what is the toughest question you've ever been asked at a med school interview ?

[StoicJosher]

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Damn... I need to brush up on my vocab as well??

 

[mauberley]

I was asked the difference between sympathy and empathy by a member of my pre-health committee. Being a big language person, I proceeded to give a totally kickass (and correct) explanation of their definitions and differences, including examples. After I finished my awesome answer, there was a long pause. He looked at me and said, "Your definitions are correct, but you mismatched them with the words," and then he began to define them incorrectly. The other committee members looked confused.

I hate being told I'm wrong when I'm definitely correct. It took a lot for me not to call him out. I should bring a pocket dictionary to future interviews, just in case my interviewer hasn't properly learned the answers to their own "definition" questions.

Your restraint is admirable. I would have thrown down right there.

 

[StoicJosher]

I wish I could remember. 🙂 The "how would you describe pain to a child" question sticks out in my memory... but maybe it's more common that I think.

Atleast physical pain is easier to explain than emotional pain..

Your restraint is admirable. I would have thrown down right there.

This.

 

[UnclePhil]

I still haven't heard a good response to that question. They either seem too cocky or not confident enough.

I went with the self-depreciating route. (It was out of habit, the community that I grew up in is obsessed with modesty).

His response? "There must be something interesting and unique that sets you apart, at the very least, from the 6000 or so applicants that didn't get an interview spot"

Final verdict? Waitlisted

 

[mauberley]

I went with the self-depreciating route.

The bubble's burst on human organs already, eh?

 

[JKinSC]

"why should we take you over other applicants?"

I still haven't heard a good response to that question. They either seem too cocky or not confident enough.

I was actually lucky with the way this one was worded:

"When we finish here, it's my job to go back to the committee and sell you as an acceptance. What do you think I should say, or emphasize, that would help them to see you as an asset to the school?"

Same basic premise, but it helps take away the feeling of being cocky in one's answer.

 

[JKinSC]

The bubble's burst on human organs already, eh?

this made me lol

 

[weezynation]

Who is it? Who is it? Who is it??

I won't put the guy's name out there, but I will say this...if you interview at Tufts, be prepared because you may encounter him.

 

[Cinclus]

Your restraint is admirable. I would have thrown down right there.

I was quite pissed, and I would have loved to say, "Sir, I am very confident in my answer. I would love to double the amount of money in my bank account, so I will bet every penny of it that I am correct. Would you like me to retrieve a dictionary?" But it seemed too cocky, especially since the rest of the committee was like, "WTF?"

He's also on my school's adcom, so I need to consider an appropriate response should this situation arise again.

 

[gettheleadout]

I was quite pissed, and I would have loved to say, "Sir, I am very confident in my answer. I would love to double the amount of money in my bank account, so I will bet every penny of it that I am correct. Would you like me to retrieve a dictionary?" But it seemed too cocky, especially since the rest of the committee was like, "WTF?"

He's also on my school's adcom, so I need to consider an appropriate response should this situation arise again.

Oh god, this would annoy me to no end.

My sympathies for the situation.

 

[bajastapler]

is this you irl? 😉
[youtube]1hn89u_xd9e[/youtube]

lol

 

[StoicJosher]

I won't put the guy's name out there, but I will say this...if you interview at Tufts, be prepared because you may encounter him.

Damn.. I have applied to tufts but to MD/PhD.. Maybe I wont have to deal with him then..

 

[venacontracta]

What do you think a medical school interview should consist of?

Later in this interview, we were discussing the philosophical, ethical, and scientific merits of the medical school admissions process. This involved one portion where me and my interviewer were standing at the whiteboard in his office drawing different graphs and explaining/debating how certain actions would shift the distribution of applicants when it came to certain characteristics.

This was really the only difficult, non-standard interview out of 10 schools or so * more than one interview at each school.

 

[NightGod]

What do you think a medical school interview should consist of?

Later in this interview, we were discussing the philosophical, ethical, and scientific merits of the medical school admissions process. This involved one portion where me and my interviewer were standing at the whiteboard in his office drawing different graphs and explaining/debating how certain actions would shift the distribution of applicants when it came to certain characteristics.

This was really the only difficult, non-standard interview out of 10 schools or so * more than one interview at each school.

I gotta say-that sounds like it would be the most interesting interview imaginable. I'd love to be able to brainstorm rather than babble on about minutiae of an application. Can I ask what school this happened at?

 

[uclaussr]

The question that sent my confidence out the door and overturned what was originally a very strong interview performance into a mess: You are a med student doing an OBGYN rotation in Alaska, you smell alcohol on the Dr's breath, what do you do? I kept answering, they kept pushing for more and adding new scenarios to the situation. Just when i thought i was off the hook, they had me role play this scenario :

 

[chronicidal]

Its not cookie cutter, everyone should be different. I meant literally I asked someone why medicine and they said "because I like science and want to work with people." So scary.

I may be cynical here, but most applicants do draw on a variation of 'I like science and people.' They just say it in more words and with fluffy language. The difference between a good answer and a bad answer is how you support the statement that you like science and people, and how your conception of medicine is really an intersection of science and people.

I love the science and I enjoy the clinical side of science, with four years of extensive clinical research experience through my undergraduate thesis and masters (graduate) thesis. Clinical research has provided me a love and passion that cannot be met on any playing field; reading further into the literature and developing a theory/idea based on a gap in the literature that tickles your intellectual curiosity. A challenge that displays itself to thinking outside the paradigm and developing a methodology to test your theory, granted its feasible and affordable.

Medicine, I believe, surpasses this feat by supplying real time situations that require one to develop quick thinking, rational decision making under pressure, and continuously tests one's fortitude in the realm of science and clinical work. Medicine is a unique environment that will allow me to engage in the best of both worlds; science and clinical work.

Here, it's said explicitly that s/he love science and the basic premise of scientific research, developing hypotheses and testing them. Liking and having extensive experience with 'clinical' research implies an affinity for working with people rather than with numbers or molecules or cells or lab animals. Finally, medicine is conceptualized as a fast-paced environment that epitomizes applied scientific thinking.

My response basically comes down to my early exposure to health care at a young age and my experience working in the field made me realize that medicine is what I want to practice.

In other words, I like medicine because I liked medicine (at a young age and at an older age!). Many people also use this line of argument. I like medicine because I liked what I saw while shadowing. Better answers explain what specific aspects you liked.

Of course, there are other good ways of answering 'Why Medicine' without using the science+people paradigm. One of my (science) professors was an English major in college. He said that while most people chose medicine because they saw it as an actualization of science, he chose it because he saw medicine as a way to actualize the humanities.

 

[mastermix]

Question: "Did you also apply to ____?"
Next question: "What is something ____ has that (the school I was interviewing at) does not?"
Next question: "If you got into both ___ and (the school I was interviewing at) how would you decide where to go?"

 

[carlogu]

Interviewed by jigsaw.

You blackout and wake up in a weird contraption

somehow, the interview process is still a bit more terrifying......At least jigsaw gives you a way out if you chop off your foot...

 

[StoicJosher]

somehow, the interview process is still a bit more terrifying......At least jigsaw gives you a way out if you chop off your foot...

*Insert foot in mouth joke*

 

[Trolking]

who farted?

two interviewers, i wasnt taking the blame for that rotten zombie fart

 

[sam500]

This is a question I'm preparing to respond to. Simply put - I love the science and I enjoy the clinical side of science, with four years of extensive clinical research experience through my undergraduate thesis and masters (graduate) thesis. Clinical research has provided me a love and passion that cannot be met on any playing field; reading further into the literature and developing a theory/idea based on a gap in the literature that tickles your intellectual curiosity. A challenge that displays itself to thinking outside the paradigm and developing a methodology to test your theory, granted its feasible and affordable.

Medicine, I believe, surpasses this feat by supplying real time situations that require one to develop quick thinking, rational decision making under pressure, and continuously tests one's fortitude in the realm of science and clinical work. Medicine is a unique environment that will allow me to engage in the best of both worlds; science and clinical work.

I do not think this is a good answer.

In my opinion, you should answer interview questions as though you were teaching a class.

Use simple words. Be clear. Be succinct. Start from the general and move towards the specific. Impress the committee with your logic rather than your confusing, flowery words.

Imagine you are already a doctor explaining something to a patient. Start from there and work towards the technical.