UMKC--what would you do?

So, UMKC said in their invite that it would be unprofessional to cancel the interview once it was set up and that they would contact the dean of my medical school if I did such a thing. Well, I set one up because it was one of the first ones I got. Now, I don't want to go to it at all. If I just go to the interview, I am taking that spot from someone else who may really want that spot.

Should I just go, or should I risk being "reported" to the dean and cancel, giving someone else a shot? What would you do?

pod,

I believe were it me in that situation, I would pre-empt UKMC and talk to your dean about it. I think if you have an interview offer for a place you would rather be a resident on the same day, you should go to that interview. You would do neither yourself or UKMC a favor by doing otherwise in my estimation. If you have no other interview that day, statistics suggest that going to more, and ranking more improves your chances of matching significantly, and who knows, you may end up liking the place (though admittedly they are not starting off on the best foot.) Hope you ate plenty of mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy yesterday, then, you may be...

ample as me...

Fatman

agree with above to talk to dean. in my experience there is nothing unprofessional about cancelling, esp if you do it with enough time that the program can fill with another, more interested applicant. since programs contact more applicants than they have spots for, you have to accept ASAP when you get an offer. the fact that 8 or 10 programs will all have interviews on the same weekend in january kinda makes it so you are stuck cancelling once in a while. it's definitely unprofessional to no-show without cancelling-- but a head's up is polite and understandable.

luck

cheers.
fg

This program has done this since I was interviewing 5 years ago. (threaten to "tattle" on you if you cancel). It is a reflection of their chairman, Dr Hamilton. He is kind of a blowhard and takes things very seriously. Although I do think he has your overall education in mind, he comes across as an jerk. One of my buddies is a resident there and says that he is not really that bad and that he just lays it on for the interview to "sort out people" or something like that. The rest of the people there seemed ok. Still, it left a seriously bad taste in my mouth and made them last on my rank list, and I almost did not even rank them. My friend seems to be ok with the program though and he is a pretty reasonable guy so I think that It is a place to consider if you are hurting for interviews.

I agree with the above postings. I was late in my reply for this program's interview invitation and got a scathing email in return about how I "was way too late to get an interview here." Unless this is someplace you really want to be, which I can't imagine since it's Kansas City, I would cancel this interview if there's someplace else you'd rather interview on that day, or if there's a pre-interview gathering for another program you're really interested in. In my opinion, any program that attempts to "weed out" applicants with scare tactics such as threatening emails or ridiculously stressful and malignant "panel interviews" only tips their hand as to how they treat residents, or at least how they view the valuable resource that residents can be at their institution.

It is never unprofessional to cancel an interview for a job that you are no longer interested in. It would only be a waste of your and the program's time to attend. Notify your Dean's office of the entire situation and of the unprofessional manner in which UMKC has conducted themselves. Then cancel the interview, being sure to mention how you hope the interview slot can go to another deserving applicant. If I were you, I wouldn't want to work for a program that treats potential employees like slaves anyways. Remember that UMKC would have no residency program if it weren't for residents.

You didn't go to 6 years of evil medical school to be called "mister."

Unless this is someplace you really want to be, which I can't imagine since it's Kansas City

Good points about the UMKC program, but spare us your personal location preferences, Mr. Miami. It just discredits what you're saying and makes you sound ignorant.