Talk about a time you took a misstep in patient care or a diagnosis during your residency training. How did it change you, and what lessons did you learn from it?

Choose a mistake that most people make at some point, like a dosage mistake or a misdiagnosis. Describe the mistake, show what you learned from it, and explain how the experience will help you prevent similar missteps in the future. Make it clear that you are aware that a misstep in patient care can have bad consequences and that you are ready for that challenge.

"I feel fortunate to have been educated on a wide spectrum of common malpractice claims during my time in medical school, and I carried this knowledge with me over the last three years of residency training. During my second year of residency, I initially misdiagnosed a pediatric patient with RSV when the actual diagnosis should have been bronchitis. My attending physician caught some missed symptoms as we reviewed the case while the family was still present. That day, I learned that being thorough in my examination at all times was important and that a quick diagnosis in a non-emergent case wasn't necessary. Had I taken the time to consider all symptoms and run appropriate lab work, I would have gotten the diagnosis right."