How to prepare for pimping questions during surgery residency interviews

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

Source
http://home.absurgery.org/default.jsp?certabsite

HELPFUL ARTICLES FOR PREMEDICAL STUDENTS, MEDICAL STUDENTS, INTERNS, AND RESIDENTS

Residency applicants with red flags on their application

QUESTION:

I’m a fourth year medical student at a good school, with excellent grades across all years (mostly Honors). Most of my clinical evaluations are very good, with many of them including stand-out comments about exceptional clinical performance and devotion to patient care.
I will be be applying for residency after I graduate medical school, as I’m taking a year to do research.
However, I was on academic probation for one year (from 3rd-4th) for deficiencies in professionalism that occurred in 2nd and 3rd year, mainly related to issues of attendance and personality conflicts with two attendings. (I have spent a great deal of time working on these issues in order to see where I went wrong and how to avoid it in the future, although I’m sure I’ve made a few more mistakes along the way.)

I’ve been informed that my Dean’s letter and my transcript will note that I was on probation.

Here are my questions:
1. How will this affect my chances at getting into a good residency program? (note, I will not likely be applying to subspecialty programs)

2. How do I answer if/when I’m asked about this on interviews?

No one at my medical school has been able to guide me with this. I would greatly appreciate any advice or suggestions. Please feel free to be critical – realistic answers would be the most helpful as I continue to plan my career.

Thank you so much.

ANSWER:

In evaluating a medical student with a “red flag” on their record, there are four major things I look at/for in the application:

1. What exactly created the problem / probation? If it’s failing a course, that’s usually straightforward. If it’s a professional issue as you describe, vague answers such as “personal problems”, “health issues”, “family issues” are all major concerns without some detail. Left to my imagination, I will assume the worst.
2. Does this fit a pattern, or is it an anomaly? Is there a pattern of low board/shelf exam scores? Are there written comments from other rotations raising concerns about your performance?
3. Have you demonstrated a pattern/track record of improvement? I need to be CERTAIN that this is completely resolved, and will not happen again. You want to demonstrate that, put back in a similar situation, the outcome would be satisfactory.
4. Do you demonstrate insight into the problem and it’s solution, and do you take full responsibility for your part? Every story has two sides, as I’m sure your’s does. That being said, you need to be clear that you understand the problem, accept your role/responsibility, and have a solution to prevent further similar issues.

If I can answer all four of these questions/issues from the application itself, then a decision regarding an interview is made. So how do you do this?

1. Dean’s letter — virtually all US medical schools will allow you to review your Dean’s letter for accuracy before they are sent. You are not allowed to change the content of your Dean’s letter, unless you feel it is truly inaccurate. Your first step is to see what details they put into the Dean’s letter. Usually, they will be extremely vague, attempting to protect your privacy. If you think that a more open discussion of your problem would help your application, you should try to get your letter writer to explain the situation in the best possible light. Remember, it’s in your Dean’s office’s best interest to get you into a residency program, so they should be at least somewhat helpful in this regard.
2. The Personal Statement — For an entire year on probation, I think you will absolutely need to use your PS to address it. Some would argue that you are better off not drawing attention to your deficiencies in your PS. I personally disagree, and in this case (with a big problem on your application) I don’t think you have much of a choice. It is vital that you see your Dean’s letter first, so that your PS and your Dean’s letter descriptions match up. You will discuss in your PS all the issues listed above. (Note: I expect others may disagree with this advice, and suggest you get other opinions)
3. Applications — Because of this problem, you will need to apply more broadly and perhaps to lower tier programs. Hyper competitive programs (Rad/Derm/Urology/Plastics) are probably out of the question altogether. Gen Surg is also quite competitive. You really don’t know how this is going to affect you. The plan is to get at least 10 interview offers — if you go on 8 interviews you are very likely to match in IM, FP, Peds, etc. You will need to decide if you want to apply to a large number of programs up front, or if you want to start with 10 programs and then expand if you don’t get enough interviews.
4. Interviews — You will be asked about this, for sure. If not, you need to bring it up yourself. In fact, you might want to think about doing that right at the beginning of the interview yourself, to get it out of the way (“Dr. XXX, before you start asking questions, I’d like to talk for a few minutes about the obvious concern about my academic probation on my record, what I have learned from this process, and how I have addressed this so that it will no longer be a problem”)
5. The confidential informant — As a real ace-in-the-hole, see if you can find someone involved with your remediation who would be willing to talk to PD’s about your issue off the record. They must be as unbiased as possible, know all the intimate details of the issue, and be willing to talk “off the record”. You have to trust them completely. If you have such a person, during your visit make sure to tell the PD / interviewer that if they have any concerns, they can contact this person for more details.

Exactly how much this will affect your application depends on the details, and how it is addressed by you and your program. A study demonstrated that unprofessional behavior in med school predicts future board disciplinary actions. Many programs may simply see you as too much of a risk. PD’s have all had residents who look great on paper, but have self destructive personalities that erode camaraderie and create discord in the residency. I would rather have an empty slot.

SOURCE: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=404764

Acing your residency interview

Acing your residency interview