Mstp interview tips?

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837498

Hi all,

Planning to apply this coming cycle, very likely as MD PhD. I’m curious if you’ve got any tips for the research interviews. I know my project pretty well I think, but the prospect of being grilled by a PI in my field terrifies me... is it really as brutal as they say? What are some questions like?

Thanks 🙂
 
If ur PI is willing to give a mock interview then definitely do it!
 
Most of the PIs will just want to have a conversation so have a quick intro ready, but be ready to be flexible since the interviews often go on tangents. Also have questions ready for the PIs.
 
You're not going to get "grilled" by PIs. They'll ask questions for sure especially if they know a lot about your field but they won't be intentionally difficult. If you know your research very well (and especially the significance of it), can respond eloquently to questions, and have your own questions ready for the PI, you'll be ok.

It gets easier over time. Every interview turns out to be almost the exact same thing as the last one so you really stop being nervous pretty quickly.
 
It also helps to have a general idea of what the PI does. Don't insult the molecular aspects of your field if they're molecular people etc. It's rare, but you might get PIs who expect that you've looked them up and will start describing their research assuming that you understand the very basics of it.
 
Try not to schedule them back to back. This might seem small, but each interviewer will ask about your research (~2-5 people grad school side and ~1-3 MD side). You will get tired of explaining everything to each interviewer and if you have back to backs, by the second interview, you will be tired of talking about your research ("huh, I'll never get tired of talking about my research"---I did). This means you won't explain basics of your field (which you know so well that you assume the other person will know it too--but they don't) and leave the interviewer confused (and reconsidering whether or not you know your research).

Also, most interviews I've had never "grilled me". The people were genuinely curious, and those in my field knew what to ask etc. The interviews were more "conversations" than anything. You might get asked things like "where do you see this going next" or "why this instead of that".
 
I think all of the above advice is good. A few things I'd add:

1) For the love of god, do not worry about reading papers of each of the people you're meeting with (unless, of course, you're really interested in that person's work). It's completely unnecessary. I found reading the person's website throughly and the abstracts of their two most recent papers was enough to get an idea of what they were interested in, and the likely work they'd present to me.

2) There's a few questions you are guaranteed to be asked, so you should be prepared with good answers. Why MD/PhD? Why NOT just MD or just PhD? What do you see yourself doing in 20 years? What kind of research do you want to do? What do you do for fun outside of class? How do you feel about moving to xx place, and why do you want to go to that institution? And though I think they're technically not allowed to ask this, come prepared for the question "what other schools did you apply to?" It can be a bit jarring to be asked that one by the director of a program, but I think actually it often comes from a place of curiosity (the program directors are all friends/colleagues after all, I don't think any of them hold any ill will towards other programs for the most part in my extremely limited experience). For the last one, I was often vague and would say "Oh, you know, east coast schools" or something like that.

3) RE: that first question, every once in a while I (or friends) would interview with a PhD who would argue that MD/PhDs are pointless or generally refer negatively to the program. Thus, come with a good reason for doing the combined degree program outside of "medical research". And don't be put off by this attitude - if you stick to your guns and are consistent with your desire to do this program, you'll be fine with even the most negative of nancys.

4) Be flexible. There were times I went into interviews with people who didn't do research in an area I knew well at all, who asked me to contemplate hypotheses with them about their work. There were other times I went into interviews with people with research I was extremely interested in, and we'd wind up discussing queer theory or something totally unrelated to our science or medicine (which was relevant for my application materials, but replace with your favorite non-science topic). If you're flexible with what you talk about and don't come in with any pre-set notions of what you'll talk about, you'll be a-okay!

5) Honestly, be yourself. It's so obvious when people are faking a personality to get through interviews. These interviews are mostly fun conversations with interesting scientists, and if you've made it that far, you must be passionate and intelligent. Just let those things drive the conversation and you'll be a-okay!

Most importantly, relax and have fun. Remember that the interviews are just as much you getting to know the program as they are getting to know you. Take careful notes about what you like and don't like about each school (they all begin the meld together), and thank your interviews via email the day or two after!
 
Practice explaining your research to people, both as a short "elevator speech" version that you can complete in a minute or two, and a longer explanation if someone asks you in detail. Be able to justify why you did certain experiments in your project, and what the main findings were, and what the goals are. Also have a good answer ready for the question of what research you want to do in the future (they don't expect you to know for sure, but having an idea about it shows you put thought into it). Also like some others have said, you should be able to articulate why you want to do MD/PhD and not just an MD or just a PhD. Be ready to talk about the interviewer's research, because many of them will steer the conversation in that direction. Have at least a basic idea of what their research is about by reading their lab's website and stuff. (You should ideally know who's interviewing you a day or two in advance.)

Good luck! It's not as bad as it sounds honestly, I'd take research questions over regular med school interview questions any day.
 
Absolutely agree with the above -- plan out different lengths of a research pitch!! Sometimes you might be meeting with someone on the MD side who is asking you about your research, but clearly wants to know very generally what you do (and honestly, sometimes 1-2 sentences is completely fine here: "I work in the Department of XYZ, and I use mouse models to study ______."). Then just think about details you would add on if you are given more time. If this specific faculty member wants you to elaborate just a little bit more, what are the essential details?
-And then if another researcher were to ask you off the bat about your research, could you give maybe a 2 minute pitch instead of 2 sentences?
-And if a program director wants a mini run-down of your research, can you do something more like 3-5 minutes?

Just thinking about the way you'll frame your story depending on how much time feels right is key. You shouldn't necessarily memorize anything so that you can still look natural and not be too welded to a script, but do think about specific parts of your project perhaps that you'd want to cut out or add in depending on time.


As for the overall...
Fortunately, the schools where I interviewed were honestly really nice and clearly weren't trying to trip me up with the questions they asked. They just generally wanted to know more, like why I chose a certain test or method. So long as you were really the driver of your own research, those questions will be extremely natural for you.

In the event that a school does try to trip you up, keep your cool!! You will always do better when you hold it together and keep your head afloat.... or at least you'll avoid making it worse! 😉


Good luck!!
 
bring a pen and a small notebook. i found it very helpful to actually draw my research while i am describing it.
 
bring a pen and a small notebook

smol notebook is also helpful if you devote a page or two to each of your interviewers - write a brief summary of their research on the front so you remind yourself what they do right before you go talk to them, and on the back jot down a few impressions and things you talked about during the interview so you can write them a nice, less-generic thank you note after
 
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