Surgical Critical Care Fellowship Mock Interview

Master 30 fellowship interview questions covering trauma management, complex cases, and program fit.

Question 1 of 30

What career goals do you hope to achieve by pursing a surgical critical care fellowship?

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Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.

Pursuing a year of training in surgical critical care can be done for many reasons; a lot can depend on the residency path taken and a candidate's ultimate career goals. Your interviewers need to be assured that you will put their training to good use and have a carved-out path that you would like to see your career path taking.

Ryan Brunner

Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.

Come to your surgical critical care fellowship interview prepared to discuss your future career goals in detail. While keeping in mind that your interviewing team has trained physicians whose careers have gone in many different directions, highlight how training in their program will help you achieve your goals.

Ryan Brunner

Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.

"Over the last five years in practice in emergency medicine since finishing my residency training, I've gained a lot of respect for intensivists and have loved following my patients' care in the ICU setting. I want to achieve dual board certification in emergency medicine and as an intensivist so I can continue to practice in a rural academic setting in both the emergency and ICU settings."

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30Surgical Critical Care Fellowship Interview Questions & Answers

Career Goals

1.What career goals do you hope to achieve by pursing a surgical critical care fellowship?

Education

2.What was your favorite didactic training you received during your residency training?

Direct

3.If you don't match into a surgical critical care program this year, what is your plan?

Experience

4.Talk about any critical care rotations you've had during your residency and medical school training. What did you enjoy about the experiences?

Career Goals

5.Our surgical critical care fellowship program offers many options for elective rotations. Have you put any thought into the elective rotations you'd like to pursue?

Experience

6.Talk about your charting and dictation experience during your prior training. What EHR programs did you gain experience in?

Leadership

7.How did you demonstrate your ability to take the lead during your residency? Why do you feel this natural ability is important during surgical critical care fellowship training?

Communication

8.As a fellow with our program, how will you explain a complex procedure or diagnosis to the family of a patient?

Situational

9.As a new surgical critical care fellow, how will you respond when asked to do a procedure or task that you are unfamiliar with and uncomfortable handling?

Discovery

10.What three words would you use to describe your personality?

Behavioral

11.How did you handle constructive criticism during your residency training?

Compatibility

12.During your residency training, did you find that there was a personality type that was difficult to work effectively with?

Stress

13.Situations can get tense in the critical care setting. How has your training prepared you for the stress and intensity of a surgical critical care fellowship?

Compatibility

14.What are you looking for in a Critical Care fellowship program?

Discovery

15.Talk about some things that make you excited about this relocation.

Discovery

16.Do you have any concerns regarding the skills you would bring to our program?

Conflict

17.What would you do if there was a disagreement among colleagues or fellows as a trainee with our program?

Teamwork

18.Do you consider yourself a team player?

Direct

19.Are you mentally and physically prepared to handle the required shift work in our surgical critical care fellowship program?

Discovery

20.What would you say is your top non-medical strength that makes you an excellent fit for our program?

Discovery

21.What other career path might you have chosen if medicine simply wasn't an option?

Direct

22.This institution requires a full criminal background check and education verification. Would you be willing to comply if you joined our program?

Communication

23.If we spoke to your current resident colleagues and attendings, how would they describe your communication skills?

Experience

24.Talk about the abstracts, presentations, and publications you were responsible for during your residency training. Do you have any specific research interests as a surgical critical care fellow?

Ask The Interviewer

25.What questions do you have about our surgical critical care fellowship program?

Experience

26.Have you had to cope with losing a patient during your residency training?

Role-Specific

27.How would you describe your bedside manner?

Discovery

28.Coming out of residency training, what would you say is your greatest weakness as a physician?

Discovery

29.What initially motivated you to pursue a career in medicine?

Discovery

Surgical Critical Care Fellowship Mock Interview

What career goals do you hope to achieve by pursing a surgical critical care fellowship?

30Surgical Critical Care Fellowship Interview Questions & Answers

1.What career goals do you hope to achieve by pursing a surgical critical care fellowship?

2.What was your favorite didactic training you received during your residency training?

3.If you don't match into a surgical critical care program this year, what is your plan?

4.Talk about any critical care rotations you've had during your residency and medical school training. What did you enjoy about the experiences?

5.Our surgical critical care fellowship program offers many options for elective rotations. Have you put any thought into the elective rotations you'd like to pursue?

6.Talk about your charting and dictation experience during your prior training. What EHR programs did you gain experience in?

7.How did you demonstrate your ability to take the lead during your residency? Why do you feel this natural ability is important during surgical critical care fellowship training?

8.As a fellow with our program, how will you explain a complex procedure or diagnosis to the family of a patient?

9.As a new surgical critical care fellow, how will you respond when asked to do a procedure or task that you are unfamiliar with and uncomfortable handling?

10.What three words would you use to describe your personality?

11.How did you handle constructive criticism during your residency training?

12.During your residency training, did you find that there was a personality type that was difficult to work effectively with?

13.Situations can get tense in the critical care setting. How has your training prepared you for the stress and intensity of a surgical critical care fellowship?

14.What are you looking for in a Critical Care fellowship program?

15.Talk about some things that make you excited about this relocation.

16.Do you have any concerns regarding the skills you would bring to our program?

17.What would you do if there was a disagreement among colleagues or fellows as a trainee with our program?

18.Do you consider yourself a team player?

19.Are you mentally and physically prepared to handle the required shift work in our surgical critical care fellowship program?

20.What would you say is your top non-medical strength that makes you an excellent fit for our program?

21.What other career path might you have chosen if medicine simply wasn't an option?

22.This institution requires a full criminal background check and education verification. Would you be willing to comply if you joined our program?

23.If we spoke to your current resident colleagues and attendings, how would they describe your communication skills?

24.Talk about the abstracts, presentations, and publications you were responsible for during your residency training. Do you have any specific research interests as a surgical critical care fellow?

25.What questions do you have about our surgical critical care fellowship program?

26.Have you had to cope with losing a patient during your residency training?

27.How would you describe your bedside manner?

28.Coming out of residency training, what would you say is your greatest weakness as a physician?

29.What initially motivated you to pursue a career in medicine?

30.What is something unique about yourself that we can't find on your CV?