Pediatrics residency interview questions
Pediatrics interviewers listen for someone who can talk with children at their level and work with parents as partners in care. They also want to hear that you notice when a child is sicker than they look, and that you have thought about general pediatrics, hospital medicine or a subspecialty.
- Talking with children and parents
- Spotting the sick child
- Speaking up for children
What pediatrics programs ask
Questions about the specialty itself, beside the ones every program asks.
A parent says their child "just isn't right," but the examination and vital signs look normal. What do you do?
- What they're listening for
- Whether you take a parent's instinct seriously and know that a sick child can look well at first.
- How to answer
- Ask what is different from usual, examine again, go back over the history and discuss it with your senior. If the child goes home, give clear advice on what should bring them back and arrange follow-up.
- Where it goes wrong
- Reassuring the parent because the numbers are normal.
How would you tell parents that their child has a serious diagnosis?
- What they're listening for
- How you break bad news with honesty and care, and how you support a family in the first hours.
- How to answer
- Plan it with your attending, find a private room with the family together if possible, and say it clearly in plain words. Allow silence, answer honestly (including "we don't know yet"), and say what happens next and who will be with them.
- Where it goes wrong
- Burying the news in detail, or offering false reassurance.
A teenager comes in with a parent and asks to talk with you alone. How do you handle it?
- What they're listening for
- Whether you know how to give adolescents private time while keeping the parent involved.
- How to answer
- Explain to both that time alone with teenagers is routine, ask the parent to step out, and tell the teenager what stays confidential and what you would have to share, such as a risk to their safety. Bring the parent back for the plan.
- Where it goes wrong
- Refusing the teenager, or promising complete secrecy.
You notice bruising on a baby who is not yet crawling, and the explanation does not fit. What do you do?
- What they're listening for
- Whether you recognize possible abuse and follow the process to protect the child, without accusing the family.
- How to answer
- Document what you see and what you are told, discuss it with your senior or attending right away, and follow the hospital's child protection process, including a report to child protective services as the law requires. Stay calm and nonjudgmental with the family.
- Where it goes wrong
- Confronting the parents yourself, or deciding it is probably nothing.
How do you examine a frightened toddler who won't let you near them?
- What they're listening for
- Whether you can adapt to a child's stage of development and work with the parent.
- How to answer
- Examine the child on the parent's lap, start with the least upsetting parts, use play or distraction, tell the parent what you are doing, and leave the hardest parts (ears, throat) for last.
- Where it goes wrong
- Treating the child like a small adult.
Do you see yourself in general pediatrics, hospital medicine or a subspecialty?
- What they're listening for
- Whether you have a direction and know what residency would need to give you.
- How to answer
- Give your leaning (primary care, hospital medicine, or a subspecialty such as neonatology, cardiology or emergency medicine), the experience that shaped it, and your openness to change.
- Where it goes wrong
- Naming a subspecialty with no experience behind it.
The questions every program asks
Expect these too. Each is explained in full on the main questions page.
- Tell me about yourself.
- Why pediatrics?
- Why are you interested in this program?
- What is your greatest weakness?
- Tell me about a time you had a conflict with a colleague or team member.
- Tell me about a mistake you made in patient care, and what happened.
- That's everything from me. What questions do you have for us?
Questions to ask pediatrics programs
Ask what their website doesn't answer. These show you have thought about training there.
- How do residents build continuity with their own clinic patients alongside inpatient work?
- How does the program support residents heading to primary care, hospital medicine or a fellowship?
- How are residents supported after the death of a child or another hard case?
- What advocacy or community work do residents take part in?
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