Wayfaring MD

I like to highlight the hilarious in medicine as I write about patients, medical school, residency, medical missions, and whatever else strikes my fancy. Oh yeah, and I like to use GIFs!

And for the 5,000th time, let me clarify that I am female.

Disclaimer:
HIPAA is for reals, folks. All of my "patient stories" have been changed to protect patient privacy. I will change any or all identifiers, including age, location, race/ethnicity, sex, medical history, and quotes.

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Anonymous Asks:

When at medical school interviews, what kind of questions would you suggest for me to ask the interviewer? Is that even considered good or no? Just curious as the what type of question is considered a plus to ask. Also, a lot of people who apply to med schools apply to 20+, is it stupid to limit yourself due to about 8 for financial shortcomings?

wayfaringmd Said:

Questions are always encouraged. I’m not a big question asker because I do a lot of research before hand, but I had a few in my back pocket to keep me from looking uninterested. Plus I went to the same school for undergrad, so I already knew a lot about my med school.

But here are some suggestions:

-ask about the curriculum. How much time is lecture vs. PBL/group learning vs. lab time?

-ask how much clinical exposure students get in the pre-clinical (1st and 2nd) years

-ask about average board scores/pass rate for the school

- ask about location of clinical years. Is it all in one place or in multiple hospitals in one town or are they all over the place?

- ask about research opportunities (if you care about such silliness), or volunteer opportunities available during breaks or during the year.

- ask about that school’s success matching people into the specialty of your liking, or about their match rate in general (vs. number of students that have to scramble)

- Questions for current students: ask about housing-where to live, average apartment costs, etc. Ask them how much free time they have and how they spend it. Find out if students socialize with each other or if they keep to themselves. And ask how they’re financing school.

(GIF DANCE BREAK TO LIVEN UP A BORING POST)

Limiting the number of schools you apply to may or may not matter. It depends on how competitive an applicant you are, and whether you’re picking reasonable schools. I applied to one school, but I already knew I had a decent chance of getting in. I wouldn’t have been able to apply to tons of schools anyway. Eight seems like a reasonable number, as long as you’re not picking schools that are crazy long shots for you.