You finally recieve a residency interview
invite. You have to schedule it now. Respond soon and be professional and friendly when you do. It is important to check twice daily to see if you got another invite. Perhaps schedule a few of the less desirable ones early to get the hang of it. Shedule the desirable ones early as you will get more invites in January. Schedule the undesirable ones to the end. Later on u can cancel them. Never cancel an interview before January. Schedule them late and then decide later. But dont be a no show. Cancel them 2 weeks in advance.
You may get a pre-interview dinner. This is usually laid back. Be relaxed and friendly. Ask the residents questions. Don't be shy nor annoying.
At the interview don't get nervous. You will be asked questions like why this field, why our program, describe a patient, etc. Don't forget to ask them questions as well. Show interest. Rarely will you be grilled. They got your USMLE scores. If something goes wrong, do NOT dwell on it. Move on. If you don't know something, don't lie but don't look dumb either. Try to change the topic. Steer the conversation to your advantage. For example, I was asked why I took so long in med school, I deflected the answer in a way so I could talk about my USCE. Having USCE gives you a lot to talk about.
Also know your field. Know all the fellowships, the trends, research, etc. Also know the program inside out so you can ask questions. Also know who to ask what. Do NOT ask the attendings the call schedule and other such questions. This is for the residents. For the attendings you can ask what changes do you expect to see in the program, etc. I like asking them what are the strengths and weaknesses of the program. If you get the list of interviewers, google their names and find out their interests so you can ask them about it.
My advice above is by no way complete. I suggest all of you to check out Frist Aid for The Match and Isserson's Guide to Getting a Residency. Also check out the various forums.
My final word of advice is try and enjoy the interview season. You will get to travel to places you otherwise may never see again. For example I booked my Las Vegas (IMG friendly by the way) interview near New Years Day so I had a blast. It is important to see if you like the area as you may be there for 4 years.
On the bottom click on the videos preview pictures. A video will play on the top. Some of them might be useful. Some won't. I believe the first one is a good example how NOT to interview.
Also check this link out: http://129.106.196.5/ms/students/ms4/residencyinterview.wmv It is a video for UT Houston Medical Students on how to interview. This one is very useful.
