DERP! Haha, I love that you have that as your ask. I just wanted to ask how did you approach your interviews. Thanks! :)
Hi Teddy!
Derp is my constant state of life, for better or worse. :)
As for interviews, I was very lucky to have gone to a school that offered interview practice over skype and in person with MDs and other professional counselors specifically for pre-medical students. Otherwise, I made a long list of interview questions that the schools may potentially ask and enlisted help from family and friends to simulate the actual interview day (I wore the suit and everything… make sure you’re comfortable in your suit!). I am the type of person who gets more nervous in front of my family (who love me enough to not sugar coat any criticism), so my family was the best audience of choice. I feel like it’s just better to practice with people who are not afraid to offer constructive criticism so that you can improve your interviewing skills! Here are some tips that I found helpful:
1. SHOW, DON’T TELL.
When you answer these questions, make sure you frame your answer with EVIDENCE - meaning, have some background story or anecdote to support what you are saying. You can tell someone all you want that you want to help others and be there for those who cannot serve themselves - but how could I believe you if you don’t have anything to back it up, right? For example:
How did you display teamwork?
I learned teamwork by working with others.
vs.
During college, I was on the board for -insert group name-. My individual role was to gather information about the surrounding areas and make connections, but without working together with my other board members, my job would end at making connections - without them, I would not have been able to contribute to a larger goal of bringing in influential leaders from the community to speak and show what they do for the rest of the community. etc, etc.
2. ANSWER THE ACTUAL QUESTION.
I have seen so many people falter on this. It may seem so logical, but when you’re sitting in that seat in front of the interviewer, it’s very easy to sweat - and not properly answer the question. So make sure you hear them, process what they asked, and give them the proper answer to the question they asked. Also, if they re-word their question and ask again, that probably means you didn’t answer what they were actually asking. And that’s okay! Just re-group, and try again.
3. YOU DON’T HAVE TO ANSWER IN LIGHTNING SPEED.
It’s an interview! With no structure and no knowledge of what funky, weird questions they might ask you! So it’s okay to take your time before answering. In fact, if your gut tells you that you need to think a bit before answering, PLEASE DO IT.
4. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.
Practice what you want to convey to the interviewer - what do you want them to know about YOU? What should they remember about you? What makes you someone worth remembering?
As for the list of questions, I researched some online and also compiled one based on what my interviewers asked me during practice and during some of the real deals. Here is the list of questions in case you were curious:
-Tell me about yourself.
-Why do you want to be a doctor?
-If you want to help people, why not social work?
-How would your peers describe you?
-How do you handle stress? Failure? Change?
-Describe your style of communicating and interacting with others.
-Describe a situation in which you took initiative.
-Tell me about a hobby you enjoy.
-Tell me about a time when you failed.
-Tell me about a time when you had to work with others.
-What does ‘success’ mean to you?
-How do you make important decisions?
-Name three strengths and three weaknesses. (or one of each, most meaningfully)
-What are your specific goals in medicine?
-What do you see yourself doing in medicine 10-15 years from now?
-Do you like the city that the school is in?
-What other schools have you applied to?
-What do you think about euthanasia? About monetized transplants? Ethics Questions, look them up on google for more
-What is the most pressing health issue today?
-What do you know about Obamacare? What do you think of the Affordable Care Act?
-There are 1000s of applicants as qualified as you. Why should we pick you?
-What do you bring to the table?
-What’s the most recent book you’ve read?
-From what you understand of medical school, what part of the program will be most difficult for you?
-What steps have you taken to acquaint yourself with what the physician does?
-What have you done thus far that would make you a good fit/ready for medical school? (or for personal development)
-What are your career plans and what led you to these decisions?
-If you get multiple acceptances, how would you decide where to choose?
-What are you doing while you are applying to school?
-If you took a gap year, what did you do during your gap year?
-Why this school?
-If you don’t get into medical school, what would you do?
I hope this helps!
