Over the next few days I will be writing posts for everyone with a medical school interview coming up who needs preparation. Med school interviews are not different from any other job interviews. However, you must prepare for it properly just like how anyone would prepare for a high-paying competitive and prestigious job.
First, you must take time to learn about the profession, understand yourself and demonstrate why you are the best applicant. If you have gotten an interview, your chances are already good. No one is invited without the possibility of being accepted. In order to make sure you do well on the day of, there are three steps you have to follow
(1) Prepare, (2) Practice, (3) Presentation
1) Preparation
Before you begin practicing typical interview questions, you must first know yourself and know the school you are applying to. Take the time to learn about what makes each medical school different from each other. What is it in their curriculum that you like, what are the pros/cons of each school, if you were given a choice, which would be your ideal school and why?
Getting to know the school is an important step in your preparations. Not only will it be beneficial for you on the interview day to know what qualities and characteristics the schools are looking for, but you will also get a feel for what kind of school you want. For instance, some schools are more research intensive while some have you in a clinical setting within the first week.
Knowing yourself is probably one of the hardest things in life to do. Take the time to really go questions that will help you understand yourself. Think, reflect, write things down. I have attached a few files with the most commonly asked questions that you MUST know how to answer. Especially for traditional interviews (not stationed MMI’s) your interviewers will ask you about your motivations, your accomplishments and your reasons why you would be a good physician.
I’m sure if you look online you will find hundreds including questions from past interviewers. The point is not to drill over all the questions over and over, but to think about them clearly and to find answers that are sincerely yours.
Approach each question your own way. Don’t look elsewhere to see what others have said before you have answered the question yourself. Write it down. Answer the important questions (Why Medicine?) multiple times, until you feel like you have a good answer that represents you. Each person is different; there are no right answer for almost all of the questions.
After you have prepared answers for these questions, find someone you can trust to practice with.
2) Practice
Find someone that can give you positive and critical feedback about your interview performance. A career counselor is good. Ask physicians, current medical students, health care professionals to help you prep for the interview. They will provide you with feedback on how you answered the questions and how you can improve.
When you do practice interviews, make it as realistic as possible. Find someone who will interview you for 30-40 minutes at a time. They should be able to stay in the role, and really ask the hard questions that will make you uncomfortable.
Hopefully, all this practice will make you feel natural in an interview setting.
3) Presentation
Dress professional. Nothing flashy, medicine is a very conservative profession. Wear a dark suit, simple tie, dress shoes, ironed. Cut your hair if you can. There is no need to spend too much time on your outfit, looks, manners, etc.
Your time would be much better spent preparing answers to questions and practicing them. Nothing will make you more attractive than confident, well thought out answers.