How much preparation time do you need for interviews?

[cookyjar]

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Do you need more than a month to prepare for your first interview?

 

[sinombre]

No way. Assuming you actually have legitimate reasons about why you're choosing to become a physician, and are familiar with your own application, you really shouldn't have to prepare much at all. For my first interview I spent about a day reading about the school and re-reading my application.

 

[prado]

No way. Assuming you actually have legitimate reasons about why you're choosing to become a physician, and are familiar with your own application, you really shouldn't have to prepare much at all. For my first interview I spent about a day reading about the school and re-reading my application.

I second this. Throughout your daily interactions with people, you should be developing the communication skills necessary to have a decent interview. Aside from becoming comfortable in a one on one situation (may need to do mock interviews if you are very shy), the only kind of preparation needed is finding out as much info about the school as you can, knowing your application in and out, and having a solid answer to "Why medicine?" and "Why this school?" and that can be done in a day.

tldr; listen to sinombre

 

[MrBrightside167]

I don't think there's a set amount of time needed to prepare for interviews. Just keep practicing until you feel comfortable talking about a wide range of topics (healthcare, why medicine, medical ethics, your ECs). I would definitely recommend mock interviews. They really helped me get a better feel for what the actual interview would be like.

 

[GopherMD]

I took half a day to prepare for my first interview. That involved interview feedback on SDN and researching the school's goals/mission. Other than that, I just reviewed my application and personal statement

For the rest of my interviews, I took maybe 1-2 hours max to prep.

 

[Geebeejay]

you need an hour to review your application, make sure you know how to get to the school, and make sure you remember why you applied to the school....that's all.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Less than a minute to Google my interviewer for any red flags.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using SDN Mobile

 

[prado]

Less than a minute to Google my interviewer for any red flags.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using SDN Mobile

This is funny because at a few of my interviews, after finding out who was interviewing us, applicants were saying things like "Well my interviewer is a specialist in...or has a pHd in....or is involved in..." and I was like how the heck do you guys know this already?

One of these days I, too, will have a phone with free intrawebz...

 

[cookyjar]

Don't you also have to know stuff like current state of US health care and obamacare?

 

[Juan Solo]

Don't you also have to know stuff like current state of US health care and obamacare?

hmmm, not really for interviews. Maybe for your own personal knowledge. You should prepare for being a little tired, trying to get to know everyone who is also tired in the morning and eating free complementary breakfast.

 

[McNCheese]

Don't you also have to know stuff like current state of US health care and obamacare?

You need to have a basic understanding of US health care and reforms, and how it will affect your career as a physician. In general, as long as you have solid reasons for pursuing medicine and you spend the next few months keeping up with current topics in healthcare, you should be in good shape. Also, read some books on topics besides medicine, so that you have other things to talk about.

 

[cookiemonsters]

You should know your app inside and out, but besides that there is really not much you can do to 'prepare' for an interview.

There are lists out there of common medical school interview questions, and if you're a typical sdneurotic premed you will probably think of an answer for every single weird question you can encounter. I did this, taking me a few hours likely... and probably got asked 2 of those questions over the course of all my interviews. -_-

My only advice is have good things for "Tell me about yourself" "Why medicine?" and "Any questions for me?" I read NPR online about once a week to stay current with healthcare news, and it was more than enough for the few questions I was asked about that.

Also don't be socially awkwards, fidgety, etc... just smile ande fake confidence for 30 mins. Don't be this guy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvYvhQvbDz8

 

[BABSstudent]

Don't you also have to know stuff like current state of US health care and obamacare?

This depends on the school. Some prefer for their applicants to know a lot and others rarely ask questions about recent events/ethics.

 

[GopherMD]

One of my interviewers asked me what I thought about the health care reform. Yes, a very BROAD question.

 

[survivordo]

There is a book out there called i think "the interview handbook" or something like that that I know my fiance went through. Otherwise just know yourself and know your application. Google common interview questions and have a legit answer to the most common of them. These interviews are mostly "can we get alone with this person", if they weren't impressed with your app you wouldn't have gotten the invite.

Survivor DO

 

[NickNaylor]

Don't you also have to know stuff like current state of US health care and obamacare?

Know the basics of the healthcare system and what Obamacare very broadly does. Know some basics of ethics and be able to state and defend your position appropriately. No one is going to expect you to be an expert in either field, but giving the impression that you know very little or nothing is a bad idea.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717

 

[Frazier]

Most prep should come before the first interview (logical)...as you go to more and more, prep time approaches zero.

Prob prepped for several hours for first interview (sdn, website, common questions, healthcare reform, etc).

Prob prepped for 20 minutes for last interview... basically just "why school xyz and what I think about the city".

If I knew school/city already, prep would have been zero.