Date Me? Errr, Update Me.

As I have previously mentioned, at almost every interview you will be asked, “Do you have any updates you would like the Admissions Committee to know about?” (previously discussed here and here).

The answer to this question is YES even if you suspect the answer may be no. Undoubtedly, you have done something between when you submitted your AMCAS and your interview! Whatever this is, you want to make it sound as good as possible.

If you have major accomplishments, publications, job changes, or leadership positions to report, then your job is easy. Practice succinctly articulating these updates. Additionally, prepare a document to leave with your interviewer. This can be a letter to the Admissions Committee, an updated CV/resume, or a bulleted list of updates. If an article was published, bring a copy. The point isn’t the format – it’s that you’re leaving a hardcopy of your update with the interviewer rather than relying on his or her memory to report these updates to the Committee. Your additions will likely become part of your applicant file. Moreover, a hardcopy of your update goes a long way toward making you look prepared, enthusiastic, and thoughtful. Bring several copies to your interview, as you will often have multiple interviews.

If you don’t have any major changes to your application, then the task may be a little more difficult. For starters, you don’t need an update letter or document – don’t highlight things that aren’t important. Instead, think of one thing you can genuinely explain to the interviewer – a new class that is engaging, a new task at your job, a new experience of some kind. Simply demonstrate that you are remaining engaged as your conquer the application and interview process.

Teeter-Totter

What a week! The Northeast survived an earthquake, and now we’re facing a hurricane. As for personal triumphs, in addition to finishing my residency application, I took my final medical school clerkship “shelf” exam.

The balancing act of strengths versus weaknesses and preparing for interviews

I have mixed feelings about “preparing” for interviews. I think it’s healthy to have a balance between rehearsed answers and organic spontaneity. Interviewers will see right through trite or overly-rehearsed responses to their questions, so use some restraint as you prepare. That said, there are a few questions you simply must be ready to answer.

• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• Do you have any updates you would like the Admissions Committee to know about? (briefly mentioned here; more details to come)
• Do you have any questions for me (the interviewer)?

The “strengths and weaknesses” question is a toughie. It’s easy to come up with glowing strengths but much harder to assess your own weaknesses. Moreover, you do not want your weaknesses to appear so weak that they case doubt of the quality of you as an applicant. A few things to consider:

• Be humble. Interviews are like a marketing campaign. Yes, you want to shed positive light on yourself. However, if your strengths are significantly stronger than your weaknesses are weak, it will appear as though you think very highly of yourself or are unable to self-assess and discover weaknesses (an important part of being a physician!).

• Use anecdotes. Actions speak louder than words, so be ready to support your strengths and weaknesses with an example. If a strength is “leadership,” have a **very brief** story prepared regarding a time when you demonstrated leadership.

• Put a positive spin on weakness. For example, if your weakness is that you find it challenging to delegate tasks to others, then be prepared to discuss how you’re working on this. You might say, “As I have taken on more leadership responsibility in ___ group, I have recognized how challenging it is to delegate tasks to others. I have been actively working with the group to assess individuals’ strengths as well as their interests in order to appropriately delegate the tasks we need to accomplish, and I feel like I have really grown this year in my ability to do so.” Ta-da! You practically demonstrated a strength.

Certainly, if a mock interview is available to you, go for it! And, if you have the luxury of scheduling a “safety school” interview first, that’s also nice, although most applicants won’t be so lucky.

Fast Forward

It may sound premature to think about residency when you’re not even in medical school yet, but I have a quick tip, and you will thank me later.

Save, save, and resave your medical school application materials. AMCAS information, personal statement, Secondaries – all of it. This will come in very handy when you are applying to residency and trying to remember which action verbs you used to describe the organizations with which you were involved in college! The past employment history will also come in handy. Moreover, you will likely never be a better writer than you are now, and you will be amazed at how many nicely written sentences you may want to pluck right out of your personal statement for medical school and drop into your residency application.

If you’re not already familiar, dropbox.com is a great place to store things like this given that the computer you’re using now will probably not be the one you’re using 4-5+ years from now.

(And of course, saving your materials is also a good idea in the short-term in case you are a re-applicant in the future.)

Extra, extra! Read all about me.

As time passes since you submitted your AMCAS, you may begin a new job, shadowing experience, or community endeavor; publish your research; change your planned coursework; win an award; or master a new hobby. You may find yourself wondering how to go about updating Admissions Committees.

At nearly every interview, you will be asked whether you have any updates for your file. If you email or send an update letter now rather than waiting for an interview, you risk having nothing to update at the interview. Updates are a key way to actively demonstrate to interviewers that you are remaining engaged despite the craziness of applying and interviewing for medical school. Moreover, you may find in a few weeks or months that you have an additional update, and you do not want to send multiple letters.

Here is my recommended time line. Wait until November or December. At that point, you will (hopefully) have been able to update some interviewers in person. Then, send an email to schools you have not heard from, express your interest in interviewing, and include any updates to your application. If updates occur after you have already interviewed, send an email to your interviewers as well as to the general email address for Admissions, include your updates, and also reiterate your interest. Finally, it's nice to have a printed copy of any updates to physically give to your interviewers so that the updates can be physically added to your file. If you only tell your interviewer, he or she may forget.

I realize some applicants feel that they need to send updates now in order to increase odds of getting an interview. Rest assured that most updates are not so amazing that they would be reason enough to grant an interview to an applicant who would not otherwise have received one. Patience, patience.