How to prepare for medical school interview

As a high school student you’re probably not very experienced with getting interviewed by top medical universities.Hence, no matter how confident you feel you are, you should practice plenty with older people.

The more uncomfortable they make you the better, because nowadays the interviewees at medical schools are very direct. The admission steam interview hundreds of students per cycle so it is hard to stand out but you must try your best to do so.

How can you do this? By preparing well, coming off as confident and smiling!

Medical School Interview

There are manly two main types of interview, the traditional interview of a panel questioning you or Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs). Ask as many students who have been through the process for their advice.

The traditional style

You will be put in front of a committee of 3 or 4 to interview you. They will ask questions about your personal statement; quiz you on your enthusiasm for medicine and why you chose the university. Expect them to also throw some ethical dilemmas in,as well as hypothetical scenarios to see how you’d respond.

Usually you’ll get a panel playing good cop, bad cop with you. Someone will be very direct and will not be friendly. This is a trick that is done purposely to check how a student copes under pressure and unexpected stress.

Make sure you’re polite at all times and carry on speaking to the entire panel. Do not ignore the person being rude but be assertive. Most students panic in this situation and get confused. However, now that you know this information it will allow you to control and sway the situation in you favour.

The panel will also assess whether they think you are enthusiastic and determined enough to last. Medicine is not for the weak and many people drop out. You must remember that the university wants someone who will contribute to the medical school and succeed during the 5 or 6 years of studies.

The Multiple Mini Interviews

The MMIs are a set of stations distributed among a big room. You’ll usually get 2-3 minutes per station where you must perform a task or answer a questions. The aim of such interview style is to maintain an objective score for each student.

You’ll be scored on your performance and then the scores are added together, and compared with the other medical applicants. The stations will include verbal reasoning tests, scientific interpretation, manual dexterity, moral dilemmas and other scenarios to check your approach and methodology in tackling tough questions.

The school will usually interview 10 people per seat so the chances of being accepted are low.Many students who are not accepted onto their dream course in the UK decide to study medicine in English in Europe.

There are many universities abroad that offer fantastic medical and dental courses that are far superior to the ones in the UK. There is a huge British community abroad as the shortage of place in the UK has caused a crisis causing the shortage of doctors.

Doctors trained abroad have no trouble returning to work in the UK.

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