How To Prepare For Medical School Interview

During Your Virtual Interview

Make sure your device is fully charged or plugged in. Its a good idea to have a backup device handy, like your phone, just in case things arent working well.

Silence all notifications on your phone and computer or tablet so you arent distracted during the interview. Similarly, close your windows and make sure your TV, stereo, and timers are off to eliminate as much external noise as possible.

Focus on maintaining good eye contact and polite body language throughout the interview. Because you might find yourself looking away from the camera or slumped in your chair without even realizing it, its crucial to remember to sit up straight, keep your attention fixed on your interviewer, and to generally stay aware of how your gestures and body language come across on camera. Keep in mind that the effect of eye contact is best achieved by looking directly at your webcams lens, which might be at the top or bottom of your screen.

Resist the urge to look at notes or an outline. Itll be obvious that youre following a script rather than speaking naturally, plus youll have trouble maintaining eye contact.

How To Answer Mmi Questions

Step 1: Identify the problem.

MMI interviewers want to not only hear how you would handle each situation, but also how you would think through them.

Your initial step should be to clearly highlight the problem, which is sometimes veiled by the scenario. In our example, the problem is not whether your patient should transition to an assisted living facility, but rather how your patient and her son disagree with one another and are involving you in the decision.

Step 2: Learn more about the situation.

While your evaluator will stand back and await your response, youre welcomefrankly, encouragedto ask questions that will lead to a better understanding of the situation. The reason is that MMI interviewers want to gauge your interpersonal and communication skills just as much as your decision-making approach to complex situations.

Therefore, you should consider asking questions, like the following, in response to the scenario above before discussing your approach:

• I would ask the son why he thinks his mother wants to remain at home.

• I would inquire whether the son believes his mother fully understands the pros and cons of her decision.

• I would ask the son what specific concerns he has about his mother staying at home.

Step 3: Specify the problem further.

Step 4: Verbalize multiple solutions, including their pros and cons.

After presenting each option, tell your interviewer the pros and cons of each, such as:

Step 5: Pick your best option.

—-

How To Prepare For Medicine Interviews

These tips will help you to prepare for your Medical School interview

• Revise the hot NHS topics and science topics that youre expected to know about
• Keep up-to-date with current news in Medicine
• Look at the MSCs info sheet about what makes a good Doctor
• Review the course information and research the Medical School
• Book your place on our MMI Circuits, Interview Course, or Interview Bootcamp
• Work with a Medicine Interview Tutor to refine your performance

More Interviews

The Medic Portal is happy to be an official partner of The Royal Society of Medicine

Guides

Loading More Content

Privacy Overview

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.

Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

Also Check: What To Ask When Conducting An Interview

What Are Medical Schools Looking For

Generally speaking, medical schools want to know a few key things about applicants:

• Their preparedness for an academically challenging curriculum
• How well they work with others
• Whether they would be a good physician

As the Association of American Medical Colleges points out, medical schools are interested in admitting students who can handle a rigorous course load and work well with people. This means an interviewers ultimate goal is to determine whether or not you have what it takes to be a successful physician.

Before interview season arrives, you should take some time to reflect on your abilities and be prepared to discuss them. You should be practiced in articulating your thoughts about common interview topics and, more importantly, your reasons for wanting to become a doctor.

What Are Some Typical Medical School Interview Questions

Each interview is different, but its common to be asked, Why do you want to be a doctor? To answer, you may want to tell a story about an experience or series of experiences that have led to your decision. You also may be asked, Why do you want to attend our school? Make sure youre ready to explain why that school is a good fit for you and your goals.

Read Also: How To Master Interview Questions

Arrange The Necessary Logistics

Its important to get enough rest before your interview. You need to be emotionally calm and mentally relaxed. Additionally, go to bed early the day before the interview so that you are not fatigued physically.

On the day of the interview, wake up early so that you arrive before time. This will give you a comfortable space to adjust mentally and physically. Note that arriving late for an interview is a sign non-commitment.

Its important to understand the key factors on how to effectively prepare yourself for a medical school interview. This is because the medical field is one of the most demanding. So, the interview is likely to be very intense. Interviewers will ask you challenging questions to determine how you handle stress. They will make you feel uncomfortable deliberately. However, be confident and relaxed. Take your time when you are subjected to complex and controversial topics.

Need more help in preparing for your med school interview? You can reach out to AcceptMeds medical admission consultants and ask for their help.

Medical School Interview Questions About Cultural Competency

Because doctors must be able to treat a wide range of patients with sensitivity and respect, regardless of demographics, the point of these questions is to understand how much experience youve had interacting with people who are different from you.

To answer effectively, you can draw on experiences youve had with any population different from yourself, whether thats in a foreign country or in your local community. You should emphasize what you learned through those experiences and, most importantly, how those experiences will inform your behavior as a physician.

38. What opportunities have you had to travel?

39. What experiences have you had working with diverse populations?

40. If you come from an underrepresented background, how has this influenced your approach to medicine?

41. If you dont come from an underrepresented background, how are you prepared to meet the needs of populations different from you?

Also Check: What Are The Main Questions Asked In A Job Interview

How To Prepare For Medical School Interview Questions

An invitation to interview for admission into medical school is a rewarding achievement. Not only is the application process quite rigorous, but it’s also a competitive advancement to make. If you’ve been invited to the interview process, there are several ways you can prepare in advance to have the best chances of succeeding in the interview. In this article, we discuss why it’s important to prepare in advance, how to get ready for your medical school interview and several types of questions to expect, with sample medical school interview questions to help you plan your responses.

What Do I Do If I Feel I Have Been Asked A Question That Is Inappropriate

Although an interview typically is used to get to know an applicant better, some interviewers want to assess how well you function under stress and may purposely ask challenging questions to observe how you respond under pressure. How you communicate will be a critical part of the encounter however, this does not give an interviewer the right to ask you inappropriate questions in an attempt to challenge you during the interview.While interviewers are instructed by admissions officers and guided by federal statutes on what are unfair or discriminatory pre-admission inquiries, there may be an occasion when an interviewer asks an inappropriate question. You have the responsibility to report this to help prevent further occurrences. Medical schools have the responsibility to establish procedures that enable applicants to report such incidents in a confidential manner, and they should inform applicants of these procedures prior to interviews and assure them that reporting an incident will not bias the applicants evaluation.

You May Like: What Questions To Ask Employer During Interview

Personal Background & Qualities:

What did you spend your time doing in high school?

Tell me about a time when you failed.

What is your family like?

What is the hardest thing you have had to deal with?

What do you like to do in your spare time? What do you like to do for fun?

What is a typical weekend like for you?

What do your parents do?

Where are you from?

Where were you born?

Save 20% On Interview Prep

Combine Doctor-delivered strategy with MMI Circuits & more

The University of Cambridge uses traditional interviews for its selection process, but there isnt much information on their website about the process. For 2022 entry theyre interviewing online, with Zoom or Whereby.

Recommended Reading: What Is A Working Interview

Talk To Current Medical Students

Your interview day is a one-time opportunity to get a sense of what life is like for current medical students at schools where you are applying. During the tour and on your lunch break, make a point of asking students about their experiences.

Dont be afraid to ask tough questions like What dont you like about this school? and If you had to choose again, would you come here again? You will likely get a sense of how happy students are, and this may ultimately be a very helpful factor in your decision about where to matriculate.

Medical School Interview Questions And How To Answer Them

Medical school interviews are the final step in the tedious, turbulent, and time-consuming process of applying to medical school. But while theyre the final step, they are also one of the most challenging. A bad interview can ruin your chances of acceptance, even if you scored a perfect 528 on the MCAT. Youll face a number of challenging medical school interview questions, and if youre not properly prepared for them, you could fall flat on your face in front of the admissions committee.

In this post, well share 21 of the most common medical school interview questions as well as how to answer each of them.

For a thorough overview of the interview process, read our complete Medical School Interview Guide and get insight into The Ideal Attire for Medical School Interviews.

You May Like: Do You Have Any Questions Interview

Tip #: Revise Basic Science Concepts

As mentioned previously, science-related questions are unavoidable in Oxford Medicine interviews. Some basic knowledge of Biology and Chemistry would be helpful for you to make inferences. While the questions they ask will definitely not be from your syllabus , using your limited knowledge to make logical deductions and intelligent guesses is something theyre looking out for. For instance, one of my interviewers asked me to come up with possible explanations of why a particular poison targeted only animals and not humans. In this case, I related the question to what I had learned about cell surface receptors and protein binding in Biology.

Before my interviews, I read my Biology and Chemistry notes again, reinforcing the main concepts that might come in handy, such as the circulatory and respiratory systems in humans . Luckily for me, I had just finished my A-Levels two weeks before my interview, with my last paper being H3 Biology, so the timing was quite auspicious, since the knowledge was still fresh in my mind. I would say that H3 Biology was a bonus because it taught me how to think out of the box and to think for myself, instead of waiting for answers. Taking an additional subject is not a necessity, though. You can read beyond the syllabus on your own and train yourself to make deductions. Knowing your basic sciences will help you link up ideas and explore different possibilities much more quickly in the interviews.

The University Of Sheffield Interview

Around 1,200 1,300 students will be interviewed by The University of Sheffield. They usually use MMIs, but for 2021 and 2022 entry the traditional panel format is used to allow for online interviews. Youll get the eight questions ahead of time, so you can prepare your responses.

Also Check: What Do You Do At A Job Interview

Understand Your Audience And The Dynamics Of The Interview Process

The interviewers you meet will be different for every school. Some institutions conduct traditional one-on-one interviews with a single admissions committee member. Others hold Multiple Mini Interviews , which entail a series of around 10 short discussions focused on specific topics. Do some research about what type of format you can expect to help you gain a sense of the individual you may be meeting. It can help you better understand how to approach your interview.

What Is The Mmi

The MMI, or multiple mini-interview, consists of a series of short interview stations that are independent of one another. Together, the 610 stations assess your capabilities in the following areas:

• Teamwork

• Empathy

• Critical thinking

Crucially, you should think of the MMI interview as a way of assessing your thought processes and situational aptitude rather than content knowledge. In other words, you will not be asked to diagnose a patient based on symptoms or solve a medical mystery.

Different medical schools offer different numbers of stations and the questions they ask vary. You might find as few as 6 or as many as 10 stations. In general, you can count on most of the following information to be consistent across schools.

Well go in-depth into the nature of each type of station later on, but heres a high-level summary to get you started. Each MMI station generally involves a chance to prepare for two minutes by reading the question/scenario. Once you enter the room where the station takes place, youll have eight minutes to provide your answer to the question or scenario to an interviewer/evaluator.

Some schools offer a break station where you will have ten minutes to relax in between interview stations. The entire process typically takes around two hours, but may take less time depending on how many stations there are.

Also Check: What Kind Of Questions To Ask In An Interview

What Do You Feel Are The Good And Bad Points About Being A Doctor

Give a balanced, well-researched answer. Talk about what you think you will enjoy about being a doctor as well as the challenges you might face. As well as RCS careers information, visit the NHS Careers website to learn about the reality of a medical career.

Positive aspects might include: job satisfaction as you know you are making a difference to peoples lives constant development of skills.

Negative aspects could include: it can be stressful it takes a long time to train being on-call means you have to wake up frequently in the middle of the night.

How To Schedule Medical School Interviews

Its important to be strategic about how you schedule your interviews. But first things first: ensure you have a relatively open schedule during interview season. For example, dont book any trips or buy non-refundable concert tickets. Explain to your friends, family, and employers that you need to be flexible with your commitments during this time.

While its important to schedule your interviews as early as possible, its not a good idea to schedule interviews at the schools youre most excited to attend first. Get some experience with the interview process by scheduling interviews at a few schools youre less interested in. This way, you can familiarize yourself with the process and understand what to expect. You can then enter the interviews at your top schools with fewer nerves and more confidence.

That said, dont schedule them too late either. Scheduling your top interviews too late could cause you to run out of steam and burn out on the process, and there are rolling admissions to consider as well. Schedule interviews at your top schools toward the middle of the process to maximize your confidence level and maintain your enthusiasm.

Don’t Miss: What Questions Are Usually Asked In An Interview

Prepare Answers To Common Questions Ahead Of Time

Read these 10 commonly asked questions and generate answers to those questions. Ask a friend, advisor, teacher, or parent to sit down with you to practice answering questions. If you have the equipment, or can borrow it, it is a great idea to record yourself answering questions. Take note of any issues with verbal pauses, anxiety, or body language.

Update: Since publishing this article, we have made available an Anytime Mock Interview Platform to help you prepare for answering common medical school interview questions. I also now offer 1-on-1 Mock Interview Prep with me personally.