The Interview Day
From Student Doctor Network Wiki
Since every school has a different setup, I cannot tell you what to expect everywhere. Some universities have one interview scheduled with a faculty member, others give additional interviews with current 4th-year students. Sometimes the interviewer sits on the admissions committee and wields a lot of power. Other times the interviewer is a volunteer who writes another letter of recommendation. At some schools, you will be interviewed with a group of two other students; or you may even face a panel of interviewers. Whatever happens, when you meet your interviewers, you should shake hands with your thumb pointed towards the ceiling, shaking firmly but not bone-crushingly hard. You should sit straight up in your chair with your hands on your lap and feet flat on the floor, make eye contact the whole time, and match the mood and speaking rate of your interviewer. If he/she is serious, you should be serious, too. If he/she is funny, feel free to tell jokes.
Some schools are open-file, meaning that the interviewer has access to your application and, in some cases, even your letters of recommendation. Open-file interviews typically focus on clarifying questions about your AMCAS. Closed-file interviews—where the interviewer knows nothing but your name—can be frustrating because many of the questions are already answered in the AMCAS and secondary; the day gets lost on information that can be checked before your arrival. During a closed-file interview, students usually repeat the material that they have already supplied to the university.
The timing of interviews is also not standard: some are 30 minutes long—barely enough time to scratch the surface—while others are a full hour, giving the interviewer ample time to learn enough about you to make an informed decision about your personality.
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Questions Asked in Interviews
Interview questions cover a wide range of topics. In the United States, companies cannot ask potential employees any questions that are not directly related to job function. For instance, no manager can ask about marital status, religious leanings, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ethical dilemmas, etc . . . Medical schools, on the other hand, are not your future employers. They are not bound by labor laws regarding the appropriateness of certain questions. You might get some pretty intense questions. Women especially have had to endure questions such as, “Do you plan to have children? Do you think that you can balance a family and running a medical practice at the same time?” If you are a minority, you might be asked about your feelings of affirmative action and racism. Despite the multitude of possible scenarios, I can guarantee that you will get the following questions:
- Why do you want to become a doctor? (and what do you least look forward to about being a doctor?)
- Why you want to attend medical school here?
- Why don’t you become a nurse instead?
- What will you do if you do not get accepted to medical school?
- What type of medicine do you envision yourself practicing?
(In response to the previous question) Why don’t you want to (do research/practice primary care/etc . . . )
- Where do you see the field of medicine headed? What one thing would you want to change about the way medicine is currently practiced?
- Make sure that you have firm answers readily available in a moment’s notice; and try not to come across as if you are delivering a memorized speech or say, “Because I want to help people.” If you simply want to help people, you should become a social worker instead.
Some other typical questions involve hobbies, research, volunteering, ethical situations, mentors who have been inspirational, and “What would your friends say about you?”
To answer these and all other questions, you must evaluate why you want to go to medical school and what impact you think you can truly make on others. What have you done to prepare to become a doctor, and why must a particular university accept you over the other thousands of applicants? For the ethics and current events questions, start reading The New York Times’ Health section11 and The American Journal of Bioethics.12 Both papers can be freely read online and give lots of information that any future (and current) physician should be aware of.
Questions You Can Ask Your Interviewer
The interview is not just the school’s chance to evaluate you, it’s also your best shot at determining if you want to spend the next four years here. If you can, take a look at the match list to see what specialties are common amongst graduates. Look at the crime statistics. You might not think that stats are important at first, but try insuring your car when living near and working at a hospital in the downtown area of a major metropolis. Talk to current students about their opinions of the university. Ask your interviewers about the advantages and disadvantages of attending this particular institute. Some starter questions are:
- How would you describe a typical entering class (backgrounds, ages)?
- How much flexibility is there in the coursework and in the timing of the courses?
- What kind of representation do students have on school committees?
- What kinds of clinical opportunities are available during the first two years?
- Can you describe the patient population that I will have exposure to?
- What do you wish you had known prior to coming to this school?
- Have any students left this university (transferred, dropped out)? And if so, for what reason?
- How can students evaluate the faculty? How responsive is the administration to student feedback?
- How prepared are students for away rotations? What do program directors at other hospitals say?
Attire
When you go to your interview you should be properly dressed. The two things to keep in mind are (1) the medical profession is one of the most conservative groups in existence. You should dress conservatively, no matter what your religious or political beliefs are. (2) You want to be remembered for what you say, not what you wear. You should feel like a penguin—every one looks the same—when you go to your interview.
Men should wear a navy blue, brown, grey, or black suit. All clothes should be pressed. Your tie should be either a solid color or have stripes—no cartoon characters here. Please wear an undershirt under your dress shirt; no one wants to see your nipples. And make sure that the undershirt is plain white; any logos might show through a white dress shirt. Do not wear earrings, flashy jewelry, or heavy cologne—leave the Axe body spray at home! You should be clean-shaven or, if you have a beard, make sure that everything is neatly trimmed. Also, as much as you would hate to start dressing like your father, you’re going to have to buy old man socks (black or brown dress socks) and avoid wearing white athletic socks with your suit.
For women, wear a business suit. While a skirt is preferred, a pants suit is fine. If you do wear a skirt, it should be long enough to hang down to (or extend past) your knees. Also avoid flashy jewelry, heavy makeup, or heavy perfume. You should wear panty hose, as uncomfortable as they are. And, realizing that you will have to do a lot of walking, wear comfortable pumps with a low heel; don’t use open-toe or open-back shoes.
And for everyone, carry your things around in an attaché case or portfolio. As much as I love using backpacks, they really are not appropriate for interviews. Also, turn off your cell phones. As much as I would like to believe that this rule is a no-brainer, I have known several people whose phones started ringing during an interview. The situation is embarrassing and shows the interviewer that you are careless.
Tours
A campus tour is generally given by a current medical student. You won’t see the main campus or undergraduate area, however. You will only see the medical school’s classrooms, research labs, affiliated hospitals, gym and occasionally, the anatomy lab.
The good news is that although you have probably spent hundreds of dollars just to get to this stage of the application process, the interview day is free. Those secondary application fees go towards providing interviewees with free lunches and often free parking.13
Above all else, keep this last bit of advice in mind: From the moment you arrive in your host town, you should consider yourself on the interview. Everything from the hotel room, host stay, campus tour, dean’s message—everything and every time—should be considered an interview. Be nice to the secretaries—they have the admissions committee’s ears. I have heard stories of professors’ dressing as janitors or secretaries and talking to applicants outside of their offices to see how the student reacts around others. The Student Doctor Network has plenty of stories of bizarre interview moments. One person said that a current medical student posed as an interviewee and joined the applicants for the day. Brush up on your manners and treat everyone as though they have the power to accept or reject you; you never know, they just might!
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