Who are the interviewers?

[Guest Steve U of T]

I know U of T's interview teams consist of a 2nd year med student and a faculty member. My question is about that faculty member. I've been told that Chris Perumalla (PhD, of the physiology department) and Roy Baker (PhD, of the biochem department) are involved in conducting interviews and other aspects of the admissions process. Are most of the interviewers MDs, or are a lot of them non-MD faculty members who are involved in medical education?

 

I've also heard from an English professor (Margaret Proctor, PhD) who says she is often asked to review application essays. Again, is this common, or are most of the applications reviewed by MDs?

[Guest Toonces]

Hey Steve. This is all just my impressions, but I personally was interviewed by an MD, a neurologist, and I know everyone I've spoken to about it has also been interviewed by MDs. That said, Baker is one of the first year profs (and maybe upper year, dunno) and is very involved in the program, so probably knows more about it than associated clinicians.

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi there,

 

Incidentally, I think that interviewing with Dr. Baker would be a hoot. He used to (and I think still does) teach a few undergraduate biochemistry courses chez UofT and the man commonly had his audience in stitches. He's hilarious. Smart, and hilarious.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest Adamanda]

Permulla is also a character! I had him for physiology.

[Guest Steve U of T]

Yes, I think Baker is still teaching intro to biochem, and he is a funny guy. I took it a couple of years ago, but I know people who took that class this year, and he's still there. He uses the strangest analogies. From what I've heard, he's now co-director of the metabolism and nutrition unit (with Valerie Watt, who is really nice) in 1st year medicine.

 

Dr. Perumalla is a very nice guy. I took both his physiology lab courses (psl372/374), which are excellent courses, and he got to know all the students (from 374) very well. We always have a nice chat every time we see each other. He gave a mock interview to a friend of mine that was applying to some American schools.

 

I suppose it doesn't really matter who does the interviews, I was just curious. I suppose an MD might be better suited to determine whether an applicant is appropriate for the profession, but a faculty member who is more involved in medical education (but may not have an MD) would be better suited to determine an applicant's suitability for that school's particular program. In any case, it seems the number of non-MDs conducting interviews is very small.

[Guest Adamanda]

my grad supervisor, Prof. Dolan, a Clinical Engineering prof has also been an interviewer...I think any medicine faculty can be on the panel