Confidentiality agreement

[Guest DramaticallyCounterintuitive]

Anyone else notice that they're making us sign a confidentiality agreement this year regarding interview questions? Usually everyone discusses the questions on this forum and SDN, but I guess not anymore. We have to agree:

 

"not to disclose any questions/answers made during the interview. This information is strictly confidential and shall not be disclosed to any person not involved in the interview... Failure to sign or lack of compliance with this confidentiality agreement will lead to your disqualification from further consideration for admission."

 

Too bad, but understandable considering they're trying to standardize the interview process.

[Guest GundamDX]

Don't previous interviewees have to agree with these terms too? I thought this is a pretty standard thing.

[Guest DramaticallyCounterintuitive]

I don't remember having to sign a confidentiality agreement last year, but I could be wrong.

[Guest atworknow]

Ya, let's not discuss about the questions from the interviewers this year and keep it fair.

[Guest physiology]

Hey,

 

No, we never had to sign any confidentiality agreements during my admissions cycle (2003-4) or last year.

 

However, let's face it. People talk. And applicants are going to know other applicants interviewing before them, and inevitably questions will be leaked. Is it fair? No.

 

BUT...take solace in the fact that it doesn't really matter if they know the questions or not. The interviewers know when someone has rehearsed and can see through it. AND, UBC hasn't thrown in really "weird" questions to throw people off (ie. "If you could be any kitchen appliance, what would it be and why?")

 

In fact, I think it's better to have "spontaneity" in answers. When I interviewed people for other positions, I loved it when they would pause and think, gather their thoughts and proceed with a carefully thought out, but original & spontaneous answer.

 

Anyway - my 2 cents.

 

Physio

[Guest kellyl20]

Why is it wrong to prepare and anticipate? I am almost 100% sure that people do prepare and rehearse for their interviews, some more than others.

 

Think it is rather rare that people who received interviews do not practice for them. So the aim is to appear unrehearsed?

 

Hmmm......rehearse but appear not to have rehearsed; can memorize/recall but aim to appear spontaneous. Honestly.

 

Surely common sense should prevail and accept the fact that people will prepare and try to recall the answers that they had prepared. What is wrong with preparation and recalling the answers? Just a sign of well though out facts/opinions and thinking ahead of time. That is so unacceptable?

[Guest TKP 123]

i think it is ok to rehearse it, but don't memorize your answer.

Answer in a way that you are not reciting the answers.

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi,

 

Generally, it could be foolish not to prepare for an interview. For one, for any interview for any post, there are questions that you can anticipate. One of the most prevalent may be: "Why are you qualified for this position?", or in terms of medical school, "Why medicine/why a doctor?". Reflecting upon your experiences, without necessarily resorting to rote memorization of the responses, will enable you to better recall relevant anecdotes that may support and enrich your interaction with the interviewer(s). Which leads to the second reason to prepare: interviews generally involve stress levels higher than baseline. Higher stress can sometimes lead to mental blanks. A bit of advance preparation can help see an interviewee through those potential blank moments and help instill a bit of confidence to proceed through the interview unfettered.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest kupo]

if you can come up with answers out of your ass all the time, you deserve to get in. full marks to you.

 

fact is, MOST cannot do that. preparation is a necessecity. almost, ALMOST everyone does it, and has to do it. not for the sake for overpreparing, but ultimately to put some serious thought into an issue. applying for medicine is like applying for a job. you need to put some effort into knowing what you are getting into.

 

there are two sides to the coin when admissions are judging you.

 

too over prepared, you sound rehearsed - reason is chance are you just memorized ANY answer without serious thought or reflection and they (admissions) wonders what you REALLY think.

 

under preparation, you likely struggle - you sound you haven't put any thought into about medicine. They wonder if you are taking this interview seriously.

 

Either way admissions hates it. as it has been discussed over the last few years that i have been on board, you need to strike the happy medium. and THAT happy medium is something you are going to have to figure out for yourself.

 

like kirsteen said, not preparing for interview questions LIKE "why a doctor?" is very, very risky.

 

Kupo

[Guest kellyl20]

Kirsteen and Kupo is correct.

 

Those of you who are/will be interviewers should think back to how yourselves had prepared and prepared for your own interviews way back when and be understanding that interviewees do and should prepare. Trying to catch someone at it should not be an aim. People do have blank moments and that is when the memorization will hopefully kicks in. Some people will be better than others at trying to sound spontaneous; unfortunately it seems that this is a criteria.

[Guest jammyjams]

I think that doing a little reading on healthcare, UBC's medical program, medical ethics and some topical issues in the news is probably a good idea for any interviewee. I'm pretty sure that is expected, as far as the interview panel is concerned, and they probably anticipate some answers that have some degree of preplannedness to them (if such a term exists) for questions of this nature. But if you need to actually rehearse answers to questions on why you want to practice medicine and what makes you suited for such a career I would say there is a problem.

[Guest ssc427]

That's what I thought so I did no prep whatsoever for my first interview in Dec (I also applied to US schools). Then when asked the basics like why I want to be a doc, what are my greatest strengths, weaknesses... etc... I spent 15 minutes babbling. My most recent interview last week went much better after the disasters in Dec.

 

The point is if this is your first interview of the year spending 20 minutes saying the answers to the most basic questions won't hurt.

[Guest physiology]

Hello,

 

I'm not retracting my words in any way, but I think what I meant by spontaneity was having an answer that didn't sound too prepared. Have a general framework on which you're going to base your answers, and from there, expand on that during the interview. That's what I mean by spontaneity.

 

Let's also remember that people do prepare for interviews in different ways. Let's say you can't "talk out of your ass" as one poster commented, then for you, having the questions beforehand would be a REAL plus. However, if you can't "talk out of your ass" on any occasion, then I'd think you'd be more likely to memorize an answer as to seem articulate & eloquent. Then, the panel would be able to see through it.

 

Personally, I prepared for my interview. I didn't sit down with any medical students or residents to do a mock interview, but I stayed up at night, lying in bed thinking about why I wanted to be a doctor, etc. I had key points that I wanted to get across and I approached the interview with a certain angle, so that I wouldn't look & sound like everyone else.