Post Interview 1

My first interview went well, alhamdulillah. I think I mentioned earlier about the dinner the night before the interview…...it being right after thanksgiving only two candidates showed up(me and this one other guy) and it was just us and the chief resident. In a way it was good because it gave us a chance to get to know each other and for the chief resident to tell us about the program and answer our questions. The interview day itself started at seven and ended at one. I was the only international medical graduate amongst the 6 people interviewing that day…the rest were students from local universities in Michigan….a little intimidating as a couple of them had actually done a few rotations at this hospital and well, they seemed to know every one around. Anyways, two of them were really nice and it was fun talking to them as we awaited our turns for our respective interviews. I was interviewed by three people one of them was the chief resident ( yay ! Because he just told me he had gauged what he wanted to the night before and asked if I had any questions) The biggest selling point for this program would have to be the program director himself who went to great lengths to make one feel comfortable. I had liked this program instantly as I went through its website when I chose to apply to it. They are big on teaching, all the residents seemed happy, more than half their graduates go onto fellowship training and research is compulsory which helps a lot in fellowship placements down the line. The day ended with lunch with the residents. They also gave us these goody bags to take home..…brownie points there because they had a chocolate bar in them too! All in all, I must say it was a great experience…..I would probably have a better frame of reference as I interview at more places…but I did like what I saw at this particular program and for a community program it had some really impressive credentials. I am going to be in Detroit in January for another interview and I think I will probably go and visit this program again inshaAllah. I head out to Kentucky next….I am scheduled to interview at University of Kentucky on December 1st. It probably won’t be as laid back as my previous interview what with it being a university program(for the non medics…university programs are generally considered better than community programs and so their interviews are said to be more high profile too….I have my own reservations about this but I shall talk about that some other day). Its going to be quite a road trip as D and a cousin have decided to accompany me…..we’ll be driving down and it’ll be fun! After this I’ll have a week before my next interview which is just perfect timing because Maa is flying down from England to visit for exactly one week! I am very excited as this would be one time in the past two years when I’d be able to spend time with her without having to worry about some crappy exam! Thank you all for checking in on me…keep praying…Aya still has a long way to go! :)