Conducting Interviews

[VTBuc]

So my Pre-med office has asked those of us who had success in this last cycle to help them conduct committee interviews for those who are applying next cycle. This is important as our school, as the results of the interview are compiled into the Committee letter that I'm sure ya'll know are quite important. The format of the interview is 2 on 1, with me and a member of the Pre-Med committee interviewing a Pre-Med with an open file.

My question is what kind of questions I ought to ask. The guy organizing it said "anything goes" for the most part, but I'm not sure how similar to an actual interview I ought to go. The obvious choices are "why medicine" and "tell me about yourself", but the interview is a full hour long so I figure I ought to get a bit more indepth. But at the same time, I don't want to be discouraging to applicants. What do you guys think...ethical questions? What else are some good ideas for questions?

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[Myuu]

So my Pre-med office has asked those of us who had success in this last cycle to help them conduct committee interviews for those who are applying next cycle. This is important as our school, as the results of the interview are compiled into the Committee letter that I'm sure ya'll know are quite important. The format of the interview is 2 on 1, with me and a member of the Pre-Med committee interviewing a Pre-Med with an open file.

My question is what kind of questions I ought to ask. The guy organizing it said "anything goes" for the most part, but I'm not sure how similar to an actual interview I ought to go. The obvious choices are "why medicine" and "tell me about yourself", but the interview is a full hour long so I figure I ought to get a bit more indepth. But at the same time, I don't want to be discouraging to applicants. What do you guys think...ethical questions? What else are some good ideas for questions?

Hmmmm, what are some good standbys...

What do you do outside of class (you can say for fun if you want to )?
Talk about a difficult ethical situation you were in and how you resolved it.
What are your strengths/weaknesses?
Where do you see yourself ___ years from now?
If there were no need for doctors, what would you be doing?
If you don't get into medical school, what do you plan on doing?
What are your plans for the summer?

etc.

 

[Appless]

myuu had some good suggestions. Based off why medicine, asking about activities in the file, and tell me about yourself you should easily be able to fill an hour by asking about things that come up in those answers. That or the person you are interviewing is mad boring lol.

Also with healthcare reform you could throw that in there, asking about their thoughts concerns etc. I kinda like the question
"with the recent bill just passed what are some of your major concerns with the future of medicine." I think that would make a great question to mess with many pre meds

Also, while this question threw my off at one interview a bit you could ask "What are the 3 biggest challenges you forsee with your patients as you enter medicine." When I was asked i had 2 already in mind but the 3rd i was like uhhh uhhhhhhhhhh *some lame stupid ass answer that came out of panic*.........

 

[austinap]

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRtBvo9grLw[/YOUTUBE]

But seriously, I like to keep it fairly laid back. You don't really want to cannibalize your own students, but you want to make sure you don't embarrass yourselves by highly recommending someone that is going to completely bomb their interview.

I'd vote for asking a few of the standard questions, a bit of background, and then just make the rest fairly conversational. My experience is that most premeds can hang themselves pretty well on their own if you just ask them the "tell me about yourself" type questions, so there's no need for you to really grill them. And of course, give them useful and honest feedback afterward.

 

[VTBuc]

That's kind of what I figured.

When I had my committee interview, a lady asked me all sorts of ridiculous questions like, "Explain the blood clotting cascade"..NO JOKE! I left with my head spinning..and I don't want to do that to any poor pre-med I interview. I like the "future problems with patients" and healthcare questions.

 

[DrSmooth]

Not sure about everyone else's experience, but all of my interviews except 1 were extremely laid-back and conversational, rather than running through a list of questions. My mock interviews were the exact opposite. I would keep it conversational and casual to let your premeds learn how to adequately sell themselves in that format, which can be a challenge.