Second interview - Advice?

[Notimetowaste]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to ask for advice from anyone willing to read this and reply. This is the second time I will be interviewing at McGill - probably the 5th or 6th med interview i've done without success. I've come to realize that I have a couple issues when it comes to these types of interviews 

I'm a soft-spoken and modest person by nature. This can often manifest itself poorly during interviews, during which you should be displaying confidence and speaking assertively. I do have a lot of confidence in myself. But it's not natural for me to speak about myself, or describe how awesome I am, or why I'm the best candidate etc... Anyone can say anything about themselves. Instead, I've always tried to let my work speak for itself. Interviews have also been difficult because of the nature of what it entails. I walk in under the precept that everything I do is being judged and scrutinized. This is not a situation that would ever occur in real life (except in interviews). It's hard to see it as just "getting to know me" within an 8 minute timeframe. As a result, I become shy because I don't know how to interact with someone who's main purpose is to grade the type of person who I am. Finally, it's been difficult for me to act in the acting stations - to feign empathy, to assume a position as a surveyor or wtv they ask me to be, to communicate to a "friend" whom in real life I would know inside out and know how to interact with. I know how to act with strangers, but when I need to pretend to be a friend or a family member or something like that, it completely throws me off...Context is important, and communication is something personal. I communicate with everyone differently, depending on their character....

Has anyone else had to these reservations, or overcame these types of issues? Any thoughtful advice would be greatly appreciated. 

Thank you sincerely and wishing you all success in wherever life takes you. 

[HoopDreams]

Hi there,

First, I admire your dedication and efforts to not give up after numerous interviews.
Sometimes, devotion to something that didn't work turns out to be a source of anxiety.
The fact that you have interviewed before should help you but the fear of doing something wrong could also be stressful.
I think you are over-thinking this process. 

44 minutes ago, Notimetowaste said:

I'm a soft-spoken and modest person by nature. This can often manifest itself poorly during interviews, during which you should be displaying confidence and speaking assertively. I do have a lot of confidence in myself. But it's not natural for me to speak about myself, or describe how awesome I am, or why I'm the best candidate etc... Anyone can say anything about themselves.

Since the shift to MMI, you will rarely get asked a question such as : why are you the best future doctor ?
Instead, they assess the required skills through different scenarios.
And even if you do get asked about it, there is no need to be arrogant or exaggerate your credentials.
Give an honest response about how your skills and experiences have helped you.
That is really not unique to medical school.
Any traditional job interview would entail such a question.
If a friend asks you, why do you think you are ready for medical school?
I am sure you would be able to answer.

Quote

I walk in under the precept that everything I do is being judged and scrutinized. This is not a situation that would ever occur in real life (except in interviews). It's hard to see it as just "getting to know me" within an 8 minute timeframe. As a result, I become shy because I don't know how to interact with someone who's main purpose is to grade the type of person who I am.

Once again, the goal is not to seize your whole persona in 8 minutes.
Every station tries to assess specific skills.
You don't need to try to cover all CanMeds components in every sentence you say.

Quote

Finally, it's been difficult for me to act in the acting stations - to feign empathy, to assume a position as a surveyor or wtv they ask me to be, to communicate to a "friend" whom in real life I would know inside out and know how to interact with. I know how to act with strangers, but when I need to pretend to be a friend or a family member or something like that, it completely throws me off...Context is important, and communication is something personal. I communicate with everyone differently, depending on their character....

You need to be able to develop of a bond with these actors quickly.
Just like any healthcare professional can become friendly with a patient without 15 minutes.
Just like a waiter becomes friendly with you when you go grab a coffee.
There is no need to fake anything or exaggerate traits.

I am sure you have that humanity within yourself.
You have to stop worrying.
Just be yourself.
Act naturally.

How would you react if you saw an old lady that needs help carrying her bags at the groceries?
You don't need to pretend anything.
You would be nice and help her.
I am not sure if that helps.
 

Some strategies could include :

• Filming yourself and seeing how you behave;
• Try to talk out loud when practicing so that you improve your confidence;
• Try to do mock interviews with friends and families and get feedback from them.

Best of luck !

 

[Eudaimonia]

@HoopDreams has given amazing advice.

I'd add that I had a very similar mindset to you. You say you have confidence in yourself but you need to realize that landing 5/6 interviews means you likely have what it takes to get in - they definitely like you on paper. You go do those MMI acting stations like you ARE a medical student. Representing the field as a professional is something you'll have to do in your everyday life if you get in anyways. Behave in ways that would make your faculty (and your idea of what a medical student should entail) proud.

Maybe that advice sounds silly to you but it is the push that got me over my hesitancy. Hope it works out for you!

 

[perle]

MS3 at McGill chipping in for a second. First of all, everything @HoopDreams said = preach.

Also, you mentioned something that struck me:

Quote

I walk in under the precept that everything I do is being judged and scrutinized. This is not a situation that would ever occur in real life (except in interviews). 

I would encourage you to get used to situation where everything you do is judged and scrutinized instead of seeing it as an unrealistic thing! This situation does, as a matter of fact, occur all the time in medical school. From the minute you set foot in the family medicine clinic in first year, to the OSCEs which are basically simulations where you are evaluated, to taking a medical history, suturing a patient up in the ER, and presenting cases to your attending, you can generally count on someone in a position of authority observing and evaluating you directly. Even the small talk you do with your resident in the elevator can technically end up on your evaluation (if you say something terrible about a patient, for example.) It's really not easy to always be scrutinized and it's taken me a while to adjust to that kind of pressure in clerkship. So I'd encourage you to put yourself out there in other fields where you can be directly evaluated (i.e. taking your driver's license exam, taking a first aid course with a practical exam at the end, etc.)

Also I know people who applied 3 years in a row before getting in, and they'll make amazing doctors. Don't let this get you down!

Best of luck :)

[Notimetowaste]

4 hours ago, perle said:

MS3 at McGill chipping in for a second. First of all, everything @HoopDreams said = preach.

Also, you mentioned something that struck me:

I would encourage you to get used to situation where everything you do is judged and scrutinized instead of seeing it as an unrealistic thing! This situation does, as a matter of fact, occur all the time in medical school. From the minute you set foot in the family medicine clinic in first year, to the OSCEs which are basically simulations where you are evaluated, to taking a medical history, suturing a patient up in the ER, and presenting cases to your attending, you can generally count on someone in a position of authority observing and evaluating you directly. Even the small talk you do with your resident in the elevator can technically end up on your evaluation (if you say something terrible about a patient, for example.) It's really not easy to always be scrutinized and it's taken me a while to adjust to that kind of pressure in clerkship. So I'd encourage you to put yourself out there in other fields where you can be directly evaluated (i.e. taking your driver's license exam, taking a first aid course with a practical exam at the end, etc.)

Also I know people who applied 3 years in a row before getting in, and they'll make amazing doctors. Don't let this get you down!

Best of luck

Hey Perle,

Thank you very much for your reply  I may have not chosen the proper words for what I meant here. Of course it's understandable that one gets evaluated in terms of their work, what they do, their actions etc... It's that the evaluator is judging your character/who you are a priori is what gets to me.... This is something that is unnatural. 

 

[Notimetowaste]

Thank you everyone for your time to give me advice on these topics!!   I hope I'll be able incorporate some of these concepts during the interview this year 

[Underd0g]

.

[AVSS HDS CSM]

I don't know if this will help, but I do think that the following is a major problems for many interviewees: It is super important to verbalize your complete thought process throughout each scenario as you interact with the actors. Again, I will repeat, although it is awkward and unnatural, you must talk out all of the things that you are thinking in your head which drive your responses to the scenarios, as this is an important window for the evaluators to judge whether or not you have understood/empathized/interacted properly as it may be fit. I used this myself in the MMIs, and I think that this is an issue for many good candidates, especially as you describe yourself as soft-spoken and modest. As HoopDreams rightly said, you will likely not be asked to enumerate your personal qualities at length and strut your stuff, but you WILL be evaluated based on what the evaluators can see and hear in their observations of your interactions, so make sure to verbalize everything that is important to this end.

Best of luck this week!