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.

Strategies for answering medical school interview questions

Always remember that the interviewer controls the direction of the interview by his questions; you control the content of the interview through your answers. In other words, once given the opportunity, you should speak about the topics that are important to you; conversely, you should avoid volunteering information which renders you uncomfortable. You can enhance the atmosphere in which the answers are delivered by being polite, sincere, tactful, well-organised, outwardly oriented and maintaining eye contact. Motivation, enthusiasm, and a positive attitude must all be evident.

As a rule, there're no right or wrong answers. However, the way in which you justify your opinions, the topics you choose to discuss, your mannerisms, and your composure all play important roles. It is normal to be nervous. It'd be to your advantage to channel your nervous energy into a positive quality, like enthusiasm.

Do not spew forth answers! Take your time; it's not a contest to see how fast you can answer. Answering with haste can lead to disastrous consequences. For example:

Q: Have you ever doubted your interest in medicine as a career?
A: No. Well....ah....I guess so. Hmm....I guess everyone doubts something at some point or the other....

Retractions like that are a bad signal but it illustrates an important point: there're usually no right or wrong answers in an interview; however, there're right or wrong ways of answering. Through the example, we can conclude the following: listen carefully to the question, try to relax, and think before you answer.

Keep on track! Unfortunately, some students become so nervous they entirely forget the question and begin discussing a topic passionately which is completely irrelevant. Keep your mind focused. Practice should help prevent you from veering off topic and appearing disorganised.

Don't sit on the fence! If you avoid giving your opinions on controversial topics, it'll be interpreted as indecision which is a negative trait for a prospective physician. You have a right to your opinions. However, you must be prepared to defend your point of view in an objective, rational, and informative fashion. It's also important to show that, despite your opinion, you understand both sides of the argument. If you have an extreme or unconventional perspective and if you believe your perspective will not interfere with your practice of medicine, you must let your interviewer know that.

For example, imagine a student who was against abortion under any circumstance. If asked about her opinion on abortion, she should clearly state her opinion objectively, show she understands the opposing viewpoint, and then use data to reinforce her position. If she felt that her opinion wouldn't interfere with her objectivity when practising medicine, she might volunteer: "If I were in a position where my perspective might interfere with an objective management of a patient, I'd refer that patient to another physician."

Carefully note the reactions of the interviewer in response to your answers. Whether the interviewer is sitting on the edge of her seat wide-eyed or slumping in her chair while yawning, you should take such cues to help you determine when to continue, change the subject, or when to stop talking. Also, note the more subtle cues. For example, gauge which topic makes the interviewer frown, give eye contact, take notes, etc.

Lighten up the interview with a well-timed story. A conservative joke, a good analogy, or anecdote may help you relax and make the interviewer sustain his interest. If it's done correctly, it can turn a routine interview into a memorable and friendly interaction.

It should be noted that because the system is not always standardised, a small number of interviewers may ask overly personal questions (e.g., about relationships, religion, etc.) or even questions which carry sexist tones (i.e., What would you do if you got pregnant while attending medical school?). If you don't want to answer a question, simply maintain your composure, express your position diplomatically, and address the interviewers' real concern (i.e., Does this person have the potential to be a good doctor?). For example, you might say in a non-confrontational tone of voice: "I'd rather not answer such a question. However, I can assure you that whatever my answer may have been, it'd in no way affect either my prospective studies in medicine nor any prerequisite objectivity I should have to be a good physician."

General Introduction to the Medical School Interview

The application process to most medical schools includes interviews. Only a select number of students from the applicant pool will be given an offer to be interviewed. The med school interview is something that you achieve. In other words, after your school grades, UMAT/GAMSAT/MCAT scores, reference letters and autobiographical materials have been reviewed, you're offered the ultimate opportunity to put your foot forward: a personalised interview.

Depending on the medical school, you may be interviewed by one, two, or several interviewers. You may be the only interviewee or there may be others (a group interview). There may be one or more interviews lasting from 15 minutes to 2 hours, though 30 minutes is the norm. Despite the variations among the technical aspects of the interview, in terms of substance, most med schools have similar objectives. These objectives can be arbitrarily categorised into 3 general assessments: (1) your personality traits, (2) social skills, and (3) knowledge of medicine.

Personality traits such as maturity, integrity, compassion, sincerity, honesty, originality, curiosity, intellectual capacity, confidence, and motivation are all components of the ideal applicant. These traits will be exposed by the process of the interview, your mannerisms, and the substance of what you choose to discuss when given an ambiguous question. For instance, bringing up specific examples of academic achievement related to school and related to self-directed learning would score well in the categories of intellectual capacity and curiosity, respectively.

Motivation is a personality trait which may make the difference between a high and a low or moderate score in an interview. Students must clearly demonstrate that they have the enthusiasm, desire, energy, and interest to survive long years of med school and beyond. If you're naturally shy or soft-spoken, you'll have to give special attention to this category.

Social skills such as leadership, ease of communication, ability to relate to others, volunteer work, cultural and social interests, all constitute skills which are often viewed as critical for future physicians. It is not sufficient to say in an interview: "I have good social skills"! You must display such skills via your interaction with the interviewer(s) and by discussing specific examples of situations which clearly demonstrate your social skills.

Knowledge of medicine includes at least a general understanding of:

• what the field of medicine involves;
  
• the curriculum you're applying to;
  
• popular medical issues like abortion, euthanasia, AIDS, the health-care system, etc.
  

It is shocking to see the number of students who apply to medical school each year whose knowledge of medicine is limited to headlines and popular TV shows. It is not logical for someone to dedicate their lives to a profession they know little about.

Doing volunteer work in a hospital is a good start. This may help clarify your decision for your career choice while providing the admissions committee further evidence of your commitment. Always remember, it is simply not true that a great quantity of volunteer activities secures a position in medical school! It is the quality of these experiences which is of greatest value. Alternative ways to enhance your hospital experiences include getting a part-time job in a hospital, or having a relative or family friend who is a physician to help expose you to the daily goings-on in a hospital setting.

HKU medicine (MBBS) - non-JUPAS admissions

The HKU Medical School used to accept 10 to 20 non-JUPAS applicants , but starting in 2008, it has expanded its quota to about 30. These applicants largely comprise of those who have an undergraduate/postgraduate degree from a local (HK) or overseas university, and those who have school-leaving qualifications (New Zealand Bursary, American SAT, etc.) from a local international secondary school (e.g. HKIS) or an overseas high school. Most, if not all, of these applicants are holders of HKID cards. However, there are exceptions from time to time. For example, in 2008, a Malaysian applicant has been accepted into the MBBS course.

The class composition is as follows:

• 40 local students admitted via the Early Admissions Scheme (EAS) - i.e. these students have only completed Form 6 and go straight into university;
  
• 40 local students admitted via the HK A-levels;
• 40 non-JUPAS/international students

Just to illustrate what sort of students actually succeeded in gaining a place in the HKU medical course via the non-JUPAS scheme, let me share with you some brief academic profiles of current MBBS students:

• Cambridge University (UK) graduate with a first class degree in Biochemistry
• Oxford University (UK) graduate with a first class degree in Biology
• Duke University (USA) graduate with a Biology degree
• MIT (USA) Biology graduate with a 5.0/5.0 GPA
• Cornell University (USA) Nutrition graduate
  
• University of Toronto (Canada) graduate with a first class degree in Pathology
• University of Toronto (Canada) graduate with a first class BSc and MSc in Immunology & Microbiology

These degree holders make up approximately 1/4 to 1/2 of the non-JUPAS population, with the remainder being school leavers from various international secondary schools. Thus, it seems that HKU does not give preference to university graduates at all.

CUHK Medicine - Choosing a College

If you have started filling in the non-JUPAS application form, you should have noticed that there're 4 colleges from which to choose: Chung Chi College (崇基學院), New Asia College (新亞書院), United College (聯合書院), and Shaw College (逸夫書院). The college system of the CUHK is akin to that of some North American universities; the colleges are congenial communities with their own hostels, dining halls, and other facilities. All undergraduates are affiliated to one of them.

On the non-JUPAS application form, you're asked to indicate your preference and rank them from 1 to 4. You may wonder, which college is the best? Well, I don't know. There're always pros and cons to joining any one of them. When I applied to CUHK in the past, my friends (who at the time were CUHK students themselves) told me Chung Chi College is the most popular among medical students. Of the 4 colleges, Chung Chi has the most med students. One possible reason is that Chung Chi is the most generous in terms of offering grants and scholarships for its students.

You may wish to find out more on this by browsing the following Chinese forum:

http://www15.discuss.com.hk/forumdisplay.php?fid=196

For your info, triple rooms are not uncommon in CUHK hostels! If you can't even stand being in a double room, you may need to consider living off campus!