Student Interviewers

[Guest Icarus07]

Following up on the Sudbury interview weekend, I was just curious how interviewees felt about being interviewed by the charter class students? Good, bad, different? Thoughts?

[Guest fingerscrossed06]

I liked it because if I finished my answer early I was able to ask them about what they liked about the school and program. They know more than anyone what its like to be at NOSM and what kinds of skills you need to succeed, so I think they'd be a great judge of suitability for this med school.

[Guest Anna]

did they do that on Tbay's campus too? I dont think I had any?

[Guest Filledunord]

Hey Anna,

 

as you know, I was in Thunder Bay and had at least two student interviewers (one gave the tour afterwards, and the other talked about her thoughts on the program).

 

As for whether any particular type of interviewer carries an advantage, I think it has more to do with whether they liked your disposition and style of answering. There are so many variables that could be attached to a particular interviewers' decision, that at times, it makes the entire process seem like a type of "lottery". Interviews will never be a fool-proof manner in which to measure someone's aptitude.

 

Speaking of lotteries, apparently the Netherlands give med hopefuls a certain number of tickets (based on GPA) that go into a draw to determine who wins a seat in the next Med School Class! Nope I'm not joking...

[Guest fingerscrossed06]

Hey Filledunord,

 

I once had the mind set that entering med school was like a "lottery" as well, but now I'm not so sure. Yes, in an interview they can't accurately judge your "aptitude", but they can judge how well you articulate your aptitude and I think judging your disposition is also important.

 

When it comes down to it, I'd rather a person that can perform under stress and who has a great disposition be my doctor than one who may only look good on paper. Sure you may mess this up in one room, but I think 10 rooms may give a pretty good judge of your interpersonal skills or your passion for entering the field (already assuming everyone has a pretty good GPA and autobiographical sketch to get there).

 

I agree, maybe many people are wonderful applicants and should get in, but I think the interview may be able to pick out those who are not. That said, I have no idea how I did, but all you can do is put your best foot forward and hope someone sees you as a person that would make a great physician. If they didn't, I will have to accept that I have improvements to make (or that there were just so many great applicants out there). What makes me divert from the "lottery" train of thought, is that I believe that the people that gets these spots get them for a reason and may actually be better suited than some of the other applicants (granted not all though).

[Guest Filledunord]

Fingerscrossed,

 

I agree with the points you brought up...and if there's any type of interview that could be a good judge of character and analytical capabilities, it would be the MMI over the trad (in my humble opinion! :lol )

 

Having said that, one of the MMI's weaknesses is a lack of personal questions. Although you are expected to use personal experience/insights to answer most of the questions, there was a paucity of queries addressing who you are as a person. I only had one question that would qualify as such, and even that one was a stretch!

[Guest kingrad]

I agree....I hate the fact that the questions are generic questions. Yes, there were many where I tried to incorporate personal examples/experiences.....but I feel that 8 minutes is soooo hard for an interviewer to get to know you as a person. The interviewers really just get to assess you on how you answer the questions and your composure.

I am really looking forward to my u of t interviews this weekend as I feel like the 2 interviewers there will really get to know me as a person in the 45 minutes that they have with me.

 

I think the MMI is great for a lot of reasons.......but definitely agree that it lacks the personal questions.

[Guest peachy]

if there's any type of interview that could be a good judge of character and analytical capabilities, it would be the MMI over the trad

Maybe analytical capabilities, but how could 8 minute closed-file interviews possibly compare to 45 minutes of detailed questioning in an open-file setting for really getting to know someone's character?

[Guest Filledunord]

peachy,

 

I suppose that my intent was to say that MMIs are superior over trad interviews in terms of bias. If you have a panel of two interviewers, and they (subconsciously) decide they dislike you from the start, you have no recourse to improve upon your image since they are the sole decision makers.

 

In the MMI however, you can totally screw up one section, and have nine more chances to redeem yourself with a completely clean slate and in a situation unbiased by the impression made by your previous responses.

 

However, I do think that trad is probably best for personal topics (45 minutes is hardly enough time, let alone 8 minutes!!!!!)

[Guest peachy]

Ah, good points. Agreed that 45 minutes is still not long enough!

[Guest Kidha]

How do people know that the it was a student interviewing them?

 

I was told that the identity of the interviewer will remain confidential.

 

There was another post where someone said that they were warned that there would be a "in your face" interviewer. I was not warned that there was any such interviewer........think of the difference it would have made in my answer.

 

I wonder why they aren't being consistent! Trust me knowing ahead of time that the person interviewing me is a current student, I would have tailored my answer differently.

[Guest acarpent1]

Hey Kidha

 

I don't think anybody was told of the identity of their specific interviewers.. you kind of had to guess who was a student, who was a community member, and who was a doc/admin person.. I think it was mostly assumed that a few of the interviewers would be students (as lots of schools throw students in there to help with the interview process), but I don't think ANYBODY knew for SURE who was who, other than.. if someone was young, or you saw them directing a tour or answering med school questions before or after.. you know?

 

We were told by the assistant dean (April 1st 10:30am), that a few of the interviewers were instructed to greet us "differently" than the others.. and I just assumed that meant "we told them to be cold/unresponsive" etc.

[Guest bad boy buddhist]

just to demystify the process a bit:

 

at no point was any interviewer instructed to be cold or belligerent. there are, however, limitations to how responsive each interviewer can be since for the sake of reliability and fairness the interactions must be kept consistent both within and between interviewers. so yes, it's odd to interact with someone for 8 minutes who barely speaks or even nods, but the idea is to minimize cues that would enhance or detract from an applicant's performance. makes sense.

[Guest Kidha]

ah ... I see guys! Thanks for clearing that up! Makes me feel better.

 

I would have guessed some to be students as well...

[Guest Souvenir de Mauve]

Hey bad boy buddhist,

 

Just wondering where you got this information about the interviewers?

 

I interviewed in T-bay and was surprised to hear that some Sudbury interviewees were warned about interviewers with non-friendly dispositions prior to interviews, because we certainly were not.

 

Also I'd like to say that I think it would be extremely difficult to tell which interviewers might have been students, unless they themselves said so explicitly, given NOSMs non-traditional first year class.

[Guest Icarus07]

Just thought I'd shed some light on the whole situation and elaborate on BBB's comments. . .

 

The interviewer's are instructed not to identify themselves by title, (i.e. Dr., NOSM student, Director of Blah Blah) because that would affect the way an answer is given. All of the interviewers that are asking the same question can choose, as a group, how to introduce themselves to the interviewing student. Most choose to use their first names. This is to ensure that every student in each circuit is greeted in the same manner. This is what was meant by being greeted in a different manner. As BBB mentioned, no interviewer at NOSM was instructed to be difficult.

 

Also, All of the interviewers asking the same question are given the same follow up questions in order to ensure that there is consistency across the circuits.

 

Once the follow up questions are exhausted and an interviewee has concluded their response, some interviewees may engage the interviewer in small talk while the remaining time expires. Interviewers, however, should have already determined their scores before engaging in any casual conversation about the weather. It is at this point that some may enquire if ther interviewer is a NOSM student. One should keep in mind that NOSM has a number of students who are 30+ and therefore, an interviewee may assume, incorrectly, that their interviewer was not a student.

[Guest NACHO174]

Interview date was april 1st 2pm

 

We were told the interviewers were instructed to greet us in different ways, and also some were told to be cold or unresponsive....or did i dream this?

 

So i dont know what BBB et al is going on about?

 

nacho,

[Guest bad boy buddhist]

nacho: "unresponsive" is definitely conceivable; refer to my previous post. Icarus' post is also 100% accurate. perhaps you are misinterpreting us or the associate dean of admissions?

 

souvenir: i was an interviewer.

 

congratulations everyone on getting an interview and getting through it! over-analyzing after the fact is probably unhelpful, and yeah waiting sucks but it's easy. good luck and enjoy your spring. i'm going to stop procrastinating and get back to studying.

 

cheers.

[Guest Icarus07]

I believe the misunderstanding is because of the word "unresponsive". All interviewers are instructed not to give students feedback during or after an interviewees response. This can be difficult for interviewers who practice active listening in other contexts, so some interviewers may be more adept at not responding than others.

 

As BBB said, one reason for this is to avoid leading the interview and directing the response in one way or another. If one interviewer continually provided positive affirmations as an interviewee responded they may direct them towards a higher scoring answer. It's important again to provide consistency to applicants in each circuit. That is why all interviewers are supposed to act unresponsive. Their verbal responses are scripted for them and their non-verbal responses are supposed to be kept to a minimum. It's really all about consistency.

 

I agree with BBB. I know the next week or two will involve a lot of rethinking questions. The sooner you can put it to the back of your mind the quicker May will come; and with May comes offers of acceptance. Best of luck to all!

[Guest acarpent1]

I had one interviewer who WAS cold, and "difficult".. regardless of what was said, he basically RODE me the whole time.. I felt like.. i probably f'd that station up.. BUT upon exiting the interview.. 5 of the people I talked to from my same circuit said the same thing about the same interviewer.. and we just assumed that was his "role", because it was the way he was with everyone.

 

Furthermore, the associate dean of admissions did say that some were instructed to greet us differently than others.. and to have a different demeanor about the question..

 

HOWEVER.. I know some people in a different circuit than mine who said that EVERY interviewer was extremely friendly, both in the greeting, and in the interview interaction.. a bunch of people from this circuit were saying that they thought they got the fluke circuit, because nobody was anything but friendly..

 

SO.. i guess my point is that.. although the administrators may have told a select few interviewers to greet us less enthusiastically/friendly, ultimately, it was up to the interviewer (even if it wasn't supposed to be), and some interviewers WERE difficult across the board, whether they were instructed to be or not, and some were friendly across the board whether they were instructed to be or not.

[Guest Souvenir de Mauve]

Thanks for the reply BBB!

 

I was really curious as to how someone could know that kind of information. It makes a lot of sense now.