Dissection of Medical School Interview

I was once told that receiving an interview invitation means that you are "half-accepted". In many ways, this can be valid pending the interview outcome. In Texas, each medical school receives over 4,000 applications each cycle, and they tend to interview less than 1,000 applicants depending on the tentative class size. I believe the class size for Texas medical school currently ranges from 100 students (Texas Tech El Paso PLF SOM) to 250 students. San Antonio HSC opened their campus in South Texas and is accepting 12 students for entry year 2014. With all that said, being prepared for the interview is crucial and necessary. Applicants with very high stats (GPA & MCAT) should in no way, underestimate the importance of the interview. There are plenty of qualified cookie-cutter medical school applicants that get rejected from medical school due to their lack of preparation, inability to articulate or sense of entitlement. In the sense that an interview invitation means a half-acceptance, it would be extremely foolish to be unprepared. 


First impressions are very important. Within the first 5 minutes the the interview, the decision is usually already made. You should appear enthusiastic, show confidence without arrogance and speak intelligently. Avoid "yes" and "no" answers to questions, use elaboration. Go with the flow and don't volunteer information unless you are in control of the conservation.
The interview serves many purposes. Within that time frame of 25 minutes to 1 hour, the interviewer can evaluate your communication and interpersonal skills, ability to relate to others, interest in serving the needs of others, maturity, depth of medical experience, realistic understanding of medicine, and motivation for medicine.

Interviews are commonly categorized into 2 types:
1. The Screening Interview 
2. The Behavioral / Stress Interview

I have a list of common medical school interview questions below sectioned into the 2 types. Ones marked with an *asterisk indicate questions that came up during my interview.  

Screening Interview
This type of interview is usually structured. You may recognize these questions from other job interviews. 

• *Tell me about yourself >> this is as open-ended as a question can get during a screening interview. I found that the best way to approaching this question is to make 3-5 bullet points with room where you can expand and elaborate. The amount of time spent on this question depends on how you initially respond. If you hesitate and the interviewer picks up the indecisiveness, they can either be nice about it and move on the next question quickly OR they will magnify your unpreparedness. Bullet points examples: hobbies, family, personality, and employment.
• *Tell me about your family >> for your parents, try to think of something in addition to their employment. Are they supportive of your education and goals? Highlight any hardship or adversity your parents experienced that motivated you. For siblings, are you their mentor/role model or vice versa?
• *Describe yourself in 3 words >> pick your good traits! Are you driven, responsible, inquisitive, enthusiastic, considerate?
• *What was the last book that you read? >> be smart, it may be Gossip Girls or Harry Potter but think of something more intelligent. You never know, this could be the bulk of the interview. One of my interview consisted of talking about The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman. By the way, if time permits, I highly recommend this book for premeds and interviewees. This is a medical ethics book that targets the understanding of cross-cultural medicine. In synopsis, Lia Lee is a 4 y.o. Hmong female with a past medical history of grand mal seizures presents to the ER multiple times for seizures. Lia was often discharged home with instructions to follow complicated anti-seizure medication regimens. Because Lia’s parents did not speak any English and had many reservations about Western medicine, they did not administer the medications correctly nor they want to since they saw no instantaneous therapeutic effects. Through many occasions of medical non-compliance combined with cross-cultural misunderstandings, Lia ends up with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy secondary to Pseudomonas septicemia. The author does a great job presenting the point of view of both the physicians and the parents. The doctors and Lia's parents had a fundamental misunderstanding due to cultural barriers, which left the Lees with an inherent distrust of Western medicine and its doctors, and unfortunately, Lia's condition became the consequential by-product. 
• *What qualities do you look for in a physician? >> confidence, empathetic, humane, personal, thorough, respectful, direct?
• What do you do in your spare time? / What are you hobbies? >> this question is more important than it seems. Interviewers like well-rounded individuals who knows how to relax outside of studying. 
• What extracurricular activities were you involved in? >> whether your application is in from of the interviewer or not, take the time to explain and sound like you actually enjoyed the activities.
• What leadership positions have you held?
• Describe your strengths and weaknesses >> pick qualities that are relevant to being successful in school like a strong work ethic, highly adaptive to new environments, conscientious of others, etc… With reference to weaknesses, phrase it carefully. Don't make it appear worse than what it is. 
• What is your undergraduate university like? Why did you choose to attend? What were your favorite and least favorite courses?
• What are you passionate about?
• *Why do you want to be a doctor? >> this question can may make and can definitely break the entire interview. Despite what your essay says, YOU have to be able to explain it in words out loud to the interviewer and sound sincere. 
• *What will you do if you are not accepted into medical school?
• *Tell me about your healthcare experiences.
• What is your most proud accomplishment?
• *Tell me about your research experiences >> KNOW YOUR RESEARCH if applicable. Re-read your papers. Be prepared to discuss this. In one of my interview, I started describing my math model and the interviewer asked if I could draw out my model and differential equations on the board. I was prepared even though this research was done over 2 years ago and he was quite impressed. He actually told me that he would extend an acceptance offer if he could right now. I subsequently got a pre-match offer from this school :). KNOW YOUR RESEARCH. 
• What do you see yourself doing in 10 years?
• What causes the most stress in your life? How do you normally handle stress?
• What is the biggest obstacle you have overcome in your life?
• Are you a leader or follower? Why?
• *Be prepared to discuss weaknesses in your academic transcripts and MCAT scores.

Behavioral / Stress Interview

These questions usually have no right or wrong answer and is unstructured. It is your thought process that the interview is interested in. 

• *What is your typical way of dealing with a conflict? Give me an example >> I recommend that you break it up into 3 parts: assess the situation, plan and resolve. 
• Give me an example of a time that you contributed to team effort?
• How would you attempt to resolve a conflict amongst team members as the leader? 
• *Give me an example of a creative project.
• *How do you suppose we control population growth in the United States? Should we implement birth restrictions like China?
• What are your opinions about euthanasia? 
• What are your opinions about physician-assisted suicide?
• *What are your opinions of the Affordable Care Act?
• What are your opinions about abortion? What about the new abortion laws in Texas? 
• *Give me your opinions on cheating?
• What would you do if someone you knew cheated on an exam?
• What are your opinions on the right to healthcare? 
• *Should marijuana be legalized in the United States?
• *Why is the physician-patient relationship important?
• What are your opinions on the current organ allocation system?
• Discuss one issue that you feel is of primary concern in health care.

These longstanding ethical issues in medicine are touchy. If you are unfamiliar with the brevity of both sides of the issue, take the fence, be the moderate. The interviewer wants to know if you are even aware of these issues. Unless you can fully support your opinion, if it is one-sided or extreme, I would not voice your bias. You do not know how the interviewer will react so there is no need to get off on the wrong foot. I recommend that you read current event articles, know some brief history, and be able to discuss both sides of the issue. I made a Flipboard magazine which contains a collection of articles relevant to the above interview questions. Enjoy :)

Getting an invite is an accomplishment, congratulations. With practice, you can excel at this pseudo-dog & pony show. Once you have the first interview under your belt, the successive ones will be a little easier. Remember, the purpose of preparing for this interview is so that you will be able to articulate your goals appropriately, sell your strengths, communicate effectively and maturely, and demonstrate your passion for medicine.