IF YOU’RE AN ASPIRING MEDICAL STUDENT, YOU’VE LIKELY HAD TO THINK ABOUT DIFFERENT INTERVIEW
TYPES AND HOW TO PREPARE FOR THEM... THE TRUTH IS THAT THE INTERVIEW STAGE IS THE FINAL HURDLE
BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR MEDICAL SCHOOL ACCEPTANCE LETTER... GETTING THE INVITATION FOR AN INTERVIEW
MEANS YOU’VE MADE IT THROUGH THE PRIMARY AND SECONDARY APPLICATION SCREENINGS. ALL
STUDENTS WHO MAKE IT THROUGH TO THIS STAGE ARE LIKELY TO HAVE A GOOD GPA, HIGH MCAT SCORE,
IMPRESSIVE LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION, BRILLIANT ESSAYS, AND SO ON. SO,
IT’S NOT ABOUT YOUR PAST ACHIEVEMENTS ANYMORE... IT’S ABOUT YOUR PERSONALITY, COMMUNICATION SKILLS,
AND HOW YOU PRESENT YOURSELF…. SO IN THIS VIDEO I’LL DIVE INTO DIFFERENT INTERVIEW FORMATS
AND GIVE YOU TIPS ON HOW TO EXCEL FROM PREPARATION TO THE DAY OF YOUR INTERVIEW...
HI! I’M NATALIE STOBERMAN AND I’M AN ADMISSIONS ASSOCIATE HERE AT BEMO. BEFORE WE GET STARTED,
SUBSCRIBE ON WHATEVER SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNEL YOU’RE WATCHING THIS ON SO YOU DON’T MISS
ANY OF OUR UPCOMING VIDEOS. IF YOU WOULD LIKE US TO HELP YOU WITH YOUR MEDICAL SCHOOL INTERVIEW,
VISIT BEMOMEDINTERVIEW.COM TO SCHEDULE YOUR FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION. F-Y-I... CHECK OUT THE TIME
STAMPS IN THE DESCRIPTION OF THIS VIDEO TO NAVIGATE TO SPECIFIC SECTIONS THAT YOU ARE
INTERESTED IN. HERE’S WHAT WE ARE GOING TO COVER: - WHAT ADMISSIONS COMMITTEES ARE LOOKING FOR
- TRADITIONAL AND PANEL INTERVIEWS - MULTIPLE MINI INTERVIEW
- MPI INTERVIEW
AND WE'RE GIVING AWAY $50 AMAZON GIFT CARDS EVERY WEEK TO THE BEST COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS…
SO COMMENT BELOW FOR A CHANCE TO WIN! WE ALSO HAVE SOME IMPORTANT ADVICE ON HOW
TO PREPARE FOR MED SCHOOL INTERVIEWS … AND I’LL TALK ABOUT THAT THROUGHOUT THE VIDEO
SO MAKE SURE YOU WATCH THE WHOLE THING SO YOU DON’T MISS IT… LET’S GET STARTED!
BEFORE GOING INTO ANY
TYPE OF MEDICAL SCHOOL INTERVIEW, STUDENTS NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT WHAT AN ADMISSIONS COMMITTEE IS
REALLY LOOKING FOR… MEDICAL SCHOOLS WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE GOOD INTERPERSONAL SKILLS… AND
THEY WANT TO VERIFY THAT WHAT YOU DELIVERED ON PAPER MATCHES YOUR WHAT YOU BRING TO THE
TABLE IN PERSON... WITH YOUR APPLICATIONS, YOU CAN PERFECT YOUR SUBMISSIONS WITH MULTIPLE REVISIONS,
BUT IN AN INTERVIEW ADMISSIONS COMMITTEES GET THE CHANCE TO SEE A MORE NATURAL,
UNEDITED SIDE OF YOU, AND THEY GET TO SEE HOW YOU ADAPT AND REACT UNDER PRESSURE... AN INTERVIEW IS
AS MUCH ABOUT THE “HOW”, LIKE YOUR STYLE AND PRESENTATION, AS WITH THE “WHY” AND THE “WHAT”
YOUR MOTIVATION AND CONTENT OF YOUR ANSWERS... --
SO LET’S START OFF BY DISSECTING TRADITIONAL AND PANEL INTERVIEWS...
THESE ARE THE TWO MOST COMMON INTERVIEW STYLES THAT A MEDICAL SCHOOL WILL USE TO INTERVIEW THEIR
APPLICANTS...
IN A TRADITIONAL MEDICAL SCHOOL INTERVIEW, STUDENTS ANSWER QUESTIONS FROM A PANEL OF
INTERVIEWERS. THE INTERVIEWERS TYPICALLY ASK A RANGE OF QUESTIONS IN AN OPEN INTERVIEW STYLE,
TRYING TO ASSESS THINGS LIKE YOUR PASSIONS, AMBITIONS,
WEAKNESSES, AND SUITABILITY FOR MEDICAL SCHOOL... COMMON MEDICAL SCHOOL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
INCLUDE “WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE A DOCTOR?”... “WHAT ARE YOUR CAREER AMBITIONS?”... AND “WHAT ARE YOUR
UNIQUE SKILLS AND WEAKNESSES?”... BUT BELIEVE ME, THERE ARE MANY MORE… AND WE HAVE A BLOG THAT YOU
CAN CHECK OUT TO FIND THE MOST COMMON INTERVIEW QUESTIONS, IT’S IN THE DESCRIPTION OF THIS VIDEO…
BUT
BACK TO TRADITIONAL STYLE INTERVIEWS... THEY CAN FURTHER BE DIVIDED INTO THREE DIFFERENT SUBTYPES:
1. OPEN: THIS IS WHERE THE INTERVIEWER HAS FULL ACCESS TO YOUR APPLICATION
AND WILL ASK YOU QUESTIONS BASED ON THE INFORMATION THAT YOU SUBMITTED...
2. CLOSED: IN THIS TYPE OF INTERVIEW, THE INTERVIEWER DOES NOT HAVE ACCESS TO ANY PART
OF YOUR APPLICATION. THIS IS A “BLIND” INTERVIEW, SO THE INTERVIEWER IS ONLY ASSESSING YOU BASED
ON YOUR PERFORMANCE IN THE INTERVIEW... 3. AND, PARTIALLY CLOSED: IN THIS FORMAT,
THE INTERVIEWER HAS ACCESS TO LIMITED INFORMATION ABOUT THE APPLICANT... AS IN THEY
MIGHT HAVE ACCESS TO THE APPLICANTS’ RESUME AND EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES DETAILS, BUT
NOT THE GPA AND MCAT…. SO THIS ALLOWS INTERVIEWERS TO FORM AN OBJECTIVE OPINION
OF THE CANDIDATE’S CAPABILITIES, WITHOUT BEING BIASED BY THEIR TEST SCORE RESULTS…
MOVING ON, THE PANEL
INTERVIEW IS A LONG-STANDING ASSESSMENT TOOL USED AT MOST TRADITIONAL MEDICAL SCHOOLS TO ASSESS A
CANDIDATE'S PERSONALITY AND CHARACTERISTICS... AND IT CAN REPRESENT A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF THE
RANKING WEIGHT OR IT CAN BE USED AS A RUBBER STAMP FOR CANDIDATES THAT A SCHOOL IS LIKELY TO ACCEPT
BASED ON THEIR PRIMARY AND SECONDARY APPLICATIONS…
A PANEL INTERVIEW TYPICALLY CONSISTS OF ONE TO FOUR PANELISTS PER CANDIDATE...
AND THESE PANELISTS CAN BE MEMBERS OF THE MEDICAL SCHOOL FACULTY, OR EVEN CURRENT
STUDENTS OR RESIDENTS. THE PANEL MAY ALSO HAVE A COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVE OR A NON-MEDICAL PERSON,
BUT THIS WAS PRETTY STANDARD FOR MOST UNIVERSITIES BEFORE THEY ADOPTED THE MULTIPLE MINI INTERVIEW...
YOU CAN EXPECT QUESTIONS
TO BE SLIGHTLY MORE CONVERSATIONAL LIKE REVIEWING YOUR CV TO GOING THROUGH BEHAVIOURAL QUESTIONS...
THESE CAN INCLUDE PROMPTS LIKE "TELL ME ABOUT A TIME WHEN YOU WERE IN CONFLICT WITH A SUPERVISOR?"
OR "WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST WEAKNESS?"...
THE BEST TECHNIQUE THAT WE TELL OUR STUDENTS WHEN IT COMES TO ACING THE TRADITIONAL OR PANEL STYLE
INTERVIEW IS CALLED THE “SHARE MODEL”... WHEN YOU’RE ASKED TO DESCRIBE A SITUATION, YOU NEED TO
BE CONCISE WHEN YOU’RE DESCRIBING THE SETTING, THE PROBLEM, THE ACTION YOU TOOK AND THE RESOLUTION OF
THE PROBLEM… KEEPING THAT IN MIND WILL MAKE SURE THAT YOU ACTUALLY ANSWER THE QUESTION AND THAT YOU
COME ACROSS AS A CLEAR COMMUNICATOR...
HERE’S HOW YOU CAN “SHARE”... - S: SITUATION… INTERVIEWERS
ASK CANDIDATES TO DESCRIBE A PARTICULAR SITUATION. - H: HINDRANCES… INTERVIEWERS WANT YOU TO IDENTIFY
CHALLENGES AND HINDRANCES YOU ENCOUNTERED. - A: ACTIONS… EXPLAIN YOUR ACTIONS…
- R: RESULTS… EXAMINE THE RESULTS. - E: EVALUATE… EVALUATE THE LESSON LEARNED.
THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT THE OVERALL
GOAL OF THE PANEL INTERVIEW IS TO COME OFF AS A LIKABLE, PERSONABLE SCHOLAR WHO CAN DESCRIBE
WHY THEY'VE TAKEN ON THE JOBS, EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AND PERSONAL ENDEAVOURS ON THEIR CV…
SO YOU CAN USE OUR TIPS TO ACE THE INTERVIEW BY MAKING SURE YOU CAN HAVE A POSITIVE CONVERSATION
BETWEEN YOU AND THE INTERVIEWERS AND THAT YOU'RE NOT LEAVING THEM WANTING MORE ANSWERS…
LET’S MOVE ON TO THE MULTIPLE MINI INTERVIEW...
ALSO KNOWN AS THE MMI, THIS MEDICAL SCHOOL INTERVIEW FORMAT IS DESIGNED TO REVEAL HOW A
CANDIDATE THINKS, HOW WELL THEY WORK IN A TEAM, AND WHAT THEIR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES ARE...
THIS IS NOT A CONTENT INTERVIEW LIKE YOU’LL FIND IN TRADITIONAL OR PANEL FORMATS,
THE MMI IS A SITUATIONAL APTITUDE TEST IN AN INTERVIEW FORMAT... STUDENTS GO FROM ONE STATION
TO THE NEXT, ANSWERING QUESTIONS THAT ARE DESIGNED TO TEST SELF-AWARENESS, CRITICAL THINKING,
TEAMWORK, MATURITY, COMMUNICATION, AND EMPATHY...
THERE CAN BE 6 TO 10 STATIONS IN ANY MMI INTERVIEW. WHEN YOU GET TO A STATION,
YOU’LL BE GIVEN A QUESTION AND ABOUT 2 MINUTES TO THINK OF AN ANSWER, AND THEN 8 MINUTES TO GO
TO THE INTERVIEW STATION AND GIVE YOUR ANSWER TO THE INTERVIEWERS THERE... THEN, YOU MOVE ON
TO THE NEXT STATION AND REPEAT THE PROCESS UNTIL ALL THE QUESTIONS ARE COMPLETE…. ONE INTERVIEW CAN
LAST BETWEEN 90 MINUTES TO 2 HOURS, AND SOME SCHOOLS OFFER A BREAK IN BETWEEN STATIONS…
WHEN YOU’RE PREPARING FOR YOUR INTERVIEW,
THERE ARE 7 DIFFERENT TYPES OF MMI INTERVIEW QUESTIONS THAT YOU NEED TO PRACTICE… THEY’RE
SCENARIO QUESTIONS, POLICY-BASED QUESTIONS, ACTING QUESTIONS, PERSONAL QUESTIONS, QUIRKY QUESTIONS,
WRITING QUESTIONS, AND COLLABORATIVE QUESTIONS….
IDEALLY, YOU SHOULD HAVE FROM 8 TO 10 WEEKS TO PREPARE FOR THE MMI… AND THE BEST WAY TO
PRACTICE IS TO USE REALISTIC SIMULATIONS... JUST LIKE PREPARING FOR THE MCAT, FOR EXAMPLE,
THE INTERVIEW REQUIRES YOU TO PERFORM NUMEROUS SIMULATIONS IN ORDER TO ENSURE YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY
PREPARED ON YOUR ACTUAL INTERVIEW DATE… THE BEST PREP TACTIC IS TO USE FULL-LENGTH MOCK MMIS AND
GO OVER MMI QUESTIONS. AND IT’S BEST TO PRACTICE WHILE GETTING EXPERT FEEDBACK… WHY? BECAUSE IF YOU
DON’T GET FEEDBACK FROM A MEDICAL SCHOOL ADVISOR, YOU WILL NOT KNOW HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR INTERVIEW
TAKING STRATEGIES… ESPECIALLY BECAUSE THE MMI FORMAT IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER INTERVIEW STRUCTURE...
THEN THERE IS THE MPI INTERVIEW FORMAT…
AND THIS IS THE FORMAT THAT YOU’LL NEED TO PREPARE FOR IF YOU’VE APPLIED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
MED SCHOOL… IT WAS DESIGNED AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE PANEL INTERVIEW… LIKE ALL OTHER TYPES OF
MEDICAL SCHOOL INTERVIEWS, THE MPI IS DESIGNED TO IDENTIFY THOSE INTERPERSONAL QUALITIES
AND IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS THAT WILL MAKE A CANDIDATE A SUCCESSFUL MEDICAL DOCTOR IN
THE FUTURE… BUT IN ORDER TO MITIGATE WHAT SOME CONSIDER AS POOR RELIABILITY IN THE PANEL OR
TRADITIONAL INTERVIEW, THE MPI PUT THE CANDIDATE IN AN ENVIRONMENT WITH FOUR DISTINCT INTERVIEWERS
AND THIS ALLOWS FOR MULTIPLE INDEPENDENT SAMPLING (MIS) OF THE INTERVIEWEE, WHICH IS ONE OF THE
CLAIMED CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MMI…
BASICALLY THE MPI IS A HAPPY MEDIUM BETWEEN THE MMI AND PANEL INTERVIEWS… THE MPI INTERVIEW IS
SIMPLE TO CARRY OUT AND IS COST EFFECTIVE LIKE PANEL INTERVIEWS, IT ALLOWS FOR CONVERSATIONAL
MENTOR/MENTEE INTERACTION LIKE AN MMI… SO HOW WHAT SHOULD YOU EXPECT ON INTERVIEW DAY?
ON THE DAY OF THE INTERVIEW,
THE CANDIDATE WILL MOVE FROM ROOM 1 TO ROOM 4, ENCOUNTERING FOUR DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS
WHO WILL HAVE APPROXIMATELY 10-12 MINUTES TO ASK QUESTIONS FROM THE CANDIDATE. THE INTERVIEWERS
ARE EITHER FACULTY MEMBERS, MEMBERS OF THE ADCOMMS, SENIOR MEDICAL STUDENTS OR RESIDENTS,
OR OTHER MEDICAL DOCTORS… EACH INTERVIEWER HAS A HAND IN REVIEWING THE WRITTEN APPLICATION
MATERIALS AND ASKS QUESTIONS BASED ON THE APPLICATION AS BEHAVIOURAL DESCRIPTIVE QUESTIONS…
YOU CAN EXPECT QUESTIONS LIKE “WHEN YOU ENTERED A NEW WORKPLACE IN THE PAST, HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT
MEETING AND DEVELOPING RELATIONSHIPS WITH NEW COLLEAGUES AND SUPERVISORS?”... OR “I CAN SEE
FROM YOUR APPLICATION, THAT YOU HAVE SPENT A LOT OF TIME WORKING AS A COUNSELOR WITH CHILDREN… WHAT
WAS YOUR STRATEGY FOR BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE CHILDREN, YOUR NEW COLLEAGUES AND SUPERVISORS?
AND WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON YOU HAVE LEARNED FROM WORKING WITH KIDS?”...
ONCE AN MPI INTERVIEW IS COMPLETED, CANDIDATES
ARE RATED ACROSS THREE COMMON ATTRIBUTES WHICH ARE MATURITY, COMMUNICATION SKILLS,
AND INTERPERSONAL SKILLS… THERE’S ALSO A FOURTH ATTRIBUTE THAT IS RATED UNIQUELY BASED ON THE
CANDIDATE… THIS CAN INCLUDE CHARACTERISTICS SUCH THE ABILITY TO WORK IN TEAMS, A CANDIDATE’S VISION
AND EXPECTATION, ADAPTABILITY, SELF-REFLECTION AND PERSONAL INSIGHT… EACH OF THESE ATTRIBUTES
ARE SCORED OUT OF FIVE AND WILL COME DOWN TO A TOTAL SCORE CALCULATED OUT OF 20…
THAT’S OUR ADVICE ON THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF MEDICAL SCHOOL INTERVIEWS AND HOW TO PREPARE
FOR THEM… CHECK OUT OUR BLOGS TO READ MORE INTERVIEW STRATEGIES AND HOW TO HAVE A SOLID
PREP STRATEGY... I HAVE INCLUDED A FEW LINKS IN THE DESCRIPTION OF THIS VIDEO FOR EASY ACCESS...
IF YOU WOULD LIKE US TO HELP YOU WITH YOUR MEDICAL SCHOOL INTERVIEWS,
CHECK OUT BEMOMEDINTERVIEW.COM TO SCHEDULE YOUR FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION...
HOPEFULLY YOU ENJOYED THIS VIDEO SO PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, LIKE AND LEAVE A COMMENT. AND
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT DIFFERENT MEDICAL SCHOOL INTERVIEWS THAT I DIDN’T COVER,
LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENT SECTION AND I WILL GET BACK TO YOU AS SOON AS POSSIBLE...
DON’T FORGET THAT WE'RE GIVING AWAY $50 AMAZON GIFT CARDS EVERY WEEK TO THE BEST COMMENTS AND
QUESTIONS… SO COMMENT BELOW FOR A CHANCE TO WIN. THANKS FOR WATCHING AND SEE YOU NEXT TIME.