Difficult Questions at Dermatology Residency Interviews

Although still the exception, some dermatology faculty ask applicants difficult questions at interviews for residency. How many of us are still able to do calculus? One interviewer on the trail is well known for asking this type of question. Others like to see how quickly applicants can reassemble a pen. Another program asks that applicants teach staff something new, and gets a performance report back that is part of the interview evaluation. One procedural fellowship director requested that applicants send him a video of themselves performing surgery during their dermatology residency. Don't worry, UTMB does not do any of this! We know of no studies that link dermatology residency or fellowship performance to these types of questions (not even getting the calculus question correct). An article by William Poundstone about hiring at Google in December 24-25, 2011 issue of The Wall Street Journal (pages C1 and C2) provides some insight into the motivation behind these out of the ordinary questions. However, what seems to be working for Google hiring ("How would you escape from a blender?") may not work for other companies (or dermatology residency programs). Poundstone is the author of a new book, Are you Smart Enough to Work at Google? Google reportedly only hires 1 person per 130 applicants.