"Now that you have seen our program, how do YOU think the program can become better?"

As your interview is coming to an end, the interviewer throws THIS question at you.

That's right, the interviewer is asking you, dear applicant, to use your critical thinking skills, identify the shortcomings in the program and offer suggestions.

But remember you need to be careful in your recommendations and not insult the program or the hospital.

How do you handle this tricky question? Your responses now.

Here are 4 possible answers. These examples are just to get you thinking and you would need to customize these answers to the specific program where you are interviewing.

In general, I would suggest that these improvements be directed only for educational purposes. That is, do not tell that the program would do better if the hospital had the ability for LVAD or TAVR. Small community hospitals will not be able to provide that level of care and are very likely to transfer patients needing intense treatment to a larger referral center.

1. Simulation center (or simulation lab). Many university hospitals have a simulation lab for medical students and residents to try out a code situation or intubation. Some sim labs also have standardized patients to allow you to learn certain communication skills such as end of life discussions. Such sim labs add immense value to your medical education and communication skills to work seamlessly in a team. So if the program that you are interviewing at does not have a sim lab, ask if there are any plans to open one. The cost to setup a sim lab to develop the scenarios, rooms and technology can be prohibitive - in that case, ask for standardized patients (not much investment needed) to learn important communication skills.

2. Fellowship programs. If there is no fellowship program (or a fellowship program that you are interested in), suggest to your program director to start a fellowship. For example, in a busy hospital with a couple of subspecialty fellowships, if it does not have endocrinology fellowship, suggest to the program director that given the number of patients and learning opportunities available, fellowship in endocrinology would certainly add value to residency training. You can even get more fancy with the fellowship recommendation. If for example they have a cardiology fellowship, you can say that patient have an electrophysiology fellowship or a heart failure fellowship. Or if there is any other fellowship that you have interest in such as palliative care fellowship, do make it a point to bring it to the program directors attention.

3. Point-of-care ultrasound training. Some programs have started point-of-care ultrasound training but do not really offer a certification. If you are interested in learning point-of-care ultrasound skills, talk to the program director or suggest to the program director about having a structured point-of-care ultrasound rotation to allow you to be certified and trained in ultrasound.

4. Medical students rotating in the hospital. Having medical students rotating allows you to develop or enhance vital teaching skills. So if there are no medical students, suggest to the program director about having medical students by developing an affiliation with a medical school.

Do share your thoughts in my facebook group and I can comment on your response. Plus, you can see other's responses too.

That’s all for now. Hope you like this post. I would love to hear your thoughts and comments. Join the mailing list or my facebook group and check out Ed4medus.com to learn more about personalized services to help you get into a US medical residency program.