Preparing for the medical school interview

If you devote an adequate amount of time for interview preparation, the actual interview will be less stressful for you and you'll be able to control most of the content of the interview.

Read over your CV and/or any autobiographical materials you may have prepared/submitted. Note highlights in your life or specific examples that demonstrate the aforementioned personality traits, social skills or your knowledge of medicine. Zero in on qualities or stories which are either important, memorable, interesting, amusing, informative, or all of the above! Once in the interview room, you will be given the opportunity to elaborate on the qualities you believe are important about yourself.

Call the medical school and ask about the structure of the interview (i.e., one-on-one, group, etc.) and ask them if they can tell you who will interview you. Many schools have no qualms volunteering such information. Now you can determine the person's expertise by either asking or looking through staff members of the different faculties or medical specialties at that university. A cardiac surgeon, a volunteer from the community, and a medical ethicist all have different areas of expertise and will likely orient their interviews differently. Thus you may want to read from a source which will give you a general understanding of their specialty.

Choose appropriate clothes for the interview. Medicine is still a conservative profession, and you should dress and groom yourself likewise. First impressions are very important. Your objective is to make it as easy as possible for your interviewer(s) to imagine you as a physician.

Do practice interviews with people you respect but who can also maintain their objectivity. They must understand that you are to be evaluated only on the basis of the interview. On that basis alone, one should be able to imagine the ideal candidate as a future physician.