"Triage is as important as it is necessary. In General Surgery, there is a final triage which consists of my hierarchy of decision-making once I've opened someone and the surgery is in progress. All of the most effective preliminary triage in the world will do no good if triage excellence doesn't continue with me during the actual surgery. I, as the surgeon, am making all decisions--which is in a basic sense, triaging--within the actual scope of the surgery I'm performing."

The interviewer doesn't just want you to answer, 'Very important.' This is a throwaway question asked only to see you start to think out loud for him or her. It deals with prioritization and perspective, so let him/her know that you're not blind to the big picture.

"By its very nature, triage gets the most important things done first, and that requires a perspective and an instantaneous grasp of the total situation. Therefore, if the most important things are to be done first, I need to be there with a thorough perspective in a timely manner. Surgery has this quality as a foundation for everything else a surgeon does."