Advice from 20+ interviews

[Sassafrass23]

You are lovely. Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[neurotroph]

epic

 

[geh926]

epic

Seriously. this

 

[touchpause13]

Excellent advice.

I vote it should be sticky'd

 

[hookem29]

Thanks a lot for this information it was very helpful!

One quick question: when asked about why medicine/being a doctor, how much do you want to tie your answer into what you mention in your personal statement? I feel like a lot of it was answered in mine, but at the same time I feel like I could bring up other points unrelated to the essay. I just don't know if there will be any problems saying different things from what you wrote.

 

[bluestreaks]

Well, it also kind of depends on whether or not they've read your file before the interview. But yeah, you're probably going to end up saying lots of the same stuff that you wrote down, and elaborating on it.

But yeah I think it's absolutely the time to add those extra points in that you want to bring up!

 

[McRunner]

Well, it also kind of depends on whether or not they've read your file before the interview. But yeah, you're probably going to end up saying lots of the same stuff that you wrote down, and elaborating on it.

But yeah I think it's absolutely the time to add those extra points in that you want to bring up!

Hate to repeat. But where did you interview at and where did you matriculate at?

 

[pyrrion89]

Well, it also kind of depends on whether or not they've read your file before the interview. But yeah, you're probably going to end up saying lots of the same stuff that you wrote down, and elaborating on it.

But yeah I think it's absolutely the time to add those extra points in that you want to bring up!

You mentioned that you can "steer the interview" to where you want to go, to bring up your best assets and to help guide the interview to topics you want to highlight.

I've tried doing this, but I do worry that I risk coming off as controlling. Ismet, a student interviewer at Pitt, said on the forums that she dislikes interviewees who speak longer than 5 minutes, or who tend to talk more than the interviewer.

I feel like there is a sort of tension between steering the conversation and dominating the conversation. How do I do the former without lapsing into the latter? Any general advice? I love your original post. It's been the ethos by which I've attempted to conduct myself during my interviews

 

[eleveneleven]

You mentioned that you can "steer the interview" to where you want to go, to bring up your best assets and to help guide the interview to topics you want to highlight.

I've tried doing this, but I do worry that I risk coming off as controlling. Ismet, a student interviewer at Pitt, said on the forums that she dislikes interviewees who speak longer than 5 minutes, or who tend to talk more than the interviewer.

I feel like there is a sort of tension between steering the conversation and dominating the conversation. How do I do the former without lapsing into the latter? Any general advice? I love your original post. It's been the ethos by which I've attempted to conduct myself during my interviews

Considering I haven't heard a single thing from any of the schools I've interviewed at, and don't know for certain anything about whether or not I know how to interview well, take what I say with a grain of salt. But here's how I interpreted this.

The majority of questions at every interview have been "Tell me about X experience." I've found that how you respond to this is a great chance to steer/direct/bring up what you think is important. For instance, I have worked in a position where I have worked with many physicians, so when that activity is brought up, I typically will mention how one important part of the experience is that the doctors have modeled characteristics and behaviors that I hope to take with me in clinical practice. I've found that a response like that is a leader response and their follow-up question is always "Oh what are those characteristics you find valuable?" And then I'll back it up with an anecdote/story about a physician that was compassionate/patient-centered/leaders/empathetic, etc. and how I hope to do the same. So now I've used a vague "Tell me about X" question to bring up characteristics of a physician that I find important. And all of this sort of flows naturally and organically like a normal conversation would so it shouldn't feel like you're dominating.

And I think almost every point you want to show can be tactfully slipped into those tell me about X questions. Did X allow you to work as a team? Show your leadership? Foster critical reasoning and inquiry skills? Help you appreciate and work within diversity? Require communication? Etc. etc. etc. Whatever you think's important to show.

Basically, when asked a vague question, take that as a chance to use a concrete example/story from your activities to highlight assets/characteristics you want to bring up. By doing this, you set them up for follow-up questions regarding those salient points, and have successfully steered the conversation to things you want to discuss!

Hope any of that makes sense and might help in some way or another! But hopefully somebody with actual interview results can chime in here too.

 

[bluestreaks]

You mentioned that you can "steer the interview" to where you want to go, to bring up your best assets and to help guide the interview to topics you want to highlight.

I've tried doing this, but I do worry that I risk coming off as controlling. Ismet, a student interviewer at Pitt, said on the forums that she dislikes interviewees who speak longer than 5 minutes, or who tend to talk more than the interviewer.

I feel like there is a sort of tension between steering the conversation and dominating the conversation. How do I do the former without lapsing into the latter? Any general advice? I love your original post. It's been the ethos by which I've attempted to conduct myself during my interviews

Yeah, for sure, I see what you're saying. Definitely don't be overbearing or obnoxious, and sometimes you can tell that your interviewer is cold or has a stick up the butt. You have to read the interviewer a bit. That student interviewer at Pitt sounds a little mean and conceded. I didn't have that experience at Pitt. In my experience, both student and faculty interviewers just want to learn more about you.

But basically, you can usually answer a general question, and happen to slip in something else about yourself. And often, they will say, "oh really, you play the bassoon? How did you get into that?" I think the key is taking advantage of the wiggle room you get when asked questions (ESPECIALLY the "tell me about yourself" question. That's easy). You can address the immediate question, but broaden it up or related it to the next point you want to hit.

Oh yeah, and where did I go? For the sake of staying anonymous (it's weird how small the med school/premed world is), I chose a public school that I love, over the "best school" according to US News. Since this is the best (and best deal $) for me!

 

[junglejoos]

super helpful, thanks.

 

[Heplayer92]

Solid advice, thanks very much!

Bumping for this cycle =)

 

[pbrocks15]

Quick Question regarding the Interview: If I have a question for the interviewer about the student-run clinic or research opportunities, should I wait until the end of the interview or when he prompts me for questions or can I ask throughout my interview as I make my points. Thanks! @bluestreaks

 

[hogfan12]

Excellent post. Thank you

 

[TheHikingLife]

So incredibly helpful! Very happy this exists.

 

[bluestreaks]

Quick Question regarding the Interview: If I have a question for the interviewer about the student-run clinic or research opportunities, should I wait until the end of the interview or when he prompts me for questions or can I ask throughout my interview as I make my points. Thanks! @bluestreaks

This thread is back from the grave huh! I'd say if you're already on the subject and can work it in smoothly, then it's no problem to turn it around and ask how you can get involved at that med school.

 

[sat0ri]

This thread is back from the grave huh! I'd say if you're already on the subject and can work it in smoothly, then it's no problem to turn it around and ask how you can get involved at that med school.

Cursive !!!

 

[Supraspinatus]

@bluestreaks awesome info, thank you SO much for sharing!!! Definitely helpful to find this during interview season!!!

I was hoping that maybe you could please shed some light on pitfalls to avoid regarding "times you failed" or "times you had to compromise or admit you were wrong"? Similar to the "weaknesses" question, I'm assuming you want to be honest, but to a point...i.e. nothing overly tragic or dramatic? Would you mind giving some examples for "failed" and "compromise" situations that would be appropriate (i.e. not too trivial but also not too important)?

Thanks again for the awesome info! And congrats on all the amazing interviews! You rock!

 

[bluestreaks]

@bluestreaks awesome info, thank you SO much for sharing!!! Definitely helpful to find this during interview season!!!

I was hoping that maybe you could please shed some light on pitfalls to avoid regarding "times you failed" or "times you had to compromise or admit you were wrong"? Similar to the "weaknesses" question, I'm assuming you want to be honest, but to a point...i.e. nothing overly tragic or dramatic? Would you mind giving some examples for "failed" and "compromise" situations that would be appropriate (i.e. not too trivial but also not too important)?

Thanks again for the awesome info! And congrats on all the amazing interviews! You rock!

Hey @medflyer19 , hope your interviews are going well!
You already said it yourself, something honest but not too extreme. Maybe an example would be when you were a leader of some kind of event and you were convinced you had a solid plan that would be successful, but it bombed. Admitting your mistake, and following up with another quick anecdote about how you took your team's input to make a new event that was honestly much better than your original one would make a nice story. Idk, I'm tired as balls. You could even discuss a failure in a personal relationship, which could be a little unique! I always thought finding a way to apply the prompt in a unique way could make you stand out.

 

[Supraspinatus]

Hey @medflyer19 , hope your interviews are going well!
You already said it yourself, something honest but not too extreme. Maybe an example would be when you were a leader of some kind of event and you were convinced you had a solid plan that would be successful, but it bombed. Admitting your mistake, and following up with another quick anecdote about how you took your team's input to make a new event that was honestly much better than your original one would make a nice story. Idk, I'm tired as balls. You could even discuss a failure in a personal relationship, which could be a little unique! I always thought finding a way to apply the prompt in a unique way could make you stand out.

First ones are scheduled for October....thank you for the well wishes!

Awesome feedback, got the gears turning in my head to come up with something creative. Thank you so much, I appreciate it!

Hope all is well with your med school endeavors!

 

[Scarlett218]

@bluestreaks -- how were you able to go on so many interviews while also having other commitments? I have 16 IIs right now but I've been turning a bunch down because I can't take that many days off work and still keep my job.

 

[ridethecliche]

@bluestreaks -- how were you able to go on so many interviews while also having other commitments? I have 16 IIs right now but I've been turning a bunch down because I can't take that many days off work and still keep my job.

Not so humble brag.

 

[bluestreaks]

Not so humble brag.

I didn't have many commitments then (because I set aside time for interview season) and slept in airports often.
Congrats btw, and lol at @ridethecliche's post.

 

[nvas]

.

 

[premed613]

This is a really helpful thread! thank u so much OP for ur words of wisdom!

 

[AspiringDoc169]

Thank you OP for your advice!