If you were to witness another doctor doing something you felt was unethical, how would you respond?

"I would report it to the appropriate supervisory tier in the hierarchy, be it the department chairman or the hospital legal counsel."

Asking you if you're a coward is a rude way to ask this same question. Of course, it's the polite way that wins the day. The interviewer wants to know if you have what it takes to do the right thing when it happens. Also, most hospitals have protocols for how to handle these types of problems, and they want to make sure you'll follow these protocols. So, two answers: you'll do the right thing AND you'll do the right thing the way they want you to do it.

"If I witnessed something I thought was unethical, immoral, or even illegal, I'd report it up the chain of command so that everyone could be assured it would be handled properly."

"First, I would verify for myself that what I saw or heard was what I thought I saw or heard. Reporting such an incident can have serious repercussions, so I would want to make sure I am right. I could do this simply by asking the person in question. If the answer verified what I thought, I would report the incident to Administration for the correct protocol to be put in place; if he or she was dishonest with me or evasive, I would still report it accordingly. And if I misunderstood and was incorrect in my assumptions, I would be thankful I had the wisdom to make sure of things."

Are there any questions you would like to ask me?

"How do you organize the Emergency Department rotational call for uninsured or unassigned patients?"

Any interview should end with this question. It shows the interviewer's respect and courtesy for you, the interviewee. Your answer will also demonstrate to the interviewer where your priorities lie in your career. If you feel there are things you need to know, ask now. Besides the answers being informative, it gives you someone to hold accountable if expectations were given but not fulfilled after the fact.

"What is your re-admission rate at your facility?"

"I intend to participate in community outreach programs offered, but I would like to pick and choose the ones I feel I can do best; are these mandatory for staff membership or voluntary?"

How would you handle a patient who was disagreeable, contrary, or downright abusive?

"The only behavior I won't tolerate is when the patient or persons accompanying the patient interfere with my medical management. Such a development needs to be corrected and eliminated, but not with reactionary anger, but with an on-the-fly education into what's at stake."

As a physician, you are frequently exposed to people in pain or to whom unforeseen things happen at the worst possible times. Such people are cranky and this should be seen as understandable...but up to a point. Your answer should reflect the slack you understand should be given such a patient, but also that you know that point beyond which maladaptive behavior becomes unacceptable.

"No matter the behavior toward me, I always stay on task. You can never go wrong being a lady or a gentleman, and a patient will remember how you reacted even when he or she feels bad in retrospect."

"An ill-tempered reaction from a patient is understandable, which sometimes can make things ugly. I get that and so should any responsible physician. However, I draw the line at overt abuse, not for me--I can take it, but for others, such as ancillary personnel who are there to help both me and the patient."

Have you ever 'bitten off more than you can chew' in treating a patient?

"I would never knowingly bite off more than I could chew, but if a case were to go that way, my expertise is demonstrated more by addressing this by calling for help than by trying to prove some point that says I don't need help."

Everyone has limits and no one physician can do everything. Unfortunately, this realization can become very ugly when it doesn't make itself obvious until you're in the thick of things. A wrong answer to this question is one in which you come off as some sort of maverick who is more like a gambler than an innovator, at the patient's expense. A right answer is one in which unforeseeable events transpire, which cause you to raise your game as well as ask for help, putting your patient first.

"Surgery is one thing in which an urgency can develop that doesn't care about my knowledge or training, so things can arise for which getting the right help to address it properly should be done--and should be done as no reflection on me."

"Unfortunately, this happens. If it hasn't happened to a physician, he or she just hasn't had enough experience yet, because it will happen. When it does, the quality of a physician can be defined by how he or she summons and orchestrates help to get the job done right. The patient comes first, so there's no room for pride at his or her expense."

Do you feel a DO is better than an MD, or vice versa?

"I feel being a DO is better for me than being an MD, because I like the total approach, but that doesn't mean it's better. It is not lost on me the different approaches espoused by each. I just prefer the DO approach. I would have been happy as an MD, but I'm happier being a DO."

This question is slightly differently flavored from the previous question that asked, 'What do you feel a DO can offer that an MD cannot', except it's a more competitive--if not mean-spirited approach. Don't fall for it. You don't want to badmouth anything. Like the answer to the other question, see the beauty in the complementary approaches.

"No, I don't. I chose osteopathy for specific reasons, but the MD offers things that complement what I do and vice versa."

"My experience through the years has taught me that the DO doesn't have all of the answers and neither does the MD. But, I feel I'm a better DO by incorporating some of the MD approaches, which is a more likely accommodation in the clinical world than an MD incorporating some of the DO approaches. That doesn't make the DO better than an MD, but it makes me a better DO."

If you hadn't become a physician, what career do you think you would chosen instead?

"I probably would have been some type of entrepreneur; the uncertainty of which I would have found challenging and exciting. Perhaps opening a restaurant or a service company of some kind."

This question takes the previous question on what type of health career you would have chosen, besides osteopathy, to another level by asking what non-health career would you have chosen. In this way, it is related to the question about your hobbies outside of medicine. Thus, it's another attempt to find out what else you find interesting, outside of medicine.

"It's the scientist in me that drove me to clinical medicine, so I suppose I would have been involved in research, specifically geared to nutrition. I don't know if that means becoming a dietitian or a nutritionist, but diet is so important, so my focus would have been on that, which is also a holistic direction."

"Assuming I would have chosen an alternative career early, which would have offered me the luxury of failure, it would have been something to which I was romantically attracted and not necessarily practical, such as being a record producer or entertainment management or a professional photographer."

If you could have changed anything about your education, what would it be?

"The difference between pursuing a DO degree and an MD degree is apparent in much of the curricula. As a DO, I would have liked more crossover by hearing lectures from the MD viewpoint on the things considered specifically osteopathic."

This is a sneaky way of asking about your educational weaknesses. It also explores your innovative sensibilities. You don't want to admit there was something substantial you missed in your education, but the interviewer is expecting something of substance in your answer. The purpose of this generic question, here on cmsmq.com, like the other Q&A, is to prepare you so you're not surprised.

"I believe I would have introduced clinical exposure from the very beginning of my education, so that I could apply what happens in the real world with the didactics in the books."

"Since osteopathy is more of a holistic approach, I would have liked to take that theme even further by incorporating some disciplines considered outside of mainstream medicine, such as acupuncture and some traditional Eastern medicine "

What book, having nothing to do with medicine, has influenced your life the most and why?

"Charles Dickens' 'A Tale of Two Cities,' in my opinion, has both the best opening and closing lines of any book I've ever read. Between those opening and closing lines is a story of sacrifice geared to the truly important things in life. Humanity, love, and giving are the things that end up being the heroes."

'All work and no play,' as the saying goes. The interviewer wants to make sure you can be engaging outside of your medical safety zone and also wants to learn a little about you as a person. Non-fiction is OK, but don't cite a self-help book, because that's still work and no play. You can't go wrong citing a classic. Be careful of best sellers, for they can become dated very quickly. Below are just random examples of books for illustrative purposes, of course. There is no expectation that you have read any of the ones mentioned.

"I read a book called 'Music of the Spheres,' by Jamie James, in which he gives a history of when the arts--especially music--separated from science during the Renaissance. This resonated with me because being a physician is both science and art, and how they fit together and how they're separable shouldn't be a conflict but a reconciliation."

"'2001, a Space Odyssey,' by Arthur C. Clarke, for me, went beyond mere science fiction and explored what physicians explore on a daily basis--wonder for humanity, crossing boundaries of what is known, and venturing into the unknown."

Do you feel some version of nationalized health insurance is the answer to providing for the underserved?

"I would love a one-payer system, but that's selfish, because I'm just thinking about simplifying the entire billing process. For the underserved, however, while it may help them, it may also stifle innovation, which is what capitalism does best. So I have to admit that whatever ways it ends up going, there are tradeoffs, and we need to make sure the tradeoffs aren't at the expense of any demographic."

This is similar to the question about how you will impact the health care system, but it's even more political and more financially sensitive to the facility's bottom line sensibility, so answer thoughtfully. The same advice stands--come off as caring for the betterment of society, without taking sides--just in case there is a right or a wrong side according to your interviewer.

"As long as there are medically underserved, there will be a need for something other than the current system, although I'm referring to something to fill the gap, not replace the whole system."

"This is so complex an issue, which is why it has never been solved. I would like to see something to bridge the gap for the underserved, such as a Medicare or Medicaid 'buy-in' for anyone who doesn't have private insurance."

What is the single most important event in your life to date?

"My wedding was my most important event to date. It not only meant a change to a completely different way of life, but meant a true union with another human being, which has taught me empathy, patience, and what love is supposed to be."

Wow, what a question. Certainly you expected something similar, like what have you learned from medicine, or what has inspired you the most, things like that. But, the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT even in your whole LIFE! You can't go wrong saying things like your marriage, the birth of your child, or your day of graduation. (See the 'Entry Level' answer, which is a cop-out, but as said, you can't go wrong.) You might want to steer tangentially, however, and surprise the interviewer with a 'Wow' answer to the 'Wow' question. It will make you stand out from the other candidates and their marriages, births, and graduations. Check out, especially, the 'Experienced Level' example.

"The single most important event in my life was not a single incident, but a dawning on me, through marriage and parenthood, that I am fulfilled putting myself second...or third. This ranking also has served me well in my clinical practice."

"An obese patient suffering severely from a post-operative ileus once asked me--in layman's terms--to digitally remove a fecal impaction. I know this falls into the less glamorous events in my career, but no one else was willing to do it for her. It was at the end of my shift and I could have easily just left, leaving it to someone--or not, as such things typically go. I put on a glove and did this unglamorous medical procedure, and the heartfelt gratitude in her eyes taught me that I am not better than anyone, and if I'm pledged to help any patient in need, that is not something from which I get to pick or choose. He or she either needs my help or not. Had I not done this for her, I would be explaining why this was the most important event in my life for quite a different reason."

What do you feel a DO can offer that an MD cannot?

"As a Doctor of Osteopathy, I can offer both the functionally centered approach and the pharmaceutical or surgical approach, which can supplement care beyond what a DO or MD can do alone."This is a bit of double-talk, but it gets the idea across that differences can be assimilated if the situation calls for it."

There is a traditional dichotomy between the two allopathic physician groups--DOs and MDs. You shouldn't answer this question with oneupmanship in mind, but respect for what you don't see as a competing approach, i.e., MD vs osteopathy. You want to convince your interviewer that you see value in both approaches.

"The different mind sets between DOs and MDs are not interchangeable. The two are simply two ways to arrive at the same result--patient health. On the DO side, the difference is prioritization for a more natural approach, which dovetails with an MD approach, when necessary. This is more of a complementary interaction than a competitive one."

"I have never seen the MD degree as antithesis to my DO, but in partnership with it. While in some situations, either of us can do what the other does, sometimes a holistic goal can render care in addition to what medication or surgical remedies alone can do. DOs offer function as a priority."

How have your clinical experiences affected your non-clinical life?

"I have learned from my clinical experiences the power of love. When illness strikes, it is reassuring to me as a physician when loved ones rally to help, comfort, or just to be present. I've learned that those things can be just as important as the things I do for them clinically."

This is another foray into the philosophical. Being a physician is special; it is seeing and dealing with things every day that most people only encounter once in a lifetime. It is unlikely that the specialness of your vocation won't impact your personal life in any way. Your answer will tell the interviewer a little about how your mind works.

"My clinical experiences have taught me that no one 'has it made,' per se. Every single person has his or her problem or problems. Problems don't care about race, religion, job, or income. When I think of my own problems, I know that I'm not alone--and it can always be better and it can always be worse, too."

"As we go through life, everything we do becomes a part of us. My clinical experience has become a part of me as well, but not from the medical aspects, but from the human level. I'd retire the day I found I didn't care anymore, but I find myself caring more the longer I'm in my career--caring for the lives my patients actually live as impacted by what I do or cannot do. It's my job to partner with them in this respect."

What are the negative aspects of being a doctor?

"For me, being available all the time is difficult sometimes. I know I will have to take time off for vacations, illness, or just to keep my sanity, and having to argue for these needs to a patient who thinks otherwise can be hard in the middle of a treatment plan."

There are, in fact, negatives to a career in medicine. It is not a punch in/punch out job. Responsibility goes beyond shifts and finite fees for finite services. It's a commitment to the person. This often takes tolls on your personhood and private life and also can affect the loved ones in your private life. Don't be afraid to say how and why. A person who says being a doctor is a perfect life will lose credibility immediately.

"Sometimes it's disappointing to have to delay or cancel personal plans for a patient who interrupts those plans, especially when it proves unnecessary. But then, I tell myself that the patient doesn't know if it's unnecessary--that's what he or she comes to me for."

"The work is hard--from the standpoint of just the labor, the emotional impact, and finding someone good enough to please my patient when I need coverage. But nothing that is important is ever easy. As far as finding excellent coverage for my patient, that poses the risk of a patient switching from me to that other physician; the alternative is choosing someone not as good as me, but that would be unconscionable. I find such trade-offs a big negative in being a physician."

What do you need in your vocation to feel you've been successful?

"To be successful, I want to be able to look back on my career and know that I did the best I could, at all times. It's as simple as that--the 'worth-doing' things being done well, always."

This is a question designed to show the interviewer something inside you. It's a vague question, sure, but how you answer will tell them a lot about your personal values. You should make the answer about you, your patients, and the special bond of the patient-physician relationship.

"To be a success in osteopathic medicine, I want to feel that I've always put my patients first, completely unrelated to ICD codes, reimbursements, or medicolegal concerns. I want to know that my patients saw a DO who was with them every step of the way in treating their conditions, and I'll feel even more success if they know this, too."

"I cherish the most when I begin to see the next generation of patients come to me. This speaks volumes in their whole family's confidence in me and the results that have accrued over the span of time I was privileged to treat their family. That would be my success."

What are OMM techniques?

"OMM is so emblematic of osteopathy because of the continuum between the musculoskeletal system and the body in general. Nothing demonstrates that better than the results achievable via the OMM techniques that involve the soft tissue relationships to the musculoskeletal system and the whole body via the techniques of their manipulations and stretching."

OMM is one of the foundations of osteopathic medical school curricula. If you're a DO, don't think that the interviewer just wants to see if you know what OMM is. You do. Instead, what you want to convey is that knowing how OMM techniques can supplement conventional medicine is more important than merely listing out the bullet points of what these techniques are. Steering your answer toward what, specifically, are the advantages of OMM techniques over and beyond the MD-centric approach. You should espouse holism in your answer, especially. Then, if they really want you to list the techniques, you know them, so give them that, too.

"Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine supersedes chiropractic like osteopathy supersedes the sometimes narrow focus of medicine. I find that the accepted manipulation techniques of OMM that include other musculoskeletal structures besides just joints is what allows it to impact the physiological conditions outside of the musculoskeletal system."

"Osteopathic manipulations integrate purposeful give-and-take of the whole body as an interconnected system. OMM takes chiropractic steps further beyond just bones, joints, and the spine, and is the foundation of osteopathy from the holistic sense."

Why did you choose DO over some other career in health?

"I've always seen the health viewpoint of a DO as covering many of the easily missed aspects other health careers. This all-inclusivity is what made it more attractive to me and aligned the best with what I wanted to accomplish for my patients."

This is a bit softer of a controversy than the other questions which pit DOs vs MDs. It allows your foray into friendlier territory, as exemplified by the answer samples below. As such, other careers in health could include homeopathic careers, chiropractic, herbal medicine, and careers considered more traditional, such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and psychology. Your answer also gives you a chance to plug your own vocation, so don't be afraid to cite the advantages of osteopathy.

"I've always been interested in a holistic approach, and to me, disciplines like physical therapy or psychology are necessary pieces in the puzzle. As an osteopathic physician, I can integrate these disciplines into a logical interactive whole approach."

"In my undergraduate years, I shadowed many different types of health care providers and gravitated to osteopathy as the one that made the most sense. Many physiological processes are interdependent and interactive, and osteopathy was the obvious choice for me."

What impact do you want to have on the community?

"I recognize that the elderly are the most vulnerable when it comes to timely follow-up for medical conditions, and I intend to institute in my practice an aggressive follow-up program of call-backs and other correspondence, involving next of kin, and even transportation opportunities when necessary."

All entities which consider themselves 'responsible' like to be seen as supportive of the 'community,' as well as embracing diversity, inclusivity, and the other buzzwords in today's YELPscape in which social media holds them accountable. However, the reality casts doubt on what social media puts out as fact, so espousing these admirable things is different from actually living them. Thus, it may be hypocritical for the interviewer to expect these things when his or her own facility may at times ignore them. But...you have to answer as if you embrace these things. Regardless of the reality as it applies to them, they want to hear it from you. So just say it for them.

"I intend to look long and hard at the health care underserved in the community and will take an active role in doing my part to correct inequities by participating in your facility's outreach screening programs."

"I want to introduce a program in my practice that allows high school students to shadow what a health care provider does everyday, either by patient consent or HIPAA-compliant methods. I always knew I wanted to be a physician, but I would have loved to have had such an experience early, during my formative high school years."

How could you, personally, affect the health care system?

"There's power in numbers, and since I'm just starting out in private medicine, I intend to be an active member in my local, state, and national organizations, both for osteopathy and my specialty."

Careful with this one, because it's politics. The hospital or group with whom you're interviewing has a lot at stake depending on how the health care system co-exists in both capitalism and socialized programs, like Medicare. You want to sound knowledgeable, concerned, and caring for patients (at all costs), without actually taking a side. This is difficult to do, and the examples provided here show you how.

"I think that as long as I keep a watchful eye on the economic processes that both advance medical care and innovation while also tending to the needs of the underserved, I can be prepared to add input--even at a legislative level, if need be. How the health of the health care system goes, so goes the health of my patients. I can affect it only by paying attention and being ready to contribute my thinking when it seems necessary or would prove useful."

"As providers, DOs don't necessarily run things to the extent that government or the third-party payers do. But we have a voice--the most important being championing our patient's needs. What happens in the health care system trickles down to what happens to each patient, and I can make my feelings clear through the appropriate outlets--legislative and even media--if I find a direction that hurts my patients and needs correction."

Is there a benefit to having two separate clinical types of physician--DO and MD?

"The two different degrees come at problems from two different directions. Sure there's a lot of overlap, and with those either an MD or DO will suffice; but there are conditions in which one approach will give better care than the other, and having both types of physician is a benefit for any facility that is obligated to accept all patients seeking care."

Like the question that asks what you, as a DO, can offer what an MD cannot, this question also intends to see how you skirt the sometimes controversial issue of specialties that have different, if not competing mind sets. It also gives you an opportunity to espouse the holistic approach in allopathic medicine, since many--including possibly your interviewer--may not 'get it.'

"The benefit to patients of having two different approaches is that not one size 'fits all.' Some patients present with conditions that only require a focused surgical strike, per se, while others require a 'big picture' approach. Having both these philosophical approaches in the same institution means less pathology will slip through the cracks."

"To know how both the DO approach and the MD approach being present benefits everyone, all you need do is look at the outcomes for both. Patients that bounce back and forth between the two will ultimately settle on one, which means that each offers things the other does not. Having both means leaving no patient behind."

What do you do in your spare time?

"As a DO interested in a holistic approach, I exercise and participate in recreational sports to address the needs of my body. Also as a DO, I know that this supports the mind-body connection as much as the cognitive approach does."

This is a question for which the answer will allow the interviewer to get to know you better--not you as the DO, but as the person. So stay away from spare time activities that are exclusively health-oriented. Hobbies, passions, and recreational pursuits are what you want to mention, not that you read your journals (although reporting that you do volunteer work related to your vocation is not only allowable, but recommended).

"In my spare time, I like to read the classics. In school, I had very little time to read anything non-medical. Now I purposely orchestrate my time to allow for the important books everyone should read."

"My profession expects me to practice what I preach and set an example. This means paying special attention to the mind and the body, which is an attitude that will see me practicing medicine part of the day, and physical fitness another part--of each day. I feel you cannot have one drive without the other."

Doctor of Osteopathy Interview Questions

Go Back

1. If you were to witness another doctor doing something you felt was unethical, how would you respond?
2. Are there any questions you would like to ask me?
3. How would you handle a patient who was disagreeable, contrary, or downright abusive?
4. Have you ever 'bitten off more than you can chew' in treating a patient?
5. Do you feel a DO is better than an MD, or vice versa?
6. If you hadn't become a physician, what career do you think you would chosen instead?
7. If you could have changed anything about your education, what would it be?
8. What book, having nothing to do with medicine, has influenced your life the most and why?
9. Do you feel some version of nationalized health insurance is the answer to providing for the underserved?
10. What is the single most important event in your life to date?
11. What do you feel a DO can offer that an MD cannot?
12. How have your clinical experiences affected your non-clinical life?
13. What are the negative aspects of being a doctor?
14. What do you need in your vocation to feel you've been successful?
15. What are OMM techniques?
16. Why did you choose DO over some other career in health?
17. What impact do you want to have on the community?
18. How could you, personally, affect the health care system?
19. Is there a benefit to having two separate clinical types of physician--DO and MD?
20. What do you do in your spare time?

Doctor of Osteopathy Interview Questions

1. If you were to witness another doctor doing something you felt was unethical, how would you respond?

2. Are there any questions you would like to ask me?

3. How would you handle a patient who was disagreeable, contrary, or downright abusive?

4. Have you ever 'bitten off more than you can chew' in treating a patient?

5. Do you feel a DO is better than an MD, or vice versa?

6. If you hadn't become a physician, what career do you think you would chosen instead?

7. If you could have changed anything about your education, what would it be?

8. What book, having nothing to do with medicine, has influenced your life the most and why?

9. Do you feel some version of nationalized health insurance is the answer to providing for the underserved?

10. What is the single most important event in your life to date?

11. What do you feel a DO can offer that an MD cannot?

12. How have your clinical experiences affected your non-clinical life?

13. What are the negative aspects of being a doctor?

14. What do you need in your vocation to feel you've been successful?

15. What are OMM techniques?

16. Why did you choose DO over some other career in health?

17. What impact do you want to have on the community?

18. How could you, personally, affect the health care system?

19. Is there a benefit to having two separate clinical types of physician--DO and MD?

20. What do you do in your spare time?