with this person instead of just, like, being like, I don't know, try to be, like, bossy or something like that, and then a meaningful patient story. I had a patient for like two months and they were in the ICU, became close to their family because I saw them every morning at 05:00 a.m.

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Being like, hey, pre rounds and stuff and updating them. And then they made bracelets, like live stream bracelets for the family. And I talked about how, like, they offered me one of those bracelets and it was a very meaningful moment for me and showed me that I was really helping the family and I was connecting with them. And I still have that bracelet. Now.

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I actually got a couple of people to cry with that story, so shout out. That was a good one. And then another story that was meaningful for me was just teaching and seeing the outcomes from my teaching and seeing that I was able to, like, help students become more successful in their anatomy courses. And seeing that through was, like, really cool for me as well. So all of these stories I have on sticky notes, I literally still have them now.

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And I would put these on display every single time I would have an interview. So, like, during my interview day, I would put glass of water out. I would have everything else away, like, desk super clean, camera ready, ring light ready, all that stuff ready. And then right in front of my computer in a place that the people interviewing me are unable to see, I would have all of these sticky notes and index cards out on my desk. And so if I ever needed that extra second or that like, oh, crap, I forgot what I was going to talk about.

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It's right there, and it'll like, jog my memory. And that was immensely helpful for me. Holy crap. I just talked so much, I feel like, about all of this, and I'm still not even done yet. So this episode is about, like, self preparation for doing interviews, like thinking about your stories, your qualities, the things that you want to get across to the program.

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And in my next episode, what I'm going to talk about are, like, preparing for programs, like researching them and all that kind of good stuff, like being prepared for Day of Interview. So I hope that you found this episode helpful. If you're currently trying to prepare for an interview, I would love to hear from you. If you want to reach out to me, my email is the Emotionalimolenial@gmail.com. The Emotionalanal@gmail.com.

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And as always, transcripts are available on my website, which is emotionalmillennial.com. If you hear my cats, I'm apologizing. They're just yelling on the stairs for absolutely no reason. They want attention. This episode, for some reason, feels super chaotic to me.

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I don't know why. I'm just being fully transparent because that's, like, what this podcast is all about. And so I apologize if it felt chaotic to you as well. I'm hoping that I'm just like being overly critical of myself. But yeah, that's just the way I'm feeling right now.

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So I wanted to put that out there. Best of luck in your interviews. You're amazing. You're going to do great. Being yourself is the most important thing.

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I will see you next time. Bye.