What do you feel is your greatest weakness you would have in joining our Emergency Medicine Residency program?

This is your chance to promote yourself despite your flaws. Your answer should point out a salvageable weakness; you should admit that you're imperfect but have the gumption to work on your weakness because you are committed to being the best you can be. Explain that, if you didn't perform at your best, you'd feel as if you were failing your program, and you find that unacceptable.

"I feel that my greatest weakness will be my desire to be social with every person I interact with. While this has never been a weakness in my life or education to this point, I realize that I need to have boundaries with my patients to work effectively in a fast-paced setting. I don't foresee this as an issue for my residency training. I will have to step out of my comfort zone a bit, but I'm ready for the personal challenge."

"One weakness I continue to improve upon is overanalyzing situations. I have had to learn that while analysis is important, over analysis can also be the enemy of progress. I have learned to use all the information available to me to make the decision possible and then to move on to the next task."

"One weakness or opportunity for improvement that I have been working on is being extremely detail-oriented to the point that it holds me back from being as efficient I could be. While I've been working on ways to find an acceptable level of focus, I also know that Emergency Medicine training will inherently teach me what details are important in which situations in a safe learning environment."