Practice 35 Emergency Medicine Residency interview questions covering clinical scenarios, stress management, and patient care philosophy.
Question 24 of 35
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Ryan Brown created and launched MockQuestions in 2008.
The list of emergency invasive procedures that you will learn and master during your Emergency Medicine Residency training is long and includes everything from simple blood draws to emergency thoracotomy. Your interviewers simply want to hear about any procedures you find intimidating.

Ryan Brown created and launched MockQuestions in 2008.
"I'm not intimidated easily, and I would join your program as a confident new physician. The procedure that I know would take the most time to learn is thoracentesis. This can be a very intimidating procedure because of the small room for error."

Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.
Being intimidated by some of the things you will learn as a resident is okay, but you don't want to come off as weak-minded or lacking confidence. You can express that you are intimidated by a procedure or two as long as you express that you are ready and willing to take the time to learn from the expert faculty at this program. In the end, your interviewers want to hear you speak with confidence, so be sure to express that as you answer.
"I am eager to learn procedures such as placing central lines and performing intubations. I have gained experience as a medical student placing IVs and even placed one arterial line, which I enjoyed doing."
"I am definitely not a master of any procedure yet, but of the ones I have been allowed to be a part of as a medical student I found them all to be exciting and interesting. That being said, I also have a huge respect for the fact that they are all dangerous in their own way and that it takes years to master the macro and micro skills for those procedures. I am really looking forward to matching at a program like yours that allows even junior residents opportunities to learn these complex procedures under adequate supervision and through simulation exercises."

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Written by Ryan Brunner
35 Questions & Answers • Emergency Medicine Residency

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