Anyone ever look through the School feedback/interview questions?

[Prncssbuttercup]

Some funny questions I came across in the "School feedback, interview questions section" (my answer after it)

@DMU: "Do you buy your own clothes? Why did you choose the color and pattern of the tie you are wearing?" HUH??? Because it matched and I liked it... "What's your biggest failure?" Not going to med school sooner, or marrying my ex-husband... it's a tie

@RVU: "If we accepted you, what's the first thing you would do"? Besides jump up and down and scream??? "What type of dog do you have?" The kind that licks you and sheds a lot

@AZCOM: "If you could be any kitchen appliance, what would you be"? WHAT!?! Umm The oven because I make tasty treats (or cause you can bake??) or the dishwasher because it gets shiat done! "When was the last time your cried"? What's it to you!!!??

@LECOM: "In terms of the ascending and descending tubules describe the flux of Na/K" Isn't that why I'm going to med school? Apparently you should brush up on your A/P before you interview here...


If you find any others worth posting... please do so...

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[Torr]

"If you could be any kitchen appliance, what would you be"?[/I] .

I don't feel comfortable with these types of questions and really happy it never came up during any interviews. I'm expecting this type of thing to be asked during residency interviews though. Seems like it's slightly more common than for med school.

I really loved the interview feedback portion of the site btw 😍 Spent some of the flight time to schools reading over potential questions.

 

[QofQuimica]

I obviously haven't read the med school interview feedback in quite a while, but I have a funny interview question story. A few of them, in fact.

Med school interview: I had just finished explaining my dissertation research in great detail to the interviewer, who was a biochemistry PhD. I ended by saying that my goal was to have a career in academic medicine. The next question the interviewer asked me was, "If you're so interested in research, why didn't you apply for the MD/PhD program?" Now I am not the kind of person who is usually at a loss for words, but that question really kind of blew my mind. After several seconds, I said, "Well, I figure one PhD is enough to last me a lifetime. It's been hard enough getting one!" The interviewer laughed and agreed.

Residency interview: I have a BA, two MSes, a PhD, and an MD, and the interviewer was commenting about all of my degrees. He said to me, kind of sarcastically, "Do you consider yourself to be a lifelong learner?" I said, "Well, I hope we're *all* lifelong learners, because we wouldn't be very good physicians if we weren't." He then proceeded to change the subject.

Another residency interview: The assistant program director was interviewing me, and commented that he didn't think everyone should all be dressed alike in black suits. I was wearing a black suit, and he said, "Oh, now I've made you uncomfortable." I said, "Actually, no you haven't, and the reason why I think it's so important for me to wear a conservative suit is because my application is already nontraditional enough. If I didn't wear a black suit, you might think that I'm incapable of ever following conventions." He laughed, and then he asked me how much I thought my Step 1 score influenced my ability to get interviews. This was followed by a spirited discussion of several other controversial topics, as well as multiple emails back and forth afterward.

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

Q, When I saw that you had posted I was worried I broke a rule... I'm glad you just have funny stories... 😉 Who asks someone with a PhD why they aren't applying MD/PhD??? I would get asking, why DIDN'T you BEFORE, as in why didn't you do an MD with the PhD you already have!!

Torr, I KNOW, creepy question!!! What kind of question is that!!! What if I said I want to be the toaster??? or the trash compactor!!! Crimeny...

 

[JKinSC]

Absolutely nothing to do with med school/residency interviews, but one of the funnier stories about interviewing I've heard.

A classmate of mine in B-school was flown to Chicago(?), taken to dinner and put up in a hotel the night prior, for an interview for a rather coveted leadership rotational program at an airline. He said the interview went extremely well until:

I: So, say someone buys a gift certificate for X dollars on 27 Dec, and a flight exceeding the gift certificate's value is booked using the certificate as partial payment on 2 Jan. The flight reservation is subsequently cancelled, and the gift certificate is not ultimately used until the following January. How would you go about the accounting for all of these transactions?

R: Let's see....well, thank you for your time!

On topic, I read every word of the school feedback/interview questions for each of the schools to which I applied. Absolutely awesome tool! That being said, every one of my interviews was completely conversational, with the only aggressive question at any of them being, "So what the hell took you so long to apply to med school?"

 

[QofQuimica]

Q, When I saw that you had posted I was worried I broke a rule... I'm glad you just have funny stories... 😉

No, it's fine to quote other parts of the SDN website. We just can't have people quoting other websites, such as from articles or blogs. If you want to refer to other sites from outside SDN, best to post the link so that no one (you or us) gets hassled by the owners of the copyright.

So, if you want some more funny stories, I could tell some funny stories of answers that applicants gave to me during interviews, too. For example:

One question I would ask applicants sometimes is what did they want to make sure the adcom knew about them. I would explain that it was my job to advocate on their behalf to the rest of the committee, and I needed their help so that I could make the most convincing case possible. I liked asking this question because it was so open-ended, and people interpreted it in all kinds of ways. It gave me a good idea of what the applicant thought was important about themselves. Some applicants interpreted it as "tell me about yourself," which is exactly how I would have responded to that question also. Some interpreted it as "tell me about X or Y significant EC" (research, volunteering, etc.) Some interpreted it as, "why medicine?" or "why this school?" A couple of people gave me the deer in headlights look, so I felt bad and kind of tried to help them out. But my very favorite answer was the one who said, "Tell them that this is my first choice school and I will definitely attend if accepted."

 

[Torr]

But my very favorite answer was the one who said, "Tell them that this is my first choice school and I will definitely attend if accepted."

Aww. That's such a first thought/nervous answer.

I'm gonna assume this person was immediately accepted, though. This always works doesn't it, Q? 😀

 

[QofQuimica]

Aww. That's such a first thought/nervous answer.

I'm gonna assume this person was immediately accepted, though. This always works doesn't it, Q? 😀

I actually don't remember if that applicant was accepted. But while it's not exactly the answer I was looking for, it wasn't the kind of answer that would make me check "reject," either. 🙂

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

I worry about open-ended questions... those are the worst, they're so easy to say too much... Especially when you want something so much!

 

[Torr]

I worry about open-ended questions... those are the worst, they're so easy to say too much... Especially when you want something so much!

I always dreaded "tell me about yourself" the most and luckily never got it. Even during mock interviews I prayed that no one would ask it.

It's just the starting that bothers me.

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

I see that as a common question, as well as "why medicine, why this school" and in the osteopathic schools, "why osteopathic medicine" .... I'm hoping I can remember to stick to what I said in my PS if I'm asked this... except the osteopathic answer isn't in my PS... 😉 but that's not as hard... Q, I'm glad you posted that question... now I have an answer in case I'm ever asked it 😉

 

[EdLongshanks]

I see that as a common question, as well as "why medicine, why this school" and in the osteopathic schools, "why osteopathic medicine" .... I'm hoping I can remember to stick to what I said in my PS if I'm asked this... except the osteopathic answer isn't in my PS... 😉 but that's not as hard... Q, I'm glad you posted that question... now I have an answer in case I'm ever asked it 😉

I only had 1 osteopathic interview, but that was definitely one of the questions (which I flubbed). I later thought about the osteopathic physician who cured my lifelong lower back problems by jerking on my leg.

 

[mnoon1]

I only had 1 osteopathic interview, but that was definitely one of the questions (which I flubbed). I later thought about the osteopathic physician who cured my lifelong lower back problems by jerking on my leg.

I told OSU I didnt really see a difference between the two. 😱

I said the one D.O. I shadowed seemed to take a little longer with his patients to really explain things to them and make sure they understood what was going on before he left the room but that it could be just a personality thing on his part. And that other than that, working in a hospital with both MDs and DOs, that they seemed to all do the same things.

😀 they smiled and nodded.

 

[mnoon1]

and i thought the interview feedback section was very helpful. it was like my interviewers were reading their questions from it. Dont think I had any questions that werent already posted on the interview feedback section unless they related to my personal (family) life.

 

[QofQuimica]

I see that as a common question, as well as "why medicine, why this school" and in the osteopathic schools, "why osteopathic medicine" .... I'm hoping I can remember to stick to what I said in my PS if I'm asked this... except the osteopathic answer isn't in my PS... 😉 but that's not as hard... Q, I'm glad you posted that question... now I have an answer in case I'm ever asked it 😉

I came up with that question on my own (i.e., it wasn't in our interviewer's manual), so I'm not sure how often you'd come across it. Even if you never get asked that question though, it's a good one to think about just because it helps you boil down the essentials of what makes you stand out as an applicant. But anyway, you're welcome. For the one about what kind of kitchen appliance you'd be, you're on your own there.

Another good issue to think about is the dynamics of working in a group. These days, most med schools, including mine, have small group work incorporated into the curriculum. Sometimes I would ask applicants about their experience working in groups, how they handled conflicts, etc.

Some interviewers like to ask ethics questions. I never bothered with that, because it's pretty contrived, and I don't feel like it really tells me much about the applicant as a person (unless they say they would do something that is clearly unethical!). But you should be ready for those just in case.

I would also be prepared to discuss a hobby. A lot of interviewers like to ask what you do for fun, especially student interviewers. For residency interviews, they asked that question so often that it started getting on my nerves.

Let's see, what else. Definitely be prepared to talk about why that school and why medicine. As a nontrad, be prepared to talk about your former career. If you've done research, be prepared to talk about your research.

If you're female, think ahead of time about how you will handle illegal questions. Interviewers should never ask you about your family plans, marital status, etc. unless *you* bring it up first, either on your app or during the interview. However, some of you are bound to get asked an illegal question due to interviewer ignorance or bias. If you don't want to discuss the subject (which I never did), I suggest answering the question directly and simply. When asked if I was married, I just said, "No," and waited for them to ask the next question.

Another possibly awkward question is being asked where else you have applied, interviewed, or been accepted. IMO, that question, while not illegal, should never be asked since it makes many interviewees uncomfortable. But it seems to come up on a regular basis, so you should be prepared to deal with it. Typically, I would answer by describing what I was looking for in a school/program in general (training opps, location, etc.), and that was why I had applied to this program. In most cases, that was enough. A few times though, I had interviewers press me to name names, which was a huge turnoff. When that happened, I would simply name three or four other programs that also fit the criteria I had already given, and leave it at that.

Of course, you can always refuse to answer any question that makes you uncomfortable. But given the power differential between you and the interviewer, this may not be a realistic option, especially if you haven't been accepted anywhere yet.