Tell me about a time you received criticism from an attending physician or resident during your time in medical school. How did you handle that situation?
It should be abundantly clear as you enter Internal Medicine Residency that your work will be scrutinized to the nth degree by the senior resident and the faculty of the Internal Medicine Residency you join. Your interviewers want to know that you can take any constructive criticism you receive and turn it into a positive learning opportunity.
"During my anesthesia rotation as a medical student, I was told that I spent too much time with patients in the preoperative rooms. As a result, I was causing delays in the surgical cases. I was not aware of hospital benchmarks to improve case turnover until an attending told me. I asked the attending if it was okay to call patients the night before to ask my questions about their medical histories and remind them to not eat or drink after midnight, and he said that would be okay. For the remainder of the rotation, I always called my patients the night before instead of trying to get a history before a surgical case started."
Choose an example that does not highlight a significant or persistent deficit in your ability to provide care. How you handled this criticism should show your devotion to providing optimal care and willingness to use the criticism to shape how you approach patient care.
"During medical school, I was told by an attending physician that I really internalize the struggles of my patients. That physician discussed with me the importance of self-care and other good habits to start early in my career in order to prevent burnout. I really appreciated this advice and have been trying to incorporate it into my life."
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
I was critiqued on my presentation during rounds on the first week of my first hospital rotation. My presentation did not sufficiently address pertinent negatives. I went to the attending who gave me some advice, I also asked for help from the second-year residents. I came to understand in the end, that the reason I was struggling with negatives was that my differentials were not broad enough. I was too focused on the working diagnosis. I quickly improved on that. I spent extra time reading and studying and my presentations were much improved. By the time I came to do IM, I was thinking broadly enough that I was able to diagnose an aortic dissection that was handed off as a GI issue. I had progressed from being a reporter to a manager.
Marcie's Feedback
Excellent. Your answer is strong and the example you give at the end makes it very impactful. It sounds like you took the criticism you received positively and implemented the feedback to improve yourself, which is what the interviewer will want to hear. Perfect!
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