I'm not sure if there's any specific way to prepare for the Michigan interview. I was asked the following questions (in no particular order):
1) Tell us about micro/nanotechnology (I'm currently an engineer, so that part of my background seemed interesting to them).
2) Tell us about one of the most interesting clinical cases you've observed/taken part in.
3) If a client came to you to have a cat declawed, what would you do?
4) If a client came to you for tail docking what would you do?
5) How do you think veterinarians keep informed of the most recent advances in veterinary medicine?
6) Tell us about the process you would go through with a client who has a new pet.
7) If you're recommenders were standing here today, what three things would they tell us that you need to improve on?
8) Being an out-of-state applicant, how do you plan to finance your education?
9) What roles do veterinarians have beyond the clinical aspect?
10) Do you know what veterinarians do for food safety on a daily basis?
11) How do you handle stress/frustration/studying for classes that you aren't interested in?
12) Why do you want to become a veterinarian?
13) Why do you think its good for clinicians to have good research skills (it was in relation to a part of my personal statement)?
14) Do you know what the AVMA does?
15) What sort of support structure do you rely on, especially if were to move far from your home?
So, from these questions, I think having a good grasp of all aspects of veterinary medicine is important. Social, ethical, technical, personal...they were all covered. Some of the questions were "standard" interview questions that you can prepare for, but there were a lot of unexpected side questions that came up from what I said. For instance, I said something about how veterinarians are going to be needed for homeland security to monitor against bioterrorism, ensure food safety, etc...which then prompted the question about what a veterinarian does for food safety on a daily basis. Someone else I talked with got a lot of questions about the history of veterinary medicine.
I know that this has been repeated in many other posts, but just be yourself and don't be afraid to say "I don't know" when you really don't know things. And don't be afraid to allow for a little silence when you take time to think...it's better to come out with something that well stated than to blurt out something immediately and regret it.
Both of my interviewers were really nice (although I felt that one wasn't agreeing with everything I was saying for the majority of the interview). Talking with the first and second year students, it seemed like the majority of interviewers were of the "good cop" kind.
I was accepted to the class of 2010, by UPD 2-day, and the letter was dated about 10 days after the interview date.
As for the question about the wildlife...I think I meant to say that they don't have as an extensive wildlife program as I would like. Their wildlife ward is a small section of the teaching hospital that doesn't have too many cases per year. I don't really know the specifics, since I'm comparing the apparent emphasis to places like Tufts, which has an 11,000 sq. ft. wildlife hospital that is its own facility on the North Grafton campus. Auburn has the Southeastern Raptor Center. I think Illinois also has a decent wildlife center. Davis has an extensive program which I have had indirect interaction with while interning at a large wildlife hospital in the San Francisco bay area (the Lindsay Wildlife Hospital). They also do a lot of outreach; their veterinary wildlife genomics lab had a joint research project with the Lindsay, and UCD helps organize the Oiled Wildlife Care Network. The lab that I work at as an engineer had several mountain lion sightings and the Director of the UCD Wildlife Health Center started working with the site to make sure both lion and employees were safe (the lion was eventually hit by a car and killed
). I'd love to know if any others have more knowledge of wildlife programs at these and other schools!
I hope this helps, and good luck at your interview!