How to Put Your Best Self Forward in Plastic Surgery Residency Interviews.

The annual American Society of Plastic Surgeons’ “Plastic Surgery: The Meeting” is always filled with great educational events and endeavors, and the 2015 gathering in Boston was truly exceptional. Perhaps the most memorable and most rewarding panel that we had the honor and pleasure to be a part of was the Medical Student Session, moderated by one of the first Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Resident Ambassadors to the Editorial Board and the ASPS Board of Directors resident representative, Jacob Unger, M.D. This session included a dialogue to help prepare an already anxious group of medical students for the highly competitive plastic surgery residency interview process. For the past 2 years, both Dr. Rodriguez, from New York University, and Dr. Rohrich have fielded questions about what to say and what not to say in this, at times, challenging process in which medical students will be interviewing across the country at multiple programs in a rapid manner. In order to help medical students prepare to put their best selves forward, here are 25 tips we have compiled from our own experiences and adapted from a few interesting reads1,2 which we find to be helpful and especially germane with regard to plastic surgery residency interviewing; they can help students find not only their home for the next several years but also the best match for their personality, lifestyle, and work ethic. These tips are even more far-reaching in that they will help students as they eventually go out to find their first job in the field of plastic surgery. We recommend that medical students—and anyone preparing for a professional interview— do the following: