Talk to us about a time you failed. How did you get back up again with a positive attitude?
In the complex world of medicine and patient care, every physician fails at one time or another. Your interviewing team knows that fellows in their program will see their fair share of failures. They want to know that you can learn from mistakes and move forward with a lesson learned and a positive attitude.
"During my second year of residency training, I misdiagnosed a bone fracture and initially consulted the patient on corrective surgery. Following my consultation, I reviewed the patient notes, symptoms, and imaging results with my attending, and she determined that I indeed had misdiagnosed the fracture as needing to be surgically repaired. I took the time to learn what I should have done differently and then personally called the patient to discuss new options for treatment. The patient was very happy to hear that surgery would not be necessary and thanked me for following up right away. I considered this moment a huge failure because it was in direct communication with a patient, but looking back, it caused me to be much more thorough in my work."
We all fail from time to time, and there is no need to be ashamed of defeat. The magic is in the lessons we learn from these situations. Give an example from your residency where an outcome was not what you wanted it to be, but you were able to recover. Perhaps you were better off in the end or learned a valuable lesson. Outline the roadblock and share how you approached the situation to ensure a good recovery. At the end of your response, discuss your level of dedication, even in the face of failure, and how you will make an impact on this program.
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
On my last Head and Neck rotation I was doing a thyroidectomy for a young patient with thyroid cancer; the first side with the nodule went smoothly and the nerve was stimulated. When we went to the other side, the nerve dissection was much more challenging and the gland felt stuck, which was surprising. At the end, the nerve would not stimulate. And the patient woke up with unilateral paralysis. When the final pathology returned there was evidence of cancer on that 2nd side too. It was important for me to acknowledge difficulties in our careers and how to stay resilient in the face of those difficulties.
Jaymie's Feedback
This would have understandably been a very difficult experience for you. At the end of your response, consider discussing in a little more detail how you evaluate the situation after there has been a failure or misstep. If there was nothing you could have done differently, how do you work through that adversity and the emotions of a negative outcome that is beyond your control?
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