Feedback from U of M

[Guest babydoctor]

Hey,

 

I have a quick question - I did not get into the U of M and I know you can contact someone to find out why and the details of interview etc. Does anyone have the email address for this person as I missplaced my letter. Has anyone gotten any helpful feedback or does it just make you more depressed?!?!

 

Thanks

[Guest MedBound786]

Hey Babydoctor;

 

The person you wanna contact is Beth Jennings at 204-789-3569 or jenn@ms.umanitoba.ca

 

By the way, I feel your pain 'cuz I didn't get in this year either. Although I am an OOP, I thought with AGPA of 4.02 and MCAT of 32Q combined with what I thought to be a decent interview would be enough to get me at least on the waitlist.

 

I called for my feedback last week and it just got me really frustrated because they can take something so trivial and use it against you !......oh well, that's life I guess..

 

Good luck

[Guest fever meds]

Beth Jennings and Christie are definately the ones to contact.

 

Out of province is extremely competitive. Remeber there is only like 10 spots. I know people from manitoba with 35's who didn't get in. So I can only imagine what the OOP stats are!

 

Good luck to both of you next year. Practice the interview questions like crazy. YEs they can be practiced.

[Guest babydoctor]

Thanks for the quick response. Has anyone emailed or do most peopel call? I hope the feedback is helpful. I really felt my interview went awesome. Oh well, next year right?

[Guest MedBound786]

Hey fever meds;

 

Congrats on your acceptance this year !! How did you prepare for the Interview? Could you give a really detailed description of what approach you used and how you conducted yourself in the actual interview?

 

It would help a lot !!

 

Thanks a million !!

[Guest fever meds]

1) I prepared for interview long before I applied. How? volunteer activities like ER. Gave me lotso f experiences to draw from on interview. E.g. "what would you do if you had a patient who could not speak english"? answer - "well in my experience, this has actually occurred....how I handled it..."

 

2) Lots of prep interviews. I know two hiring/sales people in commerce industry. great help there. also asked 2 residents for practice interview (they owed the family a favour ;-)).

 

3) I used to think about interview questions when i went jogging based on questions I read from studentdoctor.net (GRAET SITE to get past interview questions; even if not from your school, i.e. Western, Queens)

 

Thinking of different ways of answering questions I thought was important.

 

4) I practiced the basic questions so even if i was nervous on the onset (which I wasn't because I had practiced ) I would not lock up. E.g. Why doc? Tell me about yourself?

 

5) Google Lamar Medical Interview questions. I had link but now writting on differnet computer. Great place to get questions.

-------------------

In interview:

- dress nice. not so much to impress, as to not be intimiated by others who dress more nicely. I saw a few people who chose sweaters. yes sweaters look nice, but i think these people felt they looked out of place in a sea of suits. at the same time don't be ostentatious either though.

 

- be mature; maturity above intellect is something i believe the panels look for. i've met many very intelligent immature people. they do call medicine a professional school for a reason!

 

- be relaxed; don't talk to other people about medicine or about applying at all. as much as I am a keener, one can't afford to blow their cool while some ass whines about their perfect gpa or mcat score (ps. those people usually don't). I had 2 people I knew talk about it, and I just said "guys not now!".

- My

 

6) have confidence, not arrogance. don't let others psych you out. when i had my first interview at Queens, it was quite nerve racking knowing that everyone there had AT LEAST a 32 on the MCAT. but remeber THEY INVITED YOU! thus they think you're capable of attending their school. Always remeber that no matter how an interview is going THEY INVITED YOU!

 

Well I could go on for hours. But I think everything can come down to these points:

1) preparation

2) confidence in your accomplishments and in your character

3) maturity

 

Good luck.

[Guest mosquitoba]

Hey, just thought I'd add my thoughts... I was accepted to Manitoba and Calgary, and waitlisted at UWO and Queen’s. I honestly thought that I did well in my UWO interview, had a fantastic Queen’s interview, a mediocre interview at Manitoba, and a stinky interview at Calgary. In fact, at the end of my Calgary interview, one interviewer actually said to me “Don’t worry, you can’t fail the application process because of an interview” which was not a good comment to end on! Just goes to show that your feeling about how the interview went might be totally out of line with how the interviewers felt.

 

For my interview preparation, I had two friends that I got together with, and we alternated asking each other questions about anything and everything. For me it wasn’t so much practicing answers to potential questions as it was practicing how to answer ANY question well – meaning succinctly, completely, honestly, and coherently. A key was also learning to really listen to what the person is asking, so that you are actually answering their real question. I thought that practicing potential questions might be more harmful (in the end) because I would have rote answers prepared in my head to spit out, possibly as an answer to a question I was expecting but wasn’t actually asked! I do think it’s very important to stay up-to-date with healthcare news, and news in general, but that is something that you have to decide for yourself. I agree with fever meds in that hospital experience is important, not only for the interview process but also for yourself – don’t you want to know that you like working with sick people/ in a hospital before you spend all this time and money working towards a career there?

 

My biggest piece of advice for the whole process is that you must be yourself, and be relaxed if at all possible! Also, APPLY TO MORE THAN ONE SCHOOL!!!! Calgary was my first interview, and I was incredibly nervous, but my thought going into the interview was, “I made it this far, they invited me here, so now all I can do is let them get a glimpse of me to see if they think I’d fit in here.” I didn’t think I answered my questions completely enough at Calgary, but at my next interview (Queen’s) I knew that I needed to be more complete and I felt Queen’s went much more smoothly than Calgary (I guess Queen’s didn’t think so though! ). At first I felt awkward talking about my accomplishments and good qualities to strangers because I felt like I was bragging, but that is something you need to be comfortable with. By the time I got to my last one (Manitoba) I felt really comfortable with the whole process.

 

As cheesy as it sounds, think about yourself: think about why you want medicine as a career, why medicine should want YOU, and what you think you have to offer. Think about why you spent all that time and money applying to THIS school in particular. Be VERY familiar with your application. I thought about 2-3 experiences for every EC/award/job I had on my application so that I had a built-in collection of experiences to talk about. You’ve probably done a lot of things in your life that don’t automatically come to mind when you’re asked a question on the spot, so think about it in advance. Don’t be afraid to be really honest with the interviewers. I told them during my interview at Calgary that I wasn’t sure about the 3-year program for my lifestyle, and also was quite honest about a negative experience I’d had during University (which they then looked concerned about! 8o ). Honesty is appreciated, by everyone, during this process. I guess what it comes down to is, “know thyself”. Cheesy, but oh-so-true.

 

Well I think I’ve rambled on enough (I’m bored at work!!!) – what’s that about being succinct?

 

Best of luck! Mosquitoba

[Guest Jag]

In regards to the statement above relating to being honest and being yourself, I can add to it. In my interview at Manitoba, one of the main themes seemed to be practicing rural medicine. A person who has lived in the city their entire life COULD pretend that rural work is the greatest thing ever and they will do it right away if they get in, because that is the school wants... the interviewers are very intelligent people and they will be able to tell if you are not genuine in your answers. I gave them my honest opinion about rural work, saying that I havn't had any exposure to a rural atmosphere, and listed the many cons that I feel are associated with it. Although I honestly told them that it doesn't appeal to me right now, I also said that I havn't experienced it yet, and such programs as 'rural exposure week' would probably be quite helpful in giving myself a more informed opinion on the subject. They really liked my honest answers, and we ended up talking about the topic for 25 minutes while they tried to convince me how good rural work can be, and I remained my skeptical self.

 

I feel that HONESTY is a huge part of the interview. They know that you are human, and they don't need a liar that is trying to get into medicine. Be honest and be yourself, it is up to the panel to decide if the true person that you present is acceptable for medical school.

[Guest MedBound786]

Thanks a lot fever meds, mosquitoba, Jag........you guys have been great. The advice from all of you is practical and genuine

 

I appreciate it.......For my Manitoba interview, I was really quite nervous 'cuz it was the first time I had a panel interview while my other interviews (American) were all one-on-one conversational types (putting me more at ease).

 

oh well, all your points are well-noted and hopefully it'll work out next year !

 

Good luck with starting med school !!

[Guest Jag]

I was nervous like you for my first mock interview, I siezed up and couldn't talk properly for the first 5 minutes! I had many mock interviews, each provided me with valuable feedback, and each time I felt less nervous and more relaxed. Ray Cote at U of M offers a free interview prep. session and free mock interview each year. A med1 student usually organizes mock interviews each year which are also helpful. If you have med1 students that are friends, ask them to offer some mock interviews too. You can ask family and friends to ask you questions, but I wouldn't take these too seriously because you are NOT going to have the benefit of knowing your panel beforehand, and strangers can offer you the most objective feedback. The more practice the better, at least to calm your nerves and put you more at ease with a 3 person panel situation.