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Best way to prepare for an interview?


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- keep up with current events on a daily basis

- write a "personal blueprint" : things you love, your goals, hobbies, experiences, perspectives, etc.

- look for plan B in case if you don't get in

- read everything you can on the university's med website

- answer typical interview questions like : why medicine, experiences that helped to shape your passion for medicine, why that particular university, what will you do if you don't get in,

 

LASTLY BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY

- learn to be yourself. if you go into the interview trying to be someone else or without a clear understanding of yourself, then it'd be hard to live with the rejection. if you've presented your true self you'd have no regrets, accepted or not.

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Hi Doktah,

 

I have closed your multiple threads and redirected this one to the interview part of the forum.

 

There are many general rules to interview prep, but each school focuses on different areas, so it is worthwhile figuring out what kind of interview style is used (ie. MMI vs traditional, etc).

 

-bn

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  • 4 weeks later...
I really don't get why the confrontational strategy is still used by interviewers. I think it's a poor way to find out about the interviewees, unless all they are interested in is whether or not the interviewers react well to confrontation.

 

But isn't that exactly what they are trying to find out with that technique? There are a lot of times when people try and push doctors around (including other doctors doing the trying). You have to be able to stand up to that and assert your position. How do you respond under that type of pressure could be a valid thing to determine.

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But isn't that exactly what they are trying to find out with that technique? There are a lot of times when people try and push doctors around (including other doctors doing the trying). You have to be able to stand up to that and assert your position. How do you respond under that type of pressure could be a valid thing to determine.

 

Yeah I've always believed that being able to operate under stress is important, but what about everything else? Like motivations, empathy, altruism, ethical values, etc. I think non-confrontational interviews are much better suited for evaluated all the other criteria. And besides, you can find out people's leadership and communication skills from talking to them about their past experiences.

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Yeah I've always believed that being able to operate under stress is important, but what about everything else? Like motivations, empathy, altruism, ethical values, etc. I think non-confrontational interviews are much better suited for evaluated all the other criteria. And besides, you can find out people's leadership and communication skills from talking to them about their past experiences.

 

But you can show those traits even while being confronted....:D

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Yeah I've always believed that being able to operate under stress is important, but what about everything else? Like motivations, empathy, altruism, ethical values, etc. I think non-confrontational interviews are much better suited for evaluated all the other criteria. And besides, you can find out people's leadership and communication skills from talking to them about their past experiences.

 

Oh I agree absolutely! If I was interviewing people I would prefer a non-confrontational format.

 

Unfortunately I still think some interviewers feel a lot of the other aspects people are "Too good at telling them what they want to hear". I can see their position - we can practise response to the other types of questions, some people can "exagerate" their past activities rather well ( I had to interview people like that for my company, very slipper customers and been interviewd that way as well). It is harder to practise the true stress of some person who can radically affect your future confronting you forcefully. They want to shock you out of your practised self, see the real unrehersed you, and hopefully whether you can stand up to it.

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But you can show those traits even while being confronted....:D

 

from my understanding, confrontational interviewers are so called because they shoot questions at you without seeming like they are listening. they may not even wait for you to finish answering the questions.

 

i do agree with rmorelan about people who fake empathy, altruism and so on. and i guess screening out these people is the biggest pro of confrontational interviews, but i believe if you are good enough, you can even fake personal qualities while being confronted.

 

if i were an interviewer, i would be the nice but sneaky kind. i'd make the interviewee feel all relaxed, and i'd subtly try to trick him/her to say something exposing.

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