START OF HST 1
START OF HST I
One Last Hurdle
Coming back from Ecuador, I had everything lined up for my new promotion. I had passed all my exams and fulfilled my training requirements. Only one thing remained: the HST interview.
Among us, the interview was often seen as something of a formality, but, be that as it may, I couldn’t say I wasn’t anxious when it finally came around. I’d have to do my interview after a night shift – meaning I’d probably be so exhausted and disinhibited that I’d be able to mess it all up in a thousand and one ways. They’d also ask us a few clinical questions, and God only knew how well I’d do after a sleepless night that would make a zombie look like a L’Oréal model by comparison.
As much as I dreaded it, the day of the interview eventually came. I loaded myself up with a quadruple espresso and downed a few Panadol Extra – the caffeine kick felt essential for survival.
The Rudimentary Interview
Much like my BST interview, I was welcomed by the Head of Department, the Chair and an ancient guy from HR who knows next to nothing about what goes on inside our department.
The clinical scenario was a stupidly simple case involving a confused old lady presenting to the ED. I nearly fumbled one question, but with some prompting from the Chair, I managed to answer that too. Then came the part where they went through my CV, trying to rack up as many points as possible. After mentioning one achievement I had completely forgotten about – one the Chair herself had reminded me of – I was praised for my modesty. “But be careful, Marius – modesty is a double-edged sword!” she said. “You need to be proud of all your achievements – even the seemingly inconsequential ones!” Can’t say that didn’t make me blush, especially since I’d been jesting with my colleagues that modesty probably wouldn’t have ranked very highly on my list of strengths if they’d asked me that question.
And then, of course, it was the HR guy’s turn. “What three values would you say are most important in your daily practice?” he asked. I BS’d my way through the usual stuff, mentioning empathy, teamwork and some other nonsensical thing we rarely had time to consciously think about in daily practice. “So wait, wouldn’t you introduce yourself to the patient?” he asked. “Well, you asked me for values,” I said. “Had you asked me what I’d do at the beginning of my interaction with a patient, I would’ve also told you I’d wash my hands.” At that point, the Head of Department stopped sifting through my CV, glared at me and went back to browsing. “Great…” I thought to myself. “I’ve just failed my interview.”
As fate would have it, not only did I pass the interview, but I also ranked first. Needless to say, it came as a total surprise, especially since some of my colleagues had been far more prepared than I was. But lemme just say, crossing the finish line first felt great – especially when I was so passionate about what I did. More than anything, though, it was nice to see that all those years of effort had been acknowledged by someone other than myself.