It looked like this, but with 2 feet of snow and 8 degree weather.
It was a group interview with six total people. There were 2 undergraduates, the rest had been out of school from 1-6 years, one with masters in forensic science and the others doing lab work. First question was introducing yourself, blah blah. Then the rest of the interview was more of a discussion, so forgive if it seems unorganized, because that’s how the interview felt.
During introductions, one girl mentioned that she thought preventative care was the next step in medicine due to the healthcare bill. So the “bad cop” interviewer asked her if primary care physician should be reimbursed for preventative care (exercise, proper diet, don’t do drugs, etc.) compared with a doctor who orders 10 test and get reimbursed for them all. For those of you unfamiliar with the scandalous nature of medicine, if a doctor orders a $100 test, they can tell the government to reimburse them for $200. Yes, that was an awful example but that is how it works.
Anyways, she rambled for awhile about being an idealist and in an ideal world, doctors could be reimbursed for said preventative care. I, trying to give my opinion and distinguish myself as you are supposed to do in interviews, said that 1) patient compliance would be a huge issue and 2) how do you quantify preventative care. If you tell someone to stop smoking, the most common response is “you can’t tell me what to do,” so how could you get anyone to actually follow your advice? On top of that, how can we quantify preventative care? We can see the results of 10 tests, but not 10 pieces of advice.
Then we progressed onto “is healthcare a right or a privilege?” I said that it is more of a privilege than a right, though I emphasized both perspectives. My analogy was that we would normally say freedom is a right, but if you murder someone, then you go to jail, hence your freedom is taken away, therefore freedom is also more of a privilege since it is something that can be taken. The same way that if healthcare is a right and a person abuses that by smoking, drinking, drugs, should their right be taken away?
This guy probably should have it taken away
Next was if you ever had a problem with a professor, and I said some shit about one class where the professor didn’t know the material well and there was a gap between what we were learning and what was applicable in the real world.
Then there was an ethics question about seeing someone cheating on a test, which I responded that I would talk to the person I saw cheating first, then if I thought they had a legitimate reason for why they were doing what I would consider cheating, then I would let it go but keep an eye out. Then the “bad cop” asked what if someone asked you to sign them in for a residency shift, which I responded that I would definitely not do that since other people are depending on that person to be there for his shift.
The last question (that I remember) is to describe a difficult time in your life and how you dealt with it. I described my first few weeks in Korea since that brought up both my international experience as well as my new appreciation for being a minority, being in a foreign country, how I can adapt to a foreign situation, etc. We go around the table and I’m kinda listening, but this one guy had a rambling story about his life, and then he says “I had to choose between becoming a doctor and my family, and I decided to pursue my dream.” He said that his fiancé did not want him to become a doctor since it would probably mean that they would not be able to see each other for a large amount of time, which is a reasonable response if you are about to be married. He ended his blurb with “we have separated since then.”
And I’m yelling in my mind, “WTF?????? You gave up your fiancé for a career?????” I wanted to ask him, how can anyone give up family for a career, but I decided not to since that would expose my dick-itry to the interviewers. That man either has dedication to becoming a doctor that I do not possess, or a cold heart to ignore his fiancé’s wishes. Regardless, I don’t think that he is getting in.
No idea if this is legitimate. Small y-axis though.
So now I play the waiting game. They said 30 days, but it’ll be 30 days from when my D.O. letter gets in, which I don’t think it has yet. Never been so nervous to receive news about something. If I don’t get in there, I will apply to their Florida campus probably, and then sign up for my next MCAT simultaneously. How depressing a thought that is…. One whole year of waiting, having to reapply again to everything…..
This picture is pretty accurate of how I feel about that.
Other news with my life is that I’m incredibly sick of Pittsburgh and bioengineering and eagerly awaiting to get the fuck out of here. It definitely feels like I’m just waiting around to receive a paper saying I did some shit for four years that makes ejumacated enough to have a B.S. (I think it stands for Bull Shit) degree.
2 and a half more months until I can leave, permanently, from Pittsburgh. I will be leaving behind a city a do not care about, a major that I will not use, and a whole heap of memories and bad decisions that I won’t be reminded about as frequently without the visual cues everywhere.
I will miss the people here, definitely, and this is the last few months that we will all be together in the same area. That is a depressing thought; the day I say good bye to all the great friends I made here. I’m sure I will see a few of them (and some I would rather never see again (I’m not talking about friends though (you know what I mean (I hope)))) after college has been over, but definitely not as frequently. That’s life I guess, moving on to other cities and careers, but it still makes me a sad, almost enough to put a sad emoticon (almost).
I’m ready for my next adventure, but damn it if school is getting in the way.
P.S. Suggestions for posts are always welcome. I find myself with an unnatural amount of time on my hands and there are only so many video games I can play before my head hurts (with joy).
