Interview Questions
One of my friends just asked me for a good way to prepare for interviews, specifically regarding the questions they ask. I found this list a couple of years ago on SDN, but I can't find it there anymore, so I figured I'd post it here so other people can access it.
1.Tell me something important about yourself.
2.Why did you choose your major/degree?
3.If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?
4.What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
5.Tell me about your research?
6.If you have a choice between two medical schools, what are your criteria for choosing between them.
7.What will be 3 major challenges in medicine when you graduate from medical school and how should the curriculum address those challenges?
8.Describe a specific example of how you helped another individual and what you learned from it?
9.What intellectual role did you play in your research?
10.How would your friends describe you?
11.What draws you to [insert whatever school you are interviewing at]?
12.Tell me about [insert your school] and why you chose to go to school there.
13.Which of your research experiences did you enjoy the most and why?
14.When in your life did you decide you wanted to become a doctor? Have your motivations about becoming a doctor or your impressions about medicine changed since then?
15.Why medicine?
16.How would your mom describe you?
17.How would you propose to teach students a more humanistic approach to medicine?
18.Should more money be devoted to education or healthcare?...Prevention or intervention?
19.Tell me about your leadership activities
20.What are some important qualities of a physician?
21.What are current problems in the healthcare system today?
22.I'm not saying you won't get in this year, but if you didn't what would you do?
23.What area or field of medicine interests you?
24.What do you see yourself doing in 10 years?
25.What would you change about your college/university?
26.What is the most difficult decision you have had to make?
27.Tell me about your best friend.
28.How would you define professionalism?
29.What was the happiest and saddest moments of your life?
30.How can you contribute to this school?
31.What criticism upsets you the most?
32.What was the last book you read?
33.What challenges do you think you'll have in your 1st year of medical school?
34.Do you think that as we learn more about science and the laws of this world, that the need for believing in God will disappear?
35.What was your favorite (college) class and why?
36.Explain the process of cellular respiration to me?
37.How do you fix the malpractice problem
38.Do you prefer being alone or with others?
39.Do you like saying no?
40.Do you have any questions about [insert whatever school you are applying to]?
41.Why not nursing?
42.What else do you want to emphasize to the committee about yourself that may or may not be included in your applications?
43.What can I say to make you want to come here?
44.Please explain this low grade in [insert whatever class you received a C or below in]
From personal experience, a good handful of these questions are pretty common. At my recent interview at UVa, I was asked numbers 4, 12, 14, 22, 32, and 41. All in the course of a half-hour interview.
1.Tell me something important about yourself.
2.Why did you choose your major/degree?
3.If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?
4.What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
5.Tell me about your research?
6.If you have a choice between two medical schools, what are your criteria for choosing between them.
7.What will be 3 major challenges in medicine when you graduate from medical school and how should the curriculum address those challenges?
8.Describe a specific example of how you helped another individual and what you learned from it?
9.What intellectual role did you play in your research?
10.How would your friends describe you?
11.What draws you to [insert whatever school you are interviewing at]?
12.Tell me about [insert your school] and why you chose to go to school there.
13.Which of your research experiences did you enjoy the most and why?
14.When in your life did you decide you wanted to become a doctor? Have your motivations about becoming a doctor or your impressions about medicine changed since then?
15.Why medicine?
16.How would your mom describe you?
17.How would you propose to teach students a more humanistic approach to medicine?
18.Should more money be devoted to education or healthcare?...Prevention or intervention?
19.Tell me about your leadership activities
20.What are some important qualities of a physician?
21.What are current problems in the healthcare system today?
22.I'm not saying you won't get in this year, but if you didn't what would you do?
23.What area or field of medicine interests you?
24.What do you see yourself doing in 10 years?
25.What would you change about your college/university?
26.What is the most difficult decision you have had to make?
27.Tell me about your best friend.
28.How would you define professionalism?
29.What was the happiest and saddest moments of your life?
30.How can you contribute to this school?
31.What criticism upsets you the most?
32.What was the last book you read?
33.What challenges do you think you'll have in your 1st year of medical school?
34.Do you think that as we learn more about science and the laws of this world, that the need for believing in God will disappear?
35.What was your favorite (college) class and why?
36.Explain the process of cellular respiration to me?
37.How do you fix the malpractice problem
38.Do you prefer being alone or with others?
39.Do you like saying no?
40.Do you have any questions about [insert whatever school you are applying to]?
41.Why not nursing?
42.What else do you want to emphasize to the committee about yourself that may or may not be included in your applications?
43.What can I say to make you want to come here?
44.Please explain this low grade in [insert whatever class you received a C or below in]
From personal experience, a good handful of these questions are pretty common. At my recent interview at UVa, I was asked numbers 4, 12, 14, 22, 32, and 41. All in the course of a half-hour interview.