your toughest interview question

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DrBumblebee said:
Most of the Asian Indians working in my company somehow used to say that it was gonna be in 2012 since their "gurus" had told them so!.. Well, we're gonna be in 2013 soon, aren't we?
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what
 
MedPR said:
Those die too.

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Well truthfully all your cells die... I was just suggesting some that last significantly longer than a few hours (usually)
 
abolt18 said:
Well truthfully all your cells die... I was just suggesting some that last significantly longer than a few hours (usually)
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Neurons and skeletal muscle cells can live as long as the body does. Not true for other cells.

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MedPR said:
Neurons and skeletal muscle cells can live as long as the body does. Not true for other cells.

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Ok ok fair enough. You can be a neuron. I'll be a CD8 T cell and I'll go around and cause your nerve/bone cell to die via apoptosis when you're infected by X pathogen. 👍
 
abolt18 said:
Ok ok fair enough. You can be a neuron. I'll be a CD8 T cell and I'll go around and cause your nerve/bone cell to die via apoptosis when you're infected by X pathogen. 👍
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abolt18 FTW!

I said osteoclast for a long drawn out super meaningful reason that widely applied to personal growth.
 
BTW I knew people would nerd out over that question like I did. It was by far my favorite to answer 🙂 🙂
 
abolt18 said:
Ok ok fair enough. You can be a neuron. I'll be a CD8 T cell and I'll go around and cause your nerve/bone cell to die via apoptosis when you're infected by X pathogen. 👍
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Have fun most likely dying after you kill a few cells. 👍

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skargylejohn said:
BTW I knew people would nerd out over that question like I did. It was by far my favorite to answer 🙂 🙂
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Wish I had that question. Now I hope I get a question like that at KCOM in a week and a half.
 
abolt18 said:
Wish I had that question. Now I hope I get a question like that at KCOM in a week and a half.
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You're more likely to get the "if we were to reject you...." one cuz that was asked at KCOM.
 
Yeah osteoclasts... Because they destroy bone so it can grow and strengthen. My point was that deconstruction is needed for there to be any substantial growth in personal development.
 
skargylejohn said:
Yeah osteoclasts... Because they destroy bone so it can grow and strengthen. My point was that deconstruction is needed for there to be any substantial growth in personal development.
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But the osteoblasts tell the osteoclasts what to destroy.
 
Yeah but I wanted to isolate destruction as a mode of personal growth.
 
I would pick osteoclast as well. That should be no surprise given my username....
 
C. difficile because forming endospores would be awesome. Normal microbiota ftw
 
I have been asked many of these same questions.
I was asked (in a group interview) about what we thought about lance Armstrong losing all his wins. The same interviewer later went on a rant about a local chiropractor who he hates because he's a money-grubber.
 
dudeliness said:
I have been asked many of these same questions.
I was asked (in a group interview) about what we thought about lance Armstrong losing all his wins. The same interviewer later went on a rant about a local chiropractor who he hates because he's a money-grubber.
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Hey man, just wanted to point out the typo in your signature. NSU is the acronym for Nova. Not "COMP - Northwestern" 👍
 
Night Hawk said:
I think the hardest question in general is "Tell me about yourself" because of the ambiguity of it. I searched for all the ambiguous question I could find and think of and compiled them all, along with a bunch of other interview questions, then went through one by one and though of topics I would want to cover in each along with the examples. I attached the six or so pages of interview questions I practices with below. Best of luck everyone!

View attachment 21855
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Maybe I'm the only one that likes that question. It really gives you the opportunity to set the tone and guide the interview in the direction of your choice

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I hate set ups.

"Tell us about your weekly schedule in stark detail."

I answer it honestly.

"Why don't you have time to have fun?"



In either case I was either having no fun or too much. Doesn't seem to be a right answer.
 
crappyjones123 said:
I hate set ups.

"Tell us about your weekly schedule in stark detail."

I answer it honestly.

"Why don't you have time to have fun?"



In either case I was either having no fun or too much. Doesn't seem to be a right answer.
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That's why you answer in a way that doesn't pigeon hole you for a follow-up/trap/setup question. Also you address the obvious setup question before they ask it.

Them: Tell us about your schedule.
You: Well I work, go to school, and volunteer at 50 different places. In my free time I like to round out my schedule by doing X, Y, and Z.

Them: Why did you do poorly in this class?
You: I wasn't focused. However, I know I won't have this problem in medical school because...

Them: Why did you choose to go to school in X Region?
You: Because A, B, C, but I like your region better because X, Y, Z.


etc.
 
crappyjones123 said:
I hate set ups.

"Tell us about your weekly schedule in stark detail."

I answer it honestly.

"Why don't you have time to have fun?"



In either case I was either having no fun or too much. Doesn't seem to be a right answer.
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Right answer is keeping composed and answering without being bothered by the question. Being confident.

Doesn't really matter what you actually say but more how you say it. Can apply to a lot of the questions they ask you.
 
Night Hawk said:
I think the hardest question in general is "Tell me about yourself" because of the ambiguity of it. I searched for all the ambiguous question I could find and think of and compiled them all, along with a bunch of other interview questions, then went through one by one and though of topics I would want to cover in each along with the examples. I attached the six or so pages of interview questions I practices with below. Best of luck everyone!

View attachment 21855
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This post deserves its own thread! I had begun putting together a list of questions to prepare myself with, but this is much better than anything I would have done. Thanks.
 
MedPR said:
Hey man, just wanted to point out the typo in your signature. NSU is the acronym for Nova. Not "COMP - Northwestern" 👍
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What? My signature doesn't say NSU anywhere. I don't get it.

Edit:
Oh....
you guys are awesome!
 
dudeliness said:
I have been asked many of these same questions.
I was asked (in a group interview) about what we thought about lance Armstrong losing all his wins. The same interviewer later went on a rant about a local chiropractor who he hates because he's a money-grubber.
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dudeliness said:
What? My signature doesn't say NSU anywhere. I don't get it.
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I thought the same thing at first...but now I think this is a subtle comment that you should have chosen NSU 😉

Med does have a joke or two at times😀
 
ModernAlchemist said:
I mean... I was in a really chill mood that day so it wasn't bad, but in retrospect, those questions were tough.
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Yeah i cant remember any super crazy stuff at mine. But to be honest I didn't think I had much of a shot at that school so I was in a pretty mellow mood myself which was nice.....maybe it helped who knows.
 
At one of my interviews, we split into groups and interviewed directly after other members in our group. When my turn rolled around, I was led to the hall way of offices and waited for the applicant ahead of me to finish their interview. When the door opened a minute or two later, the applicant came out and was crying (red face, tears flowing...not sobbing though, luckily). I could put my hand on her shoulder as we passed and say 'its ok' and then walk into the supposed lions den!

Haha...I was sort of curious/nervous after seeing that. The interview did end up being somewhat high stress and I could tell why emotions ran high. There were two interviewers who took turns with the questions and one interviewer had an interesting approach to her questions. She would look at your file (your essays, for example), pick out something you posed as a strength, flip it around to be a weakness and ask you to account for it.

For example, one theme of my PS was about approaching life with an open mind, and having had many diverse life experiences. So, instead of asking what I learned from this, or something standard, she said something like, "so I see you have a difficult time with being decisive...how do you account for this character flaw?"

I actually chuckled a bit at her first question, but I answered it by re-asserting it as a strength and I stuck to that tactic with the rest of her questions, which seemed to work since I was eventually accepted. Crazy interview though
 
So, is it bad if, when you draw a blank or just can't think of an answer, you say " I really don't know" or "I am not familiar enough with this topic to have an answer"? Would interviews appreciate the honesty rather than just trying to stumble your way through an answer?
 
Mattinthehat250 said:
So, is it bad if, when you draw a blank or just can't think of an answer, you say " I really don't know" or "I am not familiar enough with this topic to have an answer"? Would interviews appreciate the honesty rather than just trying to stumble your way through an answer?
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Depends what the question is.
 
I mentioned I was not born in the us. So the interviewer asked me to compare and contrast the health care systems of the two countries. I was prepared to talk about the health care system in the us but not where I'm from. Caught off guard, I asked if I could have a few seconds to piece together my thoughts and they graciously said yes. I was honest from the beginning saying that what I said about my country of birth was purely based on my personal experiences and not the average persons consensus. I was commended on the honest answer and later found out the interviewers mission work is all in my birth place. So she knew first hand what the right answer was. Be honest to the extent that you can be. Expand on what little you know. Offer bi partisan views on the topic if possible.

Asking for time has never gone against me in an interview. Don't sit there and think for a minute in a 15 minute interview. Saying you have no clue about the medical practices of bush doctors in Zaire will like have less of an effect on the interview than giving the same answer to perhaps why you want to be a doctor.

So as medpr put very succinctly, depends on the question.
 
I had "If you get into multiple schools, how will you decide which one to pick?"

My favorite (a girl in my interview group at a school got this one):

Interviewer: What's the worst thing you've ever done?

Girl: 😱 Uh...skipped school?

Interviewer: Is that all? Kind of boring, I see. *makes note on paper*

Girl: 😱

Interviewer: Really? Come on...
 
BrittanieY said:
I had "If you get into multiple schools, how will you decide which one to pick?"

My favorite (a girl in my interview group at a school got this one):

Interviewer: What's the worst thing you've ever done?

Girl: 😱 Uh...skipped school?

Interviewer: Is that all? Kind of boring, I see. *makes note on paper*

Girl: 😱

Interviewer: Really? Come on...
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Yea, DMU asked me "How would you pick between a DO school and an MD school assuming you get into both?"
 
MedPR said:
Yea, DMU asked me "How would you pick between a DO school and an MD school assuming you get into both?"
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That's a pretty easy question IMO. Of course, you go to the school that fits you best. I always say that I don't see it as applying to MD or DO school. It's applying to med school. You have to compare schools, not degrees. That's just my opinion though.
 
MedPR said:
Yea, DMU asked me "How would you pick between a DO school and an MD school assuming you get into both?"
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And you didn't immediately say the MD because a DO is just an MD reject like you usually say on these boards? Shocking.

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TriagePreMed said:
And you didn't immediately say the MD because a DO is just an MD reject like you usually say on these boards? Shocking.

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This doesn't surprise me.


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