Tell me about a time during medical school where you had a setback or failure? How did you respond to that setback?

Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
How to Answer
1st Answer Example
2nd Answer Example
3rd Answer Example

Your interviewers are trying to understand and predict how you will deal in the face of adversity that will most certainly happen at some point during your residency. They want to know that they are going to choose a candidate that when the going gets tough will rise to the occasion.

It is important that you are able to give a concrete example of a failure and then show how you were able to improve your circumstances. You should be able to show that you learned from the failure and that you won't make the same mistake again.

"My first board exam score was not as high as I had hoped. After reflecting, I realized that reading many textbooks was not the most effective way for me to study. I adapted my study plan for my next board exam to focus instead on doing practice questions instead. I was able to dramatically improve my step 2 score by doing this."

"One time I did poorly on an anatomy exam. As someone who has always achieved excellent grades this was very surprising. That bad grade motivated me to study harder and I improved on every test during the remainder of the anatomy class."

"During my first year of medical school I really struggled with Biochemistry, to the point where I actually failed one of our written exams. I had always been able to do well in school without studying much and was completely shocked when I got my grade back. Although I felt like I had put in enough hours to not only pass but to score well, I had obviously not prepared in the best way to pass the test. I knew that I had to change the way that I was studying or the rest of medical school would be incredibly challenging, if not impossible. I was able to sort through different learning methods and realized that spaced repetition and reviewing with a study group allowed me to learn the material more fully, and I went on to do very well in all of my subsequent classes."