Describe when you've had to make an unpopular decision

[Zuckman]

Hey guys,

I'm a bit stuck on this one...I tend to make decisions that suit the whole group. Any ideas?...

 

Zuck

[ffp]

This is maybe not relevant to your situation, but here are the examples I would use:

 

Last year as chief resident, I sat on the residency training committee. Sometimes I was faced with doing what was right for the program as a whole, rather than for the residents. Sometimes I felt like a bit of a "traitor", because the other residents are my peers and my friends - I didn't want want to be seen as being "against" them, or in cahoots (sp?) with "the man".

 

For example, I was involved with putting more stringent restrictions on moonlighting for senior residents in the IM program. I like moonlighting as much as anyone and do as much as I can handle/get away with. The problem was, people were starting to abandon their clinical duties and leave their junior residents stranded because they had been moonlighting the previous night. This wasn't good for the program overall (juniors), or for the patients... not to mention the education of the seniors who were skipping out on their clinical rotations - so we had to put some mechanisms in place to stop it from happening.

 

Also, just recently, I was involved in the decision that CCU rounds should start at 7:30 instead of 8am for the IM residents. I know that this SUCKS. Being a night owl myself, I find 8am unbearable, let alone 7:30. The problem was that morning teaching starts at 8. If the IM residents don't see their CCU patients until after teaching, then CCU rounds don't start until at least 10am... and this means that very sick patients have gone essentially the whole morning without being seen. If the attending rounds while the residents are at teaching, they miss out on bedside/clinical teaching... so a change had to be made.

 

I find that when you make an unpopular decision, as long as people understand that you are doing it for the "greater good", and not to serve your own ulterior motivations, they are very respectful and reasonable.

[0T6]

i like when ffp answers these questions.. there's no way someone could copy that answer at a med school interview!

[Jochi1543]

This sucks, cuz it means you must have had a sizeable leadership experience, since this is required to make decisions impacting an entire group of people. I have some.....but I've never had to make a decision which was unpopular - to my knowledge, anyway. It seems that most decisions will be unpopular with at least SOME people in your group, because it's impossible to please everybody. However, not everyone will actually let you know that they disagree with your decision. However, if you are making a decision that's unpopular with the majority, I don't really think it's something commendable.....you probably aren't the best leader for that particular group if your opinion differs from the majority opinion.

[MillerTime]

However, if you are making a decision that's unpopular with the majority, I don't really think it's something commendable.....you probably aren't the best leader for that particular group if your opinion differs from the majority opinion.

 

Yeah, but not every group is a democracy, the majority aren't. Being a good leader of a group may not just entail representing the majority opinion. If you are a leader of a political group, then by all means, you may not be the best leader if your opinion differs from the majority. But say you are an executive for some sort of business. Sure the majority of workers would love to get a raise, and think they deserve one, but you must also take into account the greater good of the company, ie. if giving everyone raises means we're bankrupt in 6 months, maybe agreeing with the majority opinion isn't the responsible decision.

[Addy]

Where I think a lot of us have made unpopular decisions is working with children. While they may not agree, we can justify based on safety (often) or perhaps other reasons not looked at by kids.

[eise]

Umm...the only example I could think of was cancelling a social event so that the sorority house could be cleaned for a rush event the following day. Is this too "OMG I'm a sorority girl!"? Do med schools frown on frats/sororities?

[The Law]

Umm...the only example I could think of was cancelling a social event so that the sorority house could be cleaned for a rush event the following day. Is this too "OMG I'm a sorority girl!"? Do med schools frown on frats/sororities?

 

Hmm I'm not sure. It's possible...

 

I had trouble thinking about this one on the spot. I mean, I know some experiences from the senior home I worked at... residents wanting to go outside, but I couldn't let them go out... or residents wanting a certain type of food, and I couldn't let them have it. It kind of sucks, because they're stuck alone all day (most of them) and you want to do whatever you can to make them feel comfortable and to have fun... but sometimes you just can't. Although, when things like that happened, I usually just tried to make up for it through doing something else like taking them to another event or just walking around the senior home with them.

 

Of course, there also is at work. Somedays I had to schedule staff for days that they did not want to come in. You can't help it though, sometimes you have to do it.

 

 

ffp - your posts are excellent, thanks for sharing your experiences with us.

[ffp]

I don't think you need extensive leadership experience to have made unpopular decisions - that was just the best example I could come up with.

 

When I was in undergrad, I worked as a cashier at a pet store. After I had worked there ~6mo, I was put in charge of training new cashiers and making a cashier policy manual.

 

I made some changes to the scheduling of our breaks to make the store run more efficiently. The boss liked it, most of the other employees liked it, and the customers seemed to be processed through the till faster. There was a select group of ~5 people who liked to stand out behind the store and smoke all the time who got REALLY po'd about the changes...

 

That seems like kind of a crappy example, but if I had been asked this question before med school, it's probably what I would have used. It's funny how med school/residency always gives you plenty of answers to use for these scenarios.

[clkt]

Umm...the only example I could think of was cancelling a social event so that the sorority house could be cleaned for a rush event the following day. Is this too "OMG I'm a sorority girl!"? Do med schools frown on frats/sororities?

I think your instincts are right. I would not volunteer that information about being in a sorority unless asked. Not because it's anything bad, but for someone who has never been exposed to the sororities/fraternities now(eg the senior doc interviewing you), they only know those organizations by their stereotypes.

[The Law]

Yeah that is what I was thinking.

[eise]

I agree. It's just unfortunate because I was an executive member all throughout undergrad with lots of leadership training (and perfect interview examples). But I also don't want to be judged negatively by the somewhat incorrect stereotypes...I don't think it's worth the chance.

[Smurfette]

You don't have to be in leadership positions to have an example. Everyone has worked in teams where there isn't a set leader (eg. school projects, team sports, etc). You must have taken some leadership roles (although not a formal position) in such a team where you had to be involved in making a decision.

[eise]

You don't have to be in leadership positions to have an example. Everyone has worked in teams where there isn't a set leader (eg. school projects, team sports, etc). You must have taken some leadership roles (although not a formal position) in such a team where you had to be involved in making a decision.

 

ya but with not as good examples.

[illusion]

I'm sure you have all been in leadership positions before. Perhaps not in clubs/committees but it could have been volunteering, school etc. I think even if you decided to crack the whip a bit on your group members for slacking off for a school project...that could work too. it may not be too original but it is an answer.

[doctorbetty]

What about sticking up for the underdog?