What are PhD interviewers like?

[bozz]

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Just curious

 

[Craig McDermott]

old

 

[bcat85]

Its either:

(terrifying)

or

(800 years old)

 

[URHere]

Aww...you forgot this guy...

But anyway, to give you a serious answer, I think it depends on the interviewer. If you are interviewing for an MD/PhD program (the situation where you will be interviewing with the most PhDs), you will probably talk about research for 99.95% of the interview. This will be some combination of you defending tiny details of your own research, trying to remember obscure enzyme names, or just listening to the interviewer talk about his/her own research.

If you have a PhD interviewer for an MD-only interview, I imagine that they will be much like a typical MD interviewer: totally variable. Some may have a cornucopia of questions waiting for you about ethics, your volunteer work, folk dancing, etc. Others will just hold a conversation with you and see where it goes.

 

[Mobius1985]

Here is additional information to answer the OP's question taken from the Physician Scientist Forum: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=548924

 

[smoke47]

From what I hear, they are very relaxed most of the time and just involve talking about your research experiences and interests.

But there are always exceptions... I heard one horror story of a professor spending an hour quizzing the student on physics problems and nothing more (more like an exam than an interview). I am sure this was a rare case though.

 

[LadyWolverine]

I was only interviewed by a couple of PhDs, but I was grilled by each one. The most stressful interviews that I had were conducted by PhDs, hands down.

I'm not joking. I was mostly grilled about my research projects, as well as hypothetical ethical dilemmas. I left one of these interviews feeling extremely angry and confused.

 

[armybound]

If I didn't have something telling me what my interviewer's degree was, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. The only distinction really comes out in asking them about what they do.

 

[CCLCMer]

Just curious

At CCLCM, the PhD interviewer usually talks to you about your research while the MD interviewer talks to you about why you want to go to med school. (Most applicants have one of each.) If you're really into research (which you wouldn't be applying here if you weren't) and can discuss what you did intelligently, it can be a fun interview.

 

[bozz]

If the PhD probably doesn't know about the obscure gene you're talking about, how are you grilled? Grilled on techniques... it'd be annoying if the interview was one big quiz.

 

[CCLCMer]

If the PhD probably doesn't know about the obscure gene you're talking about, how are you grilled? Grilled on techniques... it'd be annoying if the interview was one big quiz.

I've never heard of anyone being grilled on techniques. Usually you will be asked about the purpose of the research and what your role was. The PhD adcomms are trying to see if you understand the implications of your research and if you were involved in the project in a significant way, not how many techniques you mastered.

You ask some really strange questions, bozz. For the record, no, the interviewers here are not mostly old white men, either, though there are some.