It says in "Get into Medical School" written by a team of MDs that "in sum, most medical school interviewers are essentially untrained to do the most important single evaluation that determines whether you will get into medical school….If anything egregious happens during the interview, be sure to notify the Dean of Admissions." This book was written in 1996; the fact that it was even mentioned that much time back further validates the existence of unethical and unfair interviews, and it's up to those/ok, myself, directly encountered to speak up to the Admissions and rectify the situations. Don't think all of those tough, probing questions are directed to see our logics. I am not calling for social activism here…all I'm saying is that we as future physicians should take this noble profession one step up beyond performing p. exams and surgery. This profession calls for a good deal of bravery, sacrifices, respect for others and integrity (see "Doctor's Honor Code”).
Having said this, I must say that the system still needs more work especially in the area of ethics. True, things in the world don't always run the way we want, but so what? You're gonna just sit back and stay indifferent about others' misfortunes? Are you gonna let your fear dictate your life? If I become honored to be part of this profession, I WILL take a proactive role in improving current medical system/care both via biomedical research and by enforcing ethical conducts among us. I don't believe my Davis interviewer meant to sound racist/disparaging intentionally, but the problem was that he was quite oblivious/unaware he was posing unprofessional questions (I'm fairly certain the Honor Code did exist during his med yrs). I would have been cool, if he asked "there are 150 well-qualified one ethnic group applying to Davis. How should we go about to carefully select 10 best qualified in an effort to preserve student diversity" Honestly, do some of you think that I should have said, "I agree, for the sake of diversity, take only those KAs whose MCAT scores are 40 and higher and 3.99 GPA,. While we're on this topic, sir, shall we discuss about a possibility of imposing a new Adm entrance standard for my ethnic group since we tend to be over-achieving nerds so will end up filling up all of the doc-spots soon". If he wanted to see my thought process on this type of questions, he should have taken more caution on his wording of the question.
The financial Q: LiliCat, I also had to work full-time to finance my college education and am proud of successfully handling both full-time schooling and full-time working…that's why I even mentioned it in one of the essays. The real big problem I had on this question was that my interviewer was not interested in hearing about my financial plan, but was busy emphasizing the current medical edu debt rising above $200,000 (is he kidding me, at Davis???) I had to cautiously ask him a few times to make sure he referred only to the 4-yr tuition and the "basic" living cost. The bottom line is I didn't even get a chance to talk about scholarships/army programs in exchange for my future service..
It's HIS responsibility as a professional school interviewer/physician to learn where his boundary lies. I've been reminded of this "boundary" business for years through volunteering in many organizations--dealing with different people, why shouldn't he! I do believe, however, we are human, prone to make mistakes but are also capable of learning from the mistakes and becoming better individuals. I will notify the Ad office of my interview experience, not because I want to see him rotten in hell (maybe I did at some pt
) but because he deserves to be told. I now must need to figure how tactfully I can deliver my story without offending anyone in the office…
Aldo16 "The argument I'm hearing is that since we'll have patients some day who will make sexist/racist remarks, those remarks should be fair game in an interview. Now I don't know about you guys, but I see interviews as FORMAL events designed to gauge whether a student should enter a PROFESSIONAL field. Yes, we will probably encounter some harsh words from patients on the wards, but that fact does not give interviewers the right to make offensive comments themselves!"
Definitely…I ditto you.
Saffron: Your Tulane interview was even more unfair than mine…what was the old man thinking!!!
At least I would have had a pleasure of barking top of my lungs at him.
My take
Sh…t! I wrote a whole book on this issue. My apologies.