http://tinyurl.com/9y9s3u Timothy Munzing, M.D., Family Medicine Residency Director Kaiser Permanente Orange County

1. MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR
RESIDENCY APPLICATION:
WHAT TO DO … or NOT
Timothy Munzing, M.D.,
Family Medicine Residency Director
Kaiser Permanente Orange County
National Residency Matching Program
Board of Directors

2. Agenda
Residency Application
Process and Timeline
Factors to Consider in
Choosing a Residency
Application and Interview tips
Sample Interview Questions
Top 10 Things NOT to Do

3. Materials Submitted
in a Residency Application
ERAS Application
Curriculum Vitae
Personal Statement
Letters of Recommendation
Medical Student Performance Evaluation
(Dean’s Letter)
USMLE Transcript

4. Application Timeline
Contact Letter of Rec. Writers –
Summer
Prepare Application Docs –
Summer
Meet with Dean – August
Register with ERAS – after Aug.
15
Submit ERAS Applic. – Sept. or
early October

5. Application Timeline (cont.)
Interviews – Nov. through January
Register with NRMP (before mid-
January)
Match List due – mid-Feb.
Match Day – mid March (three days
prior you find out if you Matched
with a program – if not – Scramble
on Tuesday and Wednesday)

6. Choosing a Residency:
Factors to Consider
Location, location, location
Gestalt, program fit (gut feeling)
Type of program (community vs.
university vs. county)
Single vs. multiple residency hosp.
Program size – larger vs. smaller
Non-surgical vs. surgical emphasis

7. Choosing a Residency:
Factors to Consider
Teachers – primary faculty vs. residents
Electronic health record – in place vs.
planning vs. no plan
Behavioral medicine emphasis
On-call – educational vs. service
Research emphasis
Salary / benefits
Other Characteristics

8. WORDS OF WISDOM ABOUT YOUR
INTERVIEWS
Be prepared
Know your application packet well
Do your homework about the
program you are interviewing at
RELAX!!!!

9. THE INTERVIEW BEGINS BEFORE
YOU GET TO THE PROGRAM!!
ERAS Application
Personal Statement
MSPE (Dean’s Letter)
Letters of recommendation
Board Scores

10. ERAS APPLICATION
Be honest
Don’t exaggerate your skills
–
(e.g. language proficiency)
Don’t Pad your Activities
–
Include volunteer activities you’ve
done regularly – not if only once

11. ERAS APPLICATION
BE PROUD OF YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS
Identify any obstacles you have overcome
–
Highlight your organizational and volunteer work
–
Avoid emphasis on California’s surf, sand, and climate
–

12. PERSONAL STATEMENTS
READ, RE-READ AND
RE-READ AGAIN!!

13. PERSONAL STATEMENTS
BE CONCISE, YET THOROUGH
THREE PAGES IS TOO LONG!
–
THREE PARAGRAPHS IS TOO SHORT!
–
CHECK YOUR GRAMMAR
BE PREPARED TO BE ASKED
QUESTIONS ABOUT ANYTHING ON
YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT

14. PERSONAL STATEMENTS
Fill in the blanks
Explain any absences in timeline, medical school
–
extension
Low board scores or failures – what did you do with
–
them?
Are you only applying to Family Medicine?
–

15. PERSONAL STATEMENTS
Tell the reader who you are!
Personal statements form first impressions!
Program directors read hundreds of these –
makes you special – someone they can’t wait to
meet???

16. PERSONAL STATEMENTS:
Make someone want to read on
“I grew up with a two sisters, a
dog and a turtle.”
Does this capture you?
–
Is this cleaver…?
–
(Be creative but not cutesy)
“Standing on the brink of a
deadly crevice on a glacier in
Montana …”
Does this get you interested?
–

17. Med Student Performance Evaluation -
DEAN’S LETTER
*** You may not get to read this?***
READ, REREAD, AND REREAD AGAIN!
KNOW WHAT IS IN YOUR DEAN’S LETTER
BE PREPARED TO ANSWER ANY
QUESTIONS

18. LETTERS OF SUPPORT
WHO SHOULD WRITE
THEM?
Someone who knows you
–
WELL (ask if he/she can write
you a good letter)
At least one or two from Family
–
Medicine

19. LETTERS OF SUPPORT:
POSSIBLE RED FLAGS
No Family Medicine letters
Letters that state that you will
make a great “surgeon,
pediatrician, etc.)
Letters from someone who
barely knows you
Brief or generic letters

20. BOARD SCORES: DO YOU NEED TO
BE A MEMBER OF MENSA OR AOA??
THE ANSWER IS “NO”!!
Board scores are a part of the overall evaluation
Be prepared to discuss it if you failed the boards or did
poorly – better yet – bring the issue up before they do
Don’t be defensive – answer questions openly and
honestly

21. Submitting the Application
Early bird gets the (worm) interview –
no later than October 1st if possible
Check to see if letter writers sent them in
(gently remind them)
Be prompt in calling when offered an
interview – be flexible in scheduling

22. ON TO THE INTERVIEW!!
APPEARANCE
LANGUAGE
PROFESSIONALISM
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
PROMPTNESS
REMAIN INVOLVED IN THE
INTERVIEW PROCESS

23. PROMPTNESS
ALLOW YOURSELF EXTRA TIME TO
ARRIVE ONTIME FOR YOUR INTERVIEW
PROGRAMS HAVE TIGHT SCHEDULES AND
–
TARDINESS CAN MAKE THINGS WORSE AND
REFLECT BADLY ON YOU
DON’T MAKE EXCUSES IF YOU ARE LATE,
–
APOLOGIZE

24. APPEARANCE: FIRST IMPRESSIONS
DO COUNT!
DRESS PROFESSIONALLY
THIS IS NOT DENIM DAY!
–
LOOK NEAT AND CLEAN
–
REMEMBER YOUR DEODORANT
–

25. LANGUAGE
BE PROFESSIONAL
DO NOT USE FOUR LETTER WORDS
(YES…THIS HAS HAPPENED!!)

26. STAY INVOVLED IN THE INTERVIEW
PROCESS
LOOK EAGER; DON’T LOOK
BORED…EVEN IF THIS IS
YOUR 15TH INTERVIEW IN
WHICH YOU HAVE BEEN
ASKED THE SAME
QUESTIONS!!!
WATCH YOUR BODY
LANGUAGE

27. PROFESSIONALISM
THE INTERVIEW MAY DICTATE WHERE YOU
ARE GOING TO SPEND YOUR NEXT THREE
YEARS OF TRAINING
DON’T CRITICIZE OTHER PROGRAMS
–
DON’T CRITICIZE YOUR OWN PROGRAM
–
DON’T USE DEROGATORY TERMS FOR PATIENTS
–

28. COMMUNICATION SKILLS
A BASIC TENET OF PATIENT CARE IS
COMMUNICATION
LISTEN TO THE QUESTION THAT IS ASKED
AVOID “CANNED” ANSWERS (THIS GETS
HARDER AS THE INTERVIEW TRAIL
PROGRESSES)

29. COMMUNICATION SKILLS:
THE ROLE OF GEOGRAPHY
“WHAT INTERESTS YOU IN THIS
PROGRAM OTHER THAN GEOGRAPHY?”
“I WANT TO BE IN A PROGRAM THAT IS
–
CLOSE TO THE OCEAN.”
Always have questions of the P.D. or other
–
interviewers – shows you are interested

30. INTEREST IN THE PROGRAM:
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!
REPUTATION OF THE PROGRAM
FAMILIARITY WITH FACULTY
AND/OR RESIDENTS
FAMILY NEARBY
WEATHER

31. INTERVIEWER-GENERATED
QUESTIONS
Why Family Medicine?
What attracted you to this program?
Discuss your strengths and weaknesses
If you couldn’t be a physician, what you want
to be?
Describe a patient where a Family Physician
would have made a difference

32. INTERVIEWER-GENERATED
QUESTIONS
PLEASE PICK ONE AND DESCRIBE THE
MOST REWARDING, DISTURBING,
SATISFYING, FRUSTRATING PATIENT-
RELATED EXPERIENCE YOU HAVE HAD.

33. INTERVIEWER-GENERATED QUESTIONS:
OFF THE BEATEN PATH
“WHO IS THE REAL
________?”
“IF YOU WERE AN
ANIMAL, WHICH
ANIMAL WOULD YOU
BE? WHY?”

34. Questions to Ask the
Program Director or Faculty
What changes do you anticipate?
Where are your graduates practicing?
How is the program preparing their residents
for the New Model of FM?
Does the program have an EHR?
What are the weaknesses of the program,
and what are they doing to improve them?

35. Questions to Ask the
Program’s Residents
How is the morale in the program? Is this
improving or worsening and why?
Is the program as described to you in your
interview?
What were your 2 or 3 other top programs
when applying and why?
Describe the program’s strengths and
weaknesses (same as PD?)
Can you influence the program?

36. AFTER THE INTERVIEW
MEET WITH OTHER FACULTY OR
RESIDENTS
BE PROFESSIONAL
–
REMEMBER ANYTHING YOU SAY CAN
–
BECOME PART OF YOUR INTERVIEW
EVALUATION
AGAIN, DO NOT CRITICIZE THE PROGRAM
–

37. AFTER THE INTERVIEW
FOLLOW-UP WITH THE PROGRAM
EMAIL THE PROGRAM PD
–
SEND A THANK YOU NOTE
–
ASK FOR A SECOND VISIT IF YOU ARE
–
REALLY INTERESTED IN THE PROGRAM

38. Most Common NRMP Violations
Applicant fails to accept matched
position
PD offers written or oral contract
to US Senior prior to Match Day
PD asks applicant where he/she
intends to rank the program –
affecting program Ranking of
applicant

39. Most Common NRMP Violations
Medical school official withdraws
allopathic US Senior to facilitate
position outside Match
Medical school official informs
previous grad of match result early
Unmatched applicant contacts
programs about unfilled positions
prior to 12 noon E.S.T. on Tuesday of
Match Week

40. What’s the Rule?
You can court – you can’t get engaged!
No PD can ask you where you are ranking
them – or – “we will rank you #1 if you rank
us #1” – violations
You can tell the program where you are
ranking them – or vice versa – if no strings
are attached

41. Top 10 Things Not to Do!
10) Be late: in
applying or for
the interview

42. Top 10 Things Not to Do!
9) Fail to Explain Missing Dates or
Concerns in the Application.

43. Top 10 Things Not to Do!
8) Have a famous
celebrity (who
doesn’t know you)
write “I’m sure Joe
will be a good
doctor”.

44. Top 10 Things Not to Do!
7) Come to the interview dressed for the beach
or a cocktail party.

45. Top 10 Things Not to Do!
6) Emphasize you want to train near the
beach, surfing, skiing, etc.

46. Top 10 Things Not to Do!
5) “I look forward to joining your Radiology
Residency Program”

47. Top 10 Things Not to Do!
4) Be rude to
the residency
coordinator or
staff.

48. Top 10 Things Not to Do!
3) Bring your photo portfolio to the interview.

49. Top 10 Things Not to Do!
2) Plagiarize your personal statement

50. Top 10 Things Not to Do!
1) Lie about your background