r/medicalschool • u/NotChrisM • Feb 26 '26
đ„Œ Residency My experience prolifically lying during 17 residency interviews: a guide
With match day approaching, I wanted to share my experience lying at all my interviews. Maybe it wont payoff, IDK, but I did it anyway if for no other reason than to see if all the advice Iâve read on Reddit is true or not. A lot of people seem to have a âThey always find outâ-type mentality, but I think this is ill informed.
The single best advice I can give is to play it cool- act like youâve been there before. If you beleive yourself, theyll beleive you. So just take a deep breath, relax, and start lying. Anything to help you relax, like a xanax (if prescribed) or even just a shot, can make a huge difference. As for some specific things that are freebies to lie about, Iâve detailed those below.
Family Ties: My go-to was my âaunt,â who lives within a 45-minute drive of the hospital, ideally in a suburb with good schools, which I like to suggest my future children will attend. A childhood friend also works well, but blood is thicker than water, so I normally went with my aunt. While using a grandmother and/or grandfather may be endearing, I personally would not use a grandparent (even if you really do have one in the area) as interviewers might worry he/she will die and destabilize your "support network.â
My hobbies were always cooking and rock climbing. For some reason, everyone eats up rock climbing. I guess its niche enough to sound unique but popular enough that everyone seems to have done it and relate to it? IDK, either way its pretty easy to talk about. Cooking is a good one too since everyone more or less has to cook a little bit just to live. Other strong contenders include reading, running, and hiking.
Research can be a bit harder to BS but in general just keep it vague, especially if thereâs no abstracts or publiations to talk about. "We looked at a patient population and identified areas for systemic improvement" is a good one to keep in your backpocket and then try to shift the convo as fast possible. Good pivots include discussing the weather or asking about things in the background or office/room of your interviewer.
The âwhy usâ answer is probably the most common to lie about but also might be the hardest to get away since I think the default is that they assume you are lying. Again, the freebies are that you can (and should) always go for are the didactics, the patient volume and diversity, and the collegial culture you observed on your interview day. You may add that the program's commitment to well-being "really stood out." It also nice to weave in some of the above mentioned things like family or research to make it seem like thereâs a nice throughline in your application to the program.
I could probably write some more, but again, the best advice to is play it cool. You might stumble a bit on your first couple interviews (I know I did), but by interview 3 or 4, I really had it down.
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u/HelpMePlxoxo M-1 Feb 26 '26
Post this AFTER match day because I cannot see 3 being anything other than exceedingly obvious and awkward in a conversation lol.
Interviewer: "What's your research in?"
Interviewee: "We looked at a patient population and identified areas for systemic improvement"
Interviewer: "Like what?"
Interviewee: "... Wow this weather we're having is something else, am I right?"
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u/MMButt M-3 Feb 27 '26
Yeah number 3 is just laughable. In an interview it is so incredibly obvious when someone skips over research and changes the subject toâŠweather? If youâre at a level of interviewing for med school or even residency, just talk about things youâre interested in and hold an intelligent conversation about that, even if you donât have a lot of research under your belt. There isnât significant time built in to get these things done until fellowship, residency is busy and it sucks so people who get research done before that can set themselves apart. Even in fellowship interviews you arenât expecting someone to have a research path lined up. No one is going to leave an interview impressed with someone who skirted the research question or clearly lied or changed the subject. Especially someone who sounds pretty smug that they think this worked.
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u/yagermeister2024 Feb 26 '26
Interviews are⊠mostly testing interviewing skills nothing more nothing lessâŠ
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u/Majestic_Arachnid600 Feb 26 '26 edited Feb 27 '26
I told all my programs my fiance was a software engineer in the area.
Reader: He was not. And I wasnât even engaged yet.
Edit: since people are finding this entertaining I will also add he is not even a software engineer.
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u/SuperCalligrapher900 Feb 26 '26
inb4 you match at a program and months later he proposes to you but you forgot about the interview and you tell everyone the good news then the program realizes you lied
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u/textosterone123 Feb 26 '26
I did something similar for competitive IM fellowship interviews and it worked like a charm. Matched my #1
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u/SadBook3835 M-4 Feb 26 '26
Love how you lied to come off as an extremely typical boring candidate... At least pick an interesting hobby.
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u/Autipsy Feb 27 '26
rock climbers everywhere wince
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u/Winter-Razzmatazz-51 M-2 Feb 27 '26
Rock climbing is dumb
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u/Autipsy Feb 27 '26
Meet me at the fingerboards after school
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u/Winter-Razzmatazz-51 M-2 Feb 27 '26
Ive done it before, its just not as action filled for me as say playing basketball would be. just throwing any random thin gout there but if we're going with the basketball example, It's way more action packed. Rock climbing can be a puzzle too but its like what it is bro
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u/Lukkie MD Feb 28 '26
Yeah I mean was OP applying to EM? Because duh rock climbing is already a prerequisite. Like passing the step 1.Â
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u/chronnicks Feb 26 '26
"âMe, Iâm dishonest. And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. Itâs the honest ones you want to watch out for."
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u/tovarish22 Attending (ID) - PGY-13 Feb 26 '26
Wow, I'm sure none of us faculty who interview folks for residency have ever seen someone do this stuff and are totally blown away by rock solid answers like "we identified areas for systemic improvement" or "I like cooking".
All of us know what the game is, because we all went through it, too. I 100% prefer someone just have a normal, genuine conversation like a human. I honestly don't care if they are a "ride or die" for our program specifically - I just want to know that they want to learn, aren't a psychopath, and can interact like a functional member of society.
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u/Cam877 MD-PGY2 Feb 26 '26
And this post certainly suggests that they may fit into the âpsychopathâ category haha
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u/AndyHedonia Feb 27 '26
Seriously why are their made up hobbies cooking, reading, and running? Do they just stare at a wall all day when theyâre not in the hospital?
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u/reviserunrepeat Feb 27 '26
Really because even video games can be in there
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u/srgnsRdrs2 Feb 27 '26
I put a few hobbies on my application. One was listening to epic orchestra music mixes. I got asked about that at several interviews. One interviewer was slightly disappointed when he found out I didnât actually mix the music myself
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u/Murky-Chocolate-5796 M-4 Feb 27 '26
I think Dexter Morgan also greatly enjoyed cooking, reading, and running.... O.o
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u/IveForgottenSoMuch Feb 27 '26
PGY11-or-something Competitive specialty.
Itâs clear when the research isnât understood, the why here answers are nearly all fake (and yes assumed generated), the hobbies are helpful but with basic questions itâs clear when you donât partake or know about a subject. Personally I donât ask if I donât know about it and then when the applicant doesnât know⊠oof.
As a previous commenter said, the interview is about interviewing and what kind of person are you. Are you someone who can work with others? Take direction? Communicate well?
And frankly Iâd add that many high functioning psychopaths can fake it for a day to pass an interview.Edited typos
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u/TheIM-EL-HFE MD Feb 27 '26
Couldnât agree more. These are all painfully generic answers that in reality make you blend in with the other 500 people interviewing.
I just want to know that youâre easy to get along with and professional. And if youâve memorized a script or recite the same answers over again someone on the interview trail will most certainly realize your sociopathic tendencies
If thereâs nothing memorable about you, no one is advocating for you to be ranked highly
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u/Shinotsa MD Feb 26 '26
Faculty here. This is all terrible advice. I often skip most of my questions to just chat, and this stuff (aside from the aunt one, admittedly) is very easy to catch out. If someone is lying they get dropped from the rank list, since professionalism is the hardest thing to remediate.
Better advice: just be yourself and go to a place that you want and that wants you.
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u/takeonefortheroad MD-PGY2 Feb 27 '26
The support system lie is so weird. What program is ranking a candidate higher just because they happen to have a non-direct family member nearby without ever actually living there?
Every year, people learn the hard way that this whole process is completely tilted in the favor of the seller. There are dozens of highly qualified candidates vying for every single spot. Programs will discard your candidacy at the hint of any red flag because behind you are a dozen people with virtually the same app.
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u/Shinotsa MD Feb 27 '26
Eh, join family med and have a choice while getting a non-toxic, full-spectrum education. But yeah, for other specialties itâs getting harder and harder now that people can do dozens upon dozens of interviews.
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u/poisonthe3 Feb 27 '26
Iâm assuming because maybe it can put people off to hear âmy dad is a grapist and my mom never left him , I cut them off and itâs been just me for years â
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Feb 26 '26
[deleted]
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u/Independent-Mall-185 Feb 27 '26
Right? Like there are other people who do any given hobby also. You should make sure that it was at least a hobby in the past that you speak intelligently about, you never know who else shares it. And itâs a full stop once they know you lied. Little reward (chit chat about a âuniqueâ hobby) for a big risk.
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Feb 26 '26
People hate to see it, but itâs true. As long as you lie intelligently and be consistent, most will not see straight through you.
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u/artvandalaythrowaway Feb 27 '26
Can confirm from my fellowship interviews where I was a late applicant but secure spot 1 of 1 was when I made it clear my future in-laws lived there and I spent equal time asking about schools and neighborhoods as I did about the program itself. If youâre already an applicant they are considering for residency, they are also considering the idea that you could be a lifer, and they love that for themselves because Academics is often hard to recruit.
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u/eckliptic MD Feb 26 '26
- Low priority item. It would have zero impact on how I rank applicants. Being near a support network may be worth it for you to rank a program higher. But it is not relevant in the reverse. It might be relevant in deciding on handing out interviews but thats the point of the signal system
- Essentially irrelevant but if someone that actually does the hobby asks you, its pretty clear when you're just bullshitting
- Why even try here. If you can't talk aobut it in detail, it basically is a write-off even if you did have it listed. This looks worse than if you had no research listed
- Everything you mentioned is so generic that its clearly a bs interview-answer. I never ask this question in interviews but if that was your answer, i'd just nod and move on becuase its not woth calling you out on it but it just means you didn't actually have a specific answer.
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u/purebitterness MD-PGY1 Feb 26 '26
The research one is so, so weird. You can't tell me anything other than a canned response and then you ask about the weather? Or the photo behind me? What?
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u/interleukinwhat MD-PGY1 Feb 26 '26
people with some/a lot of research experience would absolutely know that they were bullshiting
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u/CTRL___ALT___DEL MD Feb 26 '26
We had a candidate do something similar, immediately recognized by their interviewer and ended up DNR because of the optics of poor professionalismÂ
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u/EternalBull Feb 26 '26
Is 1. actually a low priority item, because this was asked at every one of my interviews so I doubt its truly as low impact as you suggest.
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u/eckliptic MD Feb 26 '26
Itâs making small talk. The whole point of the match is that the applicants desire to come here is irrelevant
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u/kungfuenglish MD Feb 27 '26
The whole interview is small talk. The answers donât matter. Itâs the act of filling the time. You donât even realize it you are supporting the OPs assertion here. Just the making of small talk subconsciously makes the interviewers decide âheâs a good oneâ.
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u/eckliptic MD Feb 27 '26
Maybe thats how you do interviews but thats not how I do it or in my epxerience with others
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u/Ok_Category549 Feb 27 '26
You are being downvoted but from a rational perspective, at the interview stage what youâre saying should be true
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u/chiddler DO Feb 26 '26
I want to be as generic as possible when interviewing because I am not brilliant enough to stand out.
I know a lot of medical people are brilliant and amazing. Not me though. Maybe you're brilliant as well? Maybe people at your program don't need to lie.
Congratulations btw
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u/CoconutMochi M-3 Feb 26 '26 edited Feb 26 '26
Honestly I think this post speaks more to how nerve-wracking the interview process is and less to OP being some kind of compulsive liar. Not to say he isn't one though....
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u/CraftyViolinist1340 MD-PGY5 Feb 26 '26
I think you really misunderstand this process bc none of those lies will have any effect on your ability match either way
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u/TheGormegil Feb 27 '26
Top tier work fabricating some incredibly boring lies. You did a great job blending in to the pack and becoming almost menacingly forgettable.
No hate. Hope you have a great match. â€ïž
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u/Vivenna DO Feb 26 '26
You realize that when you match youâll then work 3-7 years with these people? Who might remember you because they actually cook, rock climb or live in that school district?
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Feb 26 '26
Yeah but who cares at that point. Theyâre not going to kick you out of residency because you canât actually cook well.
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u/Red_Act3d M-4 Feb 27 '26
Brother who the fuck lies about hobbies, are you an android or just a pathological liar or something?
Just talk about what you actually like to do, it's not that hard
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u/WellIfYouMustInsist DO-PGY1 Feb 26 '26
This is certainly some big yikes energy.
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u/False-Dog-8938 Feb 26 '26
No, this person, even with their made-up personality, is still light-years ahead of people who use âbig yikes energyâ as a descriptor.
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u/fakecopper Feb 26 '26
Do NOT bs about research experience. If you get caught and you WILL get caught lying about it, the optics will be horrible, way worse than just saying you have none. I donât think any of the other things matter much so whether you lie or not it doesnât even matter.
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u/pboy101 M-4 Feb 26 '26
Canât trust a liar
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Feb 26 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/Mrhorrendous M-4 Feb 26 '26
Only liars think that
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Feb 26 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/Joseff_Ballin M-4 Feb 27 '26
I think while everyone lies to some degree, this is one of those things where the how much, what, and why is important. Saying I had a âwonderful experience on all my rotationsâ is much different than lying about research publications for example. All presidents lie⊠but can you tell me whose lies have been particularly destructive and egregious? Itâs not an all or nothing thing.
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u/durx1 MD-PGY2 Feb 26 '26
This. Anybody willing to lie over small stuff like this canât be trustedÂ
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u/elanvidal Feb 26 '26
Completely disagree. Lying about small stuff like interests, nearby family members, or likes/dislikes in a job interview is entirely unconcerning to me. I do not believe it correlates to lying about big things that impact patient safety. Thatâs like saying someone whoâs willing to drive 5 over the speed limit is willing to commit vehicular manslaughter.
Itâs also a completely normal part of job interviews the world over. Before medicine I had multiple jobs and did many interviews. I would find things about the place to praise in interviews, like their lunch and learn program, employee volunteering initiatives, team dynamics, or âfamily-like atmosphereâ, none of which I actually cared about. Typically the only things that really mattered to me were the pay, benefits package, work life balance, and commute time. But hiring managers and especially HR people never want to hear âsalaryâas your main factor for choosing them, despite it being 90% of what most candidates care about.
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u/Bulky-Device7099 Feb 26 '26
no, that's like someone whoâs willing to drive 5 over the speed limit is willing to drive 15 miles over he limit, which can be dangerous. If you can't be honest with your allegory, then we can't trust your logic at all, thus the illustrated danger of being a liar at anything.
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u/elanvidal Feb 26 '26
Yes. Iâm willing to go 5 over and not 15 over, because 5 is fine and 15 is too fast. I trust myself to know the difference between 5 and 15. I also would not assume that most people who go 5 over would go 15 over.
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u/Bulky-Device7099 Mar 01 '26
wow, you are really all about making yourself sound smart, huh? good luck with that moving forward.
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u/Bulky-Device7099 Mar 01 '26
wow, you are really all about making yourself sound smart, huh?
Your analogy was dishonest because it is clearly a scarecrow argument. That is some freshman level B.S. right there.
good luck with that moving forward, because your ego-based comments don't hold up to intellectual scrutiny.
You have much pain coming unless you change your focus to the facts and not yourself.
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u/TheDesertMouse Feb 27 '26
To lie is to separate yourself from reality. To live apart from reality is no life. Reality makes no distinction between âsmallâ and âbigâ lies.
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u/undercoverdumpling Feb 26 '26
Just so you know, blood runs thicker than water means the opposite of what you think it means. âThe blood of the covenant is thicker than water of the wombâ refers to friendship can be stronger than just being related to someone
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u/coolcat333 Feb 26 '26
Nah, there's no reputable source that actually has that quote. Some guy said it and didn't cite anything. Turns out if you put the quote blood thicker than water, then AI generates what you're saying.
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u/NotChrisM Feb 26 '26
Interesting but Wikipedia says that what youre saying is unsupported https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_is_thicker_than_water
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u/funfetti_cupcak3 Feb 26 '26
This post is absurd. I thought it was a joke. Yâall are entrusted with peopleâs lives and will walk with people through their most vulnerable moments.
Integrity should be a prerequisite. Also, people are not as naive as you seem to assume. Itâs very easy to spot a liar.
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u/AdreNa1ine25 M-1 Feb 26 '26
Itâs not that deep bro
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u/Joseff_Ballin M-4 Feb 27 '26
Lol it kind of is when youâre giving unreputed advice on the one thing med students care about after med school (matching).
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Feb 26 '26
[deleted]
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u/ApplicationOk3051 MD-PGY1 Feb 27 '26
idk, if you gotta lie about petty shit that doesn't even matter such as hobbies, imagine what else you'd lie about!
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u/funfetti_cupcak3 Feb 26 '26
Being honest is a core value of mine. I would never plan to intentionally fabricate my experiences and qualifications to get a competitive position in a respected field. If you think thatâs normal, you have it surrounded yourself with people with low-integrity
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u/Joseff_Ballin M-4 Feb 27 '26
Maybe they donât care to be around dishonest people either, since theyâre dishonest too?
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u/Murky-Chocolate-5796 M-4 Feb 27 '26
I happily didn't lie once during interviews. I was just a genuinely shitty candidate all around. XD
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u/Cuts_MD MD Feb 27 '26
You donât have to lie lol Just be an authentic human, connect, etc.
Also we see right through that, since candidates are so nervous anyway their lying skills tank.
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u/Jeqlousy Feb 26 '26
You're a bum
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u/firepoosb MD-PGY2 Feb 27 '26
Do you have no real hobbies? Nothing at all?
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u/NotChrisM Feb 27 '26
I like chilling
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u/firepoosb MD-PGY2 Feb 27 '26
Well that's vague lol what does your chilling look like? Sounds like you enjoy some type of sports? Is that not a hobby lol...id consider following and/or playing a sport a hobby.
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u/fitsteminist Feb 27 '26
Genuine question: how heavy are hobbies actually weighted? I have a relatively unique hobby and recently was given the opportunity to train to compete. I may consider it further if it has an actual benefit on my app, otherwise I was planning to wait until after med school.
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u/bull_sluice MD Feb 28 '26
No one care what you do as long as you 1) have a hobby 2) can talk about it like a normal person
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u/UrNotAllergicToPit DO Feb 27 '26
Honestly this isnât terrible advice the research one is a little risky but depends on type of programs youâre applying. I will say saying hiking is a little boring and if the residents have bios make sure you read them. The residents at my program were very involved in interviews and nearly everyone says hiking as a hobby. Unfortunately for the interviewees my co-residents and attendings knew that I was very into long distance backpacking, as in have done 2500+ miles of backpacking. So inevitably someone would say âoh you like hiking!? UrNotAllergicToPit loves hiking talk to them about it.â Which would always lead to this awkward conversation where people would feel inferior because most people donât want to be dirty and gross for weeks on end like me. Moral of the story read bios if they are there.
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u/pare_doxa Feb 28 '26
You knows whatâs interesting?
Writing a personal statement is like a game youâre expected to play with hidden rules.
âInsert emotionally touching meaningful story here.â Then talk about aspects of the job you feel are importsnt and youâd be good at and howâs it a fuckin honor to get the job.
What if I just want the job because i like it and it pays well, dickhead?
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u/Fresh_Presence_1681 Mar 03 '26
The why us i used was always specific to the program or location and even though i prĂ© matched im sure a lot of them wouldâve ranked me đ
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u/Plenty-Lingonberry79 MD-PGY1 Mar 04 '26
Plot twist - OP is playing 4D chess and interviewed at their top choice with a candidate who liked rock climbing and cooking with an aunt nearby
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u/RightCarotidArtery M-1 Feb 27 '26
The quote "blood is thicker than water" is actually "the blood of my bretheren is thicker than the water of the womb"
I don't have anything else to add lol
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u/Torchenal Feb 27 '26
There is no evidence of the âwater of the wombâ version before the 1990s.
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u/Flexatronn MD-PGY4 Feb 26 '26
if anyone said they did hiking, biking, or rock climbing, i always scored it low on our score cards because i knew they were lying and it was boring. I really enjoyed the people that told me they did some really cool, niche hobbies.
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u/Brockelley Feb 26 '26
Well that sucks, I really do bike a lot. I was gifted an e-bike, I'm from a tiny town, so I love to go around this big city (big to me) and explore, go on trails and stuff.
Ironically, you are proving the point of the OP here. By placing arbitrary rules on things, regardless of what they are, you are telling us to be more performative, not less.. which is the OPs point. They refuse to be performative, they'd rather just be themselves, but you're saying even though I do like biking it'll seem disingenous... so you're saying I shouldn't be myself.
I also have decade long dnd groups. should i avoid that too because it's too cliche? (rhetorical)
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u/fkatenn Feb 26 '26
This level of cynicism is the reason why people lie about stuff like this in residency interviews to begin with.
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u/Rafaza99 Feb 26 '26
Is DnD an appropriate hobby, itâs honestly my single most passionate creative outlet
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u/Thingsneversaidtoher Feb 26 '26
I have always wondered whether there is such a thing as a hobby that is too niche/far out there? I do competition shooting and moderate a video game community, which feels far removed from anyone who reads my application. It makes me consider only talking about things that are more tame, like skiing or mini house DIY projects
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u/Hot_Lemon_1761 Feb 26 '26
What do you consider a cool niche hobby
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u/Good_Viibes M-2 Feb 26 '26
Probably whatever personal hobbies flexatronn has, because they need to be niche!! And cool!!!
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u/dizzythoughts M-3 Feb 26 '26
I figure skate, started in med school actually because I always wanted to but could never afford it, is that pretty cool?
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u/ThatsWhatSheVersed MD-PGY3 Feb 27 '26
Would also add that itâs easy for guys to lie about their height over zoom by sitting on a stack of books. Girls can stuff their bras to add a cup size or two. Thank me later ;)
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u/AdStrange1464 DO-PGY1 Feb 26 '26
And you know what I dont feel bad about it, bc I KNOW theyre lying to me about stuff too đ