Does anyone have advice for interviews or can point to any source where I can find information about it?

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Yadira

have you read the iverson's book- it has a lot of info and so far its been a good source (in general- doesn't have specfic info about particular programs).

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I believe it's Iserson (Iserson's Getting Into Residency) - I used it heavily for my interview and match preparations. Highly recommended for everyone, even if you are in your first year. I wish I had read it earlier but such is life.

an advice i keep getting is to apply early and interview late

Somewhat true. The idea is that you are fresh in their minds at the time of the match.

But this strategy is designed for AMGs who aren't eligible for pre-match...but then again, most pre-match offers are made relatively late in the season. However if you are a strong candidate and the place you want to go isn't very competitive, you can often pre-match very early in the process, thereby avoiding the rest of your interviews. So it is a balancing act. I interviewed primarily in January, had pre-match offers made in January, Feb, and March.

One way you can ensure that you are fresh in the minds of PDs is to call and harrass them on a regular basis until they give you some assurances.

Some pieces of advice that have been thrown around as conventional wisdom, have sounded kind of iffy to me, so here's my own little interview guide.

1. Get your ERAS stuff in as soon as possible. It should be in now, and if it isn't, submit it tonight. Interview spots for IMGs fill up quickly. Don't worry about your personal statement, because it doesn't matter nearly as much as getting your application in early.
2. Timing of interviews: I think that you should stack the interviews you care about towards the beginning. Make sure that your first one is kind of a turkey, but a turkey that you might conceivably rank. This way, you still go into it having a sense of consequence, but you can get the jitters out of the way, iron out the kinks, and have a better sense of preparedness. By the time January rolls around, both you and your interviewers will be exhausted. You want to have a good level of energy and enthusiasm for your interview, and that will be tough by January... trust me on this one. You *will* cringe whenever asked if you have any more questions. Don't feel bad about scheduling your real back burner/safety interviews for January, because you can just cancel them later if you feel like it.
2. Iserson's will tell you to ask irrelevant questions about things you don't really care about in order to demonstrate interest. Please do not do this, and if you must, please do it in the privacy of your interview, and not with the general group of candidates.
3. Don't wear a black suit: uggh. navy or charcoal are much nicer
4. Do write thank you notes to everybody who was involved in your interview day.
5. Don't eat so much at lunch that you fall asleep during noon conference
6. After a while, every program will start to look the same and blur into one. Take notes on the things you did and didn't like

Good luck,
-A

you are correct!!- sorry- i had just finished cleaning my house and just couldn't remeber the spelling...and was too tired to look...

__________________
Graduation -May 3rd!!![ ]
Diploma Received []
ECFMG Certified []
Training License []
Move Complete []
Orientation []
PGY-1 (OMG!) []

I'm not 100% sure but aren't there actually two different books:
one is Isersons and the other is iversons.

Hey,
Just got granted my first interview!
Does anyone know when the California letter (PTAL) needs to be completed? I would like to find out if I match in Cali before I shell out $500 for it. I have got all my L5/6s signed.
Anyone else have some good advice for interviews in general?

-T-

I don't remember the book saying that! And I would think that an informed candidate would have plenty of relevant questions to ask. I recommend talking to as many residents as you can BEFORE you start your interview cycle so you know what the important questions to ask are, and who to ask (e.g. PDs or residents in the program).