The Interview Question I Didn't Anticipate

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Over the years as I've been preparing for how to answer interview questions, my main focus has been on healthcare and ethics-related questions.

I had an interview the other day and totally did not anticipate what seems to be a "should-be" easy question: "Tell me a little about yourself."

I feel like the answer to this question needs to be very concise and memorable, but I had no idea where to start. Has anyone else been asked this question? If so, how did you answer it?

 

[Amazingmuzmo]

http://studentdoctor.net/2008/02/trick-question/

 

[Eiot]

http://studentdoctor.net/2008/02/trick-question/

That's a damn good link.

 

[Sophocles]

This just blew my mind

 

[MedPR]

I always hope i get this question. Its easier than "why should we pick you?"

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile

 

[Moosepig]

That's a damn good link.

Though if you look in the comments some ad coms blasted the use of " feed my compassionate side" So no one adopt that cheese ball of a phrase.

 

[La Presse]

Not even a difficult question. It's prevalent in any sort of an interview.

 

[Sophocles]

👍

Not even a difficult question. It's prevalent in any sort of an interview.

 

[giants25]

+1

I dont see how you could prepare for years and not come across that question. Thats the first question I've been asked at all of my interviews so far. Pretty sure most sample interview question lists you find have it as well.

 

[lobo.solo]

Interesting... I would think this type of question is for you to show off how great you are....

 

[DAPI]

It's basically to direct the interviewer to the things that make you unique, you are most proud of, and can speak the highest of. An answer would be like, "Well I'm 22 years old, I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and went to X university. My interest in medicine began with blah blah blah and have done x, y, and z to pursue that interest. Outside of academics I like to do a, b, and c. I have been doing c for 15 years and have won such-a-such award for it."

I say keep it to around a minute or so without going into too much detail. You want the interviewer to then build questions off the info you just fed him/her.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Please tell me you're a troll, because "tell me about yourself" is a staple interview question that is addressed in pretty much every single prep book/discussion board/handout/SDN interview thread out there.

 

[Eiot]

Please tell me you're a troll, because "tell me about yourself" is a staple interview question that is addressed in pretty much every single prep book/discussion board/handout/SDN interview thread out there.

It seems about half of the posts in the pre-med MD forums are accusing another of being a troll. It must be a breeding ground over here!

 

[swamprat]

lol u seriously never thought u'd be asked that? thats like interviewing 101 for anything

 

[typicalindian]

OP: I'm pretty sure I had to answer that during my preschool interview. Step up your game.

 

[von Matterhorn]

My worst two interview questions so far:

'Imagine you're a doctor in a small town. Outside of providing any sort of medical assistance to the community, what can you do to contribute back?'

Mentioned some stuff about being involved in the community through various organizations and whatnot. Guy looks at me and says 'Yeah.. but what about volunteering your medical expertise for free?'.

Erm, I thought the question prompted an answer that had nothing to do with providing medical assistance..

Second question:

'Outside of anything related to academics, what has been your greatest failure in life, how did you recover from it, and what did you learn from it?'

Sucked because my greatest failures in life have been slacking and doing poorly in college/on the MCAT. All of my other failures in life didn't seem great enough to be mentioning at an interview about how they changed me.

 

[1289]

i got interviewed by someone with an accent recently, and this is how a loaded question was directed at me:

interviewer: "so abortion, euthanasia..."
me: "...."
interviewer: "what do you think of these?"
me: ".......say wha"

 

[wjs010]

i got interviewed by someone with an accent recently, and this is how a loaded question was directed at me:

interviewer: "so abortion, euthanasia..."
me: "...."
interviewer: "what do you think of these?"
me: ".......say wha"

this is when you say, " oh, well.. I'm a libertarian, so yea..."

1 week later: acceptance letter.

 

[mehc012]

'Imagine you're a doctor in a small town. Outside of providing any sort of medical assistance to the community, what can you do to contribute back?'

OK, first of all it sounds like your interviewer was a dick/didn't understand his own question. Second...contribute back? Back to what? What did they contribute to me? I don't understand why it's always phrased as some sort of obligation, like you owe everyone. There's a difference between wanting to give back and feeling that you're required to.

 

[angemon89]

I don't see why this question is unexpected. It's the first question I anticipate them asking me.

You need to go into your interviews knowing mostly about yourself, what you did, your mistakes, why you did it, what you sacrificed(hopefully not a goat) and what you learned/how you grew, etc. Besides academics, I think it's also really important to reflect back on your childhood/family life before your interview and be ready to talk about it.

 

[Blaughable]

Yeah that's definitely the one question along with "why medicine?" that I've been asked at every interview. Be prepared for it! Now the real tough questions I've been asked so far are:

"What's the absolute worst thing you've ever done in your life?"
"What would the person who hates you the most in world tell me is the reason they hate you?"
"Should parents be allowed to circumcise their children?"

 

[matanpucla]

Yeah that's definitely the one question along with "why medicine?" that I've been asked at every interview. Be prepared for it! Now the real tough questions I've been asked so far are:

"What's the absolute worst thing you've ever done in your life?"
"What would the person who hates you the most in world tell me is the reason they hate you?"
"Should parents be allowed to circumcise their children?"

absolutely, otherwise if you wanted to become circumcised later in life, you would incur so much more pain...parents circumcising their babies saves them a ****ton of pain.

 

[Blaughable]

absolutely, otherwise if you wanted to become circumcised later in life, you would incur so much more pain...parents circumcising their babies saves them a ****ton of pain.

So true. It's like if your child wants to get his arm chopped off later on in his life, you might as well do it when he's a child to save them the pain.

Obviously an extreme example, but in either case the parents are forcing their beliefs on their child in a way that can potentially affect his future identity. Who's to say the person that will grow up from the child would have wanted to be circumcised in the first place. Is female circumcision okay if it's done when they are a baby?

 

[Freesia88]

So true. It's like if your child wants to get his arm chopped off later on in his life, you might as well do it when he's a child to save them the pain.

Obviously an extreme example, but in either case the parents are forcing their beliefs on their child in a way that can potentially affect his future identity. Who's to say the person that will grow up from the child would have wanted to be circumcised in the first place. Is female circumcision okay if it's done when they are a baby?

This is deviating from the OP, but I just had to make a comment on the bolded part.

First, parents wanting to include their child in a tradition or religion is not forcing them into anything. It is the parents responsibility to raise their children in a manner that suits them and if their actions are not causing the child actual long term harm as compared to short term physical pain, or making the child a danger to himself and society, it is the parents prerogative to do as they see fit.

I hardly see any men going around wailing about having been circumcised as children.

And as to your statement on female circumcision, the very fact that you made it makes me question if or not you understand what it is and why it exists. I am from a culture where it is still practiced so I will be glad to talk this over with you. Comparing it to male circumcision is like comparing the impact of enrolling your young child in Tae Kwon Do with signing him up for MMA style fight to the death competitions.

 

[Blaughable]

This is deviating from the OP, but I just had to make a comment on the bolded part.

First, parents wanting to include their child in a tradition or religion is not forcing them into anything. It is the parents responsibility to raise their children in a manner that suits them and if their actions are not causing the child actual long term harm as compared to short term physical pain, or making the child a danger to himself and society, it is the parents prerogative to do as they see fit.

I hardly see any men going around wailing about having been circumcised as children.

And as to your statement on female circumcision, the very fact that you made it makes me question if or not you understand what it is and why it exists. I am from a culture where it is still practiced so I will be glad to talk this over with you. Comparing it to male circumcision is like comparing the impact of enrolling your young child in Tae Kwon Do with signing him up for MMA style fight to the death competitions.

You assume that circumcision does not cause long term harm. I'm not going to describe in detail what takes a simple google search, but there are many cases of people wishing they had never been circumcised and feel it affects them into their adulthood.

In spite of your assumption, I actually do understand what female circumcision is. However I believe it's a valid slippery slope argument.

 

[kami333]

It's basically a elevator pitch/30 second sell which has been the rage for the past few years.

 

[Freesia88]

You assume that circumcision does not cause long term harm. I'm not going to describe in detail what takes a simple google search, but there are many cases of people wishing they had never been circumcised and feel it affects them into their adulthood.

In spite of your assumption, I actually do understand what female circumcision is. However I believe it's a valid slippery slope argument.

Do you mean studies like these?

http://www.circumcision.org/studies.htm

I am willing to bet there are just as many studies showing a correlation between circumcision and some positive effect.

Correlation =/= Causation.

I do not have an opinion on the usefulness or lack thereof of circumcision. You referenced "beliefs" and "identity" and I responded accordingly. If you think a parent should not take any actions which may affect the child's beliefs and identity later in life, then I am not sure what you think a parents role is.

In any case... this is not the thread for this topic 🙂

 

[Blaughable]

Do you mean studies like these?

http://www.circumcision.org/studies.htm

I am willing to bet there are just as many studies showing a correlation between circumcision and some positive effect.

Correlation =/= Causation.

I do not have an opinion on the usefulness or lack thereof of circumcision. You referenced "beliefs" and "identity" and I responded accordingly. If you think a parent should not take any actions which may affect the child's beliefs and identity later in life, then I am not sure what you think a parents role is.

In any case... this is not the thread for this topic 🙂

(One last non-argument causing statement): That is exactly the role of a parent. However I personal don't agree that they should be allowed to cause any permanent physical change (outside of disease and medial emergencies) to their child based on their beliefs.

By the way, me and my interviewer discussed this for half an hour 😀. It was fun.

 

[Freesia88]

(One last non-argument causing statement): That is exactly the role of a parent. However I personal don't agree that they should be allowed to cause any permanent physical change (outside of disease and medial emergencies) to their child based on their beliefs.

By the way, me and my interviewer discussed this for half an hour 😀. It was fun.

I'll imagine it was.

I'd probably find this harder to answer than the tell me about yourself question because it seems a question of personal belief/religion vs science/psychology. The track record between these areas has not always been a good one.

And I see at least one argument worthy issue in your "non-argument causing statement" but I'll be nice.