Interview Strategy

Overview Most medical schools are pretty chill, and try to keep the interviews light hearted. For some schools, the interview is a formality while others use it as a way to further differentiate candidates. For instance, University of Illinois accepts a large percentage of students who interview (600/750) while New York University accepts a much lower percentage (200/1100). The interview is ultimately your final chance to address the elephant in the room ... Why you and not this other similar applicant (what makes you a good fit for us?) Regardless, different schools conduct interviews in different ways. Below you will get a good idea of the traditional interview process as well as the MMI process.

Traditional Interviews

Traditional interviews are just what you might expect, a one on one faculty interview in which you are questioned on your personal characteristics and motivation to pursue medicine. Potential sample questions are listed below.

Traditional Interview Sample Questions

Why do you want to be a doctor?

Tell me about yourself.

How do you handle stress?

What has been the most important medical advancement in the last 200 years?

What are your two greatest strengths?

What are your two greatest weaknesses?

What are your hobbies?

What is the most important skill for a doctor?

What is your favorite book? Why?

Define success.

Who is the most influential person in your life?

Describe your clinical/volunteer experience.

Describe your research experience.

Why are you a good fit for our medical school?

How do you handle failure?

Are you a leader or a follower? Why?

What do you think about Abortion?

Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs) Based on the research, schools using the MMI format believe it produces a more reliable assessment of a candidate and limits interview biases due to the number of interactions. Because students interact with multiple interviewers in multiple assessments over the course of the MMI, opinions of a single interviewer are not over-emphasized. The MMI allows applicants multiple opportunities to showcase their skills throughout the interview, unlike the traditional one-on-one interview.

They utilize stations that may last from 5 to 10 minutes each and may have up to eight stations or different interviewers. These stations may present you with basic questions concerning your time management skills or an ethical dilemma that you may have to work through. Ethical dilemmas require a framework. For instance, I utilized a strategy described below.

- Recognize an Ethical Issue

- Get the Facts

- Evaluate Alternative Actions

- Make a Decision and Test It

- Act and Reflect on the Outcome

The key words here are RECOGIZE, FACTS, ACT, and REFLECT

I suggest you buy and read the book, "Doing Right" by Phillip Hebert. This book is very good for understanding common and not so common ethical dilemmas that physicians can face, and is often also covered in medical school. Some sample questions are listed below. The key is to showcase personal characteristics such as empathy, flexibility, critical thinking, professionalism, and communication. There is no way to prepare for a specific question, but practice will make you coherent and give you a framework to answer any question thrown your way.

MMI Sample Questions

​You are standing at a railway junction and you notice an oncoming train is approaching rapidly and is on course to hit a family of five who are crossing the same track. To your right, you notice a lever which can be used to divert the train to the parallel track, where you can see one individual standing on that track. You are aware that whichever track the train choses to follow, the individual(s) present will not have sufficient time to move out of the way, nor will the train have sufficient time to stop. Explain what actions you would take in this scenario.

You are an FY2 doctor on the elderly care ward, and one of your long-term patients (Mr Thomas) is due to be discharged later today. Mr. Thomas is very appreciative for the care you have provided him over the last one month, and as a token of his appreciation, he has given you an envelope with £500. Explain your actions in this scenario? How would your actions differ if Mr Thomas advised you that he also gave each of the other doctors and nursing staff on the ward £500?

You are an A&E doctor and your next patient is a 12 year old unconscious girl who has been in a car accident. The girl has lost a considerable amount of blood and requires a minimum of 3 units of blood to stabilise her, without which she will likely pass away. As you prepare to commence the first unit of blood, the girl’s mother approaches you saying that under no circumstances does she want her daughter to have any blood-products. Explain what actions you would take in this scenario.

Would your actions be any different if this was a conscious 35 year old male refusing a blood transfusion necessary to save their life?

​You are a junior doctor in a GP surgery. A 14 year old has arranged an appointment, to request contraception. Explain what actions you would take in this scenario.

Mr Jones, a 50 year old gentleman with advanced liver cancer, requires an urgent liver transplant. A suitably matched liver has been identified; however Mr Jones is refusing the transplant. Mrs Jones (Mr Jones’ wife) insists that you perform the transplant, stating that she is happy to consent on behalf of Mr Jones. Explain what actions you would take in this scenario

You are a medical student in a GP surgery, shadowing one of the GP partners, who is also your supervisor. Your next patient is Mrs Collins, a 30 year old secretary who your supervisor states is a ‘typical hypochondriac…always coming in with new concerns, with no real medical problems’. Your GP supervisor advises you that placebo medications (sugar pills) are the best treatment for these patients, and ‘always do the trick’. Outline the main issues raised.

You are a second year medical student preparing for your end of year examinations. One week before your examinations, you have a Molecules, Cells and Diseases (MCD) coursework due. One of your friends has just emailed a selection of coursework, completed by students in prior years for the same project. Explain your actions in this scenario.

You are a renal transplant specialist working in a hospital. A kidney becomes available for transplant, and there are 2 patients who require a transplant. The first is a 60 year-old woman, who has developed renal failure as part of an autoimmune disease. The second is a 24-year-old man who has developed renal failure due to substance misuse. You are only able to transplant the kidney to one patient, who do you choose?

You are a third-year medical student and you have just seen one of the doctors come out of the store room and put three syringes and needles in his pocket. Explain what actions you would take in this scenario.

'The right to life carries with it the right to death.’ Discuss the key ethical arguments with such a line of thought.

Your mother calls you and asks you to help with a major family decision. Your maternal grandfather is 70 years old and has been diagnosed with a condition that will kill him sometime in the next five years. He can have a procedure that will correct the disease and not leave him with any long-term problems, but the procedure has a a 10% mortality rate. He wants to have the procedure, but your mother does not want him to. How would you help mediate this issue?

Is it ethical for healthcare professionals to strike? If so, under what conditions?

What would you do if a woman with two children came to you and asked for a tubal ligation (fertility management); she requests that you do not inform her husband. ​

You are an FY2 Junior Doctor on a medical ward and you required to leave hospital in 30 minutes to collect your unwell child from school. Outline the order in which you would complete the following five tasks:

- You have agreed to meet your registrar to discuss changes to the medical rotations.

- A ward nurse calls you regarding a 57 year old gentleman who is complaining of left sided chest pain.

- The pharmacist has bleeped you regarding a possible medication error that you had signed for.

- A family member has requested to speak to you to discuss the progress of their relative

- Your phone alarm rings with a reminder to purchase flowers for your wife, as it is your wedding anniversary. ​