Medicine Interview Tips

Make Sure You Know How To Prepare

Understanding how to prepare for medical school interviews is the most important place to start.

Make sure you know the difference between panel interviews and MMIs – and find out what every medical school’s interview plans are this year.

Panel Interviews:

• Description: Panel interviews typically involve a group of interviewers who ask questions to assess your suitability for medical school. This format often includes faculty members, doctors, and sometimes current students.
• Preparation Tips:
  • Practice Common Questions: Be ready to discuss your motivation for studying medicine, your understanding of the medical profession, and examples of your experiences and skills.
  • Communication Skills: Focus on clear, concise, and confident communication. Practice maintaining eye contact with all interviewers and listen carefully before answering.

Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs):

• Description: MMIs consist of a series of short, structured interview stations, each assessing different skills and attributes. You might face scenarios, ethical dilemmas, role-plays, or traditional questions.
• Preparation Tips:
  • Understand the Format: Familiarize yourself with the MMI process, including timing and types of stations.
  • Scenario Practice: Practice with a variety of scenarios to develop quick thinking and adaptability. Reflect on your reasoning and decision-making processes.

Use The STARR Technique

The way you structure your answers in your Medicine interview is crucial. This is because it prevents you from rambling and ensures you cover key points.

We recommend using the STARR acronym:

• Situation: One brief line outlining the example.
• Task: What was involved?
• Action: How you approached and performed the task.
• Result: What was the outcome/achievement?
• Reflection: What did you learn and how will you apply it?

For example: Tell me about a time when you have successfully demonstrated leadership skills?

Situation: I was captain of my school’s football team.
Task: To lead the team to the best of my abilities, ensuring we operated well as a team and achieved our objective: winning the cup.
Action: I made sure that I remained approachable and delegated tasks effectively, such as organising travel to away matches and leading our pre-match warm ups. I adapted my communication to get the best out of people from a variety of age groups. My school teacher commended me for this.
Result: At the end of the year, we won the cup and achieved one of the most successful set of results in our school’s recent history.
Reflection: In the team, I developed my approach to making decisions under pressure and learned how to communicate with different personalities. Having carried out a wide range of work experience, I have seen how critical leadership and teamwork is in Medicine. I look forward to developing my skills further in this area.

Use Praise From Other People

You need to showcase your qualities but don’t want to come across as arrogant. In practice, this can be tricky.

Using feedback and compliments from others allows you to showcase your positive traits in a humble and credible way. It demonstrates self-awareness and shows that your qualities are recognized by those around you. Here’s a more detailed look at how to incorporate this strategy into your interview answers.

For example, you might get asked what your best trait is. You can answer this question in your Medicine interview without sounding arrogant by citing what other people have said about you.

Practical Examples

1. Direct Praise from Mentors or Supervisors:

• Example Question: “What is your best trait?”
• Response: “My supervisors have often commended my dedication and attention to detail. For instance, during my internship, my mentor noted that my thoroughness in patient care significantly improved our team’s efficiency.”

2. Feedback from Peers:

• Example Question: “Can you describe a time when you worked well in a team?”
• Response: “In a group project for our biology course, my teammates frequently mentioned that my ability to listen and integrate everyone’s ideas made our collaboration smooth and successful.”

3. Written Recommendations:

• Example Question: “Why do you think you will be a good fit for our medical program?”
• Response: “In my recommendation letter, my biology teacher highlighted my curiosity and eagerness to learn, which she believes will help me thrive in a rigorous academic environment like yours.”

4. Informal Feedback:

• • Example Question: “How do you handle stress or challenging situations?”
  • Response: “My colleagues in the volunteer group often tell me that my calm demeanor and problem-solving skills help keep the team focused and motivated during crises.”

Read The GMC’s Ethical Guidance

We urge all aspiring medics to read the General Medical Council’s Ethical guidance for Doctors.

After reading it, you should have a clear understanding of the role of a Doctor and can start speaking a little more like one in your Medicine interview.

For example: The role of multi-disciplinary teams in Medicine is central to patient care.

Key terms like this will help you stand out, as long as you can back them up. Acknowledging the growing importance of a Doctor’s roles as a teacher would also demonstrate insight.

Always Answer The Question

When you’re under pressure, you may struggle to answer a question. Make sure you listen carefully to each question and take a second to think before giving your answer.

A clever approach is to incorporate the question into your answer. By doing this at the start of your reply, you’ll show that you have listened and it will remind you to address all of the key points.

Here are more useful tips that will help you answer the question effectively:

Listen Carefully and Reflect

1. Careful Listening:

• Importance: Listening carefully to each question ensures that you understand exactly what is being asked. This prevents misinterpretation and allows you to provide a relevant and coherent response.
• Technique: Focus intently on the interviewer’s words. If needed, politely ask for clarification to ensure you fully grasp the question.

2. Taking a Moment to Think:

• Benefits: Taking a brief pause before responding allows you to organize your thoughts. This moment of reflection helps you construct a well-thought-out answer and reduces the risk of rambling or veering off-topic.
• Practice: Train yourself to embrace silence for a few seconds. It’s perfectly acceptable and shows that you are thoughtful and deliberate in your responses.

Incorporate the Question into Your Answer

1. Structuring Your Response:

• Technique: Start your answer by restating the question. This demonstrates active listening and serves as a mental reminder to stay focused on addressing all parts of the question.
• Example: If asked, “What is your greatest strength?”, begin with, “My greatest strength is my ability to stay calm under pressure.” This not only clarifies your answer but also provides a structured framework for elaboration.

2. Benefits of Rephrasing:

• Clarity and Focus: Rephrasing the question ensures that you remain on track and fully address the interviewer’s inquiry. It helps avoid tangential information that may not be relevant to the question.
• Demonstrates Listening Skills: This approach highlights your active listening skills, a crucial attribute for any medical professional who must accurately interpret patient information and colleague communications.

Dress To Impress

When deciding what to wear to your Medical School interview, remember that you need to make a good impression. The best tip we’ve heard on this topic came from an Admissions Tutor, who said “dress in the way you would like to see your Doctor dressed”.

Tips for dressing for your interview:

• Prepare an outfit which is smart and professional.
• Avoid any clothing or jewellery that could be uncomfortable or distracting.
• If you’re doing an online interview, think about your background and what the interviewer will see behind you.

Think About Both Sides

Every scenario is designed to make you think. You should never commit yourself to a definitive answer immediately. If the first word out of your mouth is a definitive ‘yes’ or ‘no’, does it really look like you’ve weighed up the debate properly?

A better course of action is to discuss the arguments for and against, before coming up with a balanced conclusion that appreciates the nuances of the scenario.

How to Discuss Arguments For and Against

1. Structuring Your Response:

• Initial Consideration: Start by acknowledging the complexity of the scenario. For example, “This scenario presents several important considerations.”
• Presenting Both Sides: Clearly outline the arguments for and against. Use phrases like, “On one hand…” and “On the other hand…” to delineate the different perspectives.
• Balanced Conclusion: After discussing both sides, provide a balanced conclusion that reflects a thorough analysis. Summarize the key points and explain your final stance, showing an appreciation for the scenario’s complexities.

The four pillars of medical ethics are useful for considering different sides of a scenario:

• Autonomy — Does it show respect for the patient and their right to make decisions?
• Non-maleficence — Does it harm the patient?
• Justice — Are there consequences in the wider community?
• Beneficence — Does it benefit the patient?

Verbalise, Verbalise, Verbalise

Although you shouldn’t prepare scripted answers for your Medical School interview, practice really helps and should make you feel ready to tackle any questions.

Practise with friends, family, teachers — and you might want to book a mock interview to get some expert feedback.