How to prepare for pimping questions during surgery residency interviews

June 30, 2010

Medical students are often shocked to learn that they will be pimped at some residency programs. After the shock, comes healthy fear, then steady preparation.

A lot of the questions are random and are done partly to see how you function under pressure and also to test your fund of knowledge and your reasoning skills.

Here is a list of some of the questions that have been asked in the past.

- Walk me through a Whipple procedure
- What is the differential diagnosis for liver tumors
- Define triangle of Hesselbach
- Describe the Parkland burn formula
- What is the difference in management and treatment of paraesophageal hernias vs. sliding hiatal hernias?
- Define hernias and describe hernia repair techniques
- What is ECMO?
- How does a swann ganz catheter work
- basic circulation questions
- What are the factors involved in wound healing?
- What is the physiologic basis and swan parameters for heart failure/cardiogenic shock
- Read the CT scan of the abdomen. What is the workup of the lesion found on the CT scan?
- You might be asked some ethics questions

In an effort to look smart (or not look stupid) during these types of interviews, and possibly receive its accoladic equivalent, matching at that institution, some students opt to review before their interview, reading Surgical Recall and/or the Absite review.

IF YOU ARE STUDYING FOR THE ABSITE EXAM 2011, CHECK OUT THIS BOOK.

THE ABSITE Q&A

ABSITE REVIEW!
Here’s a list of ABSITE review books and resources for surgery residents. Below I’ve included additional ABSITE information. You should click on the links below to read surgery resident reviews.

The ABSITE Review by Steven M Fiser
The Practice ABSITE Question Book by Steven M. Fiser
The Comprehensive ABSITE Review (Fiser, Comprehensive ABSITE Review) by Steven M Fiser
The Senior ABSITE Review by Steven M Fiser
The Johns Hopkins ABSITE Review Manual (American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination)
First Aid for the® ABSITE (FIRST AID Specialty Boards)
General Surgery ABSITE and Board Review, Fourth Edition: Pearls of Wisdom
General Surgery Review (For The Written Boards And Absite)
Absite Review, Simplified
Review of Surgery: Basic Science and Clinical Topics for ABSITE
Clinical Review of Surgery – ABSITE Edition
Pass the ABSITE!

The official website for the ABSITE is http://home.absurgery.org/default.jsp?certabsite

What is the ABSITE?

“The American Board of Surgery offers annually to general surgery residency programs the In-Training Examination (ABSITE), a written, multiple-choice examination designed to measure the progress attained by residents in their knowledge of basic science and the management of clinical problems related to general surgery. The ABSITE is furnished to program directors as an evaluation instrument to assess residents’ progress. The results are released only to program directors. It is not available to individual residents and is not required as part of the certification process.” – http://home.absurgery.org

Examination Questions

“Since 2006 the ABS has offered the ABSITE as a junior level (PG-1 and -2) and senior level (PG-3 to -5) examination. Both the junior- and senior-level versions consist of 225 multiple-choice questions; examinees are given five hours to take the exam. For the junior-level exam, 60% of the examination focuses on basic science, while 40% centers on the management of clinical surgical problems. In the senior-level exam, 20% of the exam focuses on basic science and 80% on clinical management. The relative emphasis on clinical content categories in the two examinations is shown in the following table.” – http://home.absurgery.org

Examination Content

Content Category	Junior Level	Senior Level
Body as a Whole	66.6%	25%
Gastrointestinal Tract	10.0%	25%
CV/Respiratory	7.8%	16.7%
GU, Head and Neck, Skin, Musculoskeletal, CNS	7.8%	16.7%
Endocrine, Spleen, Lymphoma, Breast	7.8%	16.7%