Blog Archives

Medical School and Residency Interview Thank You Note Etiquette

medical school interview and residency applicationSee my last blog on the low cost and high potential gain of writing thank you notes after your interviews.
I get asked by clients what the best way to send post-interview thank you notes is – email or snail mail. I strongly advise sending your thank you note by good old USPS. The reasons are:

1) Email may be viewed as lazy. Hand-written notes demonstrate you’ve put some time into being appreciative.

2) Email can be deleted without much thought. Emotionally, it’s harder to throw someone’s hand written note in the trash.

Get your handwritten thank you notes in quickly. The night after you’ve completed your interview or the next day is a good time to write and send.

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Medical School and Residency Interview Thank You Notes – So Easy for You to Do

medical school interview and residency interviewTwo years ago a medical school applicant wrote me to say that the dean of the school at which she had recently interviewed called her to tell her that he was impressed with her candidacy and the hand-written thank you note she had sent. The client thanked me for my help and the thank you note tip I had given her. As you might have guessed, she was admitted to that med school.

Writing a thank you note after a medical school or residency interview is so easy for you to do, and it can go a long way. More on thank you notes in future posts.

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Your Medical School Admission or Residency Match May Boil Down to How You Sit at Your Interview

For those of you who have never watched this TED talk, hunker down with a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy. Professor Amy Cuddy is Harvard Business School faculty, and her TED talk reached 2 million views within 2 months of being posted. Dr. Cuddy argues that your body language affects how people (interviewers) perceive you. This video is instructive, funny, and sad. It’s worth the 21 minutes.

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Medical School and Residency Interview Tips

Early this year I launched the Insider Medical Admissions Guru on the Go© stop motion video series. These super speedy videos, offering expert admissions advice, give great tips in under a minute. Now, as medical school and residency interview seasons approach, I’m posting three original Guru on the Go© videos over the next few weeks. Keep your eye out for the first one, “No Ring, No Thing.”

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Medical School and Residency Interview Social Events: Dine but Don’t Whine

In an effort to attract desirable applicants, some medical schools and residency programs invite candidates to social events immediately before or during the interview day. The events usually include dinner, lunch, or even drinks with the students or residents.medical school interview and residency interview

It’s in your interest to attend these events: They show institutions that you are serious about their programs, afford you the opportunity to score social points, and allow you to gain valuable information about the students’ or residents’ satisfaction.

One insider piece of advice, however: Ensure you act professionally even if you are told that what you say will not affect your candidacy or get back to admissions. Even if everyone has good intentions, information garnered from these events can make its way to decision-makers. If you had a bad experience at the interview day, have a significant other who doesn’t want to move, or know your first choice is a different program, these social events are not the time to reveal that information.

For insider help with medical school or residency interviews, contact me.

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About Dr. Michelle Finkel

Dr. Michelle Finkel

Dr. Finkel is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Medical School. On completing her residency at Harvard, she was asked to
stay on as faculty at Harvard Medical School and spent five years teaching at the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital.
She was appointed to the Assistant Residency Director position for the Harvard Affiliated
Emergency Medicine Residency where she reviewed countless applications, personal statements and resumes. Read more

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Listen to Dr. Finkel’s interview on the White Coat Investor podcast:

Listen to Dr. Finkel’s interview on the FeminEm podcast: