Forgotten during residency tour-Normal?

[TheOracle]

I went on a residency interview and I thought things were going well, but I noticed some odd things.

1. During my third panel, one of the pharmacist asked me about my ethnicity/heritage (foreign name/appearance) and when I answered she smirked and said "well ok...".
2. During the part of the interview where I was supposed to ask the pharmacists questions, one pharmacist refused to make eye contact with me or answer any questions.
3. On my fourth panel, 3 of 4 people were missing and the pharmacist who interviewed me was pleasant but, rushed off to attend to a patient. I was left alone in the room for about 10 minutes. I felt that something wasn't right so I stood in the hallway until one of the candidates was being escorted to the next destination by his panel (they finished late). They spotted me and got me to where I needed to go. If I had sat in that room like an obedient little soldier, I would have missed the final portion of the interview. I understand that the staff was probably getting interview fatigue, but I found it odd that they forgot about me. I paid money to apply to their program, missed APPE rotation, and traveled for them and it just seemed like as soon as I arrived I was not welcomed there.

As far as personality...it's so hard to bond with everyone. I have had interviews with many panels. One set of pharmacists could be warm and friendly and the next set would be stone faced and seem like they don't even want you there. Is this normal?

4. Is the selection committee supposed to be unfriendly or intimidating on purpose?

5. Should I rank this place?

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[someonesomething]

I'm still interviewing so I can't speak for all programs but that definitely doesn't sound normal to my experiences. Usually everyone is super friendly at the interviews since they want you to rank them, and they want their program to seem like the best one. I did a rotation where all the pharmacists were miserable but when I was at the interview there the pharmacists all seemed thrilled and like they worked for the best hospital in the world. I'm going to play devil's advocate for some of your points, but as a whole it sounds like a negative experience at that hospital and I'm sorry you had to deal with that during a residency interview.

1. I have been asked about my ethnicity before, and sometimes we can overthink the responses we receive, so it's difficult to gauge without knowing more about the person who asked the question. When I was asked about my ethnicity, though, I sort of started that conversation, so if it didn't make you comfortable to be asked that question out of the blue, I can find that a bit discomfiting and definitely understandable to feel bad afterward. I don't think it's an appropriate question to ask on interviews, though. I think it's one of the questions you're allowed to not answer?

2. That pharmacist could be an awkward person in general? But most people try to answer questions, even if they don't make eye contact. Were there other people in the room who could fill in the gaps?

3. This part of your experience sounds so sad, I'm sorry. :'( There's the possibility that you might have been overthinking some of the awkwardness just because you were the one who had to bring yourself to the final stage of the interview, though. I always overthink everything at these interviews. Did they tell you why some of the panel was missing? For me, when people were missing it was because of a meeting or something--were those members of the panel not there for your interview specifically?

4. It depends on the culture of the hospital, but usually they're friendly because they want you to want them. They could be tired or the atmosphere of the hospital could be a bit more formal. It's hard to tell.

5. You rank based on different things, and it doesn't sound like you connected well with the people in that hospital. Unless there's something that really draws you to that place that you'd be willing to spend a year of residency there, maybe you shouldn't rank it.

How did the current residents or other candidates feel about the program?

 

[TheOracle]

@someonesomething

I was not informed that part of my panel would be missing. I was disappointed but, not offended. Personally, I think it is good to communicate the state of affairs to those interviewing. I don't know what my counterparts experienced because we were all taken to different rooms and told to stay put.

The personality breakdown was 50% pleasant and professional, 40% reserved/stuck to the script, 10% borderline rude. Unfortunately a lot of the pharmacists I came across at the hospital interviews seemed very jaded and unhappy to be there. Are all hospital pharmacists overworked now? The residents seemed ok, but my classmate did report an incident of a pharmacist bullying one of the residents...

Feelings are ephemeral. It would be nice to work in a cooperative, warm, supportive environment, but I guess am willing to put up with horrible treatment for a year if it means increasing my chances for meaningful employment.

 

[ethyl]

If the site can't manage to put together a decent interview process, just imagine the lack of structure of the program and schedule. Run from that site and avoid any regret of not ranking them.

 

[DrXenha]

@someonesomething

I was not informed that part of my panel would be missing. I was disappointed but, not offended. Personally, I think it is good to communicate the state of affairs to those interviewing. I don't know what my counterparts experienced because we were all taken to different rooms and told to stay put.

The personality breakdown was 50% pleasant and professional, 40% reserved/stuck to the script, 20% borderline rude. Unfortunately a lot of the pharmacists I came across at the hospital interviews seemed very jaded and unhappy to be there. Are all hospital pharmacists overworked now? The residents seemed ok, but my classmate did report an incident of a pharmacist bullying one of the residents...

Feelings are ephemeral. It would be nice to work in a cooperative, warm, supportive environment, but I guess am willing to put up with horrible treatment for a year if it means increasing my chances for meaningful employment.

I agree with the other post, run for the hills. The program I matched at did not send me an itinerary until the day before the interview after constantly harassing them because I was coming in from out of town. It speaks volumes for what they do during the program itself, it has been disorganized, no investment, and very difficult due to requirements and figuring literally everything out by yourself with no guidance. I filled out everything required with my interest form, etc, in the beginning. There has been no talk of my development, no communication, no required RAC meetings, and it has been a nightmare. It's horrible. Run for the hills indeed. They did not take any of my interests into account and I had to fight to get my critical care rotation prior to midyear. They do not even have the decency to create a schedule.

 

[KARM12]

Coming from a program side...things happen that make some people unavailable to interview you...Patient care issue, staffing shortage, etc. I never met my program director because she was out on maternity leave.