Common questions asked in interviews

[pressmom]

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So I know it's a little early for this, but I was reading on the pre-allo board and someone already started this topic for human med, and I thought it had a place here too. It may also help some people with topics to address in personal statements and supplemental apps for schools.

How do you feel about euthanasia? (This was asked of me at EVERY interview.) I thought I had blown my UTK interview when I said I believed in euthanasia for humans, too!
What is the biggest crisis facing veterinary medicine right now?
What is an ethical dilemma you have faced and how did you solve it?
Describe a time you took leadership in a group.
What do you know about (fill in disease or health crisis here)? Personally, I got asked about BSE and avian flu.
Would you feel comfortable performing a terminal surgery?
Where do you see vet med in 10 years? What are some major trends?
What kind of medicine do you want to practice? Why? Where do you see your self X number of years after graduation?
Questions about time management skills/course loads and work.
Questions about any research projects you have been involved in.
What diversity would you bring to the college?
What are your feelings on working with food animals or the use of animals as food?
Is there any animal you are afraid to work with/don't feel comfortable with?

Anyone have any others?

 

[StealthDog]

I was asked why vet med over human med, and why vet work over other animal-based work (dog training, pet store owner, groomer, etc).

 

[kate_g]

At a school that did a hot/cold interview where one interviewer had read my app and the other hadn't, the cold interviewer asked me if there was anything he'd find in my application that would make him not want to accept me. Kind of a weird question, because I couldn't just say "no" but I didn't have any of the classic BIG RED FLAGS that would have been easy to bring up.

At Minnesota I was basically asked all of the questions on the list of questions you might be asked at Minnesota (forget if they sent this, or if I found somebody else's list online).

 

[rexosaurus]

At my interview I got asked a question to the effect of:
"If you were at a conference with a bunch of vets that were discussing the up and coming/new technology for vet med, what do you think it would be?" I kind of flubbed this one, it definately caught me off guard!

 

[Spartanvet4cows]

Another one interviewers like to ask is:
If you were to walk into a supermarket, what are 5 different animal products you would find there?
Basically they want you to know that livestock is not just used for meat and milk.
I got asked about Katrina and the number of dogs found with heartworm afterward. I thought I had completely blown it when I mentioned that maybe people that don't have the money for proper preventative care for their pets shouldn't have them.

Definitely know your zoonoses because you will be asked about one or two.

Good list pressmom!

 

[Pigsfoot]

>>>>>Another one interviewers like to ask is:
If you were to walk into a supermarket, what are 5 different animal products you would find there?
Basically they want you to know that livestock is not just used for meat and milk.<<<<

could you please explain that? a friend of mine starting at UIUC this fall said they asked him that during the interview-what 5 animal products would you find at a Wal-Mart. did they mean like, litterboxes and pet food? or from what you're saying people think they mean, meat and milk and eggs? i don't understand!!!

 

[ri23]

Sometimes they say name five products that have passed through the hands of veterinarians.

 

[pressmom]

>>>>>Another one interviewers like to ask is:
If you were to walk into a supermarket, what are 5 different animal products you would find there?
Basically they want you to know that livestock is not just used for meat and milk.<<<<

could you please explain that? a friend of mine starting at UIUC this fall said they asked him that during the interview-what 5 animal products would you find at a Wal-Mart. did they mean like, litterboxes and pet food? or from what you're saying people think they mean, meat and milk and eggs? i don't understand!!!

First answers that come to mind that aren't steak, milk, etc:
Gelatin
Stocks
Lard

I don't know....what are they going for?

 

[ri23]

This is a good thread that addressed that question - http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=339334&highlight=interview+questions.

Also, the interview feedback threads have some great interview questions.

 

[critterfixer]

First answers that come to mind that aren't steak, milk, etc:
Gelatin
Stocks
Lard

I don't know....what are they going for?

The question, as asked at Illinois was "Name 5 things you can find at Wal*Mart that are related to veterinary medicine."

I thought they were wanting me to know that ANYTHING I could find in Wal*Mart could be veterinary related. I mentioned the box of puppies in the parking lot, the obvious stuff like food and litter, then mentioned tooth floss (can either be used to tie off umbilical cords or be a medical disaster when an owner pulls on a piece hanging out his cat's ass), ibuprofen (and the kidney failure it can lead to), and anti-freeze.

 

[Spartanvet4cows]

When I was asked the question, it was basically what are 5 things that are made from animals (sorry for me "animal products" means just that) that you would find in a supermarket.
Clothing (wool)
Meat (duh)
Milk (this may just all count as food)
Pharmaceuticals
Bone China
Certain Greases
cosmetics
natural hair brushes
I used to have a really long list, and I'm sure it's somewhere in my school notes. Unfortunately when I try to google it, I get taken to all these stupid PETA and vegetarian sites.

Basically anything that has come from a USDA slaughter facility has passed through the hands of a veterinarian, so any animal product would work for that answer.

 

[kate_g]

So there have been a lot of people saying they got actual veterinary knowledge-testing questions... "How many dogs have X", "What is the newest trend in technology", "What are the dangers of zoonosis Y", "How would you treat a horse with Z disease/condition"...

I gotta say, I was asked *none* of that. Not a single question that tested my knowledge of common small or large animal diseases or the state of the industry. Not a single question about Hurricane Katrina. Which is good because I'm pretty much clueless on those fronts.

Now maybe I was just lucky. But I suspect background also played a role. I'm guessing that people who were asked detailed stuff about common diseases or industry trends were people who had been, say, working as a tech for many years, and might actually have been to a veterinary conference recently. On the other hand, the questions I got about my research were things that no "normal" vet school applicant should be expected to know (how we run our experiments, zoonoses of research animals that people in companion animal private practice would never hear about). My guess is the people being asked about technological trends *weren't* asked about the grant review process for researchers developing that new technology.

In comparison to the questions listed above, it's pretty obvious to me that my interviewers tailored their questions to the experience I claimed to have. So my first point is to any way-non-trad people out there, don't panic if you don't know what the letters in DHLPP stand for or how many horses in the state of Montana are infected with West Nile virus. (I had to google real quick and make sure West Nile is actually something that horses get.) And my second point is, more generally, be mindful of what knowledge is implied by the experiences you claim, because that seems to substantially affect the "detail" questions you'll be asked.

 

[critterfixer]

I agree with that, kate_g. I wrote something in my personal statement about Temple Grandin, and sure as donuts I was asked to describe her ideas about moving cattle (no angles). If you make a claim, be prepared to back it up.

 

[ri23]

For Ohio at least, they always ask about (or for the past couple of years) avian influenza and mad cow disease or other such disease epidemics in the veterinary world. They expect you to have some knowledge of current events.

I was actually surprised with my questions - the bulk of my experience was in large animal/exotics and I was asked almost exclusively small animal questions. My interview was laid back and my interviewers were very friendly, but it really seems to vary from place to place and interviewer to interviewer. I know some people that were asked multiple ethical questions at their OSU interview, and I was asked none.

 

[jfitzpatri8]

I got a few really off-the-wall questions in my interview at MSU.

The best one was "What would you, as a veterinarian, bring to the table if you were stranded on an island?"

I asked- like "Survivor" or like "Lost"? Everyone in my interview group thought my answers were quite good. (Toxicology of indigenous plants, physics [trying to get radio working again], obviously treatment of injuries, slaughter of food...)

Then my current events question was about the "Horses for Slaughter" act. I am pretty involved in current events- but had never even heard of this thing. They asked me follow up questions to my every answer for 20 minutes (I know, because just behind them was a clock on the wall.) 1/3 of my interview on that one subject! I found out later that they were just enjoying my answers so much that they kept following it because it was interesting to them. It felt like torture to me, though!


Then they asked me about the one thing I hoped they wouldn't bring up. My job as a researcher for a database corporation. I was basically a telemarketer. I actually said "I was hoping you wouldn't ask me about that!" After the interview, before we stood up, Dr. Fitzgerald said to me that that experience was probably the best one on my resume- showed how I could work with people... he told me not to be embarrassed by that ANYmore. I sure adore that man!

Jenn

 

[InfiniVet]

bump

 

[PJlovin]

How do you feel about animal testing? And why?

Take the time to learn about the ongoing projects at the school you're interviewing at.

 

[HopefulAg]

I was asked the routine stuff:

Where I wanted to be in 10 years
If there's any part of my grades I wanted to explain


The only off the wall question was what I thought about Texas' Top 10% Rule.

 

[chris03333]

>>>>>Another one interviewers like to ask is:
If you were to walk into a supermarket, what are 5 different animal products you would find there?
Basically they want you to know that livestock is not just used for meat and milk.<<<<

could you please explain that? a friend of mine starting at UIUC this fall said they asked him that during the interview-what 5 animal products would you find at a Wal-Mart. did they mean like, litterboxes and pet food? or from what you're saying people think they mean, meat and milk and eggs? i don't understand!!!

Wool socks, goose down pillows, rawhide treats for fido, leather jackets....there's 4 😀

 

[critterfixer]

When I got the Wal*Mart question at my Illinois interview, it was "Name 5 things you might see at Wal* Mart that are related to Veterinary Medicine." I interpreted it to mean they wanted you to understand that EVERYTHING can be related to veterinary medicine, so there really are no wrong answers.

I named:
1. The box of puppies in the back of someone's truck in the parking lot
2. Tooth floss (foreign body in a cat, etc.)
3. Anti-freeze (ethylene glycol poisoning)
4. Tires (they run over our patients)
5. Kale (a good source of vitamin C for guinea pigs)

But I could have named any product in the pharmacy, the linens that a dog might swallow (actually, toys, lingerie, etc, etc), the candy aisle (both chocolate and xylotol toxicosis), ......you get the idea.

 

[LivestockDoc]

Wow, I am SOOO glad CSU isn't interviewing anymore! Some of those obscure questions sound pretty sadistic and hostile. It would really turn me off to a school if they pimped me like that.

 

[gone2dogs]

Wow, I am SOOO glad CSU isn't interviewing anymore!

Reading this thread gave me the same thought! If I don't get into CSU this year 🙂xf🙂I will be applying to more schools next year (and CSU again of course... that is where I really want to go!) where I will hopefully get to interview. I was initially bummed that CSU isn't interviewing anymore, as I thought if I could just make it to the interview I could show them that I am an excellent candidate. But now I am thinking it is better I won't have an interview where I could really mess up some questions!

I should start now becoming more prepared to answer some of those questions!