RIQ prepares you for the most common, most important residency interview questions that you will face. Uniquely, we offer full length videos of expert answers and analysis. More than that, we have tons of online question analysis, guides, answer outlines, and full length sample answers. We believe in learning by example - and here you will find the highest quality expert answers for you to model from.
Below are samples of videos and analysis from the questions you will find at RIQ.
Why choose Internal Medicine
Analysis
This is extremely common question. Fortunately, there are multiple ways to answer this question well. The most important thing is that you have to provide specific reasons for your assertions. This question is typically one of the most important questions for individuals applying in advanced specialties such as ophthalmology and dermatology. For internal medicine, this is less important. Many of you will apply in Neurology as well so this question would be a good model.
David's Impression
This question comes up frequently. The answer you give can not only answer this specific question, but also answer the “Tell me about yourself question?”. You should not be humble in your answer to this question. It is a great opportunity to explain aspects of your CV (or past experience which does not appear in your CV) which you wish to highlight. For example, if you explain that ...
Steve's Take
It’s a broad question for internal medicine because there are many sub-specialities. I recommend going for an answer that really speaks to the joy of caring for everything related to a patient. This way you will not alienate any potential generalists here even if you are fellowship bound. Again, bring some energy into it...
Example 1
Part 1: "I remember a patient that touched my life forever....she was a 54 year old…"
Part 2: "Beyond the clinical practice, the research opportunities in internal medicine are boundless. My work in preventive cancer screening has convinced me of the power of primary care to save lives. This ..."
Example 2
Part 1: "I became interested in family medicine very early on in medical school ..."
Example 3
“You know how you as a clinician have this ability to assess a person’s health? This gestalt? Older than stated age or healthy? To me, that’s a powerful concept, powerful information. I believe in the future of medicine where skin can be the primary source of information for systemic health; it is a complete representation of our physiology; it’s not a surrogate marker; it is tissue that is dynamic and responds in real time to what’s happening everywhere in the body; we just have to develop the right tools and technology to assess and capture this information; and ..."
Example 4
“Well, the first moment I came to medical school, the first patient that I ever saw was actually in the office of an ophthalmologist. Among the most memorable of the patients was this young gentleman who had an unfortunate fireworks accident, developed severe corneal scarring and subsequently had 2 failed cornea transplants and was looking ..."
Example 5
“I became interested in family medicine very early on in medical school as I joined my longitudinal preceptor’s family practice clinic. From then on, I routinely worked with that physician over the course of 2 years, half a day a week. This gave me a great deal of comfort speaking with patients, addressing common outpatient issues, and learning the flow of outpatient medicine. Later, I joined the Community Health Initiative, a community based free clinic where we focused on preventative screening for patients at no cost. As I was also the president of the ..."
