Good Questions to Ask Residency Programs
Questions to ask during a residency interview, grouped by who is answering: residents, chief residents, faculty, the program director and the program coordinator, with a few to close on. The longest group is the questions to ask residents on interview day, whether over lunch, in a breakout room or on the tour, since they are the people living the schedule you would inherit. The ones nearly every applicant asks are here, alongside others that ask for dates, counts and recent examples instead of adjectives, and each has a note on what the answer tells you or what to ask next. The list is written with the US match in mind, and where a rule depends on the state, the hospital or the specialty, the note says to ask how it works there. The program director group keeps to the essentials, and a longer set for that conversation is kept separately.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Residents
What does a typical day look like for an intern here, from arrival to going home?
Why ask it
Ask for yesterday and not an average: what time they got in, when rounds ended, whether they ate, and when they left. The answer changes by rotation, so find out which service they are on and how the heaviest one compares. If two residents describe the same service differently, plan around the longer day.
Why did you choose this program, and would you choose it again?
Why ask it
The first half tells you what the program sells well. The second half is the one to listen to, and the speed of the answer counts. A quick yes with a reason is worth a lot. A pause, or 'it depends what you want', deserves a follow-up about what they would look for now.
What would you change about this program if it were up to you?
Why ask it
Every program has something, and a resident who names it plainly is describing a place where it is safe to say so. Ask whether anyone has raised it and what came back. The same complaint from three residents is real. 'Nothing' from all of them tells you less than it seems to.
How does call work here: night float, 24-hour shifts, or a mix?
Why ask it
Get the mechanics and not the label: how many weeks of nights in a year, how long the longest shift runs, and whether a day off follows it. Ask about the first year and a later year separately. Some people would take a block of nights over scattered long calls and some the reverse, so know which you are.
How much autonomy do residents get here, and when does it start?
Why ask it
What you are looking for is being trusted to make the plan while someone still checks it. Ask a senior what they decide without calling anyone, and ask an intern whether their plans survive rounds or get rewritten. Too little autonomy and people graduate unsure of themselves. A great deal of it very early can mean the service is short of supervisors.
Do the hours you log match the hours you work?
Why ask it
Accredited programs work under duty-hour limits, and every one will tell you it keeps to them. What varies is whether residents feel free to record a long week as it happened. 'I log what I work and nobody minds' is the answer you want. A resident who mentions being asked to correct an entry has told you something the program's figures will not.
Do you get to teaching conference on a busy service, or does the work keep you out?
Why ask it
Protected teaching time appears on nearly every program's website, and it holds only when someone else is covering the patients. Ask how many sessions they missed last month and whether interns on the heaviest rotations get there at all. A resident who has to think back to the last one they sat through from start to finish has answered.
How much of your day goes to jobs that do not need a doctor, such as transport, blood draws or chasing records?
Why ask it
Hospitals differ a great deal in the support around their residents: phlebotomy at night, patient transport, social work, someone to book follow-up. Where it is thin, residents fill the gaps, and the time comes out of teaching and sleep. Ask what happens at two in the morning when a patient needs blood drawn.
Where do most residents live, and does the salary cover it?
Why ask it
The salary is published, and what it buys locally is not. Ask about rent near the hospital, the commute from the places people can afford, and parking, which is free at some hospitals and a monthly bill at others. The most useful answer comes from a resident whose household looks like yours, whether that means a partner, children or loans.
What do you do with a day off here, and do you like the city?
Why ask it
You will live here for the whole of training, and a program cannot make up for a place you dislike. Specifics show that people have a life outside the hospital: a trail, a team, a regular Sunday. If every answer is sleep and laundry, ask which rotation they are on, because that may be the month talking and not the program.
How do residents who have children, or a partner in another field, manage the schedule?
Why ask it
Ask it if it applies to you or might during the training years, and ask to be put in touch with a resident who is living it. The practical details matter most: childcare hours that fit a shift, whether swapping for a sick child is routine, what a partner found for work nearby. If nobody has had a child during training, the program is not necessarily unfriendly to it, only untested.
When did you last call an attending in the middle of the night, and how was it received?
Why ask it
Every program says attendings are available, so ask what calling one costs the resident. A recent, ordinary story means the phone gets picked up without a penalty. Hesitation, or a joke about which attendings not to wake, is the supervision policy in practice.
How many full weekends off have you had in the last three months?
Why ask it
Call systems have their own shorthand at every hospital, and none of it compares. A count of whole weekends is a number you can set beside another program's. Ask a resident in a different year too, because the answer often changes after intern year.
How far ahead do you get your schedule, and how often does it change after that?
Why ask it
This decides whether you can book a flight, reply to a wedding invitation or hold a childcare place. A year of blocks published before July and call shifts posted weeks ahead is workable. Learning on Thursday what you are doing on Monday is a different life, whatever the total hours.
What do the seniors here do for interns that nobody requires of them?
Why ask it
Much of the daily teaching in residency comes from the resident a year or two ahead. Small things are the tell: a senior who holds the pager so an intern can eat, or stays to go over a hard admission. If no example comes to mind, that is an answer too.
Do you finish your notes at the hospital or at home?
Why ask it
Charting from the couch is work, but it is the part least likely to be logged. If most residents finish notes at home, add that time to whatever hours you were quoted. Then ask what causes it: the record system, the patient load or the note requirements.
Which rotation taught you the most, and what made it work?
Why ask it
The reason is worth more than the name of the rotation. If it comes down to one attending, ask whether that person is still there. If it is about volume and being trusted with decisions, you have learned how this program thinks residents learn.
How is sign-out done here: face to face, from a written list, or over the phone?
Why ask it
Handoffs are where things get missed, so ask for the mechanics: a fixed time, somewhere people can sit, and a list both teams work from. A rundown in the hallway as the day team leaves is the version to worry about. A night resident can tell you how often a patient comes as a surprise.
On services with fellows, do they take the procedures or teach them?
Why ask it
Fellows can be the best teachers in the building or the reason a resident never gets the case. It differs by service inside one hospital, so ask about the two or three rotations that matter for the career you want. Where there are no fellows, ask who does the subspecialty teaching.
How much orientation did you get before your first shift on your own?
Why ask it
Some programs run a week or two of shadowing, simulation and record-system training, and others hand over a pager on day one. Find out which this is, and whether the first rotation is chosen to be a gentle one. An intern went through it most recently, so ask one.
What prepared you for the first month you were the one supervising?
Why ask it
Going from intern to the person interns call is a steep step, and programs handle it very differently. Ask what this one did: a course for new seniors, a paired month, a chief on backup. 'You just figure it out' is an honest answer, and it tells you how much residents here teach themselves.
How often do you work through an interpreter, and how does that go at night?
Why ask it
It tells you who the patients are more exactly than the word 'diverse' on a slide. Listen for how long it takes to get an interpreter on the phone or a screen at three in the morning, and whether residents end up relying on a relative in the room. Applicants who speak a second language should also ask how the hospital approves staff to use one with patients.
Where do you work between patients, and is there a chair and a computer for everyone on the team?
Why ask it
On a virtual day you never see the workroom, and on a tour you see it empty. Hunting for a free computer several times a shift is time taken from teaching and from getting home. Where residents keep their things, and where the nearest food is at night, belong in the same conversation.
How is vacation chosen, and did you get the weeks you asked for?
Why ask it
The number of weeks is on the website. What is not there is whether vacation comes in fixed blocks, is barred on certain rotations, or gets taken back when a service is short. The winter holidays are the other half of this, so find out how they are divided.
Can you get to your own doctor or dentist without using a vacation day?
Why ask it
Residents are patients too, and appointments fall in working hours. Listen for a named arrangement, such as a half day each block or a chief who finds cover without fuss. A laugh is an answer as well, and the follow-up is when they last had a checkup.
How often do you see the program director, and where?
Why ask it
Directors describe an open door, and residents can tell you whether anyone walks through it. The best sign is a director residents run into in the course of work, on the wards or at a regular meeting with each class. Where the only contact is a formal review twice a year, the chiefs are carrying everything in between.
Do the classes mix, or does each year keep to itself?
Why ask it
It tells you whether there will be someone a year ahead to ask the embarrassing questions. Listen for specifics: a shared group chat, seniors turning up at intern birthdays, people covering for each other unasked. 'Everyone is really nice' with no example usually means people go home.
Do residents have a say in the rank list?
Why ask it
If residents score applicants, the lunch and the social hour are part of your interview and you should treat them that way. If they do not, residents tend to say so with some relief and speak more freely afterwards. Ask it of a resident, lightly, and not of faculty.
Chiefs
What takes up most of your time as chief?
Why ask it
The job description says teaching and administration. The honest answer is usually one thing: filling holes in the schedule, settling disputes or chasing evaluations. Whatever it is, that is probably where the program is under strain this year.
How were you chosen as chief, and is it an extra year here?
Why ask it
The arrangement depends on the specialty and the program: in some the chiefs are final-year residents, in others it is an added year after graduation. Whether they are elected by residents, picked by the director or both tells you whose trust the job rests on. Anyone who might want the role should hear what it did to this chief's fellowship or job timing.
How much elective time do residents get, and can they design their own?
Why ask it
The number of elective weeks is usually published. Whether those weeks are yours is another matter: some programs let residents build a rotation or go to another institution, and others offer a short menu or pull people back to cover the wards. Ask what the chief did with theirs, and whether anyone lost an elective to coverage this year.
Do residents reach their required case or procedure numbers comfortably, or in the last few months?
Why ask it
Where the specialty sets minimums, what matters is when residents reach them and whether anyone keeps watch along the way. Finishing with room to spare means the volume is there and it gets to the residents. A scramble in the final spring, or cases borrowed from another site to make the count, calls for a follow-up about which procedures run short.
Is moonlighting allowed, and from which year?
Why ask it
The rules depend on the program, the license you hold and, for some residents, the visa, so ask what applies here: inside the hospital or outside it, when it starts, and how the hours are counted. Ask how many residents do it. If most of a class moonlights, find out whether that is for the experience or because the salary does not stretch.
What was the last thing residents brought to you that you took to leadership, and what came of it?
Why ask it
Chiefs sit between the residents and the director, so they know which complaints travel and which stall. A recent example with an outcome, even a partial one, shows the route works. A chief who has to reach back more than a year may be telling you that residents have stopped bringing things.
How do you handle a swap request for a wedding or a funeral?
Why ask it
Every schedule looks rigid on paper. Ask what happened the last time someone needed a day that was not theirs. You will hear whether the chiefs arrange it, residents are left to find their own cover, or certain rotations are simply off limits.
When the teams are full, where does the next admission go?
Why ask it
On ward-based services this separates a cap that holds from one that exists on paper: listen for a non-teaching service, a night admitting team or a hospitalist who takes the overflow. If the answer is that the team absorbs it, ask how long the longest list got last winter. In a specialty with no caps, ask what gives when the list doubles.
At conference, who does most of the talking: residents or faculty?
Why ask it
Residents presenting and arguing a case means people prepare and are expected to think aloud. A lecture from the front can be good too, so ask which sessions residents would still attend if nobody took attendance. While you are on it, ask who answers the pages during that hour.
What happens after a low score on the in-training exam?
Why ask it
Responses range from a study plan and a faculty coach, to losing elective time or moonlighting, to nothing at all until boards are close. Ask what the last resident in that position was offered. A chief who answers without awkwardness is describing a place where a low score is a problem to solve and not a mark against you.
Which of the program's wellness offerings do residents actually use?
Why ask it
Nearly every program can list a committee, a counselling line and a retreat. The ones that get used tend to come with time attached: a covered half day, or a retreat where someone else holds the pagers. An event held at noon on a ward day mostly reaches the people who were not on the wards.
Is there a union or a house staff council, and what has it changed lately?
Why ask it
Either can exist in name only. Ask for the last concrete result: a meal allowance, a parking rate, a call room repaired. Where there is a union, ask whether the contract comes up for negotiation during the years you would be there.
How are days away for fellowship or job interviews counted?
Why ask it
In the later years a resident may need many days away within one season. Programs handle it with set interview days, vacation only, or informal swaps. If it all comes out of vacation, someone applying widely can finish the year with no time off.
Faculty
How long have you been on faculty here, and what has kept you?
Why ask it
A specific reason, such as the residents, a clinic they built or a chair who backs them, points to a stable place to train. It is also easy to answer, which makes it a good first question when the interviewer hands you the floor. Keep count through the day: several interviewers who arrived in the last two years is worth a question about turnover.
How often do residents get feedback, and is it said in person or only written on a form?
Why ask it
Most programs hold a formal review a couple of times a year, which is too slow to change anything by itself. Listen for feedback at the end of a week or a rotation, said aloud by the attending who watched the work. Put the same question to a resident, because the two accounts do not always match.
What research do residents do here, and is there protected time for it?
Why ask it
Find out what is required, what is optional and what a typical resident has to show for it by graduation. Protected time should mean a block without clinical duties, so ask how many weeks and in which year. If the fellowship you want expects publications, ask who helps a resident arriving without a project to find one.
Do residents teach medical students here, and does anyone show them how?
Why ask it
Teaching is how many residents find out whether they want an academic career. Ask whether students join the teams, whether residents give talks or lead small groups, and whether anyone coaches them at it. A program without students is not a worse one, and some applicants prefer having the cases and the attending's attention to themselves.
What do you manage to teach on a day when the service is overloaded?
Why ask it
Anyone can teach on a quiet day. A faculty member with a habit for the bad ones, such as one question per patient or five minutes at the end of a case, has thought about it. An answer that leaves teaching to conference means most of what you learn on that service will come from doing.
When a resident disagrees with your plan, what do you want them to do?
Why ask it
You are asking whether it is safe to speak up. Good answers are specific: say it at the time, bring the reasoning, call again if you are still worried at night. Watch the reaction as much as the words, because an attending who bristles at the question will bristle at the disagreement.
When you have a concern about a resident on your service, what do you do that week?
Why ask it
The pattern to avoid is a resident who learns at a six-month review that faculty have been worried since autumn. An attending who tells the resident directly, the same week, is describing feedback that arrives while it is still useful. One who saves it for the written evaluation is describing the other kind.
Do residents evaluate you, and has anything in those evaluations changed what you do?
Why ask it
Feedback that only flows downward is a warning sign. Ask whether the forms are truly anonymous in a class small enough to guess from, and whether faculty see any consequence. An attending who can name something they changed is worth remembering.
Do you mentor any residents at the moment, and how did that start?
Why ask it
Assigned mentorship can mean one meeting in July and nothing after. Asking a faculty member about their own mentees shows how pairings really form here: by assignment, by a resident knocking on a door, or not at all. Ask how often they meet.
Is there a project of yours a resident could join, and what did the last resident who joined come away with?
Why ask it
A research requirement can be met with a poster nobody reads. This asks one person about real work with a real result: a paper, a talk, a protocol the hospital adopted. If they have nothing running, ask who in the department does.
What would you tell a resident who wants a career like yours to do in the first year?
Why ask it
It turns part of the interview into the mentoring you are trying to assess. A specific answer is a preview of what having this person down the hall would be like. Only ask it of faculty whose work you would want, because it falls flat when it is not sincere.
Has anyone in recent classes missed the fellowship or job they wanted, and what happened next?
Why ask it
Match lists show the wins. What the program did for the person who missed says more: a research year arranged, calls made, a post found in the department. If nobody can recall a miss, ask how many aimed for the competitive fields in the first place.
How well does this program serve a resident who does not want a fellowship?
Why ask it
At some academic programs the quiet assumption is that everyone subspecializes, and the electives and mentors follow. Ask what graduates who went straight into practice say they were ready for. If generalists are an afterthought, you will hear it in how long the answer takes.
Does the department hire its own graduates?
Why ask it
Faculty who trained here and stayed, or left and came back, are a vote of confidence from people who know the place well. The opposite is not damning, since some hospitals rarely have openings, but ask why. It also tells you whether staying on is a realistic option.
Which conference or teaching session here would you not miss?
Why ask it
Faculty attendance is a fair test of whether a session is any good. An interviewer who names one quickly and describes it has pointed you to the program's best teaching. One who has not been to a resident conference in a while suggests that faculty and curriculum run apart from each other.
What does a resident in one of the tracks or pathways get that the others do not?
Why ask it
A track can mean set-aside time, a funded project and a mentor, or it can mean a certificate at graduation. Ask how many residents are in it this year and what they give up for it, since the time has to come from somewhere, often electives. A program with no tracks is not worse for it, as long as a resident with a particular interest can build the same thing informally.
Where do residents learn the business side: billing, contracts and how a practice runs?
Why ask it
It is possible to finish training able to manage a sick patient and unable to read an employment contract. Some programs run a short series in the final year, and many leave it to chance. Who teaches it, and whether it is on the schedule, are the two things to pin down.
How do residents here learn to lead a family meeting or give bad news?
Why ask it
Ask whether it is taught and observed, or picked up by standing at the back of the room. Programs that take it seriously can describe practice sessions, an attending who watches and comments, or time with a palliative care team. It matters in any specialty where you talk to families.
Is anything about to open, close or merge here that would change training during my years?
Why ask it
A new building, a lost service, a merger or a second residency arriving in the same hospital can change case numbers within one training cycle. Faculty usually hear before applicants do. You are not asking for a promise, only listening for whether the answer is candid.
Program Director
What do you see as the program's greatest strength, and where is it weakest?
Why ask it
Nearly every applicant asks some form of this, and the strength will already be on the slides. Listen to the weakness. A director who names a real one and says what is being done about it is being straight with you. 'Our residents work too hard' is a compliment dressed as a flaw, and it is fair to ask once more.
Which residents thrive in this program, and which have found it a poor fit?
Why ask it
It is the fit question asked from the other side, and it gets a more candid answer than asking what the program looks for. Listen for a description you recognize yourself in: self-directed or closely taught, drawn to research or to the wards, at ease in a large class or a small one. 'Everyone does well here' means nobody has thought about it.
What have your graduates gone on to do over the last three years: fellowship, practice or academic posts?
Why ask it
Ask for the full list and not the highlights, then look for the path you want on it. If you are aiming at a fellowship, ask how many applied in that field and how many matched. If you plan to go straight into practice, ask where graduates found their jobs. A program whose graduates all do one thing is very good at preparing for that one thing.
What is the board pass rate for first-time takers over the last few years?
Why ask it
It is a blunt measure, and one of the few that can be set side by side between programs. Ask for several years, since one difficult year in a small program swings the figure. Then ask what board preparation looks like, and whether a dip, if there was one, led to any change.
Has any resident left before finishing in recent years, and what were the reasons?
Why ask it
People leave for ordinary reasons: a change of specialty, a partner's job, family. A director who can go through the departures one at a time, without getting defensive, is usually describing exactly that. Several from one class, or an account that puts it all on the residents who went, is worth checking with the current seniors.
How long have you been program director, and do you expect to stay through my training?
Why ask it
The director sets the tone, signs off on your progress and writes your letters, so a change midway matters. It is a fair thing to ask and most directors answer it plainly. With a new director, ask what they have changed so far. If a handover is coming, ask who is likely to take over and whether the associate directors are staying.
How does the program help a resident who is falling behind or having a hard time personally?
Why ask it
Most classes have someone who hits a bad stretch: a failed exam, an illness, a death in the family. You want to hear about a process that begins with a conversation and extra support, from a director who can describe the last time without identifying anyone. Ask whether the residents who needed help in recent years went on to graduate.
Is the program fully accredited, and did the last review raise anything?
Why ask it
Accreditation status is public and worth looking up before the day. What the listing leaves out is what the last review or resident survey flagged and what was done in response. A citation that has been dealt with is no mark against a program. One the director waves away is. At a new program, ask how far along the accreditation process it is.
How is training split between sites, and how do the patients differ from one to the next?
Why ask it
The sites are named on the website, and what each one teaches is not. A public hospital, a veterans' hospital, a private referral center and a community clinic offer different patients, different resources and different amounts of independence. Ask what share of the time goes to each, how far apart they are, and which one residents credit with teaching them most.
What does the program do to recruit and keep residents and faculty from underrepresented backgrounds?
Why ask it
Ask about what exists now and not what is planned: who is on the faculty, whether there is mentoring that residents take up, and how a report of mistreatment by a patient or a colleague is handled. Then ask a resident whether that matches what they have seen. Where the two accounts differ, the resident's is the one to weigh.
Coordinator
Can I see this year's contract and the benefits summary before rank lists are due?
Why ask it
The contract is where salary, leave, insurance and the terms for non-renewal are written down. Coordinators are used to the request, and reading it before you rank is ordinary diligence. Compare the leave and non-renewal wording across programs, not only the pay.
What has to be done between Match Day and the first day, and which deadline catches people out?
Why ask it
Training licenses, background checks, health screening and life support courses tend to have spring deadlines, and the list differs by state and by hospital. The coordinator knows which item held someone up last year. Ask for the checklist in writing, so you can start the slow ones the week you match.
What date would I need to be here, and are the orientation days paid?
Why ask it
Orientation often begins in June, sometimes before the contract's start date. Whether those days are paid, and whether insurance has begun, varies from one hospital to the next. The date also sets your move, which matters if your lease or graduation runs late.
When is the first paycheck, and is there any help with moving costs before it?
Why ask it
There is often a stretch between graduation and the first pay date, with a move and a deposit in the middle of it. A relocation payment or a salary advance is offered at some hospitals and not at others. Knowing the date tells you how much you need to have set aside.
When does health insurance begin, and what does it cost to add a partner or a child?
Why ask it
Coverage from the first day and coverage from a month later are very different if you take regular medication or are expecting a baby. The cost of covering a family can outweigh a small salary difference between two programs. Get the monthly figure, not the word 'competitive'.
How many weeks of leave can a resident take before graduation is pushed back?
Why ask it
The hospital's policy says how long you can be away. The specialty board, and sometimes the program, decides how much of that counts before training has to be extended. Ask how it went for the last resident who took parental or medical leave, and what it did to a fellowship or job start date.
What does the education fund cover, and does unused money carry over?
Why ask it
The same dollar figure is worth more where it can go toward exam fees, a laptop or a board review course, and less where it is limited to approved books. Ask whether it is a reimbursement, which means paying first. Ask too whether it resets every July.
Does the program pay for Step 3 or Level 3, the state license and DEA registration?
Why ask it
Which of these you will face depends on the state, since training licenses and hospital DEA numbers work differently from place to place. Ask which apply here, in which year, and who pays. The answers belong in the same column as salary when you compare programs.
If a resident has a poster accepted, who pays for the trip, and is the time away extra?
Why ask it
Support for presenting is often separate from the education fund, and the rules tend to be specific: first author only, one meeting a year, a cap per trip. Whether conference days come out of vacation is the part residents find out late.
Which visas does the program sponsor, and who handles the paperwork?
Why ask it
If you need a visa, confirm this before the interview where you can, because a program that cannot sponsor your type cannot go on your list however well the day goes. On the day, ask who files, who pays and how early the process starts. If you do not need one, leave it out.
Does working here count toward public service loan forgiveness, and who certifies it?
Why ask it
It depends on who the legal employer is, which is not always the name on the hospital. The coordinator or the benefits office can tell you which entity issues the paycheck. If you carry federal loans, check the answer against the loan program's own rules before relying on it.
Is there a call room or a paid ride home for a resident too tired to drive?
Why ask it
Most programs have something on paper for the resident who should not drive after a long night: a room to sleep in, or a ride the hospital pays for. Ask whether residents take it up, since an offer nobody claims is usually awkward to claim. A resident can tell you the same thing from the other side.
Do residents get a retirement match, and when does it vest?
Why ask it
Hospitals vary: a match from the first paycheck, no match for trainees, or a match that vests after more years than a residency lasts. It is not a reason to rank a program. It is real money, though, and the coordinator will know the answer.
Have couples matched here together recently, and did the two departments coordinate?
Why ask it
Only worth asking if you are in the couples match, in which case ask it at both programs. Some coordinators let the partner's department know you are a pair, and some hospitals have no channel between departments at all. Knowing which helps you order the combinations.
Closers
Is there anything in my application you would like me to explain?
Why ask it
It gives the interviewer room to raise a gap year, a failed exam attempt or a school they do not know, instead of writing it down unaddressed. Have a short, calm answer ready for each before you ask. With nothing in your file that needs explaining, skip it and close on a question about the program.
Who would I work with most in the first year that I have not met today?
Why ask it
An interview day shows you the people who volunteered for it. The senior residents on nights, the attendings at the busiest site or the clinic staff may shape intern year more, and none of them were in the room. It is reasonable to ask for an email address for one of them.
What is the one thing you would want me to remember about this program when I sit down to rank?
Why ask it
It hands the interviewer the last word, and what they choose is what they believe sets the place apart. Ask it of two or three people on the same day. If the answers match, the program knows what it is.
Is there a second look or an in-person visit, and what would I see that I have not seen today?
Why ask it
Ask it as a logistics question. After a virtual interview, a visit may be your only look at the wards, the workroom and the neighborhood, so ask to come on an ordinary working day. Ask whether it falls before or after the program's rank list is settled, so nobody wonders why you came.
What is the program's policy on contact after today?
Why ask it
Programs set their own rule: some welcome follow-up questions, and others ask for no contact at all so that nobody feels pushed to write. Knowing it spares you the worry over thank-you notes and letters of intent. Ask who to email if a real question comes up later.
Using these questions in a residency interview
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the day
Choose three for each conversation
A faculty interview usually leaves a few minutes for your questions, and a resident session not much more per person. Pick three from each group you expect to meet, and put first the one that could move the program up or down your list.
Put one question to several people
Take two or three questions, such as weekends off or calling an attending at night, and ask an intern, a senior and a chief. Agreement is reassuring. A gap between the years, or between residents and faculty, is often the most useful thing you learn all day.
Use the same questions at every program
Answers only help you rank if they line up. Weekends off, schedule notice, how much leave is allowed before graduation moves and what the education fund covers can sit in one row per program, and a row of figures is easier to compare when you rank than a set of impressions.
Fit them to the specialty
The list is meant to work across specialties, but some questions assume wards, team caps and a pager. For a surgical or procedural program, turn them toward the operating room: who gets the case, and what a fellow leaves for the resident. For a program that is mostly outpatient, ask the same things about clinic.
On a virtual day
Breakout rooms with residents are short, and one confident person can fill them. Start with a question everyone can answer in a line, then follow up with whoever said something interesting. Paperwork questions rarely fit the schedule, so ask the coordinator whether you can send them by email.
Ask the right person
Residents, especially interns
The typical day, call, schedules, handoffs, vacation, where people live and how the classes get on. Interns remember the first months clearly and have had less practice at the recruitment answers. Seniors can tell you what changes after intern year, so ask both.
Chief residents
Swaps, electives, case numbers, full teams, conference, exam scores, moonlighting and how complaints travel upward. They sit between the residents and the director and usually know which problems are structural.
Faculty interviewers
Their own teaching, feedback, mentees and research. Faculty answer best about what they personally do, so the Faculty group asks mostly about that and leaves program policy to the person who sets it.
The program director
Strengths and weaknesses, where graduates go, board pass rates, attrition, accreditation and how long the director expects to stay. Save that conversation for what only the director can answer, and take the rest to the other groups.
Coordinators and administrators
Contracts, leave mechanics, funds, onboarding and visas. They know the paperwork that determines whether a stated policy is usable, and they field these questions every season, so none of them is awkward to ask.
Reading the answers
Push once for a number or an example
If an answer is entirely adjectives, ask what that looked like most recently. One follow-up is normal interview behavior and it separates programs that have data from programs that have talking points.
Note when residents give the same answer
Identical phrasing across three residents can mean a genuinely consistent experience or a briefed one. Ask a slightly different version of the same question to find out which.
Watch what happens to hard questions
How a program handles a question about a missed fellowship, a low exam score or disagreeing with an attending tells you as much as the content of the answer. Defensiveness on the interview day is unlikely to improve once you are on the schedule.
Write it down that night
Interview days blur within a week. Record the answers you got and your impression the same evening, because the rank list will rest on those notes and not on memory.
What not to do
Do not ask what is on the website
Rotation lists, class size, salary and the number of vacation weeks are usually published. Asking for them wastes the one part of the day you control and reads as unprepared. Ask about what the published figure leaves out.
Do not open with salary or vacation
Both are legitimate and you should get answers, but with faculty lead with teaching and supervision. Benefits questions land better with the coordinator, where they are routine, and vacation is one for the residents.
Do not ask residents to criticize faculty by name
It puts them at risk and you will get nothing usable. Ask about process instead: how a concern gets raised, what came of the last one.
Do not ask where you stand
Match rules generally bar programs and applicants from asking each other for a ranking commitment, and the question leaves the interviewer nowhere to go. Ask who builds the list and how the day feeds into it instead. Check the current rules of the match you are in before sending a letter of intent.
Do not ask a question you cannot use
If no answer would move a program up or down your list, the question is filling time. One asked to sound sharp is easy to spot, and it spends minutes you could put toward something that matters to you, such as how far ahead the schedule comes out.