"Tell me the time when things did not go the way you wanted. What did you do in that situation?"

Life is very complex. Let's all agree that things happen and don't always go our way. But what does that have to do with a residency interview? Behavioral questions are popping up in residency interviews. "Tell me the time when things did not go the way you wanted. What did you do in that situation?" is fair game. I even created a facebook announcement for people to share their responses to this behavioral question.

While a lot of you have great experiences in life, this is a great response from an online practice interview that I conducted a little while ago.

Q. Tell me the time when things did not go the way you wanted. What did you do in that situation?.

A. "Yes, I can tell you a certain thing that did not go my way and this has to do with the time that my visa application to come to the US and take the Step2 CS exam was declined. This happened after I took my Step1 and scored very well at 252. Soon after I got my score, I then applied for visitor visa in February of last year to come to Philadelphia and take Step2 CS. A month before the CS, I went to the US consulate for the visa interview and for some reason that I still don't know today, my visa application was declined. The officer would not give me an explanation. This was very disappointing and distressing to me as I planned very meticulously for the Step2 CS, then Step2 CK, observership and applying for residency. I remember that my mother was also very concerned for me.

However, I took it as a challenge to make a stronger CV the next time I would apply for the visa as the more rejections you have, your future chances of getting a visa become lower. I reached out to seniors from my med school who are doing residency in the US and asked for their opinion. We found out that my applying for Step2 CS after Step1 was not the right thing to do. I thought about it and realized that I applied for Step2 CS sooner rather than later because I was very fresh from my internship year and had very good clinical skills. My seniors advised that I take my Step2 CK first and then apply for the visa to take Step 2 CS as I could then show the visa officer that I am serious about getting into a residency.

I was unable to apply for residency last year, but I made up my mind that I would not let my high Step1 score go waste. I studied hard for my Step2 CK and scored 249. After that, I applied for the visa to take my Step2 CS and this time I showed the visa officer that I had completed the Step1 and Step2CK and that I needed the CS to get ECFMG certified and then get into a residency program. The visa officer looked at my scores and I think she took my case more positively than the last interview and granted me the visa to travel.

So this is where things did not go my way but just by taking a step back, reaching out to others for help and information and then working towards making the necessary changes rather than being bogged down and disappointed helped me be successful in getting the visitor visa and making it to today's interview.  In retrospect, I think the first time I applied for the visa, I was a bit oveconfident after I got my Step1 score. The visa denial challenged me to do even better and have even a stronger application and so I take this experience positively."

You can see that this response described the events and how the young doc made the best of this situation to achieve great success. What is your story? Do share at facebook.com/group/ed4medus/ and I can comment on your response. Plus, you can see other's responses too.

Photo credit for image in post: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/80/96/29/809629ac346f294e79bccbc6e06c628e.png