One easy way to show you’re deeply interested in Medicine is to pick up some extracurricular activities that relate to this. Joining your school’s Medical Society or Science Society will help.
If you don’t have one at your school, you could always set one up.
Find a way to help by organising some illustrious speakers to talk about their medical research, or get a group together to discuss interview questions and practice answering them. It’s a great way to demonstrate your organisational skills and your passion for the subject.
Understanding hot topics is an easy way to show your interest. If you regularly browse the BBC News Health website, New Scientist and the Student BMJ, you are sure to stumble across some interesting articles.
Pick one story that really interests you and try and read the original research paper if you can. Try to remember the key points from the research so you can discuss it confidently if you’re asked about something you’ve read. It’s also a good idea to think about how that research could lead to better patient care.
You could try your hand at your own research project, whether that’s writing blogs or working on a Medicine EPQ. Maybe you could give presentations on certain health topics in your Science or Medical Society, or help out with an audit at your local GP Practice.
Being able to talk about this and discuss how you want to explore it further at Medical School will be a great asset for your interview prep – but be careful to emphasise that while you enjoyed the process of looking into a topic in-depth, you would relish the opportunity to do similar projects at Medical School.
You may be asked about what you’ve read outside of medical journals and news – and having an interest in books with a medical theme is another great way to demonstrate the depth and breadth of your passion for Medicine. Take a look at these books to read before your interview, including The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sack and This Is Going To Hurt by Adam Kay.
You might be asked interview questions that explore your career aspirations. Were you lucky enough to undertake a work experience placement in a speciality that particularly excites you, like paediatrics, psychiatry or surgery? Try to talk to Doctors in that speciality to get an idea about what the training is like.
Be prepared to discuss the pathway to becoming a Doctor, and mention who you’ve spoken to and what you’ve learned while exploring this. Just be careful to remain open-minded in your interview and not sound like you have your heart set on one area of specialism.
Review example depth and breadth of interest in Medicine questions – and then test your knowledge in our quiz!
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