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Interview Question Time!

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starlight

Member
"Actually this is a great answer. Clearly identifies all the important issues and trumps other answers by including your own perspective on those issues. An adequate answer will identify the issue but a good answer will explore them as you have attempted to do. This is a good point for the other people who have replied.

Similar follow-up questions with feedback to come. How would you establish the facts? What's the impact on the disabled young person? Why do you think this merits a suspension? How could you address any potential school culture that promotes this sort of behaviour? What would you do?"

@Dr Worm : Thanks for your feedback, I really appreciate hearing from everyone incl current med students!! In regards to establishing the facts- I would interview separately each students involved- incl the disabled young person, 2 main students and students who laughed on. I would seek advice from their homeroom teacher/pastoral teacher/year coordinator to gain their opinion and thoughts behind the students motives- if they are in fact guilty this might be a rare misbehaviour from them and it would def impact on what decision I would make in regards to discipline. However, it is important to stress that I would keep an open mind about everything- just because I'm interviewing the students individually does not mean I think they are guilty- I'm just trying to ensure that each student has the opportunity to voice their ideas and put their opinion/reasoning forward.

If they were found to be guilty of bullying the student I think that this would merit a suspension/a fairly significant form of punishment as I would expect that the school has a zero tolerance policy towards bullying and that protecting the safety of all students is a priority. Therefore, a consequence such as suspension sends a clear message within the school that this behaviour is not tolerated + it also provides the involved students to have a break from the school environment & reflect on their misbehaviour. I would however, support these students, as whilst they maybe guilty of misbehaving they probably have some issues that we need to address as speaking from experience as a teacher, students generally don't seriously misbehave just for the fun of it!

To address school culture that promotes negative behaviour such as this I would review the school's pastoral care policies/peer support policies- address bullying in pastoral care/year assembly sessions + ensure my teachers & staff model and constantly reinforce desired/appropriate behaviour!
 
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miss_universe

muse.
Emeritus Staff
Hey eyetried, in case you want to know, to quote someone, you need to write [QUOTE*] Quoted text [/QUOTE*] (without the *). It seems you just messed up the encoding, but anyway, there ya go!

I have fixed it for you in your previous post :)
 

miss_universe

muse.
Emeritus Staff
thank you! And kudos to being a muse fan, I also love them!

[OFFTOPIC] haha, well as Hav said, muse is just a nickname from my username. Still love muse though, good band! [/OFFTOPIC]
 

Matt

Emeritus Staff
Emeritus Staff
I'd also ask them why they did it - what their motives were. Were the pushed into doing it? Provoked? Was it retaliatory? I'd also talk to as many others as relevant if I felt more information was required. People are hard to pick when confronted with wrongs they have committed - some confess everything, some admit nothing.

It depends on the severity of the nature and severity of the action and the disability. I know some people with a disability who would be profoundly affected by such an incident, others that would shrug it off as just a part of their life, and others still that would remove the disability from the incident and feel that everyone gets teased and video-ed at some time.

Assuming there are no ameliorating elements, this would sound like the sort of incident that warrants a serious penalty - a suspension or the like - but only as a preventative message-sending measure for others, for such measures don't usually assist in changing attitudes and developing people. On that front, I'd certainly like to see the students spend some time with the counsellor (or similar) and complete some appropriate training, the exact nature of which would be dependent on their motivation for the bullying (is it just bullying? is it disability based? was it reactionary? is there a bigger picture?). I have seen the strategy of making a person write a letter to the victim be useful as in the original answer, but this depends on both the victim and the bullies.

Ensuring that the school has a policy on bullying, and that all staff and students know it. Train staff to model positive behaviours and create a positive school environment where good actions are rewarded far more often than bad actions are punished. Have regular specific student education in regards to behaviour and bullying. Incorporate peer-support style programs where all younger students have appropriate older students as 'buddies' to go to for help and to learn from with regard to behaviour.

Thankfully my school-background is only exactly 9 months old, and my other backgrounds are longer/broader and I'm much likely to draw from them

Again, a good answer. Good points include specifically answering the question and not getting bogged down by the many contingencies and appreciating the broader context. I particularly liked the point about people with disabilities taking things differently; already a good answer, I'd make the point that it's always useful to think about whether you can demonstrate empathy in your responses and that follow-up question might have been a good opportunity to give it a go.

No answer should be artificial, but I think, especially if you can recognise empathic issues easily, you should remember to identify them in your answer. At the end of the day most of the interviewers are community members who want to admit someone they see as "caring" into medicine.

A particularly good part of your answer was suggesting strategies for prevention. It was good (1) because you gave specific strategy options (2) because they were reasonable, and (3) because they appreciated a broader context. Very good answer.

Whilst there are impressive answers in the thread, I'd advise people to make sure they do as much face to face or verbal practice as possible. Writing answers out is good as you start practicing, but since you think much faster than you type, it's somewhat limiting. Find some friends and get them to help you, or start a Skype chat session with other med hopeful students. That experience is very valuable and different to just listing out issues!

nb, i'm available for people to skype me if they can't find anybody else

Good point, another useful tip is to video oneself. I was videoed recently at my school in a communication skills session using an iPad and found the whole process very useful!

@Dr Worm : Thanks for your feedback, I really appreciate hearing from everyone incl current med students!! In regards to establishing the facts- I would interview separately each students involved- incl the disabled young person, 2 main students and students who laughed on. I would seek advice from their homeroom teacher/pastoral teacher/year coordinator to gain their opinion and thoughts behind the students motives- if they are in fact guilty this might be a rare misbehaviour from them and it would def impact on what decision I would make in regards to discipline. However, it is important to stress that I would keep an open mind about everything- just because I'm interviewing the students individually does not mean I think they are guilty- I'm just trying to ensure that each student has the opportunity to voice their ideas and put their opinion/reasoning forward.

If they were found to be guilty of bullying the student I think that this would merit a suspension/a fairly significant form of punishment as I would expect that the school has a zero tolerance policy towards bullying and that protecting the safety of all students is a priority. Therefore, a consequence such as suspension sends a clear message within the school that this behaviour is not tolerated + it also provides the involved students to have a break from the school environment & reflect on their misbehaviour. I would however, support these students, as whilst they maybe guilty of misbehaving they probably have some issues that we need to address as speaking from experience as a teacher, students generally don't seriously misbehave just for the fun of it!

To address school culture that promotes negative behaviour such as this I would review the school's pastoral care policies/peer support policies- address bullying in pastoral care/year assembly sessions + ensure my teachers & staff model and constantly reinforce desired/appropriate behaviour!

Also a good answer. I like that you're interested in the student's background and that even though you're considering suspension you want to support these students. Personally, I think you could play up this part of your answer even further to really try and show some empathy with the students in question. This would be as simple as reinforcing what you've already said by using a sentence or two say how important it is to consider the person behind the action. I say this because I think its already part of your answer and it's useful to hear what's good.

I think your answer is missing some acknowledgement of the person with the disability and that a good answer will need to include some demonstration of empathy for that person.
 
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Matt

Emeritus Staff
Emeritus Staff
Thanks again to Worm, Havox and Muse for helping me. Those who have replied already should feel free to continue replying to address the follow-up questions. In the meantime I'll release the second question which I think you'll all find a bit more challenging.

You have been accepted into medical school and one of your early clinical placements is with a surgical team. Your supervisor, a senior surgeon, like to make jokes about the race, religion, sexual orientation, of the more junior members of the team. Occasionally he makes more serious but also discriminatory statements about the intelligence of Aboriginal people and how he believes the influx of Muslim immigrants is eroding Australian values. You know in your cohort there are Aboriginal students accepted through a separate entry scheme and international students from Malaysia who were the hijab. What, if anything, would you do in this situation?
 

poutine

Member
Note: This is still scenario 1. Thanks Dr Worm and Matt for your advice... it is extremely helpful.

@poutine : you elucidated the issues very well, perhaps best of all, however, didn't say how this would affect what you would do, or how you would think differently in different situations. I have a great sympatyhy for this approach, but suggest that you ask yourself next time to elucidate how you would consider or act differently in different cirs.

Good job in going about the identifying the issues. I actually think you did very well and that all of your issues are important. Though it isn't specifically asked for in the question, the next step and what you'll be asked to do is to describe what you're going to do about these issues. How will you establish why the students bullied the young boy? What do you think is the impact on the disabled boy? If you decided to suspend the boys what your reasons be? And how could you use this incident as prevention tool?

These are the following steps I would take as a principal (numbered form for simplicity):
1. Confirm the allegations are true in regards to the video being posted
(a) True (and in a school situation) - follow with other steps
(b) True (outside situation involving some students from school but also people from elsewhere) - accept that the majority of the case is not up to you. You cannot punish students for something they did outside of school (particularly if they were not in school uniform). However, you can go to step 5, and still meet with the bullied student and his/her parents.
(b) False - see who is spreading rumours and why.
2. Remove the video from the internet. Also use it as a tool in identifying those involved.
3. Review the extent of the bullying. eg. Was it:
(a) Taunting (as in just a passing comment)
(b) Direct slander
(c) Physical abuse
4. Meet with the bullied disabled student and his/her parents:
(a) Apologise to both student and parents for what happened.
(b) Work together to create an action plan that will attempt to remove the disabled student from bullying situations and offer counseling sessions to the student (in order to help him/her cope with the emotional pain that he/her has been afflicted with)
5. Meet individually with students who bullied:
(a) Ask for their side of the story (keeping in mind the student's past misdemeanours)
(b) Student was provoked = look into these allegations and see if there is any truth in them. Try and uncover if the bully is really a victim too.
(c) Student did it as an outlet for anger = look into what made the student angry in the first place (home life, poor grades, left out, etc.) and try to find a better way for the student to cope with his/her anger. Possibly speak with the parents about getting the student enrolled in an anger management course or finding an extra-curricular activity that will take his/her mind off various stressors.
(d) Student did it for a laugh = this will obviously result in the most severe punishment. I would consider a punishment such as compulsory work at the school (such as help with cleaning, etc) in order to ensure that the student isn't simply sitting at home relaxing (in regards to a suspension). Lunch-time detentions may also be useful. I would try to find out why the student was acting this way as well.
6. Meet with onlooking students as a group:
(a) If the students were laughing/joining in = an inter-school punishment would be useful for the students to see the severity of their actions
(b) Students were too afraid to become involved = encourage students to always seek aid from teachers and to never stand by when someone is getting abused.
7. Consider preventative methods:
(a) Place more teachers in the corridors so that there are more people watching out for bullying.
(b) Hold assembly outlining the negative implications of bullying and showing clearing that what happened with the bullied student was wrong.
(c) Make clear what the punishments are for bullying (and possibly include this in the rules of conduct)
 

starlight

Member
My Response to Situation 2, any feedback would be greatly appreciated but understand if ppl are too busy!!

Obviously this is a difficult situation given he is my supervisor and the issue is should I take a stance and do something about it or let it slide given I don’t want to put my supervisor off-side/against me. However, for me personally, I doubt that I would be able to simply let this slide. I think his comments are offensive and inappropriate.

I’m not sure how the medicine program runs exactly, but in my undergraduate studies we had a clinical placement supervisor back at the uni as well as our supervisor out in the hospital. Therefore, I would approach this issue through discussing my concerns with my clinical supervisor at uni to gain their perspective about how they would handle the situation. I would keep it anonymous and not identify the surgeon as really I am just trying to get some advice/support from my uni clinical supervisor who I’m sure would have helped students through similar situations in the past.

If that option was not available to me I would probably speak to the surgeon directly at the end of the day. I would explain my viewpoint that whilst I’m sure he only means it in a light-hearted/joke way that occasionally some of his comments make me feel a little uncomfortable. If given the opportunity (depending on how receptive he is to hearing that) I would explain why it makes me feel a little uncomfortable- e.g. from Western Sydney and have close friends of different ethnicities, study at a university that recognises and provides opportunities for students coming from difficult/disadvantaged backgrounds. Certainly, if someone ever approached me in a similar way that I would approach the surgeon and gently discussed with me that I might be saying something inappropriate I would definitely consider their comments and reflect on my behaviour.

I don’t want to stir up any trouble so I would hope that the surgeon would be receptive, however, if he wasn’t and he did start giving me a hard time then I would accept the consequences of this because at the end of the day I have to stand by my morals and values as a person and I believe that this is an important part of being a doctor.

That's all for now!! Sorry about length!
 

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Dr Worm

Regular Member
[MENTION=12459]eyetried[/MENTION]: I won't comment much before other people have replied, however, I liked the way you had a backup plan in case you didn't have the option of talking to a clinical supervisor (I don't think it's a bad idea at all, although was a temporary problem for me -nervous, obviously - at a first station of an MMI...I wanted to page a senior staff member...ok then, I wanted to see the policy guidelines of my institution, ok, well...could I call a lawyer...after a minute of this i understood that I had to stop seeing this as a phone a friend question and just deal with the hypothetical situation :)). You considered several approaches, and thought about their consequences, and you demonstrated responsibility for your own actions and a strong moral position (ie, for you personally, you would feel you had to talk to the surgeon, would do it as sensitively as you could, you hoped he would listen, and if he gave you a hard time for it, well, so be it). You do not seem to be unrealistic about the possibility that it may not go well.

I like your answer a lot. I think it is quite possible to give a good answer to this question that takes a different approach, but your answer is - I think - admirable, reflective and realistic, and shows insight into your own behavior/feelings/ thoughts, and those of others.
 

Usagi

Member
1.Mrs. Jones has signed a donor card indicating that she is willing to donate her body to science without notifying her husband and son. She gets into an accident and it is determined she is brain dead. The family doctor, who is on call that afternoon, reviews the chart and determines that she would be perfect for medical students to practice the removal of organs for transplantation purposes. The doctor then talks to the family to discuss the procedure and to confirm their consent. They both oppose the procedure and refuse to allow their doctor to move forward. The doctor points out that Mrs. Jones could be helping hundreds of people by educating the medical students and that technically consent has already been provided. The husband understands how beneficial the educational experience is but is too emotional to allow them to continue. The son, a medical student, refuses because he knows the bodies are not treated with dignity. If you were the doctor, how would you proceed? Why?

Something that caught my attention, was that Mrs. Jones' card wishes were to donate her body to science. Even if her family opposes, would it be considered unethical not to follow her orders? I can understand how distressing this must be for the family, but ultimately it is her decision to make. She has clearly made it, by filling out a donor card before the accident.

If nothing was found on the site of the accident, and there was no evidence of how she felt, then it would be necessary to ask the family's opinion and let them decide. But in this case, it is very clear how Mrs. Jones felt, and her decision must be respected.

I have one question though... What kind of donor card was it? If it was the driver's license, then I am a bit sceptical about it. I can imagine many people, who filled out the forms in the excitement of getting their license and didn't really think when ticking the "donor" box. So I would have to dig further to find out what her "real" wishes were.

However, if the donor card, was an ACTUAL donor card, signed and certified by a lawyer, I would definitely follow by its orders.
 

godoftoast

Señor Member
Emeritus Staff
Something that caught my attention, was that Mrs. Jones' card wishes were to donate her body to science. Even if her family opposes, would it be considered unethical not to follow her orders? I can understand how distressing this must be for the family, but ultimately it is her decision to make. She has clearly made it, by filling out a donor card before the accident.

If nothing was found on the site of the accident, and there was no evidence of how she felt, then it would be necessary to ask the family's opinion and let them decide. But in this case, it is very clear how Mrs. Jones felt, and her decision must be respected.

I have one question though... What kind of donor card was it? If it was the driver's license, then I am a bit sceptical about it. I can imagine many people, who filled out the forms in the excitement of getting their license and didn't really think when ticking the "donor" box. So I would have to dig further to find out what her "real" wishes were.

However, if the donor card, was an ACTUAL donor card, signed and certified by a lawyer, I would definitely follow by its orders.

Yes, it might be valid to check the exact legal status of the donor card. However, in an interview setting, I think the question is probing you for exactly what you would do to diffuse this intense situation. Lets, for the sake of arguement, assume everything is by-the-by and legally sound. What would you do next?
 

Dr Worm

Regular Member
+1 what GoT said. I won't comment at length. I believe the current policy in Australia is that the consent of the family is still required, irrespective of donor status, but again, these questions are not examining your factual knowledge and it is important (at the risk of sounding Rumsfeldian) to accept that you often won't know, and that's fine. Try to avoid making assumptions about what the situation is (legally), and -as GoT said - focus on what's going on with the people involved, and what you can do to help.

There is also another, new, interview question thread, as has been pointed out.
http://www.medstudentsonline.com.au/showthread.php/23416-Interview-Question-Time-3


 

Emmmmma

Member
Matt, Worm, Havox and Muse - SO MUCH LOVE! A really genuine thank you for the feedback and general advice =)

A warning / apology for this lengthy reply, I don't imagine I could say all of this in the given time... I opted for a little more depth (mainly in Q!) because I thought in an interview situation it's better to go into a lot of depth to demonstrate your reasoning, even if that means the interviewer doesn't have time to ask all of their follow-up questions... to a certain extent, I want to be the one who directs the interview! (but obviously not to the degree of being obnoxious / over-bearing / unnecessary rambling)

OK...Follow up questions for Scenario 1:

How would you establish the facts?

It is possible that either party instigated some sort of verbal, cyber or physical abuse, and I would establish this by character analysis and an IT-based investigation (social networking accounts, interactions on public online forums, affiliation with anti-social societies or websites).

With regards to the video itself, I would view it personally. An investigation, presumably by qualified IT professionals, would be conducted with the objectives of identifying who posted the video online, when the posting occurred, and the general context - that is, was it on some sort of social media outlet bragging to school colleagues? (implies possible peer pressure or need to establish social dominance)
Was it on a public viewing forum to gain national/international attention? (may be a hoax, or part of a broader campaign against specific social minorities)
Was it sent via a personal messaging services? (potentially related to intimidation or blackmailing, may indicate much more targeted abuse rather than simply discrimination against general victim characteristics)

As I alluded to earlier, I would develop character profiles of the key individuals involved - both the supposed bullies and the disabled person. Interviewing parents, teachers, school staff, community figures, and the school chaplaincy / counsellors with questions related to the following topics:
- Has a similar incident occurred previously? (with respect to the victim)
If so, it is possible that the victim​
a) is provoking the situation
b) has poor social interaction and coping strategies
c) is making a conscious effort to alienate themselves from social circles
d) has an obvious physical or mental characteristic that distinguishes them from the senior students / "bullies"
e) is being targeted for a reason not actually relating to their disability - for example, sexuality or religion​
If not, perhaps there was a specific incident or trigger which caused the harassment to occur. Which leads me to my next question:​
- Has the victim had previous dealings with the senior student "bullies"? If so, what was the nature of the encounters, and is there a relationship (positive or negative) between the students?
- Has a similar incident occurred previously? (with respect to the bullies)
If so, it is possible that the students have intrinsic beliefs that conflict with some characteristic of the disabled youth.
- What are the differences in culture, religion, sexuality and social backgrounds of the "bullies" and "victim"?
If not, what was the influence of
- current home situation? Perhaps the bullies require assistance in dealing with other life stressors, so that they don't unleash their frustrations or powerlessness onto others.
- peer pressure​

Aside from personal accounts, it's difficult to obtain much more accurate information. Security footage of the incident provides an unbiased view of the situation, but doesn't provide context external to the incident like interviewing can. Similarly, IT investigations will establish raw facts but doesn't provide information on tone or intent like a character assessment can.



What's the impact on the disabled young person?
- Public attention - established as a media figure, may make it to the news. No longer anonymous, may be recognised by others and met with either support or further taunting
- Further abuse by "outed" bullies, or others in close allegiance with the bullies
- Outpouring of support and rallying of social minority and advocate groups
- From the event itself, provided it was a legitimate attack, it is likely that anxiety and lowered self-esteem will plague the young person. A sense of alienation and accented feelings of being "different" or "abnormal" would also likely arise


Why do you think this merits a suspension?
I DON'T think this merits a suspension - unless the senior students are posing a direct threat to students at the school (that is, if the disabled young person were also a student at the school), in which case a short-term suspension may be necessary to prevent direct harm to others

It is better off keeping the senior students busy with school, than left idly out of school where they can cause further problems in the community. At school, it is possible to employ a variety of "life education" techniques - mandatory participation in school counselling and values evaluation will enable personal growth within the senior students and possibly prevent re-offending by the students.

Personally, I attended a school where personal values were continually encouraged within all students. I felt that through attending school, my personal development was strengthened - ethical discussions in class, conflict resolution skills and appreciation of diversity were just a few of the things that I gained from my high school experience.


How could you address any potential school culture that promotes this sort of behaviour? What would you do?
As I just described above, a school that focusses on both academic and personal development is vital during teenage years. Some activities the school could introduce include:
- Regular mandatory community service - I believe empathy can be taught, and frequently (say, weekly) exposure/education of students to diversity and hardship within the community can establish a strong moral compass from a young age
- A Mentoring program to ensure students develop a mature and well-balanced outlook on life, influenced by more than simply other students and the media
- School counselling and chaplaincy to help all students deal with life issues, so that frustrations are released onto others
- High level supervision of social interactions, to ensure there is little chance of bullying activities occurring unnoticed on school grounds
- Praise and support for students demonstrating selflessness, thoughtfulness, friendliness, and other qualities of excellence
- Continual class discussions about non-academic issues, creating an environment where opinions commonly expressed without judgement or criticism
- "Military style" boot camp for repeat offenders, to wear down arrogance, promoting discipline and self-reflection
- A healthy social events calendar with group activities, promoting interactions of students and formation of solid friendships / support networks, preventing isolation by creating a general atmosphere of fellowship without exclusivity
 

Emmmmma

Member
You have been accepted into medical school and one of your early clinical placements is with a surgical team. Your supervisor, a senior surgeon, like to make jokes about the race, religion, sexual orientation, of the more junior members of the team. Occasionally he makes more serious but also discriminatory statements about the intelligence of Aboriginal people and how he believes the influx of Muslim immigrants is eroding Australian values. You know in your cohort there are Aboriginal students accepted through a separate entry scheme and international students from Malaysia who were the hijab. What, if anything, would you do in this situation?

Regardless of your medical cohort dynamics, it's always important to recognise the value of diversity and equality in the community. As someone who works with refugees of varied cultural and religious backgrounds, I am passionate about advocating equality and am in allegiance with many activist groups for a variety of social concerns surrounding ethnicity, religion, culture and sexuality.

Yet despite my personal beliefs, I wouldn't take immediate action unless the discrimination by the surgeon was conducted in the presence of the people he was referring to. It is not appropriate, nor advantageous to my clinical learning environment, for me to confront a senior authority on his fundamental beliefs. Although I disagree with it, if his beliefs are not impairing his ability as a clinical educator then it is not of my concern.

If, however, the senior surgeon was making offensive remarks directly to my colleagues, I would feel obliged to diffuse the situation. At the time of the occurrence, I would attempt to subtly redirect the conversation and ask questions pertaining to what's been learnt / seen so far during placement. Asking questions shows respect and appreciation of the surgeon's knowledge and may help create rapport (advantageous for potential conversations with the surgeon later on).

I care about the psychological implications the harassment would cause in my colleagues, and so would first acknowledge to them that I could see what was happening and disagreed with it. I would maintain a dialogue with these individuals, ensuring that they were coping under the circumstances, and do what I could to remind them they are an integral and highly valued component of the hospital and the wider community.
In addition to this, I would seek advice from a mentor in the medical program - be it an older student or an academic figure - with regards to how I could approach the surgeon. I would only approach the surgeon if multiple mentor figures agreed that it was appropriate to the specificities of my situation.

In the unlikely situation that I felt it was appropriate to speak with him, I would ensure it was private, brief, and non-accusational in tone. I imagine it would be difficult to get much time with the senior surgeon, but it is necessary to have the conversation in a private, non-threatening environment - possibly at the end of their shift before they leave the hospital (or, less ideally, via email). Key points of the discussion would include:
- I fully respect his beliefs and opinions
- Sometimes his jokes are offensive to some people
- Perhaps he could deliver them in a less public manner, i.e. when placement students aren't present

However, having said this - creating a hostile environment with the senior surgeon is not ideal. It would jeopardise my anonymity should I choose to later notifying the relevant anti-discrimination authorities of the institution / university. It is more likely that I would act in retrospect, and approach said relevant anti-discrimination services at the conclusion of my placement. Ultimately, it is not my job or concern to ensure the ethical behaviour of hospital employees. They can choose to implement anti-discrimination programs and communication workshops to improve the "beside manner" of their staff, and I feel my role is to simply bring it to their attention that further staff development is needed in the area of anti-discrimination. I wouldn't hesitate to provide in-depth descriptions of the situations, but would choose to do it anonymously and without disclosing the details of placement students who were offended / subject to the discrimination. I would however, feel very comfortable identifying the senior surgeon in my complaint. He needs to be held personally accountable for his actions, and it should not go unnoticed by his superiors.
 

Dr Worm

Regular Member
A warning / apology for this lengthy reply, I don't imagine I could say all of this in the given time... I opted for a little more depth (mainly in Q!) because I thought in an interview situation it's better to go into a lot of depth to demonstrate your reasoning, even if that means the interviewer doesn't have time to ask all of their follow-up questions... to a certain extent, I want to be the one who directs the interview! (but obviously not to the degree of being obnoxious / over-bearing / unnecessary rambling)

No, you don't.They will ask questions, and you'll answer them. Very probably 1-3 questions. The other 7-7.5 minutes is all you, so you can control what you say, but I don't think you ought to try to control the interview; if there are 2 questions, and they asses different things, you'll do yourself a serious dissservice by not answering the second one. You don't want to be the only student who talked for 8 minutes about what everyone else managed to answer (many of them well) in 5 minutes.

@ Emmmma, I can see you've tried to show in-depth reasoning, and you have raised a lot of good points, but I think you risk loosing the forest for the trees, at times.

I've noticed that quite a few of the responses have focussed at length on how they could confirm the allegation etc, and while I think this is a fair point, you have to focus. You have a limited time, and you can't address all possible issues, and I think these are red herrings. I would put it more like this:

"It sounds as if this is a potentially serious matter, so I think it is important to confirm the allegations, as much as possible, before addressing this matter with the students. It may be that we learn more about what happened when we talk to the students, but I think we should consider the matter as a potentially serious incident; for the time being, I'm going to assume that the allegations are bone fide, or atleast plausible...If the matter is disputed, or uncertain, I'll need to address that sepeaatly, but I think we should proceed on the assumption that there's some truth to the allegation"

That was maybe too many words (a problem for me too!) but in my answer, I would BRIEFLY acknowledge the possibility that the allegations are false, or that the disabled student may have had a role in instigating the incident, or etc, but then I would MOVE ON to discuss what I would do about the situation (assuming it were real)

Personally, I attended a school where personal values were continually encouraged within all students. I felt that through attending school, my personal development was strengthened - ethical discussions in class, conflict resolution skills and appreciation of diversity were just a few of the things that I gained from my high school experience.....personally, I believe empathy can be taught

[MENTION=7995]Emm[/MENTION]mma: while it is somewhat" overwritten (more on this in a second) I think this is a very good use of personal experience and belief in an interview setting, and it is also succinct :). :

@all Don't be afraid to state your beliefs. "I think x is important" is much better than proceeding on the assumption that everyone things so, and hopefully creates the impression that you have a considered, thoughtful opinion. Ideally, do not confuse this opinion with fact, (this came up in another thread, I think), and if you don't know, say so, rather than guessing "ie, I'm not sure what the legality of the situation is, but I would assume..." or, if need be, ask for clarification.

[MENTION=12393]Emmmmma[/MENTION] by overwritten...you can go look for yourself, and verify that i wrote some wordy and long winded practice question answers when I was up, which doubtless sometimes missed the point, or went on a bit..and then some. Par for it. Not bad practice, either, for thinking about how to think about IQ&As. But...I'm guessing that you don't talk like this, but there is a point of too-much-education-in-one-go when one is inclined to write in academicese by default, and you seem to be approaching it. Personally, I feel I spent half of my life either trying to extinguish be that as it may, however, with all due consideration, and other relics of academicese from my speech, or tying to stop saying yeah-no, like, totally, and other markers of informal speech so often. But this is important right now because you're got limited time so do not say in 10 long words, what is better expressed in 3 short ones. I can see that they're thoughtfull answers, and I think they'd be great if you had to given a written answer, but you don't. You need to consider these questions in conversational language, in limited time. Have you considered setting a timer for 5 minutes, and recording yourself talking for that long, in response to the question? You could, if you wanted, transcribe it. I think it would be helpful.
 

Dr Worm

Regular Member
Regardless of your medical cohort dynamics, it's always important to recognise the value of diversity and equality in the community. As someone who works with refugees of varied cultural and religious backgrounds, I am passionate about advocating equality and am in allegiance with many activist groups for a variety of social concerns surrounding ethnicity, religion, culture and sexuality.

Good: I'm not sure it matters so much who your cohort its, it's always important to recognise and value diversity in our community.

This is a subtle point, subtly made.

This "As someone who works with refugees of varied cultural and religious backgrounds, I am passionate about...." would be a terrific point, but (again), this sentence belongs on your CV. In your interview you can say "I really care a lot about this issue, cos I've done quite a lot of volunteer work with refugees from a range of backgrounds, so I think..." etc.

As I said it already, I won't say it again, but I think you need to focus on clarity, and the big words can get in the way.

Yet despite my personal beliefs, I wouldn't take immediate action unless the discrimination by the surgeon was conducted in the presence of the people he was referring to. It is not appropriate, nor advantageous to my clinical learning environment, for me to confront a senior authority on his fundamental beliefs. Although I disagree with it, if his beliefs are not impairing his ability as a clinical educator then it is not of my concern.

If, however, the senior surgeon was making offensive remarks directly to my colleagues, I would feel obliged to diffuse the situation. At the time of the occurrence, I would attempt to subtly redirect the conversation and ask questions pertaining to what's been learnt / seen so far during placement. Asking questions shows respect and appreciation of the surgeon's knowledge and may help create rapport (advantageous for potential conversations with the surgeon later on).

I care about the psychological implications the harassment would cause in my colleagues, and so would first acknowledge to them that I could see what was happening and disagreed with it. I would maintain a dialogue with these individuals, ensuring that they were coping under the circumstances, and do what I could to remind them they are an integral and highly valued component of the hospital and the wider community.
In addition to this, I would seek advice from a mentor in the medical program - be it an older student or an academic figure - with regards to how I could approach the surgeon. I would only approach the surgeon if multiple mentor figures agreed that it was appropriate to the specificities of my situation.

In the unlikely situation that I felt it was appropriate to speak with him, I would ensure it was private, brief, and non-accusational in tone. I imagine it would be difficult to get much time with the senior surgeon, but it is necessary to have the conversation in a private, non-threatening environment - possibly at the end of their shift before they leave the hospital (or, less ideally, via email). Key points of the discussion would include:
- I fully respect his beliefs and opinions
- Sometimes his jokes are offensive to some people
- Perhaps he could deliver them in a less public manner, i.e. when placement students aren't present

However, having said this - creating a hostile environment with the senior surgeon is not ideal. It would jeopardise my anonymity should I choose to later notifying the relevant anti-discrimination authorities of the institution / university. It is more likely that I would act in retrospect, and approach said relevant anti-discrimination services at the conclusion of my placement. Ultimately, it is not my job or concern to ensure the ethical behaviour of hospital employees. They can choose to implement anti-discrimination programs and communication workshops to improve the "beside manner" of their staff, and I feel my role is to simply bring it to their attention that further staff development is needed in the area of anti-discrimination. I wouldn't hesitate to provide in-depth descriptions of the situations, but would choose to do it anonymously and without disclosing the details of placement students who were offended / subject to the discrimination. I would however, feel very comfortable identifying the senior surgeon in my complaint. He needs to be held personally accountable for his actions, and it should not go unnoticed by his superiors.

I think this is too wordy (I really do, and I think you can fix it, and would love to see the result) but I think the argument is fair and good, internally consistent, valid, and suggests that you are a decent, and rational person. Clearly, you have considered the opinions, and reached a sensible decision.

As I said before, this is a "no right answer" question. The answers I have seen so far have advanced different opinions, but I have equal respect for the underlying values and judgement of the differing approaches. These are rational and thoughtful replies.

While I am tempted to put the counterargument, "oh yeah, well what if..."... that'd just be for sport, your replies are good.

(Emmmma: see what I did there? While I am tempted to put the counter-argument = i could say ...it's an easy habit to get into, but try to keep it under control ;-)

PS: what did I do wrong in my attempts to use quotes, guys? Sorry, I suck at quotes. I thought i had it figured...guess not.
 
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Yes! Especially relating to the JCU "scenario" questions and the answers people gave in the past :lol:

EDIT: Heh so I just noticed the giant in-depth incredibly pro answers listed and will.. quietly back out of this thread now ^_^
 
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pezzles

Member
This is my first try at an interview question, so here goes!

Re: the second scenario

I'm not entirely certain about the way in which the hierarchy of senior/junior surgeons in teams work, so I'm kind of clutching at straws here...I think firstly I am personally not comfortable with confrontation so if i felt action needed to be taken then I would try speak to some sort of supervisor that could speak on my behalf, annonymously ofcourse. I think, however, that whether I would choose to take action or not would depend on the team itself. Are they affected by this surgeons comments? Is it affecting their work? Is it affecting desicions made by the team where they feel uncomfortable speaking to the surgeon? It may be that he has a a really great relationship with his team and this is just banter that they do not feel is vindictive (although the second part of the question suggests that he might be a vindictive-type person). I think in the instances where he is making those more serious statements i would consider if there were people of those ethnicities in the team, or also on my clinical placement with me. If there weren't, to be honest, i wouldn't do anything about it (if no one else was visibly upset by it) until perhaps my placement was over and maybe try and let a supervisor know that this is what was happening.

There's sort of more i want to say but i'm not sure how long I would have to speak in an interview and I don't know whether its better to be succinct or to go into details and speculate...hmmm
 

Emmmmma

Member
[MENTION=8866]Dr Worm[/MENTION] - I've had to swallow my pride a little, but thank you for giving me so much more to think about before my interview on Monday (not long now!!)

That's a brilliant point you raise about not "directing" the interview. I was under the impression (obviously misguided) that being asked additional questions sometimes indicated your answer didn't cover all the points it should have... so I thought covering all bases would alleviate the need for more questions from the interviewer. Valuable lesson learned: get to the point and then shut up!

So I'm better off getting the point across succinctly with a simpler vocab... I just don't want to sound like an inarticulate bogan! At the moment I'm verbally practising some hypothetical questions with mum, because writing them down is just so different (damn university, teaching me to write like a waffling lab rat!)

Next question (do we have another one?), I will record it verbally and then write it in =)
 
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