Tell me about a time when you worked with a person who did things very differently than you. How did you collaborate effectively?

"During one of my rotations as a medical student, I was fortunate enough to be rotating alongside one of my fellow students in a pediatric clinic. We had great preceptors here and an overall great experience, but I did learn the importance of differing work styles in a clinical practice and how to effectively navigate them here. We found that both physicians had their own unique methods for routine exams, their own processes for referrals to specialists and their own preferences for appointment times. Rotating in this practice, I had the chance to be precepted by both physicians and I learned great things from each. One day, I was called out for how I went about an abdominal exam that I performed on a patient complaining of pain following the time with the patient. I explained why I went the route that I did and that I had learned it from the other precepting physician. The physician gave his thoughts on how to improve that for next time and I certainly kept an open mind to his advice."

The goal of your response is to describe your approach to collaborating with others while highlighting how your collaboration style will be a good match for the residency program you are interviewing with. Answer this question by telling the interviewers about a specific time you worked with someone who approached their tasks or communication style differently than you. Outline the situation and describe why it was a challenge to collaborate with this person. Focus on describing the specific actions you took to ensure a successful collaboration and the great result(s) in the end.