Interview preparation guide
Weighing schools and community fit: residency interview preparation guide
AAMC's questions to ask yourself include the quality of the secondary school system, community opportunities and recreational activities. If you have children, or a life you want outside the hospital, these factors shape three to seven years as much as call schedules do.
How to prepare
- 1
Check schools if children are in the picture
The AAMC list includes the quality of the secondary school system among location factors. If you have or expect children, look at the districts around the hospital and ask residents with children where they live and why.
- 2
Look for your own community and recreation
AAMC lists community opportunities and recreational activities as factors. Whether it is faith communities, sport, music or the outdoors, check that the things that keep you well exist within reach of the program.
- 3
Ask residents what they actually do outside work
Residents' real answers about weekends tell you whether life outside the program is possible here, not just available on paper.
A practical exercise
Schools (if relevant): [..]. My community and recreation: [..]. What residents do off duty: [..].
This is an editorial exercise to adapt to your own interview, not a script or a program requirement.
What the source guidance supports
AAMC's questions to ask yourself include the quality of the secondary school system, community opportunities and recreational activities. If you have children, or a life you want outside the hospital, these factors shape three to seven years as much as call schedules do.
The exercises and checklists are editorial applications of the cited guidance, not required program procedures or predictions of interview outcomes. Costs and formats vary by program, so follow your actual invitation and school guidance.
Mistakes to avoid
- Assuming you will have no time for outside life, then burning out when you find none.
- Researching the city centre when residents actually live in suburbs nearer the hospital.
- Treating school quality as irrelevant if children are possible during training; programs last years.
Check your preparation
- If children are relevant, do I know where resident families live and why?
- Does my own community and recreation exist within reach?
- Did residents describe a real life outside the program?
Questions for your practice review
- Where do residents with children tend to live, and how are the schools there?
- What do residents actually do on days off around here?
- Is there a community, faith group or activity scene that fits what I need?
Common questions
Is this an official list of required questions?
No. AAMC describes its list as questions created by residents and students to help you assess fit, and says to build your own more specific questions from it.
Who should I ask?
Residents with families are the best source on schools and neighbourhoods. Your own research covers community and recreation; residents confirm what is realistically reachable on a resident's schedule.
Is this current for the 2027 ERAS season?
AAMC publishes this question list as current guidance for applicants interviewing in the 2027 ERAS season. Program answers change year to year, so ask each program for its own current answer.
Related guides
Sources
This page is general editorial guidance based on the sources above. It is not a prediction of any program's questions or a statement of its current policies.