Any advice on preparing for interviews? First one this week
In general, I found most of them very conversational and strictly behavioral!
The most important questions I've seen come up:
1. Why MD/PhD? In general, have a good understanding of why you want both degrees. It helps if you have a specific career goal in mind and can say how the MD and PhD + the crosstalk afforded by MD/PhD will get you to where you want to be
2. Why medicine, goes without saying haha
3. Talk about your research. Give a brief summary of what you're trying to do, why you're doing it, what your goal/hypothesis was, and any interesting things you've found. You don't have to be super eloquent or refined about it. Stay away from gory details here because the big idea is more important and your interviewer will ask about the technical details if they're interested. I think the most important part is just to know what you're doing inside and out and you can roll with the punches easily
4. What have the biggest takeaways you've gotten from doing research? This is the "what does your experience mean to you" question and is pretty straightforward to answer IMO. Anything you've learned about research itself? Has research helped you think about scientific problems in a rigorous way? Stuff like that
You won't necessarily get asked about these directly, the wording can differ and oftentimes is more casual rather than framed as a formal question.
Another thing is to see how you act on camera. Make sure you don't come off as weird or fidgety or anything like that. Eye contact is important -- I think you can either look at the screen i.e. at your interviewer or the webcam, just be consistent about it.
These interviews get a lot easier over time. Your first one's going to be a bit nerve-wracking, but eventually you get better at talking to people. If you've talked with professors a lot in the past in a more formal setting and feel you're a good conversationalist, I think you don't have too much to worry about here and will easily get into the flow of things.
Eventually, the biggest issue is dealing with fatigue from interviewing for several hours at a time. Talk slow, smile, and laugh a bit (I feel like this helps me mentally and physically loosen up + release any pent-up tension I might have), you'll do great. One good way to warm up is to ask any questions you have on your mind during the morning orientation sessions, that way your first time saying anything for the day won't be when you're doing your first interview
) my biggest dilemma right now is if I should drink coffee beforehand; it makes me sharper and much more talkative but also makes make jittery and fidgety 
