Nervous about prepping your questions to ask during residency interviews? You’re not the only one. Deciding what to ask program directors, residents, and faculty can feel just as stressful as answering their questions for you. That’s why we’ve pulled together a guide to the best questions to ask at the end of your residency interview, plus tips on tailoring them for program directors, residents, and faculty. With the right approach, you’ll walk into your interviews confident, make a memorable impression, and put yourself one step closer to landing the residency you’ve worked so hard for.
We’ll begin by addressing a question it’s natural for applicants to have: why is so much emphasis placed on what you ask in the first place? After all, you’re the one being interviewed, right?
Well, yes and no. Let’s dive into it.
Why Your Questions Matter
Up until this point in your training, you’ve prepared for and successfully navigated many interviews. Congrats! You impressed school programs, employers, and research teams with your relevant experiences and high-quality answers. Residency interviews will require the same preparation, but they also allow you to turn the tables on the conversation.
The questions you ask will help you learn about the program from an insider’s perspective. After all, you’re also interviewing them to see if this program is a good fit, too!
Additionally, these questions provide an opportunity to further connect with the interviewer and demonstrate your priorities for training. Therefore, creating a list of good questions ahead of time will ensure you get the best assessment of the program and leave a positive impression on the interviewers.
What to Keep in Mind When Asking Questions During Residency Interviews
When program directors, faculty, or residents ask you, “So, what questions do you have?” there’s a few things to consider before responding.
These include:
1. Who are you talking to?
Questions for the department chair, program director, or faculty should stay professional, focus on their views of the training, allow for further discussion of their research, and/or help reveal what they look for in a candidate.
2. Is the answer available online?
If so, hold off on asking it and use your time to ask person-specific questions. (But don’t forget to look up the answer to your original question!)
3. How is the conversation going so far?
What’s the “vibe” in the room? Is the interviewer tired out from the day?
Considering these factors will help you determine how personal or professional you can be with your questions, the order of your questions, and how many to ask.
Sample Questions to Ask During Residency Interviews
With the aforementioned factors in mind, here are some good questions to ask, along with an explanation as to why they work and/or things to keep in mind:
1. What’s your favorite part of the program?
Additionally, for faculty, “What drew you to the program?” and “What keeps you at this program?”
Providing the resident or faculty members with an opportunity to share beneficial program attributes reveals their priorities about training and returns (or maintains) a positive tone to the conversation.
2. What’s your favorite thing about living in this city/state?
A good follow-up question: “What’s your favorite thing to do outside the hospital?“
If the conversation is more casual, these questions can provide context on a new city and the hobbies of your potential future coworkers. Residents’ answers can also inform what work-life balance looks like during training and whether they spend time together outside the hospital.
3. Are there additional opportunities and benefits for residents at this program?
Be specific! For example, you might consider asking any of the following:
- What’s the feedback/mentorship model of the program?
- What are the requirements and resources to support residents attending research conferences?
- Are there opportunities for international research collaborations and travel?
- What is the protocol for vacation time?
If questions like these are important to you, don’t shy away from asking them! However, keep in mind they’re “asks” of the program, i.e., what can the program provide to you as a resident. Additionally, this information is often available online. These questions are not off limits – it’s just important to consider how they might come across to the programs.
4. What are your goals for the program/department over the next five years?
Asking this to the resident director and department chair will frame the underlying question, “What are the areas of improvement for the program?” in a more positive light. It’s up to you to assess whether the amount, type, and scope of the upcoming change is something you can navigate for the next five or six years. Chief residents often say the program they started at isn’t the program they graduated from.
5. What qualities do successful residents have?
The answer to this question demonstrates the faculty’s priorities and the culture of the program. Additionally, the response will clarify what traits the faculty is looking for, and you can emphasize them as you close out the interview.
Final Thoughts
Remember: residency interviews are a two-way street! To put your best foot forward, make sure you practice answers to common questions and prepare a variety of questions to ask during your residency interviews.
If you’re looking for more personalized support, reach out to our team to get connected with an experienced residency consultant for mock interviews and other high-yield residency interview prep!
And for even more (free!) residency interview tips, check out these other posts on the blog:
