Surgical Oncology Fellowship Mock Interview
Master 30 Surgical Oncology Fellowship interview questions covering complex cases, research experience, and multidisciplinary care.
Question 2 of 30
Talk about the types of collaborations you were a part of between other medical specialists during your time as a General Surgery resident. What did you learn from these experiences that you can bring to our fellowship program?
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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.
Patients with complex cancer care needs will rely heavily on the collaboration between the specialists they will be working with, including you as the Surgical Oncologist. In asking this question, your interviewers expect to hear that you value the collaborating physicians you work with as a surgeon and understand just how important teamwork is in cancer care between collaborating physicians.
Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.
To effectively answer the question as it's posed, give a high-level overview of all of the physicians you collaborated with during your residency training, what specialties they were from, and explain why a collegial and collaborative relationship was important in providing the best care for patients. Then make sure to highlight that you will be working hand in hand with medical oncologists and hematologists as a fellow with this program and that you are ready to operate as one cohesive unit.
Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.
"As a General Surgeon in training, I appreciated the fact that I got to collaborate on care with family practitioners, emergency staff, and other physicians throughout the institution on the care of patients. No matter who referred a patient to me, a phone or in-person conversation was always helpful. While reading a patient's record gave me a good history, hearing from their provider was much more helpful. I know that working closely with Hematologists, Oncologists, and Radiation Oncologists will be vital as a Surgical Oncologist because all of our care is wrapped into one package for each patient. Individualized care is also vital to each patient because every diagnosis and surgical case will be unique in its own right."
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Anonymous Answer
I've always been participating in multidisciplinary consultation meetings since my first year of the residency program and I love it because thanks to them I can successfully read a CR or an RMI, I know how a radiotherapy protocol works and I have news about new chemotherapy trials. I would say that I have to thank other medical specialists as much as my senior surgeons for my training.
Jaymie's Feedback
Your response demonstrates your passion for learning and your ability to collaborate with others to learn new things. Be sure you answer the second part of the question by speaking about what you learned from those experiences that you will bring to the program.
Anonymous Answer
One of the reasons I wish to train at U of T is due to the level of inter-professional collaboration that occurs right on the front lines in the clinic. When a patient presents with a new diagnosis, we are often able to discuss the case with our medical/radiation oncology colleagues immediately and often even directly with the patient as a team. Participation in MCC rounds allowed me to develop a greater understanding and appreciation for these specialties and the impact they have on patient care. I have learned the importance of interprofessional collaboration and that there is much to learn from my colleagues in other specialties which will allow me to provide the best care to my patients that I can.
Jaymie's Feedback
It's important that as a clinician of a multi-disciplinary team, you are collaborative and open to learning from others as you're all working together to achieve common goals for patients. Your answer is well-rounded.
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