interviews

[brianmed]

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Hey, so how much in advance do people need to get ready for interviews? How do people normally prepare?

I am thinking of writing up a list of questions for my school and then thinking of good reasons I wanna go there, and getting ready to discuss my background fully, and answer the common quesitons like strength and weakness etc...

How knowledgable should I be with the current state of health in the US should I get some essential data in my head- or useless waste of time?
ANy helpful tips into how to prepare for this would be great thanks!

 

[Catalystik]

I sugggest you prepare with practice interviews after accessing SDN's Interview Feedback section for the school where you'll be interviewing to get a broad sample of the questions you're likely to be asked (see link at the top of this page).

Practicing can occur through your school's career center, where mock interviews may be offered, or with friends who went through the process recently. Bosses and parents can also be tapped and will ideally throw some challenges at you that will put you on the spot and make you think on your feet. Ethical questions and questions about the state of healthcare in the US are common, so prepare for them.

 

[Doodl3s]

So, i just got out from my first interview. of which i did NOT practice at all...
It actually went pretty well... I knew about ethics from a course I took, and it came up. Healthcare came up, but ironically ONLY because they assumed all students purposely study it for interviews 😀 (meanwhile I really didn't). so yes to both HC and ethics.

I noticed myself saying "like" and "um".... so watch out for that. if you look for it, you can actually hear yourself say the words. Don't randomly stop halfway through the word though if you catch yourself. Just complete the (valley girl) sentence and don't do it again.

most important thing was to answer the basic questions in a way that sells you to the college. Why you wanna be a doctor? why you unique? how do you show leadership and that you want to truly help others?

I wouldnt worry too much about WHY THAT school specifically, believe it or not. It seems schools know everyone's applying everywhere. And DONT say that you want to go to the school cause you wanna be a neuro and the school has a great neuro dept... lol. we were told not to. They don't want every student doing the same thing.

as for healthcare, understand the basics I would say. You're not about to figure out how to fix the entire system in the interview room. We have thousands of politicians working on it, and it still can't get done....

 

[akwizeguy]

So, i just got out from my first interview. of which i did NOT practice at all...
It actually went pretty well... I knew about ethics from a course I took, and it came up. Healthcare came up, but ironically ONLY because they assumed all students purposely study it for interviews 😀 (meanwhile I really didn't). so yes to both HC and ethics.

I noticed myself saying "like" and "um".... so watch out for that. if you look for it, you can actually hear yourself say the words. Don't randomly stop halfway through the word though if you catch yourself. Just complete the (valley girl) sentence and don't do it again.

most important thing was to answer the basic questions in a way that sells you to the college. Why you wanna be a doctor? why you unique? how do you show leadership and that you want to truly help others?

I wouldnt worry too much about WHY THAT school specifically, believe it or not. It seems schools know everyone's applying everywhere. And DONT say that you want to go to the school cause you wanna be a neuro and the school has a great neuro dept... lol. we were told not to. They don't want every student doing the same thing.

as for healthcare, understand the basics I would say. You're not about to figure out how to fix the entire system in the interview room. We have thousands of politicians working on it, and it still can't get done....

In regards to healthcare, what basics do you suggest? Ive been doing some research on it for the past couple of days, so as in basics do you mean such as the main points of the healthcare reform bill?

Do you think we need to be able to give an opinion on the future impact of the reform for the end users (phyicians/patients) & in terms of debt etc?

I was thinking if asked this in an interview, I was thinking of giving 3 main pro's and 3 cons, that are in my opinion of course. Do you guys think this a good strategy?