Words from the Ortho Chief

Congratulations on reaching this point in your education. Now, you’ve got to get ready for your interviews. Well, here’s my perspective as a chief resident at a large academic program on how to get through the day looking like a star. These are my personal observations and not the views of any institution I may be affiliated with or have interviewed at.

First, be nice to everyone you meet. You may not know this, but the secretaries do tell us if they have had any negative interactions with an applicant. This can be either on the phone or on interview day. Your interactions with other applicants may also draw negative attention to you if you allow them to—so be nice. I would suggest not trying to make yourself look good at the expense of someone else. Also, bragging about your undergrad varsity experience in hall is frowned upon.

What should you wear to the interview? It is safe to say that orthopaedics is fairly conservative. While you are free to wear whatever you want, I would suggest saving your trendy suit with a big collar or low cut blouse for your cousins wedding reception. On interview day, I recommend a sharp suit for both men and women. Nothing visually expresses confidence like a well pressed shirt, a tightly tied tie and polished dress shoes. This is your one shot to show us how well you can rise to the occasion. Honestly, looking sloppy on interview day reflects very poorly upon you.

What about the pre/postinterview dinner? This is as much an opportunity to include more residents in the interview process as it is for you to meet us in a casual setting. Rule number one: restrict your alcohol intake. Even if some of us take advantage of the department’s generosity, it always comes out if an applicant seems to drink too much. Next, watch what you say. This may not the interview, but it is a little naive to think that what you do or say will not have any impact on your success as an applicant. What should you wear here? Unless you are interviewing at Miami (where BBQs and strip clubs seem to be the norm from my personal interview experience there), I suggest business casual attire. I know you just flew across the country and it’s probably going to be cold out, so it’s ok to be comfortable. If this is not intuitive to you, go to your local upscale department store and ask. They love to sell good clothes to a budding orthopeadic surgeon.

The interviews themselves are a little hectic for both of us. Hopefully, your interviewer has shown you the courtesy of reading your file. As an interviewer, I look forward to the applicant that has rehearsed a good story. I’ve found it painful when I have to pry every answer out of an applicant. I want to know about you and you’ve only got a few minutes to sell yourself as an applicant to me. Be prepared to tell your interviewer the following: Why orthopaedics? Why this program? What do you like to do? What’s up with your research (you will be pressed on this)? Tell us about any hobby you listed in your personal statement. What type of team efforts have you participated in? This would be a good time talk about your undergraduate varsity experience as you should be proud of this accomplishment. Any leadership experience? Three historical people you want to eat dinner with (stupid, but it’s easy to ask)? Your accomplishments? Last book you read? There are some crazy people in academics and you may get a multitude of odd questions thrown at you—all I can say is watch your composure. I had an interviewer at a large program in Texas try to tell me I didn’t just read a historic piece of American literature. Obviously, I ranked that ahole at the bottom. Anyway, I can’t stress enough that this is really your only opportunity to tell your interviewer you should be picked. Look sharp. Maintain eye contact and speak with authority; after all, this is your life you are talking about. Express the confidence you obviously have or you wouldn’t be there sitting across from your interviewer.

In your interactions with the residents, you should note a couple of things. Is the program able to free up several residents to socialize with you during the day? I think that if a program values the interview process, it should free up more than one resident for the day to talk to you. Ask about the call schedule. Ask about the operative experience and the days of clinic per week. As for asking about fellowships, the real truth is that everyone seems to go to a top fellowship that desires one. The reason is that no one agrees on what the top fellowships are and there are way more fellowships than potential fellows. Be sure to ask about mandatory away rotations or if you have to rotate/take call at more than one hospital. Do they place an emphasis on OITE scores? Have they fired or lost any residents in the last 5-10 years? This is a big red flag as the program is either picking residents poorly or the program may have some real problems. Either way, it is very disruptive to the residency when someone leaves and can interfere with your training.

I hope I’ve helped rather than scared you as you approach this next step in your education. I can tell you, the time goes by quickly. Match day will fly by. As a resident, my days are now blurring into weeks and I measure time by my two month rotations. I love operating and even my research has become exciting as the end of my residency approaches. It goes by real quickly.