By Jeremiah Fleenor, MD, MBA, author of The Medical School Interview: Secrets and a System for Success

No question is more important to your success than this one. Convincing the admissions committee that you are “one of them” transcends the individual importance of the interview, your personal statement, your GPA and even your MCAT score. Understanding why this is will help your application rise to the top.

What’s it all about?

If not on a conscious level, certainly on a sub-conscious level, admission committee members are trying to determine if an applicant is one of them. There are two main reasons for this inquiry. First, they want to know if this person falls within the generally prescribed norms of a standard physician. Second, they want to know if he or she seems like the kind of person they would trust with their own health care.

The Norm

If you asked 100 people to list attributes of a physician, a pattern would quickly emerge. Responses like kind, compassionate, intelligent, motivated, and hard working would appear. The admissions committee is comparing you against this general image of a good physician.

The association is not based on race or religion or creed. Rather, it’s based on their assessment of you as person: who you are at your core. They are trying to determine if they can see you as a doctor in four short years. Their evaluation of the relevant cognitive and personal characteristics that you posses is of primary importance.

As you write your personal statement and participate in interviews, make it easy for the admissions committee to assess the characteristics you bring to the table. Convince them that by graduation, you will be one who reflects well on their institution and be a true colleague?

The Acid Test

Each admission committee member also has vested interest in admitting qualified applicants. Namely, they are part of the same health care system in which you will soon be practicing. As they evaluate you, they are trying to determine if they would be comfortable to let you care for one of their sick relatives. They’re asking themselves, “Would I bring my child to this person if he were ill?”

This concept is critical and here’s why. If, in your application and interview, you can’t convince them that you are going to be an outstanding physician, someone that they would go to for their healthcare, you will be hard pressed to gain acceptance to any medical school.

If you realize this early in the application process you will be light-years ahead of the other applicants. Ask yourself what characteristics, personality traits and attitudes most physicians possess? Then establish which of these you have and which you need to develop. Remember, you’re not trying to become a clone but you are trying to demonstrate (and convince the admissions committee) that you are one of them.

Please email your medical school interview questions to jdfleenor@gmail.com.