Stony Brook Undergrads?

[driven]

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Did you guys have your interview with Mr. montren already at premed advising?

 

[Joey Jo-Jo Junior Shabadoo]

I did - twice. Here is the deal:

1)He likes to make really corny jokes, the kind that you don't even know you are supposed to laugh at until he does.
2)He will pick on and question you about the more abstract things in your resume... just do your best not to get manhandled.

It really isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be, really. Just be confident and know why you want to be in medicine, and be prepared to be yourself. You have more latitude with him than you will with really interviews, so use it if you wish. Just don't let him try and belittle your or step on you... he didn't for me, but we all hear stories. Anyway, good luck... and GET EVERYTHING DONE EARLY!!!!!!!!!

 

[holler79]

It wasn't bad at all....just be confident and you'll do fine!! I do agree with Joey about the jokes!!! LOL

 

[rCubed]

i agree with joey about mr. montren picking out the most abstract things from ur essay/biographical packet. the whole interview for me was like a discussion from a philosophy class and just be careful of anything u say, cuz he's notorious for thinking up of extreme examples and expecting u to defend ur point of view.

during the interview, i know i looked at him a couple of times as in, "u have got to be kidding me, u didn't really just say that"

i think one statement was: doctors should try not to treat everyone, they should let nature take its course. just like the forest fires in the west wouldn't have been so serious if the park services had allowed natural brush fires to burn and die out on their own, doctors should let people live and die according to nature...
at that point...i know i was staring at him with my mouth wide open.

 

[anmol]

I think what James tries to do is really stump you. He wants you to be real prepared for the real thing. When I went, he suceeded at stumping me. He was like what do you think will be the hardest thing for you to deal with as an MD. My reply was, that I will find it really hard when I won't be able to do something to treat a patient because his/her illness has progressed so much. I gave him an eg, like for a diabetes patient, when i have to tell him/her that the only thing we can do is an amputation to stop the progression of the disease. James was like, well wouldnt you say an amputation is nothing compared to the millions of children in underdeveloped countries that get no healthcare at all? I was like (to myself of course) "huh, wait what are we discussing again. " I didnt know how to respond. But I bulled somthing.

I though I might list some questions I remember him asking me, so be prepared for these:

1) your strenghts and weeknesses
2) your favorite book and why (oh and believe me, no matter what book you mention, he knows about it. He even knew about the very small village in India that I am from.)
3) what is the biggest problem in healthcare today, and why ( and be ready to argue it, he will come up with every counter argument for your reply)


those are some, ill write more when I remember.

 

[Joey Jo-Jo Junior Shabadoo]

Yeah, he does have an uncanny memory for the nearly everything that is ever said to him as well. But what everyone has said is pretty much it - especially the one about having to defend yourself on your stances because he will always have something to throw back at you. Anyway, good luck... just be confident in yourself