Years ago when I was an assistant residency director, I interviewed a candidate who asked such a detailed question about our training program that even I couldn’t answer it. I was impressed! After all, that meant she had really done her due diligence. Plus, given how much research she had done, it seemed she was considering us seriously.

Reciprocal liking is the psychological principle that we like people more when we think they like us. One way to demonstrate that you like a residency program or medical school is to show enthusiasm by knowing details about the institution. And then, according to the rules of reciprocal liking, the program or school may be more interested in your candidacy.

As you prepare for your interviews, research the institution thoroughly and prepare customized questions. Know details about the curriculum, extracurricular opportunities, research, funded experiences, geography, patient population, the neighborhood where students/residents live, and anything else especially distinctive to the institution.

Do they have an associated free clinic where you could work? Know the facility’s name. Do they have a funded international opportunity? Know the criteria for qualifying.

In reality, if you’re interested in spending at least 3 to 5 years at a program or school, it’s logical you’ll have many detailed questions you want answered. 

I’ve mentioned my fondness for Your College Bound Kid, a podcast on college admissions. This week I heard a discussion that will also resonate with medical school and residency applicants:

In episode 677, host Mark Stucker (who is famously gentle) mentions that he’s still angry – twenty years later – about the following scenario: A student said that the school Mark was representing was the applicant’s first choice. Mark reports expending significant political capital to get the applicant through committee only to find out later that the candidate had told four schools the same thing. He reports he’s still salty from the experience. (The co-host he’s speaking to gasps when he tells the story.) 

Mark reminds college applicants not to overpromise. “Don’t couch things in definitive terms” is his advice, and I couldn’t agree more. Years ago, during a residency interview, an applicant promised to place my institution’s program first on his NRMP rank list. When we ranked him to Match and he didn’t, my colleagues noted that he had dissembled (although they used stronger language) and promised to remember him if he applied for any positions going forward. Of course, applicants change their minds, but institutions are understandably frustrated by empty promises. Don’t fall into the trap of making promises you might not keep during your medical school and residency interviews.

Google had a problem. As a 2012 New York Times article described it, Google executives were growing increasingly aware that they were not hiring enough women. Worse still, they were attracting negative attention about it. So, Google did what Google does best: They amassed data and mined it.

In their analysis, among other findings, Google concluded that the company was overlooking women, who tended to be more modest than comparable male applicants during interviews. The interviewers inappropriately perceived the women applicants to be less accomplished, and the candidates were not offered jobs. (Once they understood the problem, Google reported that they altered their internal hiring policies, accordingly.)

No matter what your gender, the story is instructive in understanding how to strategically approach your medical school or residency interview: I call it, Let Your Story Show Your Glory.

Let’s start with this overarching strategy, one that can be gleaned from the Google story: The interview process is a persuasive one. Your role is to convince medical schools or program directors you deserve a slot at their institutions. The best way to persuade is with facts, just like a lawyer does when s/he is trying a case in front of a judge. Saying you are compassionate or hardworking is not convincing, and it doesn’t distinguish you from the scores of other candidates the interviewer is meeting. You need to prove your worth by highlighting your academic, clinical, research, community service, leadership, international, and teaching achievements.

When mentoring applicants, I hear them ask: Michelle, if I showcase my accomplishments in my interview, doesn’t that mean I’m being redundant? My answer: Absolutely! Think of the medical admissions process like building a house. Your AMCAS/ERAS/ResidencyCAS and letters serve as one layer of that house – like scaffolding. In other words, your accomplishments are conveyed simply and succinctly there. The personal statement is your opportunity to apply a thicker layer, one in which you flesh out your achievements, thus persuading the reader of your distinctiveness (plumbing, pipes, electrical). Finally, the interview is your chance to add on the thickest peel (exterior, roof).

Discussing your accomplishments in detail can seal the interviewer’s positive impression of you.

If you still feel shy about drawing attention to your achievements, I can assure you that, occasionally, interviewers do not leave adequate time to review materials for the candidates they will ultimately judge, or they are asked to interview such a large number of applicants that they might understandably get candidates confused. If you treat every interview as though it were a “blind” one, you address these obstacles. Determine in advance how you want your interviewers to remember you when they represent you to the committee, and tailor your interview to leave that impression. At the end of the week, when your interviewer asks what others thought of the “young woman who volunteered with Mother Teresa while doing malaria research and competitive hammer-throwing,” all the other admissions officers will know immediately she is referring to you.

Remember: You can say you are smart or caring or that you want to heal the world, but to admissions committees and program directors, who you are is what you’ve done…and what traits and skills you’ve honed accordingly.

[A version of this blog was previously published on the Varsity Tutors website, where I was part of their Admissions Expert Series.]