"During my Emergency Med rotation as a fourth-year med student, I was very fortunate to work with a physician who handled conflicts with ease. We were in a large urban hospital that saw all kinds of patient situations. One morning, we had an older gentleman present with what appeared to be a minor stab wound. While the nursing staff was bandaging him, the physician asked a lot of probing questions about how the cut had happened, and the patient became upset and was almost combative. I was very taken aback, but I got to witness how my preceptor remained calm, reflectively listened, and continued to ask further probing questions until the patient finally admitted that his son had stabbed him."

Describe a simple scenario briefly, focusing on your response to the challenge rather than describing the details of the conflict. When you discuss how you handled it fairly, emphasize that clear communication was instrumental. As a new resident, your example could include how you witnessed a precepting physician during your medical school rotations. Describe what you took from that situation that you will put into practice as an Internal Medicine Resident.

"Once I witnessed a conflict between an attending physician and a patient. The patient was very frustrated that they felt they were not being heard. The physician slowed down, stopped talking, and started listening to what the patient was actually complaining about. Once the patient felt that the physician was adequately listening to their concerns, they calmed down and communicated that they had been frustrated with their pain and that no one had been addressing it."