Worst/Funniest Interview Experiences

[monkily_stealth]

If you can muster the courage, give your worst interview response. Here's mine, the very last question from my first interview:

Interviewer: "Tell me, what is one of your weaknesses, if you don't mind?"
Me: *Pause* "Hmm... well, when I get really stressed out, I tend to eat lots of junk food...and, yeah..."
Interviewer: *bewildered chuckle* "Ok, well do you have any questions for me?"

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[willclock]

hahaha that's kinda cute
not laughing at u or nething ... just funny hopefully the interviewer thought of it as a refreshing answer...?
the interview is done. don't stress too much about it

 

[braluk]

It probably would have alot worse if you said you go on murderous rampages and then follow it up with, in a threatening manner..."especially on interviewers who dont write me good evaluations...get my drift Chuck?"

 

[monkily_stealth]

Haha, I implied as much with my well-set jawline and impressive biceps.

 

[Laane]

I'm going to buy some Mac, KFC and TGI-shares because I think you're stressing too much about this

 

[jillibean]

Worst interview moment....

We were talking about work schedules when two MDs are married and the interviewer mentions that his wife is a pediatric cardiologist...

ME: Oh, that's neat, did you meet in medical school?
INTERVIEWER: Yes, in Chicago.
ME: Oh... I hope I meet a husband in school too.

Interviewer looks like he is thinking "so THATS why you want to go to school"... even though thats not really the case.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

It wasn't an actual interview, but it was the first time I met my Ortho advisor.

Her: "Okay, so I understand why you want to do surgery from your personal statement, but why Ortho instead of, say, General Surg?

Me: "Well, I love power tools. I like the emphasis on restoring function in Ortho. And I really hated all the scopes you have to use in General Surg. For me, using a scope is the most boring thing in the world."

Her: "Oh . . . well . . . actually, I'm primarily an arthoroscopist . . . "

Oops. She suggested I change that part of my answer.

Nice work....... At least she was nice about it.

 

[Karina 07]

"So, why are you interested in coming here?"

"Well, I'm fairly interested, pretty interested, because... [+ detailed answer, but still!!!!]"

 

[freetheyaz]

this actually happened to me twice...you would think I would have learned by now.

Interviewer: So, you have tons of good research experience. Why didn't you apply into the MD/PhD program?

Me: (my standard answer on how I considered MD/PhD but decided it was not right for me - the three MD/PhDs I have worked with don't think it was really worth it, how they are phasing out the program because there is more support for MD research, you can get more NIH/other funding as an MD than a PhD, I want to do >50% clinical, etc)

...later in the interview
Interviewer ...then I got my PhD in ___ from ___.

Made me wish I had some info on the interviewer before meeting with them. Not totally bad, but possibly explains why I am 7I-0A-5WL.

 

[crimsonkid85]

this actually happened to me twice...you would think I would have learned by now.

Interviewer: So, you have tons of good research experience. Why didn't you apply into the MD/PhD program?

Me: (my standard answer on how I considered MD/PhD but decided it was not right for me - the three MD/PhDs I have worked with don't think it was really worth it, how they are phasing out the program because there is more support for MD research, you can get more NIH/other funding as an MD than a PhD, I want to do >50% clinical, etc)

...later in the interview
Interviewer ...then I got my PhD in ___ from ___.

Made me wish I had some info on the interviewer before meeting with them. Not totally bad, but possibly explains why I am 7I-0A-5WL.

wow i think a new answer is in order...

 

[Orthodoc40]

It wasn't an actual interview, but it was the first time I met my Ortho advisor.

Her: "Okay, so I understand why you want to do surgery from your personal statement, but why Ortho instead of, say, General Surg?

Me: "Well, I love power tools. I like the emphasis on restoring function in Ortho. And I really hated all the scopes you have to use in General Surg. For me, using a scope is the most boring thing in the world."

Her: "Oh . . . well . . . actually, I'm primarily an arthoroscopist . . . "

Oops. She suggested I change that part of my answer.

Okay - there's a helluva lot of scoping in ortho these days... Why on earth did you say that, never mind think it??!! You think you're only going to do total knees and hips in your residency time?

 

[Orthodoc40]

If you can muster the courage, give your worst interview response. Here's mine, the very last question from my first interview:

Interviewer: "Tell me, what is one of your weaknesses, if you don't mind?"
Me: *Pause* "Hmm... well, when I get really stressed out, I tend to eat lots of junk food...and, yeah..."
Interviewer: *bewildered chuckle* "Ok, well do you have any questions for me?"

If it wasn't fake on your part, I think it was a great answer.

 

[PeripateticMD]

Here goes...

Interviewer: I had colleagues that worked in Haiti, and they asked me to come volunteer with them. I said, no, let them die, what do you say?

Me: *roll my eyes*

Interviewer: Did you just dismiss me?? Wow, I have been dismissed.

Me: It's an unfair question.

Interviewer: So now I'm an unfair interviewer?

Me: It's a loaded question. I think that if you were given the opportunity to help, and you could, that you are implicated in their deaths if you don't.

Interviewer: But then how do you balance the need for you at home with that need? Aren't you going to let people down?

Me: Don't you do the same thing when you go home from work here?

Interviewer: It's completely different. Would you go to Darfur if you had children.

Me: Well, maybe not to Darfur...

Interviewer: Oh! So suddenly the people in Darfur don't matter anymore.

... and on and on... it was a hilarious interview. i think we both came out laughing. but it got heated sometimes.

 

[hopster]

If you can muster the courage, give your worst interview response. Here's mine, the very last question from my first interview:

Interviewer: "Tell me, what is one of your weaknesses, if you don't mind?"
Me: *Pause* "Hmm... well, when I get really stressed out, I tend to eat lots of junk food...and, yeah..."
Interviewer: *bewildered chuckle* "Ok, well do you have any questions for me?"

hahahaha, I said almost the exact same thing to that question yesterday. First I gave my prepared answer about my weaknesses, then he asked if I had any others and I replied "well I have a bad habit of eating right before I go to bed." He got a nice chuckle out of that.

 

[Caribou]

Interviewer: "I see you took several classes in linguistics. My wife is a linguist and I'm always surprised by the level of quanitative thought involved in linguistic analyses. I'm sure you enjoyed the complex formulae applied... etc., etc., etc. ... is that how you felt about it?"

Me **quick, think of something intelligent to say**: "Yes."

 

[Stolenspatulas]

Interview with a 4th Year

me: What residency are you going into?
Interviewer: Ortho. blah blah blah
me: I have a friend going into ortho, he told me itsvery competitive for residency, he said he's applying to 50 or so programs
Interviewer: (looks at me funny, as if why the hell would I say something like that) well, not really, only 100 or so people who apply don't find a spot in a given year

Why the hell would I say that. I am absolute idiot. And guess what, WAITLISTED. He must think that I'm a competitive person by nature (which I am honestly not). I planted that seed, and then I noticed that thereafter he spoke to me sort of differently.

 

[VCgirl]

Interviewer: What type of books do you like to read?

Me: To be honest, I don't read a lot of books.

I could have put my foot in my mouth. I read journals and text books, but not books from B&N which is what I thought that he meant. The interviewer just chuckled and said that it didn't look like I have much time to read anyway. I was accepted so I think that they give some leeway for stupid answers.

 

[silverlining1]

Interviewer: "I see you took several classes in linguistics. My wife is a linguist and I'm always surprised by the level of quanitative thought involved in linguistic analyses. I'm sure you enjoyed the complex formulae applied... etc., etc., etc. ... is that how you felt about it?"

Me **quick, think of something intelligent to say**: "Yes."

 

[baylormed]

Interviewer: "I see you took several classes in linguistics. My wife is a linguist and I'm always surprised by the level of quanitative thought involved in linguistic analyses. I'm sure you enjoyed the complex formulae applied... etc., etc., etc. ... is that how you felt about it?"

Me **quick, think of something intelligent to say**: "Yes."

I can see how all those linguistics classes have made you very eloquent.

 

[gsmithers68]

this actually happened to me twice...you would think I would have learned by now.

Interviewer: So, you have tons of good research experience. Why didn't you apply into the MD/PhD program?

Me: (my standard answer on how I considered MD/PhD but decided it was not right for me - the three MD/PhDs I have worked with don't think it was really worth it, how they are phasing out the program because there is more support for MD research, you can get more NIH/other funding as an MD than a PhD, I want to do >50% clinical, etc)

...later in the interview
Interviewer ...then I got my PhD in ___ from ___.

Made me wish I had some info on the interviewer before meeting with them. Not totally bad, but possibly explains why I am 7I-0A-5WL.

Well I did the same thing at an interview so don't feel bad... Only his response was more like... I got my MD/PhD from such and such school I don't feel like it was that bad of an investment...Then later in the interview he said... my son is in the MD/PhD program at UCSF too and loves it.

Ouch. I definitely mulled that over in my head after the interview. Oh well!

 

[monkily_stealth]

Here goes...

Interviewer: I had colleagues that worked in Haiti, and they asked me to come volunteer with them. I said, no, let them die, what do you say?

Me: *roll my eyes*

Interviewer: Did you just dismiss me?? Wow, I have been dismissed.

Me: It's an unfair question.

Interviewer: So now I'm an unfair interviewer?

Me: It's a loaded question. I think that if you were given the opportunity to help, and you could, that you are implicated in their deaths if you don't.

Interviewer: But then how do you balance the need for you at home with that need? Aren't you going to let people down?

Me: Don't you do the same thing when you go home from work here?

Interviewer: It's completely different. Would you go to Darfur if you had children.

Me: Well, maybe not to Darfur...

Interviewer: Oh! So suddenly the people in Darfur don't matter anymore.

... and on and on... it was a hilarious interview. i think we both came out laughing. but it got heated sometimes.

That actually sounds like a fun, albeit stressful, interview. At least he/she will remember you as the interviewee who had the gumption to argue a point while in the hottest of seats.

 

[GuzzyRon]

Here's my sorry story...

After all the welcome, presentation, tour, lunch blah blah with the other interviewees ...finally, my interviewer showed up and led me away. Nervous as hell but I tried not to show it. Once we were both alone in his office, he went straight to the very FIRST question...


Interviewer: So why do you want to become a doctor?
Me: Who? Me?




My fears that I might still be downgraded to their MSc. program (for my stupid response) will never go away until I hear my name at the white coat ceremony

 

[thedelicatessen]

My interviewer asked me how I liked living on the East coast since I had gone to school in CA before this. I love it here, but I commented on how I missed my car because I have to rely on public transportation. Then I found out that he's from the East and did practically all his medical training at prestigious places in the East. Oh no! I'm waitlisted at this place now.

The worst interview ever, though, was with this bigwig where I'm doing research. He asked me about my plans, and I mentioned my interest in rural medicine. He then told me that he was interested in rural medicine when he first started but then realized it didn't suit him, listing all the negatives related to rural medicine. From there, it kind of went downhill with him questioning my reasoning for working in research this year when I had no plans for continuing it in the future. Grr. Oh well, I still love my job .

 

[Richspiders07]

I walk into my interviewer's office.... every inch of all four walls is covered with certificates/awards/etc etc. In the middle of one wall there is an odd picture of an elderly woman and a younger man.

Interviewer: I see you are a history major. I'll give you bonus points if you can tell me who is in that picture.

Me: I honestly have no idea... most of my history books dont have picture.

Interviewer: I see. Well its my father and Eleanor Roosevelt.


hell...


Later in the interview:

Interviewr: So why do you think you've gotten so many interviews?

Me: [in a totally joking manner] I hope its not because i'm Hispanic.



....waitlisted....

 

[Sophie]

Two bad ones:

1) Interviewer: You have a lot of research experience. Why did you decide on medicine rather than going into research?
Me: Long-winded answer about how I really enjoy research, finding answers, etc, but ultimately realized I couldn't do it because it's so lonely in the lab and I need contact with people.
Interviewer: I'm a researcher.
*long pause*

2) At one of the smaller New York schools:
Interviewer: So what do you see yourself doing after medical school and residency?
Me: I'd really like to practice in south San Diego. I shadowed a doctor there and there are a lot of uninsured people in need of care. (I put it better than this at the time, so at least it was eloquent, but I could tell he wasn't the happiest about the SD part)

Waitlisted at both.

 

[riceman04]

I walk into my interviewer's office.... every inch of all four walls is covered with certificates/awards/etc etc. In the middle of one wall there is an odd picture of an elderly woman and a younger man.

Interviewer: I see you are a history major. I'll give you bonus points if you can tell me who is in that picture.

Me: I honestly have no idea... most of my history books dont have picture.

Interviewer: I see. Well its my father and Eleanor Roosevelt.


hell...


Later in the interview:

Interviewr: So why do you think you've gotten so many interviews?

Me: [in a totally joking manner] I hope its not because i'm Hispanic.



....waitlisted....

 

[njmd55]

Interviewer: So why do you want to become a doctor?
Me: Who? Me?

that's the funniest thing I have read in a long time but I could totally imagine how you said that. lol

 

[Disinence2]

Not sure how horrible this is, or how i was "Supposed" to handle it

Interviewer: So August comes around and poor Disinence doesn't have an acceptance, what do you do?
Me: Actually I recently recieved an acceptance
Interviewer: What if they made a mistake?
Me: Well, Ide do my best to take my first year of med school at my local college, anatomy, histology for example, while i work on my patient care experience, and volunteering
Interviewer: What if you didn't have money to go to college or volunteer, what would you do to make money to re-apply with
Me: I guess ide work as an EMT and try to get my paramedic
Interviewer: Thank you

 

[ICCONFETTI]

Here's one of mine:
Interviewer: So... besides volunteering, what extracurricular activites are you involved in?
Me: Well... um... <pause 2 seconds> let's see... I'm involved in ___ and ... oh! Last year I joined the ______ club because yada yada yada. Um yea... I think that's it.
Interviewer: Okay...
Me: Oh!! Oh, no no no wait! I was also involved in ________________________..... Oh yea, and also __________. Oh, and sophomore year i joined ___________.
Interviewer: Well.... (is about to start next question)
Me: Oh! And I also did _____________, and yea, now i think that's it.

lol anyways. that was probably my worst answering of that easy question ever. For some reason, I was thrown off guard, completely nervous, and my mind went blank. At least that was better then the time this happened:

Interviewer: So tell me, after working in the ICU, you mentioned the difficulties families and patients must face. What are some of these difficulties?
Me: Well... the families... <starts tearing and crying>.

Completely sucked. That was my first interview, and i started crying in the middle of it. You can't have a worse time than that. There was absolutely no reason for me to cry either. It was completely RANDOM. Well... I'm now on a hold for decision between acceptance and waitlist. We'll see how that goes....

 

[Hera182]

Foot in the mouth moment:

Interviewer: What do you like to do in your spare time?
Me: (without missing a beat) Sleep.

At another interview, this one caught me completely off guard...

Interviewer: So, your mom raised all of you on her own. She must be a spectacular woman.
Me: I guess so. I never really thought about it. (meaning that it was normal for me to grow up in a one-parent household--I saved myself by explaining that answer)

And finally:
Interviewer: do you have any questions for us?
Me: Where's the restroom?

 

[CardiacIntensivist]

And finally:
Interviewer: do you have any questions for us?
Me: Where's the restroom?

Oh man, if I was the interviewer I would've cracked up right there.

 

[dynx]

Interviewer: Do you hate anybody?
Me(before I could stop myself): I hate stupid people

Lucky for me the guy was a surgeon, he laughed and I was accepted shortly after.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Great, now I'm taking tips on my residency from a premed . . .

I said it because I meant it. You don't have to kiss everyone's a$$ when you have numbers like mine.

Nice.....

 

[Creightonite]

this actually happened to me twice...you would think I would have learned by now.

Interviewer: So, you have tons of good research experience. Why didn't you apply into the MD/PhD program?

Me: (my standard answer on how I considered MD/PhD but decided it was not right for me - the three MD/PhDs I have worked with don't think it was really worth it, how they are phasing out the program because there is more support for MD research, you can get more NIH/other funding as an MD than a PhD, I want to do >50% clinical, etc)

...later in the interview
Interviewer ...then I got my PhD in ___ from ___.

Made me wish I had some info on the interviewer before meeting with them. Not totally bad, but possibly explains why I am 7I-0A-5WL.

I do not get it. When you are MD/Ph.D. you may get what fundings MDs are eligible for and some Ph.D. funding... So MD/PhD is still >>> MD if you want to do research... even clinical trials.

 

[magguilli5]

Interviewer: How was the place you stayed in last night?
My response: The student was really nice, he gave me some good advice... his room was weird though, there was actually a sink in the bedroom
Interviewer: a sink in the bedroom?
My response: Yea... it was like being in jail or something...
Interviewer: (puzzled look)...jail?
My response: uh... yea, not that I've been there or anything, I just, uh, guess... thats what it would be like... yea...

 

[Orthodoc40]

Great, now I'm taking tips on my residency from a premed . . .

I said it because I meant it. You don't have to kiss everyone's a$$ when you have numbers like mine.

I've seen over 300 hrs in the OR with several teaching orthos. That's just a start. I've got a damned good idea about what your time is going to be spent doing in an ortho residency. Who cares about your numbers except you? You'll still have to kiss plenty of a$$ and won't you be shocked when the time comes. Oh wait, I see you're already doing that in the other forums. It's just here you enjoy putting people down. Keep telling yourself how wonderful you are, buddy. And enjoy suffering through your scope time in residency.

 

[baylormed]

Interviewer: Do you hate anybody?
Me(before I could stop myself): I hate stupid people

Lucky for me the guy was a surgeon, he laughed and I was accepted shortly after.

So maybe I could have given an honest answer after all....

 

[Depakote]

Yeah, I had fun writing that one.

Rule #14: Always meet obvious criticism with pompous grandiosity.

[inner monologue]
It's funny, I'd only known Tired for a short while, but in a way he was the mentor I always wished Dr. Cox would be.
[/inner monologue]

 

[Stolenspatulas]

You don't have to kiss everyone's a$$ when you have numbers like mine.

NICE. Lay the balls out for everyone to see, ha!
I personally wish numbers counted for more... I think the trend is though that they're counting for less (for applicants with average/good numbers to those with awesome numbers).

 

[ltrain]

Interviewer: I have a nephew that goes to MIT. He's one of the really smart kids. One of those whiz kids.

Me: Yep, I've met quite a few of them.

Interviewer: Maybe you're one of them (piercing stare).

Me: I don't know about that. (small laugh)

Interviewer: Well you certainly did very well there.

Me: (now totally confused, my undergrad gpa was 3.1) Well, they let me graduate! (haha)

Interviewer: (weird look)

<On to discussion on other topics>

Interviewer: So, did you apply to many schools?

Me: Yes, I applied to 28.

Interviewer: Wow! Why so many???

Me: Well, my undergraduate GPA is below the average at most schools.

Interviewer: What? I thought you had a 3.8 at MIT!

Me: Um, no, actually that was in my post-bac coursework. (He had only glanced at the first page of AMCAS for maybe a minute.)

Interviewer: Oh. (long pause) Well. Why were your grades low at MIT?

Me: Well, a few reasons. First, MIT is a really intense place. There is an overwhelming amount of work to do all the time and my peers were really smart.

Interviewer: (weird look)

Me: I guess that sounds a lot like med school, huh? On to reasons two and three...


Anyway, I guess I dug myself out of the hole. I got accepted a week later.

 

[docdude]

Interviewer: How was the place you stayed in last night?
My response: The student was really nice, he gave me some good advice... his room was weird though, there was actually a sink in the bedroom
Interviewer: a sink in the bedroom?
My response: Yea... it was like being in jail or something...
Interviewer: (puzzled look)...jail?
My response: uh... yea, not that I've been there or anything, I just, uh, guess... thats what it would be like... yea...

Wow, this is a good one. We should publish a book like this - it would be much more fun to read than the "getting into med school" - we should title it "getting out of medschool before you're accepted."

 

[Vizious]

I told the dean at Pitt "thanks for Ben Howland".....waitlist haha....

 

[CardiacIntensivist]

Interviewer: How was the place you stayed in last night?
My response: The student was really nice, he gave me some good advice... his room was weird though, there was actually a sink in the bedroom
Interviewer: a sink in the bedroom?
My response: Yea... it was like being in jail or something...
Interviewer: (puzzled look)...jail?
My response: uh... yea, not that I've been there or anything, I just, uh, guess... thats what it would be like... yea...

NYU? You could've said it reminded you of the jails on TV.

 

[Tatowedges]

Interviewer: How was the place you stayed in last night?
My response: The student was really nice, he gave me some good advice... his room was weird though, there was actually a sink in the bedroom
Interviewer: a sink in the bedroom?
My response: Yea... it was like being in jail or something...
Interviewer: (puzzled look)...jail?
My response: uh... yea, not that I've been there or anything, I just, uh, guess... thats what it would be like... yea...

Or Columbia dorms. I guess thats the price one pays to live in Manhattan. My friend's dorm room was quite jail-like now that I think of it after reading this thread.

 

[dannylee718]

Interviewer: So, why medicine?
Me: **wet fart**

 

[sendwich]

Interviewer: So, why medicine?
Me: **wet fart**

are you for real? not just a fart but a wet one? gross.

 

[Orthonut]

If you can muster the courage, give your worst interview response. Here's mine, the very last question from my first interview:

Interviewer: "Tell me, what is one of your weaknesses, if you don't mind?"
Me: *Pause* "Hmm... well, when I get really stressed out, I tend to eat lots of junk food...and, yeah..."
Interviewer: *bewildered chuckle* "Ok, well do you have any questions for me?"

When I was working *somewhere* and also going to school there, I was on a student interview panel/committee (they had us meet with the interviewees, then the interviewees would go in the next room and meet with the adcom guys)

anywho, this one person had switched majors from Biology "pre med" focus to Animal Science "pre vet" option. One of my panel partners asks why the switch.

The interviewee actually goes "Well, I figured out that I don't really like people, so I'd rather be a vet so I can still do medicine but I don't have to deal with people". erm, WTF? We manage not to laugh/choke/gasp/make faces and complete the interview-barely. But jeez. We all thought that it was just a rumour, that no one really asked that question, it was just one of those practice interview things.

Nope, people really do answer that way.

 

[medtastic]

Here goes...

Interviewer: I had colleagues that worked in Haiti, and they asked me to come volunteer with them. I said, no, let them die, what do you say?

Me: *roll my eyes*

Interviewer: Did you just dismiss me?? Wow, I have been dismissed.

Me: It's an unfair question.

Interviewer: So now I'm an unfair interviewer?

Me: It's a loaded question. I think that if you were given the opportunity to help, and you could, that you are implicated in their deaths if you don't.

Interviewer: But then how do you balance the need for you at home with that need? Aren't you going to let people down?

Me: Don't you do the same thing when you go home from work here?

Interviewer: It's completely different. Would you go to Darfur if you had children.

Me: Well, maybe not to Darfur...

Interviewer: Oh! So suddenly the people in Darfur don't matter anymore.

... and on and on... it was a hilarious interview. i think we both came out laughing. but it got heated sometimes.

Was that interview at Cornell? Sounds familiar.

 

[BozoSparky]

This happened to me a couple years ago...

Famous surgeon interviewer with a smile on his face: "What's the last movie you enjoyed?"

Me, after anxiously trying to recall the last movie I saw: "Apocalypse Now"

...i was waitlisted!

 

[BrownianMotion]

interviewer- "whats the greatest medicine invention in the past hundred years"

me-(after thinkin for like a good solid minute: defibulator, antibodies, vaccines), "tylenol"

interviewer- "well i havent heard that one before..."