As you begin to receive invitations to interview, it's important to think about how to best schedule your interviews based on what is feasible for you and to know that there are some interviews you might not want to accept.
On This Page:
- Scheduling Interviews
- Canceling or Rescheduling Interviews
- Implications to Consider When Accepting or Declining Interviews
Scheduling Interviews
Below are some considerations and benefits for employing a smart scheduling strategy:
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Minimize time away from the curriculum. While residency interviews are important, so are your final-year clinical rotations and electives. Your priority in medical school is to become the best physician possible before you graduate.
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Consider financial cost. Interviewing costs add up quickly, and financial constraints can restrict your interview options and impact your overall financial health.
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Get advice and support from advisors. They are equipped to help with feelings of anxiety, stress, and burnout and to help you talk through options.
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Learn as much as possible about your chosen residency programs while keeping an open mind. It costs time, energy, and money to maximize your interview process (especially if it includes a visit to a residency program). That said, you may not feel ready to dismiss a residency program until after interviewing there. Remaining open and flexible when deciding where to interview can help you make interview decisions that are best for you and your situation.
Canceling or Rescheduling Interviews
Life happens, and the need to cancel or reschedule may arise. Residency programs expect some canceling and rescheduling, and it is good to know effective ways for changing interview plans. Cancelling or rescheduling unprofessionally can impact both your reputation and future opportunities with that residency program or department. Under no circumstances should you be a no-show – that is, fail to attend a scheduled interview without prior notice.
Etiquette for canceling or rescheduling interviews. To cancel or reschedule in a professional manner, consult the residency program’s interview policies and instructions. If a residency program provides no instruction, follow these general guidelines:
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Amount of notice. Contact the residency program as soon as you know you need to change plans, preferably at least two weeks in advance. Canceling or rescheduling with less than a week’s notice should be limited to cases of true emergencies, such as a sudden illness or death in the family.
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Communication method. Regardless of how far in advance your cancellation or reschedule request occurs, contact the residency program by email or phone. If you call, you might consider sending an email to confirm the cancellation or reschedule.
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Explanation. If you’re canceling or rescheduling at least two weeks in advance, an explanation is unnecessary. If you’re canceling or rescheduling because of an emergency, if possible, provide an explanation that indicates the nature of the emergency (e.g., a death in your family, you’re sick) but without too much detail (e.g., “I’m vomiting every hour.”). Review the program’s instructions for rescheduling or cancelling an interview to see if they require any other documentation. If you remain interested in the residency program, affirm your continued interest when asking if it’s possible to reschedule. If you need further guidance, consult your student affairs or career services office.
Implications to Consider When Accepting or Declining Interviews
In the current residency application landscape, you may feel encouraged – even pressured – to apply to a large number of residency programs and amass interviews because it keeps your training and career options open. Likewise, it may seem safer to initially accept every interview invite and to later choose which ones to attend. When taken to the extreme, this behavior has recently been dubbed “interview hoarding.”
Given this context, it is important to understand that your “yes” starts a chain of events that affects you, other applicants, residency programs, and your school. Below are some of the implications to consider when you are deciding which invitations to accept and which to decline.
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For you – Accepting an interview not only adds more to your interview schedule but to your academic schedule as well.
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For other applicants to the residency program – Accepting an interview slot that you’re uninterested in could mean holding or wasting a slot another applicant could have filled.
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For the residency program – Even though you may only ever interact with an online scheduling tool, rest assured one or more human beings are taking action in response to your “yes.”
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For your school – How you approach the interview process will not only speak volumes about you, but residency programs will also attribute your behavior – good or bad – to your medical school. Your behavior could build or maintain the trust between the residency program and your medical school, or it could damage that trust – ultimately affecting how residency programs consider applicants from your medical school in future application cycles.
Understanding and appreciating the rippling effect of a “yes” on you and those around you may help you make better decisions and better navigate the residency interview season.