Guest Emila Posted February 12, 2003 Report Share Posted February 12, 2003 How are questions about current events phrased? Is it like: tell me your opinion about.......? or: what do you know about....? What events did they ask about before? Were they only really major ones? What questions are asked about your sketch? Do they just ask you to explain the activity and what you got out of it? Sorry for all the questions. I'm so nervous about interviews. Emila Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MayFlower1 Posted February 12, 2003 Report Share Posted February 12, 2003 Emila, Try to relax. Remember, if you've been selected for an interview it means they've reviewed your sketch and it, in combination with your academic record, have clearly demonstrated to them that you've demonstrated excellence. After all, out of the thousands of applications, yours was selected as being one of the top 400 or 500 applications...this is no easy feat! Now for the interview...I can only speak of the interview I had at UofO last year. However, having hung around this forum for the past year and a bit...it sounds like interview questions at all the schools are pretty similar. It also sounds like most of the interviews are fairly relaxed...you might come across someone who is playing the "bad guy"...but remember, this is only to test how you might be under stress. Again, keep in mind this is only an interview and, if you run across a person like this they are doing this as they've determined this is how they want to present themselves during the interview...it's nothing personal. How are questions about current events phrased?Is it like: tell me your opinion about.......? or: what do you know about....? What events did they ask about before? Were they only really major ones? Questions can be phrased in any way. The ones I had were similar to the following: - What current events in the news have interested you lately? Pick one and talk about it. - What do you think about stem cell research? - It's 10 years down the road, you're a doctor, a patient is suffering from a terminal disease and asks you to help him end his life...what do you do? Once you've answered they also often follow up with additional questions to test how much you believe in your opinion...or they'll throw in a few more facts and ask you if your opinion has changed. From my experience and what I've heard in this forum, it's not so much what you answer...it's how you answer it...are you thoughtful...are you considering all perspectives, etc. What questions are asked about your sketch? Do they just ask you to explain the activity and what you got out of it? At UofO it seems like they only had a bulleted list of major activities from our autobiographical sketch...none of the detail. Therefore, assume they basically know NOTHING about your background. Give some thought about what things from your sketch you'd like them to know about and try to cover them during your interview. My experience was that there is ample time to cover anything of importance you want them to know in addition to covering their question. One of the better strategies seems to be to use your background and experience to provide concrete examples of things you say. For example, if they say "Why do you want to be a doctor?" You might say, assuming this is your background, "One of the reasons I want to be a doctor is that I enjoy helping people...throughout my life I have volunteered my time to helping people through St. John Ambulance, volunteering work I've done at hospitals, etc........ Sorry for all the questions. I'm so nervous about interviews. Don't be sorry...that's exactly what this forum is about. Helping people get information and asking questions. If there is anything else I can provide you with an opinion on, don't hesitate to ask. Good luck! Peter P.S. Where have you received interviews from so far? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Emila Posted February 12, 2003 Report Share Posted February 12, 2003 Peter, Thanks for your detailed reply. I have an interview at Queens (March 1) and an interview at Ottawa March 18 I haven't heard from the other ontario schools yet. I've found that I'm really not prepared for interviews at all! I feel that I don't really know much about the healthcare system or about ethical issues. I also can't decide which areas of my sketch to highlight. For questions like "why do you want to be a doctor" I know what I want to say but it's comes out all jumbled unless I actually memorize something to say. I'm feeling really overwhelmed, especially since I'm in the middle of midterms right now. What strategies have you used to prepare? Thanks again, Emila Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Emila Posted February 13, 2003 Report Share Posted February 13, 2003 Does anyone have some preparation strategies they could share? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tirisa Posted February 13, 2003 Report Share Posted February 13, 2003 Hi Emila, I'm sure everyone will have different strategies for preparing for the interview, and the moderators (who've been successful) can surely enlighten us even more. However, here are some places to start. For one, if you're not already doing this, you should start reading the newspaper (hard copy or online) on a regular basis. In particular, focus on the main headlines, in order to get a better understanding of the current events, and then read the op/eds section, so that you can get a different perspective on many of those big issues. Op/eds are my fav. Then, read whatever articles relate to health care, whether it's federal, provincial, or municipal. This will give you a better idea of what the current hot topics are in the Canadian Health Care debate. Um, shutterbug, I think, gave a great web link (http://www.kkf.org) to a California site that will provide some info on the US system for the uninsured in particular. Needless to say, there are millions of sites on both the Canadian and US health care system (look at CMA or Health Canada for starters on Can. info). Obviously, if your interview is really soon, then try to focus on "background" type articles... for example, globeandmail.com or washingtonpost.com often have such links like "Target: Iraq" or "special reports" so that you can get the "coles notes" version. As for other interview questions, check out Ian's fantastic website for some links to interview questions. www.premed101.com/interv.html Although only a fraction of those many questions may be asked in your interview, it's a great way to start to think about yourself and about how you would answer certain questions. From what everyone seems to tell us, the main thing is that you have to be yourself. This means that you don't want to memorize answers to questions, which may come off as being quite unnatural. But if you've been thinking about different types of questions ,and if you know yourself well, then your answers will be true to who you are and what you believe. Anyway, best of luck to you. Cheers, T Oops, almost forgot. Gather your friends and acquaintances (especially ones who work in health care) and do some mock interviews before the real one occurs. You could even give them the list of 100 questions (from Ian's website) and they can use that as a guide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Emila Posted February 14, 2003 Report Share Posted February 14, 2003 Thanks Tirisa, Your response has helped me better organize my interview preparation. Emila Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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