30+ Questions to Ask a Residency Program Director During Your Interview

Introduction: The Interview Is a Two-Way Conversation

You’ve probably rehearsed your answers a dozen times. Why medicine. Why internal medicine. How to explain that gap year without sounding defensive.

Now here’s the part almost nobody preps for: the questions you ask them.

When the program director leans back and says, “So, any questions for us?”, that’s not the interview winding down. The AMA tells applicants to come in with several real questions ready, and points out that asking about upcoming changes and leadership can tell you things you won’t find anywhere else. And if you’re an IMG, this matters even more. You’re not trying to impress anyone with a clever question at that point. You’re trying to figure out something simpler: do I want to train here? How will I actually be taught? What happens if I fall behind? Where do people go after they graduate? Is this place IMG-friendly in practice, or just on the website?

You’re gathering material for your rank list. That’s the whole job.

Before You Ask: Know Who Should Answer Your Question

Here’s a mistake I see all the time. Applicants save all their questions for the PD and then ask about vacation days.

Different people on interview day know different things. Match the question to the person and you’ll get a much better answer.

Ask the PD	Ask residents	Ask the coordinator
Program vision	Day-to-day life	Application and logistics
Educational philosophy	Culture	Benefits
Resident development	Workload	Vacation policy
Career development	Faculty relationships	Insurance
Program changes	Call experience	Onboarding
Remediation and support	Wellness reality	Visa paperwork details

The coordinator column is worth taking seriously. Most of the visa paperwork that sits inside ERAS is theirs to explain, not the program director’s, and they will give you a far more precise answer.

The AAFP puts it well: use your time with the PD and faculty to get past what’s already sitting on the program website.

That’s really the whole rule. You might get ten minutes with the program director. Maybe less. So read the website the night before, and spend those ten minutes on the things it doesn’t tell you.

Best Questions to Ask the Program Director About the Program’s Vision

Program directors spend their days thinking about where the program is headed. Nobody else on interview day can answer this stuff.

So ask:

1. “What are the biggest priorities for the program over the next few years?”
2. “What changes have you made recently based on resident or faculty feedback?”
3. “What are you most proud of about the program?”
4. “If you could fix one thing about the program right now, what would it be?”
5. “What qualities do residents who thrive here tend to have?”
6. “Where do you see the program in three to five years?”

Number two is the one I’d never skip. The AMA specifically suggests asking for concrete examples of how programs responded to resident feedback, and the answer shows you whether resident input goes anywhere or just gets nodded at.

Number five is quietly useful too. If the PD describes residents who are fiercely independent and figure things out on their own, and you know you do better with structure and a mentor checking in, that’s worth knowing. It’s not a knock on you. It’s just fit.

Why this section is different

Don’t ask “What are the strengths of your program?” You’ll get the same polished paragraph every PD gives, and it’ll blur together with the other eleven you heard that month.

Ask for examples instead.

Weak: “Does the program listen to residents?”

Better: “Can you give me an example of a change that came out of resident feedback?”

One of those can be answered with a yes. The other can’t.

Questions About Education, Autonomy and Clinical Training

This is the section that decides everything else. You’re going somewhere for three years to become a competent physician. Will that happen here?

Ask:

• “How does resident autonomy grow as people move through the program?”
• “How do you balance independence with supervision?”
• “How do you assess whether a resident is progressing toward independence?”
• “How much protected teaching time do residents get?”
• “How do you spot residents who need extra help, academically or clinically?”
• “How often does formal feedback happen?”
• “What happens when a resident is struggling?”
• “How do you make sure feedback actually leads to improvement?”

The AAFP recommends digging into how and how often feedback happens. Other advising resources point to autonomy, supervision and evaluation as the areas worth probing.

Listen closely to the wording of the answer. “Residents get feedback at the end of every rotation” describes a form somebody fills out. “Mid-rotation check-ins, a faculty advisor assigned in July, and a sit-down with me twice a year” describes a system. Those are very different programs.

If you only ask one thing here, make it this:

“What does a successful PGY-1 look like by the end of intern year, and how do you get residents there?”

Better than asking about the curriculum. It makes the PD describe an outcome and the machinery behind it, and it quietly tells you what they’ll expect from you in July.

Questions About Program Culture and Resident Support

Every program says it’s supportive. Every single one. So the trick is asking in a way that gets past the script.

Ask:

• “How would you describe the relationship between residents and faculty?”
• “What happens when residents raise a concern?”
• “What support exists when a resident is struggling?”
• “How do you handle conflict between residents and faculty?”
• “What’s available for resident well-being?”
• “How do you make sure residents can ask for help without feeling like it’ll follow them?”

That last question does more work than it looks like it does. Support that exists on paper isn’t the same as support residents feel safe using, and those two things come apart more often than anyone admits.

The better question

Instead of “Is your program supportive?”

Try: “Can you tell me about a time recently when a resident needed extra support, and what the program did?”

A yes tells you nothing. A story about someone who needed a modified schedule during a family emergency, and what actually happened, tells you plenty.

Questions About Career Development, Fellowship and Graduates

Where graduates land is one of the cleanest signals you’ll get about a program. And if you’re heading toward nephrology, cardiology, or any competitive fellowship, this is not a side question.

Ask:

• “What kinds of careers do graduates usually go into?”
• “What fellowships have recent grads matched into?”
• “How does the program support residents who want fellowship?”
• “How do residents get connected with mentors in their area of interest?”
• “What’s available for someone interested in academic medicine?”
• “When do residents typically start working on career planning?”

The AMA suggests asking about the practices and fellowships previous residents went into. AAMC and med school advising resources say something similar about graduate outcomes.

The better version

“Could you tell me about a few recent graduates and where they ended up?”

Percentages are easy to give and hard to read. “Ninety percent fellowship placement” sounds great right up until you learn most of them reapplied twice. Names, programs, specialties. Those you can actually compare.

IMG-Specific Questions to Ask the Program Director

Most residency interview guides were written with US grads in mind. You’ve got a second list to work through, and honestly it matters as much as the clinical questions.

1. “How many IMGs are currently in the program?”

Fine as an opener. Don’t stop there.

2. “What’s available to help international graduates adjust to the US clinical environment?”

3. “How does the program support residents who are new to this healthcare system?”

4. “Are there faculty or mentors who work with IMG residents regularly?”

5. “How does the program handle visa sponsorship?”

If you need a visa, ask about the visa. Don’t dance around it. The AMA flat-out advises IMG applicants to bring up sponsorship directly. ECFMG sponsors J-1 physicians for US graduate medical education but doesn’t sponsor other visa types through that program, so the answer can decide whether the program is even possible for you.

An easy way to phrase it:

“I saw that the program accepts applicants who need sponsorship. Could you tell me which visa types you sponsor, and who I should follow up with about the details?”

One thing to watch

A program with a lot of IMGs isn’t automatically an IMG-friendly program. Those are two separate things, and conflating them is the most common mistake I see.

A program can match fifteen IMGs a year and offer them nothing structured at all. What you want is evidence of:

• Mentorship
• Real onboarding
• Clinical transition support
• Help with documentation and communication
• Actual visa experience
• IMG graduate outcomes, fellowships included

IMG presence tells you they’ll read your application. IMG support tells you what your first six months will feel like. Those first six months are rough enough already.

Questions That Reveal Problems Without Sounding Negative

Everyone wants to know what’s wrong with a program. Almost nobody asks well.

“What are the weaknesses of your program?” usually flops. It lands a little confrontational, and you’ll get an answer the PD has polished over fifty interviews. UW Family Medicine suggests asking for specific information rather than going after weaknesses head-on.

These land better:

• “What’s one area you’re working to improve right now?”
• “What have residents asked for recently?”
• “What do new residents tend to find hardest here?”
• “What’s changed since you became PD?”
• “Have there been any recent changes in leadership or program structure I should know about?”

The AMA calls out questions about future changes and leadership transitions as some of the most valuable ones you can ask.

That last one is badly underused. A PD who’s leaving in June, a new chair, a hospital merger halfway through; any of these can reshape your training, and none of them will be on the website. Asking about it politely comes across as thoughtful, not nosy.

Questions You Should NOT Ask the Program Director

Some questions aren’t bad. They’re just pointed at the wrong person.

Save these for residents or the coordinator:

• “How many vacation days do I get?”
• “What time do residents usually get out?”
• “Where should I live?”
• “Is there parking?”
• “Any good restaurants nearby?”
• Anything already listed under “How to Apply”

Ask the residents about these over lunch. You’ll get better answers anyway.

Two to skip entirely:

“What are my chances of matching here?” puts the PD in an awkward spot and gets you nothing useful.

And don’t bring up other programs you applied to or signaled. NRMP policy bars programs from asking applicants about that, signals included, so raising it yourself just makes the room weird. Where signals do matter is months earlier, at submission: our 2027 ERAS checklist for IMGs covers allotments and where signals get wasted.

The 5 Questions to Prioritize If You Only Have a Few Minutes

Interviews run late. Sometimes you get two questions, not ten. If you’re down to the wire, these five earn their keep:

1. “What qualities do residents who thrive here tend to have?”
2. “Can you give me an example of a change that came from resident feedback?”
3. “How do you support residents who are struggling?”
4. “Where have recent graduates gone?”
5. “What are your priorities for the program over the next few years?”

One caution though. Don’t just fire off all five on autopilot. If the PD already spent ten minutes walking you through last year’s graduates, asking number four makes it obvious you weren’t listening. Pick the ones that fill the gaps in what you heard.

The AMA’s advice is to prepare several questions but to ask thoughtfully, not just to have something to say.

How to Turn the Answers Into Your Rank List

Most articles hand you a list of questions and walk away. But the hard part comes later, in January, when you’ve done twelve interviews and they’ve all melted into one another.

So fill out a scorecard the same night, before you sleep. Ten minutes, tops.

Category	What to record
Education	Strong / Average / Weak
Faculty support	Strong / Average / Weak
Resident culture	Strong / Average / Weak
IMG support	Strong / Average / Weak
Career opportunities	Strong / Average / Weak
Program stability	Strong / Average / Weak
Resident feedback	Strong / Average / Weak
Overall fit	1 to 10

Then add one line of evidence under each. Specifics, not vibes.

Weak: “Program seemed supportive.”

Better: “PD described a call schedule change residents asked for last year and walked me through how they rolled it out.”

Come February, the first note is useless. The second one lets you actually rank. For where certification, submission and rank list ordering fall relative to each other, see the full Match timeline.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Can I use these questions in a fellowship interview?

Most of them, yes. Training quality, mentorship, research support, where graduates land, culture, program direction; all of that carries over. You’d just shift the weight a bit. For fellowship, lean harder on research opportunities, procedural exposure, case volume and job placement, since that’s usually what separates one program from another at that level.

Q2. Is it bad if I don’t have any questions left?

It looks worse than it is, but yes, avoid it. Saying “no questions, thanks” reads as disinterest even when you’re just being efficient. If everything genuinely got covered, say so and pivot: “You covered most of what I’d planned to ask, so let me ask something else; what do residents here find hardest in their first few months?” That’s a fine save.

Q3. Should I ask the same questions at every program?

Keep two or three constants so you can compare answers side by side. The “what do residents who thrive here have in common” one works well for that. Then swap the rest based on what the program’s website left unclear. Identical scripts across twelve interviews leave you with twelve identical notes.

Q4. Can I ask about salary, benefits or parental leave?

Yes, but ask the coordinator or the residents, not the PD. None of it is a taboo subject, and you’re entitled to know. It’s just that the PD’s time is the scarcest resource on interview day, and the coordinator will give you a more accurate answer anyway.

Q5. When should I bring up visa sponsorship?

Early, and directly. The AMA advises IMG applicants to raise it rather than wait, and it isn’t something to save for after you rank a program. If it feels heavy to open with, tie it to the website: “I saw the program sponsors; could you tell me which visa types and who handles that?” Most programs field this question constantly and won’t blink.

Q6. What should I ask the residents instead of the PD?

The stuff the PD can’t honestly answer. What call really feels like. Whether attendings are approachable at 2 a.m. Whether people eat lunch. How the co-residents get along. Ask one resident privately, if you get the chance, whether they’d rank the program again. The pause before the answer tells you as much as the answer.

Final Takeaway

The point isn’t to ask the most questions. It’s to ask the ones that show you what training there would really be like. Ask the PD about vision, teaching, autonomy, feedback, support, careers, changes, and IMG resources.

Ask the residents about culture, workload, call, morale, and what Tuesday actually looks like. Then write it down before you forget it. You will forget it. Save this before your next interview and build your own list from it. If you’d rather rehearse it than read it, our interview preparation program runs mock sessions built around your specialty and your ERAS file. And follow IMG Helping Hands for more valuable guidance, as we aim to guide IMGs through every step of their USMLE journey to help them match in their dream residency.

Disclaimer:

Articles published by IMG Helping Hands are prepared by our team using information from direct experience, publicly available resources, and educational references. AI tools may be used to assist with drafting, proofreading, and formatting; however, all content undergoes review and approval before publication.
The information provided is intended for educational purposes only. Requirements, policies, and processes may change over time. Readers should consult official sources for the most current information.