Primrose Kitten

Medical school interviews can be really intense. Fantastic predicted grades, excellent test results, a brilliant personal statement and amazing references will mean absolutely nothing if the interviewer doesn't think you can answer the questions confidently.

The questions you're going to be asked are going to fall into four main groups. That's going to be you as a doctor and your motivation. Your work experience and what you got from it. Your opinions or your ideas about popular topics. And then how will you apply logic to strange and unfamiliar situations.

The exact style of the interview is going to vary slightly between institutions, but all of them ask questions that fall into those four broad areas. It is a really good idea to spend some time and mind-map each of those areas, write down some few key notes about everything. Don't try and script answers because that will generally get you flustered in the interview if they ask the questions in a slightly different way. Just make a few key points on each area. Try and get somebody to try and expand the areas with you. Think of all of the things about your work experience, all of your motivation behind becoming a doctor.

The style of the interview will vary slightly between institution, it could be a very traditional interview where you're facing a panel who spend quite a long time asking you questions. Some people are going to be writing down, there's going to be someone who always looks really stern, someone who always looks really happy, and then a couple that have blank faces who you can't tell anything from. This type of interview can be quite intimidating, but it's still very, very common.

A few places have moved towards a series of mini-interviews, where you go around having short conversations with lots of different people. It's one-on-one which can be quite intense if you're just used to the traditional style of interview. There could be some role-play involved where you meet a patient and have to help them through, or there could be another situation happening and they want to see how you react to this.

During the interview don't be afraid to ask for clarification. If you're not exactly sure what they're asking, ask them to expand upon it a little bit. Don't give them the answer that you think they are looking for. They want to admit you, not the person that you think, they think, you should be. They are genuinely interested in what you have to say.

For some of the questions it is going to be no right or wrong answer. They just want to see how you work through the problem, what your opinion is on the situation and how you would deal with things. You can prepare for these interviews by making notes on each of the topics that follow.

And then lastly, you need to be confident and you need to believe in your abilities. You deserve to be in this interview, you deserve this place at medical school. So, don't feel you have to hold back, don't feel you have to be shy, be confident, and show them what an amazing person you are. You've got this far, you've got the interview based on your amazing predicted grades and your awesome personal statement. Show them what a brilliant doctor you would be.