How did things go for everyone?

[Guest muchdutch]

Anybody willing to share their feedback from their interviews? What did they think of the facilities at the U of A? How nerve-wracking was their interview? How did the experience compare to other institutions (if you've already been interviewed at others)? General comments? etc?

[Guest loud noises]

Well, I had my interview today, first thing in the morning...a lot of people in the first batch with me started coming out after 35 minutes...I was expecting longer to tell you the truth. One thing I found was that every interview panel focused on a different area...I was hammered with ethics and had no healthcare/world issues and almost no personal experiences, while another girl I talked to said hers was mostly about healthcare/privatization.

 

I would say my interview wasn't too nerve wracking...I was expecting irrelevant easing in questions that I've heard everyone was given to make them somewhat calm, but when my interview panel jumped straight on into in hard core questions, I did a subconscious double take:p I got grilled on stress questions as well...so I'm having a hard time self-evaluating because I think I would have had to give off the appearance of being able to manage stress at the interview to have done well:rollin . But I guess we're all stuck in the same boat now until May 15th.

 

The interviewers were friendly, but they were trying to make me defensive with the ethics...I laughed and make jokes that I was being given all the really tough ones.

 

Anyways, good luck to everyone with the rest of interviews! My next one is in Vancouver this weekend, so good luck to the UBC interviewees.

[Guest juicyprunes]

I agree, the interviews seemed short - ~35- 40 minutes for most people in the same group as me.

 

My interviewers were really friendly, understanding, and patient. As with "loud noises", I was immediately asked the question "how did you come to decide on medicine?". However, the rest of the interview was rather straightforward with nothing too difficult. The interviewers were not agressive in anyway and did not grill me on any of my responses (even to ethical/clinical scenerios). I received a variety of questions touching on privatization, alternative therapies, future technologies, personal qualities, etc.

 

I have to admit, I was a nervous wreck and felt quite hypocritical when I said that I handle stress really well. Overall, I'm was really surprised by how "gentle" the interviewers were and how they really tried to ensure that the process is low stress, despite my inability to just calm down.

 

Anyways, I hope interviews went well for everyone and good luck!!

[Guest dng]

The interview was pretty stress free for me as well. Questions were all straightforward, but there was a fair bit of ethical stuff. I'm just wondering if anyone knows when U of A sends out their acceptances?

 

Cheers,

Dan

[Guest summervirus]

I'm not sure when invites go out.

 

Just wanted to say that I'm glad that it seems like everyone had a good experience. Good luck to everyone and maybe we'll see you around this fall!

[Guest ComplacentTragedy]

Them: "Welcome, how are you."

Me: "A little apprehensive."

Them: "It's okay, we all are."

Me: (now they're going to ask me to tell them about myself)

Them: "Okay, so, simple, straightforward question..."

Me: (sweeeeeeet)

Them: "Why UofA, why medicine?"

Me: "Well, my name is... wha!?!?!?"

 

And something like that.

 

The interview was very relaxed and, fortunately, quite comfortable. A little too comfortable if you ask me. I'm fairly certain they were nice to play with my heart, and consequently, break my soul.

 

I knew there would be problem solving/ethics, but I was really hoping they would get more into my volunteer work and projects. And, ya know, ask me to TELL THEM ABOUT MYSELF at one point. I must have spent an hour getting 'tell me about yourself' ready. But it was a great learning experience for me. A pity plane tickets are so costly nowadays.

 

I asked Ms. Marlene what times we'll be getting info.

 

Me: "Sooooo.... what are my chances? OOP, 2nd year...."

Marlene: "I'll tell you May 15th."

 

If I never post again it's because I suffocated on my own ineptitude to handle anxiety.

[Guest HP]

I thought it was great, the pizza lunch was a nice (unexpected) treat. I had the same opening question that it seems a lot of people did--"Why medicine?"--and a lot of ethical stuff afterwards. Interviewers were very friendly and open, I felt really good afterwards.

[Guest Jeesing]

I have the same general comments about the U of A interview. All the interviewers were very friendly and kept on clarifying that there was not right or wrong answer. Initially i found it a little intimidating because the table was small and the interviewers were so close to you, but i found it to be a very relaxing atmosphere in general. Although i probably made myself look a little stupid. When i walked in there were 4 cups, 3 in front of the interviwers and the one in front of me was about 1/2 full with water. After i was answering i took a sip of what i believed was my water and put my glass down. The other interviewer takes my cup and puts it away on the side and starts pouring me a new cup. Then i realized i started drinking from the cup of the previous interviewer, not the best way to start the interview. Hope my stupid interview moment cheers others up.

[Guest Jochi1543]

Hey, it's their fault they set you before someone's dirty dishes! How's that for bad manners.

[Guest Lurkergonepublic]

Had mine on the 21st. I was glad for that, since I drove up from Calgary and for the whole week after that we were hit with a nasty blizzard.

 

It went quite well, as near as I can tell. Most of my questions were about my background, and a few ethical situations. They didn't follow-up or press as much as I expected on the ethics Q's (I don't know if that's a good or bad sign). Little about healthcare. They tried hard to make me comfortable. I liked that they started the questioning by asking about one of my hobbies before getting into the meat. Last year they started with 'tell us about yourself,' and I honestly wasn't ready for that one then. It did seem rather short, but all in all it was comprehensive. Oh, and the med student on the panel led my tour group later (after their evaluations were done). BTW, he told me that the rank weightings are 1/3 per interviewer, including the student, incase anyone thinks the student doesn't count.

 

Here's hoping it was as good as I thought! Good luck to others too.

[Guest Scholastica]

Mine wasn't an interview. It was an oral ethics exam.

 

The interviewers were trying to be nice, but they barely asked any questions about my extracurriculars or volunteer work. They mostly drilled me with ethical/case/health care issues/role playing questions.

 

It makes me wonder... why? Why weren't they interested in knowing who I was? Asking one or two or three ethical questions would be totally understandable. But, the majority of the time, for me, was spent answering these ethical questions that made me wish my major was ethics, not biochem. There are so many things which I'm passionate about, but they didn't ask me about my hobbies, interests, heroes, role models... NOTHING. I've done some amazing, interesting things in the past, but they didn'te care.

 

They absolutely had NO clue who I was except for my first name. When I was answering a question, I managed to bring up the fact I was the past Prez of a large student club, and they went, "REALLY?????" I was thinking to myself, "uh... did you not read my application form at all?" It was quite an uncomfortable situation.

 

What's even worse is, during the interview, I made it pretty darn clear that Alberta wasn't my top choice. lol. It wasn't intentional... one of the interviewers asked me where else I had applied, and what I would do if I didn't get accepted. I was honest (maybe too honest???) and said I was going to stay in Ontario. And, at the end of the interview, I was there defending the public universal health care system. I don't know why it didn't go well for me. :\

 

SIGH...

 

My interview lasted one full hour. Coming out of the interview, I was convinced I blew it. Considering I'm an OOP applicant, I will be rejected for sure. 8o

[Guest MDmmmsure]

Hi guys and girls,

 

I thought I would make a comment, given that I actually participated in interviews this year (as a medical student). I will stress: THIS IS MY OPINION ONLY. By the time you reach the interview stage you have already established yourself as an individual who is intelligent (marks) and who POTENTIALLY has the qualities needed to become a good physician (life experience: volunteer, work, travel, etc). Why do I say potentially? Because those experiences are meaningless unless you actually got anything from them. For example, many people volunteer, but what has volunteering truly done for you: has it given you interpersonal skills, have you grown as a leader or decision maker, etc. Some will volunteer, and because of attitude, desire, motivation, etc. never get anything out of the experience. As I stated previously, the interview is there to assess whether you actually possess the desired qualities for becoming/being a physician. Therefore, the majority of the questions (and of course, this can vary from interview to interview) will be geared at assessing these qualities, such as problem solving ability, decision making, leadership experience, maturity, etc. The questions will vary from interview to interview based on the interviewers opinion on how to best determine the qualities of the individual. You would not believe how similar everyone looks on paper. You are all outstanding individuals with significant accomplishments. Now, in the interview, we are trying to determine HOW your life-experiences have prepared you for a career in medicine. (including your motivation!).

I would give this advice..... answer the questions based on your experiences if you feel that you would like to showcase them (making sure they are relevant). Ie. In a hypothetical situation question (role-playing) you may respond by saying "Well, based on what I learned during this experience (perhaps elaborating) I would approach the problem like this..." etc. etc. You really hold the power to reveal as much or as little about your experiences as possible in interviews that are particularly ethical/scenario oriented. As an interviewer, I felt that opening with relatively 'easy' questions like 'what movies do you like' or 'what are your hobbies' was a good way to break the ice and settle the applicant (which is necessary because, hey, your nervous, and so was I). But these questions really don't tell me if you will make a good doctor!

 

ps- everyone worries after the interview, and honestly, so did I. But the reality is, that nobody can really be certain how well they did. Some who felt they had a great interview MAY be disappointed to learn that the interviewers felt that they were only 'average', while those think they bombed MAY have impressed the interviewers. So (and I hated hearing this), relax, the interview is done, you are all outstanding individuals to have made it this far. I look forward to welcoming those who are successful in gaining admittance the UofA at orientation next year.

 

Take care

[Guest UofA info]

I was just wondering if anything that you heard/saw really stood out in your opinion. Also why did you think the best applicants were the best applicants, i.e. what distinguished them?

 

thanks

[Guest Fizz29]

I have a question for you too MDmmmsure. You mention that they assess motivation...Would you be willing to divulge how they assess motivation in the interviews? And what aspect of motivation are they looking at?...motivation to work with people? motivation to be a physician? motivation to obtain a Nobel prize?

 

I too had a series of ethical scenarios and I actually think my interview went reasonably well. However, with that said, the only thing that I can think of that would assess my motivation was a question related to what I would do if I didn't get in to medical school.

[Guest Nighthawk]

I'm not MDmmmsure, but I may be able to provide some insight...

 

I as well participated in running interviews this year, and to answer some questions that seem to be floating around, I think it all depends. It depends on the interviewer to a degree. For example, in my interviews (I was interviewing with 1 doctor), the doctor emphasized knowledge of ethics to a degree (but not exclusively of course). My tact was a bit different however. I prefer to assess people based on things that are not learned for the most part. Things like communication skills, motivation, personality, experiences, strengths and weaknesses, thought and insight. So in a sense, it does depend who you get.

 

However, most of the interviewers are reasonable, so you won't be expected to have won an pulitzer prize or anything. The way the process worked (in my interviews anyways) was after the applicant left, we discussed the person's strengths and weaknesses, and came to an overall assessment of the individual. This is the part where red flags will hurt you potentially, and strengths will make you shine. Ultimately, I asked myself whether I would like to see that applicant as my doctor, and then similarly, as my colleague.

 

One strategy someone told me was to 1) tell stories, and 2) don't panic. Number 1 helps the interviewers to remember you and number 2 goes without saying. If I may add my own advice, have one part honesty, with one part gamesmanship. Certainly, don't lie and do be genuine, but try to sell yourself. Think of a few questions in advance and think about how you want to work in a quality you have and you think is important in a doctor. Illustrate this with a solid example. The example doesn't have to involve you saving a small village in the amazon basin from swams of locusts using only a shovel and a single can of Off, but if you do some self-reflection you should be able to find a good example somewhere. One thought exercise I used to do was to answer every single question with a single example. That is, start with one example (say from volunteering). For every question you can think of, be able to pull out something from that example that answers the question (ex. why med, ex of compassion, ex of empathy, ex of understanding, etc). If you can do that, then you know yourself.

 

The best applicants in my mind have the qualities I think are important in a good doctor (again, this depends on your interviewers). So I look for those things I previously mentioned. IMO, its an overall impression that I base my decision on. What I like to see in a good doctor is someone who can explain complex things to me in a way that makes sense (communications skills), is confident, intelligent, caring, giving, respectful, empathic etc etc. I ask questions to assess these things. Just be yourself, and you'll be fine.

 

With regards to motivation, I think this stems to a large degree from the why med question. For example, I may look favourably upon an applicant who volunteers in exciting areas, doing what they want to do, working with people (with a strong answer to the why med question), then arrives at the decision to go into medicine based on something they may have seen in their activities. The opposite may be the applicant that comes up with an unconvincing answer to the why med question and only volunteers in some job that only "tailors" the application for a med school app. Of course, this is just a very generic example, because everyone has their own reasons for wanting to go into med.

 

Keep in mind this is my opinion only. Take it or leave it. The biggest thing now is that you have all done your part (for UofA anyways) and as MDmmmsure has already said, every applicant is outstanding in their own way. Whatever happens, things will work out in one form or another. Hope to see lots of you next year!