Master 35 Cardiology Fellowship interview questions covering clinical reasoning, procedural experience, and research commitments.
Question 4 of 35
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Ryan Brown created and launched MockQuestions in 2008.
Disagreements requiring outside help are inevitable during your time in Cardiology Fellowship training. Your team of interviewers wants to know that you would join their program with the ability to be respectful and diplomatic when you face a disagreement with your immediate colleagues.

Ryan Brown created and launched MockQuestions in 2008.
"It would depend on the disagreement. If the disagreement was with a senior fellow, I would defer to their opinion as they have more experience than I do. However, if I was concerned that they were making the wrong decision regarding patient care or providing subpar patient care, I wouldn't hesitate to discuss it with them respectfully. If necessary, I would go to the chief resident. For more serious issues, such as ignoring patient care responsibilities, I would go directly to the attending physician because these actions, or inactions, would be done under the umbrella of the attending's medical license."

Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.
For a colleague disagreement, you should go to your senior on the team. For disagreement with your senior, you should go to the chief fellow. If there is a significant and imminent risk of harm to the patient, you should go to the attending physician. Walk your interviewers through how you would first try to handle the disagreement among yourselves and then take it up the chain of command as necessary.

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First, I think it is always best to speak to the other person directly and see if a consensus can be reached. If not, disagreements can be escalated up the chain of command to senior fellows or attendings as appropriate. If there is a chance of patient harm, this escalation needs to happen faster.

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These are all great strategies to use depending on the level of urgency. Great job.
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Written by Ryan Brunner
35 Questions & Answers • Cardiology Fellowship

By Ryan

By Ryan