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Interviews

Arranging an interview

After you have received your invitation letter, all you need to do is give a call to Donna Benson at 814-889-2020.  We try to provide personal attention during your interview day, so call early for your appointment.  We have very limited interview time available in January.  We ask you to plan your interviews early.                                                                            

Getting to your interview

Don't get lost.

    maps, directions

A typical interview day

The night before

If we have arranged your lodging, check in at the hotel (usually the Altoona Marriott Hotel).

If you haven't already arranged a time to meet the resident(s) for dinner, call or page them.  You should have been given a resident's phone number and pager number to arrange a time by Donna Benson.  In an emergency, you can call the hospital operator at 814-889-2177 and ask for the "Senior Resident on Call".  

Meet one or two residents in the hotel lobby at the Marriott.  Dress is usually nice/casual (ask the resident ahead of time).  Relax and  ask lots of questions.  This is your chance to get a resident's point of view of the program.  Oh, and enjoy the food.

Get a good night's sleep.

The interview day

Meet with Donna at 8:20 at AFP to review schedule and paperwork.

In the morning you will meet with Dr. Beckstead and many of the other faculty for interviews from 15-45 minutes in length.  We'll ask you some questions, answer yours and tell you about the program. Feel free to ask the same question several times, to see if you get similar answers. 

Donna will drive you to the hospital where a resident will give you a tour, that reaches its climax in the cafeteria where you will get lunch.  

You will attend noon conference, and often the residents will hang around afterwards to get to know you.

Our professional tour guide will give you a  tour of Altoona.  Be ready to give her an idea of what you want to see.  If you want to see the multi-million dollar homes, let her know.  If you want to see the typical homes residents buy, let her know.  We no longer routinely drive applicants 30 minutes to our rural Williamsburg office, but you may request this ahead of time.

The day ends at AFP with a wrap-up time with one of our faculty.  You will be shown a copy of the contract you will be given should you match with us.  We will also ask you to fill in a brief evaluation form, so we know how to do better in the future.   

We usually finish around 4:00 pm.

Preparing for your interview

Have a case ready because Dr. Good is going to ask you.

Tell us all your flaws.  We value honesty.

Have good questions.  It looks bad when you don't have any questions.

Please read our brochure the night before, so it looks like you are interested in us.

After your interview

We don't give agreements early in violation of our NRMP match agreement. 

We won't tell you where we rank you.

Please see www.nrmp.aamc.org for all the rules of the match.

You are welcome to come for a second look, though we don't require it and you don't need to do it to impress us.  If you would like to get a better view, we will tailor the visit to your needs.

Our residents will often call or e-mail later to see if you have any additional questions.  If you don't want to be bothered by calls, let us know.  Feel free to call collect any time.

Spouses/Significant Others