Interview Questions Flashcards
Tell me about yourself
*Born and raised in PA to family of engineers
*First glimpse of medicine in high school when volunteering
*Moved to Atlanta for college. Decided to major in English after punk’s not dead
*Really explored English career path and interned with Poets House
*Missed direct impact that medicine made on people’s lives
*Finished college career by combining my two passions of literature and medicine (thesis)
Why medicine?
On a practical level, I like the flexibility of being a physician. Can teach, research, practice clinical care in a variety of settings
On a more poetic level, I have always been attracted to the “big moments” in people’s lives. Whether that’s in literary representations or in the clinical setting. The privilege of being with people during birth, death, life and grief really appeals to me. It is a responsibility that I want to take on and find purpose in my career
Greatest strengthens
Despite young age, empathetic perspective developed through studying literature has provided me with an understanding of life events
Ex: Lucille Clifton “poem to my uterus”
Self-motivated. Able to make a schedule, set goals and follow it.
Balanced. Prioritize taking care of my mental and physical health by establishing a work-life balance
Weakness
Tend to look ahead and can anticipate problems. But before I would tend to get discouraged and pessimistic.
Now, when taking on a big project I try to remain programatic and set goals to prevent problems before they occur
Four people to get dinner with
Ada Limon
Serena Williams
Dr. Fauci
Harry Styles
Historical: Anne Bradstreet, Joan Didion,
Time you overcame an obstacle
Working in Covid with new obstacles
What should be done about the shortage of doctors in rural areas?
Sociology class we looked at systemic lack of insurance coverage in rural areas, makes payment hard and doesn’t attract physicians
Still, I support incentives to have physicians in rural areas. Physicians should make an effort to integrate themselves into the community
Talk about your research and how it has prepared you for a career in medicine
Have completed research on cultural practices in childbirth and researched childbirth in Anne Bradstreet’s poetry
Taught me the importance of interdisciplinary research and a holistic perspective of medicine. Especially when treating the whole person, you need to have an understanding of historical and cultural trends that surround each patient. Excited to continue this research in my career
What trends in healthcare have you seen?
As a scribe, I have seen some pushback against the use of technology in patient interactions.
While technology is great and you can pull up data so easily and orders, it limits the patient-physician relationship when doctors are looking at the screen typing the history instead of talking to the patient face to face
I think it is an encouraging trend that people are beginning to pushback against this and prioritizing communication skills
Specific patient interactions
While shadowing in neurology, watched doctor have to tell a family that their mother was dying
Responsibility physicians have to both their patients and family members
Friends would describe me as
Mature
Focused
Lighthearted
Difficulty in leadership position
TAing due to the wide range of student ability in my cohort. Some students had never been in a wet lab before due to covid.
Issues in today’s healthcare system
Lack of equal access to healthcare
Longevity gap, difference in lower and higher socioeconomic status life expectancy
Have seen this in my own work with the underserved. Volunteering showed the systemic barriers to healthcare for the homeless.
Excited about UR’s Street Medicine program
Confronted your own biases
Education and research. Component in thesis on racist origins of American obstetrics
Diversifying authors that I’m reading
Questions for the student
How would you describe the student culture?
What do you do around Rochester?
How does the school support student wellness?
Question for physician
What is your favorite part about being at Rochester?
How would you describe the relationship between students and faculty?
Favorite books
Seamus Heaney “Opened Ground”
Joan Didion “The Year of Magical Thinking”
Last book you read
Joan Didion “Blue Nights”
Currently reading: Bernadine Evaristo “Girl Woman Other”
Favorite extracurricular activity
Pandemic Poetry Project
Allowed me to work with a really cool team of poets
fuse my own passions of literature and medicine
Learned about the importance of poetry
Time you had to work in a team
Lullwater Review
articulate own opinions and actively listen to others
Compromise and working with others to make the best decision
Being open to compromise is important in a team
Findings from research on cultural practice in childbith
Research shows that mothers specifically reports cultural sensitivity as a barrier to healthcare when not part of local dominant culture
Western biomedical model of childrearing excludes some birthing women’s cultural expectations
Ex: hot/cold balance following childbirth (not bathing, wrapping baby, eating soup), colostrum may be considered spoiled, lying-in period
Make simple accommodations, initiate conversations with patients
Racism in obstetrics
Black mothers are approximately 3x more likely to die in childbirth than non-Hispanic white women, even after controlling for maternal risk factors and household charactersitics
J. Marion Sims practiced techniques on enslaved women
17th century childbirth
Women controlled the birthing chamber (social childbirth led by a midwife)
Did not control the conversation surrounding childbirth which is a way men asserted power
Still see that today with modern reproductive rights conversation
How do you handle stressful situations?
Ex: studying for MCAT really stressed me out as first, seemed like a really big task
Make a To-Do list to set a larger task into smaller, accomplishable goals
Dedicate time for self-care. I like to exercise (running and Pilates) and read at the end of a long day
