The Premed Playbook Guide to the Medical School Interview

Be Prepared, Perform Well, Get Accepted

Ryan Gray

• Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781683502166
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Medical Education

"A must-have for every future doctor's collection. Great advice, comprehensive, and to the point. Dr. Gray breaks it down, play by play." —Sujay Kansagra, MD, author of The Medical School Manual The Premed Playbook Guide to the Medical School Interview is the only book needed to prepare premed students for their medical school interviews. Through interviews with Admissions Committee members and others, Dr. Gray has compiled the most comprehensive book on this subject. Premed students want to know what to expect, but more importantly they need to see examples of what successful applicants have done. The Premed Playbook not only gives them close to six hundred potential interview questions, it also gives them real answers and feedback from interview sessions that Dr. Gray has held with students. "This book touches on every aspect of the interview from applying, during the interview and things to do/not to do after the interview. I highly recommend this book for every student to read and have available for reference during the medical school interview season." —Antonio J. Webb, MD, orthopedic resident surgeon, motivational speaker, and author of Overcoming the Odds "He challenges the reader to examine their strengths and weaknesses and gives them a blueprint on how to put their best foot forward. His advice is real-world and complied by many interviewers, including myself, who have years of experience interviewing medical school applicants. I highly recommend this book as a fundamental preparation tool for the application process." —Gregory M. Polites, MD, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Chairman of the Central Subcommittee on Admissions, Washington University School of Medicine

SECTION II

The Questions

CHAPTER 12

OPENING QUESTIONS

The opening of your interview can make or break you. The interviewer can start from a thousand different places, but listed here are a few of the more common places to start.

Remember that first impressions are made very quickly. Some business texts quote that a first impression is made within the first 7 seconds, while a psychology journal said it happens even faster than that—in 1/10th of a second¹¹! Go in smiling, confident and ready to have a genuine conversation.

The goal with the opening question is to get through it and get to the next question. The goal of the next question is to get to the next. Take each question one at a time.

• Tell me about your early life.

• Assume that all of the information in your application is nonexistent (grades, activities, etc.). Tell me about yourself.

• Tell me your story.

• Why are you interested in this school?

• What have you enjoyed the most about today?

• Why medicine?

• Why do you want to be a doctor?

CHAPTER 13

GRADES AND MCAT SCORE QUESTIONS

As noted in Section I, the interviewer may or may not have access to your academic records. In an open interview, although they will have access to this information, they may not look at it prior to the interview. In a closed (blind) or partially-blind interview, the interviewer won’t have access to your scores beforehand.

The goal with these types of questions, as with every question, is to be honest and accept your shortcomings. If you did poorly, accept it. Own it. Don’t place blame. Talk about what you learned and how you will move forward in the future, so you don’t repeat the same mistakes.

• What was your GPA?

• What was your MCAT score?

• What do you think of your MCAT score?

• How did you go from a D to an A? What was your strategy? (assuming you repeated a class)

• Why are your two MCAT scores so different? (assuming you retook it)

• Your GPA is outstanding. Why is your MCAT score just average/below average?

• Why did you perform so poorly on [pick a section] of the MCAT?

• Explain the trends in your transcript.

• Explain this dip in your grades.

• Did you take an MCAT prep course?

• Did you have any academic difficulties in college?

• How did you overcome your academic difficulties?

• How much did you prepare for the MCAT?

• Why do you think you did so well on the MCAT?

• Why do you think you did poorly on the MCAT the first time you took it?

• Why did you take the MCAT so many times?

• Explain the grade you got in this class. (assuming it was less than stellar)

• Tell me about this [unusual] class that you took.

• Why did you choose to graduate from college in three years?

• Why did you do poorly during your first semester/year of college?

• What did you learn from doing poorly in that class?

• Medical school is much harder than undergrad. How are you going to avoid the academic difficulties that you struggled with previously?

• I see you struggled during your [pick a year/semester] in college. How can you reassure me that you are ready to handle medical school?

• Did you study for the MCAT (or a specific class) with a group of other students?

• Do you think doing well in undergrad will prepare you for medical school?

CHAPTER 14

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES QUESTIONS

One of the biggest mistakes students make going into the interview is not reviewing every part of their application. This includes the extracurricular activities and the descriptions you wrote for each one, and which ones you labeled as most meaningful.

It is important to know your application inside and out. You need to understand your research and what was learned from it. You need to be able to talk about each of the experiences you included in your application. This is why it’s important to only include the most meaningful experiences, instead of filling the space with items that don’t add value or highlight your strengths.

• What was your most significant non-medically related volunteer activity?

• What was your most rewarding extracurricular activity?

• Why don’t you have much shadowing experience?

• Describe your research to me as if I were a four-year-old.

• Describe your involvement in the [extracurricular activity].

• Describe your favorite patient interaction.

• What was your most memorable experience with [insert volunteer experience or travel]?

• Describe a time when you became close with a patient during your volunteer experiences.

• Describe a research experience that left a profound impression on you, and tell me what you learned from it.

• What activities do you participate in that are not work or school related?

• What has been your biggest leadership role?

• What has been your experience with the underserved population?

• Tell me about your ability to speak multiple languages.

• What sort of clinical experience have you received?

• How have your experiences made you want to pursue medicine?

• What is the hardest situation that you have encountered as a volunteer?

• Tell me about your mentoring experiences.

• Tell me about your travel experiences.

• Tell me about the music you play.

• How did your research change your outlook on medicine?

• How did you get involved in shadowing?

• What research/clinical experiences do you have?

• Tell me about a leadership experience.

• Tell me about your research.

• Why was your [insert extracurricular experience] so valua...