Interview Invite IS OUT!

[Guest Paulchemguy]

grobz, i have exactly the same interviewers as you!

[Guest grobz]

Sweet Paulchemguy! I go in on Fri th 24th at 10:15. You?

[Guest GundamDX]

hi everyone...

 

i was really really scared before i checked... it felt like the world is coming to an end ... maybe i wasn't confident enough... but then again, sometimes it takes mroe than confidence to get yourself through this kind of situations...

 

sorry for BS-ing I got it. at 9 am though tha'ts too early for me. AND the first day... ? 24th? Do you think I am the first one of the 631 applicants??????

 

good luck to you all... and for those who didn't make it, don't give up \ __ / !!!

[Guest Nehpets]

Does everyone already have their interview date and time? Mine just says "to be confirmed".

Thanks,

N.

[Guest paulistadf]

I also have everything "to be determined". The "interview granted" was good enough for me thought not like who interviews me or when it is will make much of a difference for me.

[Guest GundamDX]

for ppl who got "interview granted" you'll probably come across the following link in the next few days:

 

www.admissions.med.ubc.ca...&area_id=1

 

... it's kinda strange since it says infomration on there only pertains to ppl that fit ALL of the following criteria?

 

hum...

[Guest paulistadf]

that's kinda strange that it says that date/time and interviewers have to be up by the 27th of january...??... I don't really understand since it seems to me that if you don't meet those criteria, you go to the link for unsuccesful applicants. Why would they put on my profile "Congratulations! You have entered the second phase of the application cycle, and have been invited to an interview...." if it meant I may not be offered one in the first place?

 

Also since it says "to be determined" it means that the information will be put up there eventually. Kinda strange but got me thinking a bit.

[Guest kupo]

ha, thought the message board would light up as it is indeed officially interview season.

 

congrats to all.

 

I'll see most of you as I am a Meet and Greet Coordinator. But I can't decide whether or not I should be a calming influence or just totally terrify you :rollin

 

Haha jk. I promise I'll be nice. You guys have one month to prepare. I'll send out a list of questions to you again as it may have been lost in one of the past threads.

 

Remember, UBC's looking for genuine responses from you. So you need to do some serious self-reflection (the word of the year in the dreaded DPAS course, ugh....) and make sure your response:

 

1) is convincing (i.e. the committee trusts your response)

2) feels real and genuine. trust me, reponses like that from the start really enables you to impress them.

3) well thought-out, for most you can kinda start thinking about your response, but many will be questions you've never heard before (obviously). But trust me, if you choose your words carefully, you can avoid some trapping questions that the committee could ask you based on your response.

 

Other things to look out for:

 

WATCH your body language. A large part of medicine is about establishing a rapport with the patient, and non-verbal language is quite important. This is no different with the admissions communittee. How you handle yourself during the interview goes a long way. The committee can sense (for the most part) if you are being cocky, too shy, or you are just not prepared.

5) practice! it's the only way to figure out if what you meant to say is what they are interpreting. find a physician to practice with if you are lucky.

 

Anyway, this is coming from a person who is not good at winging it, not good with any interview, and is certainly not good at being articulate.

 

if you are naturally good at interviews, two thumbs up for you guys.

 

Kupo

[Guest medsmurf]

Hey kupo, thanks for the advice. I didn't have a very good interview at UBC last year so this year I'm kind of terrified and I'm trying hard to think of how I can make sure I do better.

[Guest supa76]

But trust me, if you choose your words carefully, you can avoid some trapping questions that the committee could ask you based on your response.

 

uhm, what do you mean by that?

 

but thanks for the advice kupo. I know, the best thing to do is to just to relax and be yourself... also the hardest thing to do!

 

I know i am going to feel like a caffeinated robot that day, and man, do I get inarticulate when I'm nervous. well actually, I usually am like a caffeinated, inarticulate robot now that I think about it...

[Guest siobhansiobhan]

Hi Supa -

 

Can I respond? I know I'm not Kupo -

 

Simple little word choices - for instance your choice of 'but', when you say "What do you mean by that? But thanks for the advice..."

 

Try out using 'and' -

"What do you mean by that? And thanks for the advice..."

 

What often happens is that 'but' as a word means a rejection..."Yeah, but...". the choice of 'and' opens up the possibility of two things existing at once "what do you mean? (i.e. the advice isn't valuable yet to me) AND thanks for the advice."

 

Little word choices can do a lot. They're sort of like verbal body language....

 

that but/and advice is classic couples therapy advice - often simply using 'and' instead of 'but' opens up whole new places of agreement and expression - experiment with it Supa, use 'and' when the first word you think of is 'but' and see what it does to you and your message - just for the hay.

 

And congrats on the interview.

 

 

Siobhan

[Guest Nehpets]

Has anyone who got an interview not received their confirmation email yet?

Thanks,

N.

[Guest Wertt]

No confirmation email here yet... :|

[Guest nostalg]

no confirmation email here either. However all of the interview details (interviewers..etc) were up from yesterday, when I first checked the site.

[Guest supa76]

that but/and advice is classic couples therapy advice - often simply using 'and' instead of 'but' opens up whole new places of agreement and expression

what the..?

 

actually the "but" is warranted here, as my intention was "this part of your advice scares me, BUT thanks anyways". slightly ironic, so perhaps you missed it.

 

unsolicited advice is also another classic couple communication problem. BUT, uhm.. thanks for the tip.

[Guest kupo]

when i meant "choose your words carefully", hey you can answer a question that will prompt admissions to dig further. It's because they're looking at certain aspects of your answer like in a question "why do you wanna be a doctor" they are thinking:

 

What is his real feelings on this?

How has this brought him here today?

Has his past experience reflected this? Has the person addressed that?

Has he given personal examples/experiences to illustrate his response?

 

If these things aren't addressed they ask you follow up questions. If you stumble with your words out of the gate, they ask you nastier questions, like the same question just phrased differently. Hey man, in the first interview, I spent 20 minutes trying to get through the "why a doctor" part. Why? Because the way I responded didn't convince them of that. I didn't sound as confident of my answer as I should be, and I phrased my responses that easily prompted them to ask a question that I thought I had addressed, and apparently I didn't.

 

I hope I clarified my previous posting. Don't get too much in a cuffufle (is that a word?).

 

Here's the list of questions I promised. Use at your discretion. Oh and I take no credit for coming up with most of them, I compiled them from different sources, including friends who are in med school ahead of me.

 

BASIC QUESTIONS

1.        Why do you want to be a doctor? Why do you want to become a physician?

2.        What are the various roles of a physician that you talk about? What have you done to work on those roles?

3.        What characteristics do you look for in a physician? What do you feel are the most important qualities in being a good doctor? (What makes a good physician? What do you want to see in a doctor when you see that person?)

4.        What characteristics do you possess that you think would make you a good physician?

5.        Why would you be a good doctor?

6.        Why medicine?

7.        What have you done to prepare yourself for medicine?

8.        Why do you think so many people want to be doctors?

9.        Why should we accept you into our program?

10.        What events or people in your life have inspired or encouraged your pursuit of medicine?

11.        What will you if you aren't accepted into medical school?

12.        What makes you special? What are your best points? What are your strengths?

13.        What are your weakest points?

14.        What do you think will be your greatest challenge in completing medical school or learning how to be a doctor?

15.        What are the pros and cons of being a doctor?

16.        In your view, what is the most pressing problem facing medicine today?

17.        How will you pay for medical school?

18.        If you could do anything different in your education, what would you do?

19.        Where else are you applying?

20.        Have you been accepted anywhere?

21.        What is your first choice?

22.        Tell me about yourself.

23.        What do you do in your spare time?

24.        How did you get here?

25.        What are your hobbies?

26.        Are you a leader or a follower? Why?

27.        It sounds like you have a preplanned answer. You sound very well prepared. Can you comment on that?

28.        What exposure have you had to the medical profession?

29.        Discuss your clinical experiences.

30.        What do you think you will like most about medicine?

31.        What do you think you will like least about medicine?

32.        How are you a match for our medical school?

33.        What are three things you want to change about yourself?

34.        How would you describe the relationship between science and medicine?

35.        Which family member has influenced your life so far and why?

36.        Who is your role model or inspiration and why?

37.        Have you ever considered nursing, and if not, why?

38.        Do you think the role of the physician is more important than that of the nurse?

39.        Why not become a researcher instead?

40.        Do you consider yourself as a role model? Any examples?

41.        Have you ever had to work in a team?

42.        Have you ever had to deal with conflict?

43.        What has been your biggest failure/weakness?

44.        Has stress ever overwhelmed you?

45.        Do you read? What have you read outside of school recently?

46.        Define Integrity. What does it mean to you?

47.        What experience have you had where your integrity was at stake?

48.        Can you give an example of where someone had lost their integrity? What about you?

49.        What experience have you had with research?

50.        Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

51.        How would your friends describe you?

52.        Do you have any alternate plans should you not receive acceptance?

53.        Describe any significant events in your life.

54.        How do you feel about your family?

55.        What would you like to be as a doctor?

56.        Tell me of the last joke that you heard?

 

Look at your application. Imagine what they’d ask you? For example:

·        Why did you do X?

·        What did you learn from X?

·        Tell me about X.

·        Discuss the importance of X to you.

·        You did X. Can you explain it to me in lay terms?

Keep up with some basic issues making the news. Health care, gun laws, etc. Formulate an opinion and be honest with your level of knowledge about the topic off hand. I think they asked me to discuss one social issue, and I brought up gay marriage. If you are having trouble recalling something from the top of your head, best you prepare for these kinds of questions by keeping up with current events.

[Guest physiology]

Hey Kupo,

 

Are you organizing the wine & cheese as well? I did that last year and it was lots of fun. Be prepared to order like 20 trays of fruits/veggies & cheese & cracker plates from Costco.

 

Oh - don't forget to ask for some of the left over wine. You'll need it

 

BTW - for those invitees, great job on getting thus far! If you didn't receive one, it hurts, and I can imagine you're in a difficult time. But, know that you did nothing but your best given the circumstances, and at least, try to smile about that.

 

Some tips:

1) Know your autobiographical sketch. There's nothing worse than an interview asking you about a volunteering job you don't seem to remember much about. Whether this is true or not, it shows that you weren't really committed to the job and only volunteered to get into med school.

 

2) Don't rehearse too much and definitely don't memorize answers. Each panel interviews about 6 candidates, and with THREE people gazing down on you, all it takes is ONE of those interviewers to realize that you've over-prepped.

 

3) Know your essay as well. It's the panel's pre-interview impression of you.

 

Physio

[Guest kupo]

heh,

 

someone else is doing the wine and cheese dealio. but it should be fun as always.

 

i concur with physio about memorization. i think one of the other dangers of doing that is if they ask you to elaborate on your answer, you may not be prepared to respond to such follow-up questions, making it even more obvious you've memorized your previous response and haven't actually thought about what you are trying to say in your response.

 

just to let everyone know, when i mean prepare, THINK about your response. don't memorize it to death.