Hey there all:
A while back (I'm almost positive) someone posted a very good, informative thread about their interview at SCCO. It seems like they discussed how the definition of Professionalism arose in the interview, and of course ethical issues.
Now, I know there is a thread devoted to interview tips, which are very helpful, but this particular one is not in there. There is a very good post on the Nova interview, and the SCCO post is just like it.
I can't seem to find it now. Did it/Does it still exist? If so, I would really appreciate it if someone would bring it to my attention. If not, please feel free to share whatever information you know about that thread, or SCCO interviews.
Thanks guys and gals
Hi docvisionX,
A long time ago I cut and pasted some interview feedback for SCCO that was posted a while ago. Unfortunately, I did not copy the posters' names. The information below is pretty much just like what my interview was like. This should help a lot because on top of the sample interview questions I posted on my website (
http://www.optstudent.com/interviewing.html), I reviewed the information below before interview day.
Let me know if you need more help on anything else! I'll be more than happy to answer any of your questions.
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If you have an interview....relax...you're pretty much in. The worst that can happen is you're wait-listed. You're scored 50% on academics (which you've already passed considering you have an interview) and 50% "personality/interview" If your total "score" is above a certain number...you're in....no questions asked. I don't know the number though....sorry... If you get Dr. Berman, he'll ask you ethical questions like, "would you continue to see a patient if they wouldn't follow your suggestions/treatment?" "Would you see a patient again who didn't pay their previous bill?" A big topic is "Define professionalism." A follow up question is "What's the difference between a professional handyman and a professional doctor?" You have to answer in a way that doesn't put down the handyman. Know about current legislation. What California doctors are allowed to do. (to treat glaucoma you have to follow 50 patients with an OMD for 2 years...blah blah blah) "Where do you see optometry in 5 or 10 years?" blah blah blah. Those are the toughest questions my friends were asked. You're interviewed by one student and 2 professors. The student usually asks one or two fun questions like, "What do you do for fun?"
The essay questions are straightforward. "If the superintendant at the local school wanted to push for school uniforms...would you support him?" "If all the graduate schools wanted to eliminate the interview portion of the application process, what would you do/would you support it why/whynot?" Basically you don't have to prepare for it. If you have 6 people in your interview group, they hand out about 12 cards, each with a different topic and you choose 2 randomly. You only have to answer one. Eat something beforehand....you don't get lunch...only snacks. Okay, I hope that helped. PM me if you need more help. GOOD LUCK!!!!
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I second that! If your interview happens to be during the afternoon, DO NOT DRINK the orange juice! It would have been there since the morning interviews. =)
I also had Dr. Berman, and he asked me the "tougher" questions. If SCCO is not your first choice, why not? What can we change so that SCCO will be your first choice? If you believe that patients that come to SCCO's clinic are less likely to have pathologies or diseases that are common to more low-income areas, how do you think SCCO students still get full training in dealing with those diseases?
Student questions are easy: hobbies, last movie you saw, etc.
The essay question I got, and my friend got the previous year was the same: If you were running for president of your 1st year class, write a letter stating your qualifications and why you could be their leader.
Questions are random, but most ask you to write a letter in a business format.
The interview day lasts about 4 hours, with the interview portion being 1/2 hour to one hour long.
DO NOT be nervous - seriously, SCCO staff is the friendliest. Try to make friends with the other students who are interviewing. You'll be surprised later on how many of them you will see around the interview circuit and how many will become your future classmates.
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Ok let me start by saying that the SCCO interview was probably one of the most formal and professional interviews that I have ever went to. The staff there was really really friendly. I have to admit that the interview was really hard imo, they asked a lot of challenging questions, but I felt pretty comfortable, which is very important in an interview. You gotta have confidence.
Well let's start off with the essay question:
"Professionalism has been defined by the characteristic traits compassion, authority, and humility. Choose one trait and write a one page paper elaborating how that trait helps to define what professionalism is."
For my interview I met with Dr. Susan Shin, and Dr. John Lee. At first I felt sort of awkward because while I was talking to them, they had such straight faces. Like they wouldn't smile, and gave me very serious eye contact. But as the interview progressed, I could see that they were "loosening" up a bit and we even made some jokes and all had a good laugh towards the end of the interview, which was a pretty good sign to me.
Ok as for the questions, boy did they fire a bunch at me. It was almost non stop thorough questioning. I'll post all the questions I remember, but they may not be in the order I recieved them:
Why Optometry?
Are you a good memorizer?
Do you study better with a group or independently?
What brings you to an interview at SCCO? What is it that stands out about SCCO?
What made you choose Optometry as a profession out of any other health related profession such as: dentistry, opthalmology, medicine, pharmacy?
Do you know how many units are in a quarter at SCCO? Do you think you have a problem handling it?
Why would you consider an Optometrist as a primary care provider?
What do you expect to get out of an education at SCCO?
What do you know about the scope of Optometry? What do you see for the future of Optometry?
What type of practice do you hope to pursue and why?
Have you been keeping up on the news lately? What is a current issue that you have been concerned with?
What are your hobbies?
What type of community volunteer service have you done?
What is the difference between an Optometrist and an Opthalmologist?
What types of optometric instruments have you worked with?
Define Professionalism. What about yourself helps define professionalism?
Yea as you can see it was a lot of questions (well in my opinion)
The interview lasted a little over an hour, maybe 1 hour 15 minutes.
