How to Prepare for Your Medical School Interview

The medical school interview is a first step in your pursuit of training to become a physician.

Clearing and meeting the standards of MCAT and AMCAS tests and applications at individual medical schools are signs of perseverance and hard work. The call for an interview is the final frontier that you must pass before entering the pursuit of your medical education After getting this far, do not allow simple mistakes to deter you from your goal. Prepare yourself mentally and physically and make sure you follow up after the interview.

Things You'll Need

• Research
• Curriculum vitae
• Practice partner
• Interview invitation

Instructions

Mental Preparation

1. Realize your worth. You have every reason to be confident. Bear in mind that your invite indicates that the assessors believe you should be a part of their school. Therefore, shed your fears and be confident.

2. Do a background search on the school and the possible assessors. Try to establish contact with existing students or alumni and understand assessors and the school. You should know what specialized courses the school offers, what laboratories they have or even what certain professors teach.

3. Ask a friend or a sibling to help you practice for the interview. Practice answering fluently, concisely and confidently. Interviewers may be aggressive to determine how you react under stress, so your practice partner should be aggressive when interviewing you.

Physical Preparation

1. Scout the interview beforehand so you reach the venue promptly and appear relaxed.

2. Dress professionally and make sure you are well-groomed. Be conservative in your choice of clothes, style and color. Always place your credentials in an elegant folder or briefcase.

3. Shake hands warmly, make friendly eye contact and maintain a confident body posture and a voice that is not shaky.

4. Listen to the interviewer intently, remain calm and answer questions concisely. If there is an aggressive question thrown at you, stay calm and take your time to answer it. If necessary, you should be prepared to divert the interest of the interviewer diplomatically.

5. Leave the room with humility and grace after the interview is over, even if you believe the interview did not go well. Remember to smile and appear confident.

Tips & Warnings

• Send a note to the interviewer expressing your appreciation of the time he took to interview you. Include a couple of positive sealed references.

• Bear in mind that every interview is subjective; embrace the unexpected. The bottom line for succeeding is how capable you are of selling yourself as future physician to the interviewer.

References

• The Princeton Review: Medical School Interview
• Mommd: Medical School Interviews and Interview Questions - How to Prepare and do Well; Linda Alexander

Resources

• Saint Louis University School of Medicine: Writing the Curriculum Vitae