You passed the primary, the secondary and now you’re one of the lucky few who got offered an interview. The interview can really dictate whether you will get into the medical school or not. So how should you prepare for it? Here’s a quick overview of the important things that I think you should prepare for. You can incorporate them into your preparation if you would like!

Look into the mirror and practice introducing yourself. You may find this silly but the interviewers can know a lot about you by the way you introduce yourself. Are you standing tall? Are you offering your hand in a very initiative way? Are you introducing yourself in a strong voice and in a welcoming tone of voice? The answers to these questions should be yes. If not, practice.

Review your applications. Yes, you were the one who wrote it but it has been awhile since then. Read it over once or twice and understand the details that you’ve written. Remember, your application is the only source of information that they have of you. They will only derive their questions or ask you to elaborate from your application. It will not look good if they ask you to explain something on your application and you come short-handed with your answer. This may lead them to think that you actually didn’t do as much as you said in your application, or you haven’t done it at all.

Research about what type of interviews the medical school conducts. It is a traditional interview where you are presented with a faculty panel and have to respond to their questions or is the school implementing the MMI, multiple mini interviews, into their school’s interview curriculum?

Now what is the MMI? Many schools are now implementing the MMI style. Basically, you will be rotating around 8-10 interview rooms. On the door or somewhere near the door, there will be a prompt that you’ll get 2 minutes to read and analyze. The prompt can be a simple scenario that happens on a daily basis or it can get very ethical. You will then proceed into the room where an interviewer is sitting down. You will have 8 minutes to explain to the interviewer of what you think of the scenario and how you would handle the situation given. If you don’t quite understand what I mean and need more of a visual, click on the youtube link to a good example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYZc-rItyRw

If you want to know more on what type of questions they may ask, I strongly encourage you to google them. There’s plenty online and sometimes people answer them. It will be nice to see how other people respond, which may in turn, help facilitate your thought process. Here’s one of many examples that can be found online,
An eighteen year-old female arrives in the emergency room with a profound nose bleed. You are the physician and you have stopped the bleeding. She is now in a coma from blood loss and will die without a transfusion. A nurse finds a recent signed card from the Jehovah’s Witness in the patient’s purse refusing blood transfusions under any circumstances. What would you do?
Aside from the MMI’s questions, there will still be a traditional interview part. You should have answers to these questions as they are more than likely to pop up.
  1. Why do you want to become a physician?
  2. Describe yourself.
  3. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
  4. Do you know what you want to specialize in?
  5. What is your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
  6. Where else are you applying?
  7. What are your experiences with the medical profession?
  8. What are your hobbies and interests?
  9. What is the biggest challenge facing medicine today?
Remember to always smile and present yourself as friendly and outgoing person. You are there to impress everyone and not just the interviewers. Enjoy and meet new people and share your nervousness with each other. Lastly, be proud that you have gone this far. I wish you guys all luck in your medical school interviews and I hope that all of you guys get into a medical school of your choice or just any medical school!

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