Interview Day
We interview applicants Tuesdays through Thursdays from the beginning of November through the end of January at our CHA Malden Care Center.
If you are invited for an interview after our Selection Committee has reviewed your application materials, the residency Program Manager will contact you by mail, E-mail or telephone. We've arranged an interview day that you will find informative and even enjoyable. You'll get to see the Tufts University FM Residency firsthand and have ample opportunity to meet our program director, many residents, faculty, and our residency support staff. Past residency applicants have told us they found our interview day an extremely valuable experience. You will tour our community teaching hospital and our CHA Malden Care Center with a resident host.
We offer an informal dinner with a resident on Wednesday evenings if pre-arranged with the Residency Office prior to interview day; we've limited the number of dinner evenings to protect our residents' personal/family time. We welcome applicants' significant others to the interview day as well as to dinner. A frequently asked question in the past has been whether we "expect" applicants to go to dinner or whether their chances of selection at Tufts are affected by whether they went to dinner or not. The answer is "No" (for our program anyway) as we realize how busy senior medical students are and travel plans often make this difficult if not impossible. Having dinner with a resident is however a nice opportunity to get to know us better on a less formal basis. And the residents at Tufts are the type of people with whom you'd enjoy having dinner!
After the Interview
Most people find our interview day to be an informative in that the majority of questions are answered. But the process of visiting other programs naturally stimulates additional questions you may not have had when you visited us. Sometimes things that are seemingly not important to an applicant in November become more so by the time February rolls around, and new perspectives gained through the interview experience can change priorities. Our residents and faculty want to help students make the best choice for them, as ultimately this is best for residency programs.
A second visit to meet additional residents and faculty or to get another perspective after you've visited all the programs sometimes helps decision-making. Second visits are generally not formally structured days - in past years applicants have spent time on the inpatient teaching service, met with our program director or another faculty member, and other activities. Second visits can last 30 minutes or 8 hours - it's up to you. If you would like a second visit please contact the Residency Office and indicate how we can make the day worthwhile for you.
Often an onsite second visit is just not practical for a senior medical student, particularly those students that are living far from Boston. We therefore welcome applicants calling and emailing any resident or faculty member after your interview day if this would be helpful.