Archive for category Interview

The Road to Medical School [Video]

Getting into medical school is tough work. We often get so caught up with the whole rat race and the plethora of hoops to jump through that we forget to look at the humor and comedy involved. I came upon a video put on by the University of Alberta for their 2009 interview weekend.

The video is about the typical path a premed must journey through and the many types of people he will encounter along the way. I hope you enjoy it.

Links

U Alberta Medicine MMI Video 2009 (1/2)

U Alberta Medicine MMI Video 2009 (2/2)

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Canadian Medical Schools – MMI vs Traditional Interviews

Sourced from the members on premed101.com forums is a list of what interview format, whether MMI or traditional interview format, each Canadian Medical School uses for the 2008-2009 cycle.The current trend is to adopt the MMI as the main interview format. All the medical schools in the west have already adopted the new stationed format. However, most of these schools have made their own tweaks and changes to McMaster’s format.


School Name
Interview Style
Additional Comments

Memorial University

Traditional

2-on-1, closed file

Dalhousie University

MMI

Université Laval

Université de Sherbrooke

Université de Montréal

MMI

Joint School MMI

McGill University

MMI + Traditional

20 minute traditional interview

University of Ottawa

Traditional

3-on-1 interview (one med student, one physician, one professional)

Queen’s University

Traditional

3-on-1 interview

University of Toronto (UofT)

Traditional

1 Faculty, 1 Student

McMaster University

MMI

University of Western Ontario (UWO)

Traditional

3-on-1 Interview

Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM)

MMI

University of Manitoba (UofM)

MMI

University of Saskatchewan (UofS)

MMI

University of Alberta (UofA)

MMI

University of Calgary (UofC)

MMI

University of British Columbia (UBC)

MMI

My prediction is that more schools will adopt the MMI format in the future both in Canada and the States. The MMI has less interviewer bias andhas been shown to be a better indicator of future OSCE performance. However, it will be interesting to see each school will incorporate the MMI with traditional interviews. Especially since traditional interviews help schools to really know the applicants and are able to see if they are good fits.

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Preparing for Med School Interviews

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.

U-Colorado Questions

U-Chicago Questions

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.

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