Interview Day Part II: Interviewers' FAQs

         As I mentioned on "Interview Day Part I" preparation is key for a successful medical school interview. That includes answering interview questions as practice. I would not suggest writing out an answer and memorizing it for each one. You want your responses to sound naturally eloquent and honest, not rehearsed and false. Plus your nerves in the interview might cause you to forget what you memorized and you might make a fool of yourself trying to remember. I would suggest knowing only key points to your answers; this way you give the main answer while nonchalantly elaborating it in a calm and natural way. NATURAL is key. The interviewers want to see who you are behind your paper application; they don't want a performance.  

     While some interviews are conversation-based, others are in the more traditional interview question-answer format.Chances are you interview will be harder if your interviewer took the time to compile questions for you and is ready to take notes of what you say. Below I gathered some of the most common interview questions that you should be prepared for. Even though some of them are pretty basic you should still practice answering them to make sure you have your thoughts in order.

• Be ready to respond on weaknesses in your application. They WILL be addressed. Your interviewers wants to know if there is a reason they should be overlooked to accept you in their school. For example: lower than required MCAT scores, why didn't you take it again?; if you took the MCAT multiple times, why?; explain why you don't have enough physician shadowing and/or volunteering; any classes that you got Cs in, classes that you withdrew from or had to re-take. Get your story straight. If there was a family situation, make that clear. If there were flaws in your character at the time that are no longer present, make that clear as well. 

• Any question that addresses negative qualities in your personality/character. In this question the answer that you give is not as important as what the interviewer can learn from it. They will not frown upon whatever the flaw is that you have, they want to see if you are humble enough to admit that you are not perfect. Holding on to a perfectionist view of yourself in this scenario only shows shallowness and self-esteem issues. Talking about your flaws makes you more likable, mature, and shows that you have a realistic view of yourself. When saying anything bad about yourself always remember to end on a positive note. Talk about how you are trying to change your bad habits or how you are working to become a better person. Perfection will not come to you once you are a doctor, but a change in progress striving to it will.

• Why should you be chosen to attend that school? What would you bring to enrich the school? These both require similar answers. Mention the positive traits that you have that would benefit the school, or benefit you as a medical student. Any qualities that you posses that you think doctors in general should have should also be mentioned. If you can back up these qualities with how you have used them in past experiences to your success, even better. For example, "My perseverance has helped me strive in such  and such situations and I believe it will also help me strive in the difficult cases I may have when I  become a physician".

• What would you do if you did not get accepted to medical school in this application year? Have a plan ready. Believing you will be accepted without a single doubt demonstrates shortsightedness and an unrealistic view of yourself. As long as you say that you will quit medicine, anything from getting a masters, traveling, working, and re-applying is okay.

• Do you have a specialty in mind, which one and why?While it is completely  normal that you don't this early in the career, showing interest in one or several fields shows that your pursuit of medicine is genuine and that it is not a decision you have taken without further research of it. Never undermine other specialties, just state a lack of interest in the ones that do not attract you, if you are asked in depth on this question.

• Have an opinion about different issues in health care, especially ethical or political ones like abortion, euthanasia, health insurance policies, Obamacare, etc. Try take a stance without being too extremist in your response. You are unaware of your interviewer's opinion and you don't want to offend anyone. However, having your own opinion shows that you are educated in the present issues, it shows decisiveness in difficult situations and your ability to evaluate pros and cons. You will need all of these to become a physician.

• How are YOU willing to change medicine?/ What are some disparities in medicine that need to change? These ones imply several things: that certain aspects of medicine need to change, that you know which aspects these are, and that you have a plan for it. These are among the most difficult questions because they are not directly about yourself. They require knowledge of the affairs of health in the country and possibly in other countries. Educate yourself as much as you can. By the way, disparity in this scenario means a lack of equal treatment in medicine. What would you do to equalize the treatment that patients receive nationwide? Have at least four aspects of change and disparities ready.

• Why do you want to be a doctor and not a nurse? Careful with this one. Don't put nurses down or criticize their roles. They are vital to medicine. The key to conquering this question is to say you want "a more leading role in the treatment of patients" or something among those lines. Variations of this question can also be presented such as, why not osteopathic medicine, or dentistry or any other field in health care.

• Difference between HMOs and PPOs. These are the two types of health insurances. In the Health Maintenance Organizations, you will pick your doctor from the providers within the HMO network. In the Preferred Provider organization, you can choose doctor/provider you want whether they are from the PPO network or not. If you choose an out-of-network provider, chances are it will be more expensive.

• Nontraditional students. A traditional student is the one that enters a college of medicine right after finishing a bachelor's degree, without any gaps of a year or more. Nontraditional students are everyone else, including applicants that are married and/or have kids. If you are among these then be prepared to answer personal questions about your life. Why the time gap between college and medical school? What have you done between college and now? Have you considered the consequences that this decision will have on your family? Does your partner support you in this choice? The questions may be uncomfortable but they need to be sure that you are not rushing into this, that you are prepared for what will come and that you are doing it for the right reasons.

Stay alert for "Interview Day Part III: What Happens On The Big Day" to be posted within a week's time.