Oh boy, I have several.
First was an IM interview I went to where one of the other interviewees showed up in a full tuxedo, including cummerbund, bow tie, etc. He looked ridiculous and the residents directing the day could not stop snickering and giggling about it.
Second was a rheumatology fellowship interview, which was the single worst interview experience I’ve ever had (and the only interview where I seriously considered leaving partway through). The rheum department at this institution was in some ancient, decrepit building whose paint was literally peeling off the walls. The PD was a total douche and started viciously arguing with a research fellow who was trying to give a presentation early in the day. When I interviewed with the PD, he aggressively pimped me about some obscure rheum research that I’d never heard of before (and still haven’t heard much about to this day, despite being a rheumatologist trained at a very good institution). The fellows openly talked about how overworked they were, how much the PD sucked, how much they hated their lives, and how they were just putting one foot in front of the other to get through the 2 years. Just awful.
Third: another IM interview where the culture of the department basically resembled that of a frat house. At the interview dinner, the chiefs got buzzed and one started telling a series of really raunchy, nasty jokes. Things got really awkward. The female applicant to my left turned bright red. The rest of the interview didn’t go much better than that.
Fourth: another rheumatology interview…this was a huge program that covered 3 different hospitals. For whatever reason, the program leadership decided to start the interview at one hospital and then have everyone drive over to another hospital around lunchtime to continue interviews there. “Don’t worry - just valet your car when you get to the other hospital, we’ll cover it…and we’ll meet you in the lobby.” Despite jumping in my car and driving immediately to the other hospital, I was greeted with a very long valet line that went down the street. By the time my car was valeted, the interview cohort had already left, and I had no idea where they went at this other hospital. I spent the next hour standing in the lobby calling, texting, and even emailing anyone I could think of at the institution…finally a random person came down from the rheum department and was like “oh there you are!” Apparently they had no idea they were missing a candidate. I ranked that program low, and heard from some friends later who matched there that it was just as disorganized and chaotic as that interview day was.
Fifth: another rheumatology interview, this time at a “prestigious” institution you all would recognize. Everyone is chilling in the lobby of this hospital, just waiting for all interviewees to arrive…suddenly this rather obese guy comes running up, looking a bit like Chris Farley in the “Van down by the river” SNL skit - very ill fitting sport coat, tight khakis that ride halfway up his shins, penny loafers, and a huge briefcase. He hadn’t shaved, and his hair was combed back in some sort of greasy looking mullet-like mess. Everyone else kinda looks at this guy, like “wtf is this”, thinking he’s a random visitor to the hospital or something. He sits down and proceeds to tell everyone that he’s being interviewed that day - he’s actually a medicine resident from the home institution, they know him super well already and he “has it in the bag”, so apparently he wasn’t worried about putting in much effort. Great attitude, bro!
