In the field of sports medicine, quick decisions don't always go the way you hope, and you will experience some clinical setbacks during your time in fellowship training. Knowing that experience can often lead to future results, the program you are interviewing with wants to hear how you work in the face of adversity. They also want to know that they will match a candidate who will rise to the occasion when the going gets tough.

You must be able to give a concrete example of a failure you experienced during your residency training and then show how you were able to improve your circumstances. Walk the team of interviewers through the situation you faced, what happened, and the steps you took to make the situation right. You should be able to show that you learned from the failure and that you won't make the same mistake again.

"At the beginning of my final year of residency, I was admittedly in a bad place emotionally and burned out. I had always prided myself on not letting pressures get to me. I'm so proud that I was cognizant enough to approach my program director and administrator about how I felt. I received some great advice from another attending physician to whom my program director referred me. I've moved forward since then, prioritizing 'me time' and 'family time' when not on my shifts."