Guest Ian Wong Posted March 27, 2002 Report Share Posted March 27, 2002 Does anybody have ideas regarding questions to ask the interviewers? Edited the subject heading to standardize them. -Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Liana Posted March 27, 2002 Report Share Posted March 27, 2002 I wouldn't try to plan any questions for my interviewers based on things others have said. I would try to choose questions, if you really need to pre-plan them, based on things that you are genuinely interested in finding out about, and preferably, things that reflect your individuality. That said, if you do feel the need to have a question or two in your mind, in case you don't come across anything over the interview, the best advice is to make sure it's an intelligent question. There's no rule that you need to ask a question after every interview, and it's much better to say "You've answered all of my questions" rather than asking a dumb question that could have been easily answered by checking out the school's website. I tend not to be at my most intelligent in important interviews, and so I knew it would be wise to think of some questions beforehand. I debated coming up with a question for everyone on the interview panel, but in the end, I felt that was a bit phony. During my interview, I only posed a question to the medical student, and even then, the committee seemed to feel the interview had been wrapped up when the answer had been concluded, so even if I had wanted to ask other questions, I would've had to break the interview momentum to ask them. So what sort of questions are the best? Think about the sort of questions that can't really be answered by admissions department secretaries or other med school applicants. Usually, these are opinion questions, often regarding lifestyle of the medical student at the particular school to which you are applying. Any question that can't be answered by a simple factually objective response (unless you truly couldn't find the information elsewhere and really needed to know) could work, but the more interesting the response is to you, and the less usual the question seems to be, the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TimmyMax Posted March 29, 2002 Report Share Posted March 29, 2002 Hey, Just my 2 cents' worth. I came up with quite an unusual question to ask my faculty member and med student and another not-so-unusual question for my community member. They are questions where I am genuinely interested in the response, so from that standpoint I think they are good questions. Interestingly enough, I plan to ask my unusual question of all 3 adcoms I have interviews for- the answers have been quite intriguing! I think it's good to ask questions at the end- it shows that you're really interested in the school and what they have to say, so long as they aren't something that you could have found out yourself via their website. So I say think up something you genuinely want to know their answer to and fire away baby, cuz this is your time to put them in the hotseat! Best of luck! Timmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Liana Posted March 29, 2002 Report Share Posted March 29, 2002 It's true, you should've seen my med student squirm when I posed my question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ziggurat Posted April 20, 2002 Report Share Posted April 20, 2002 Making the med student squirm at the conclusion of *your* interview (I guess you forgot that they were already in med school...) seems like a great strategy to really set yourself apart from other students. I am sure the student looked fondly on that experience while they marked you down a point or too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Liana Posted April 20, 2002 Report Share Posted April 20, 2002 I don't mean to say I asked him to list all of the Candian prime ministers in alphabetical order. I just meant that she had to put words to her feelings that perhaps she had never expressed before, and she was perhaps reminded of the nervousness of being in the hotseat, therefore she could have more sympathy for my position. I don't think she was overly discomforted by the situation, but she merely had to change positions and voice her own opinions for once in the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TimmyMax Posted April 21, 2002 Report Share Posted April 21, 2002 Hey, If they didn't want you to ask questions, they wouldn't give you the opportunity at the end. Asking something that's a step up from "what's your favorite colour?" that requires some thought on the part of the panel to me demonstrates that you've taken your entire interview experience seriously and that you are actually interested in what they have to say, not to mention one day being on the other side of the table. As for marking someone down just bc they asked you something you didn't know as an interviewer is just irresponsible and immature. I'd hate to think that there are student interviewers out there that would do such a thing. Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ziggurat Posted April 22, 2002 Report Share Posted April 22, 2002 Sorry Liane... I guess I just misunderstood you. Asking a question that makes them think is quite different than making them squirm. I didn't mean to flame you unneccesarily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest seno Posted April 24, 2002 Report Share Posted April 24, 2002 always, always, always... ask a question. I cannot stress that enough. I've interviewed before and it's a major strike against you if you don't... it shows you've paid attention and are able to further a conversation... seno Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Beaver Posted May 8, 2002 Report Share Posted May 8, 2002 Tim The reality is they may mark you down for making them feel uncomfortable. I have taught med students and I can safely say there are alot of ego's flying around, tarnish one and they may hold it against you. I think an even better strategy is to do the reverse and ask a question that you know the med student will nail and enjoy answering. This will make them feel like a superstar and it may translate into you receiving a higher mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TimmyMax Posted May 8, 2002 Report Share Posted May 8, 2002 Hey Beaver, While that may be true, I'd hate to think that there are med students like those you described sitting on adcoms- egotistical people like that have no business deciding the fate of others IMO, especially wrt meds admissions. Of course, I'm sure there are people with this "vendetta" about being made to look bad out there, which is unfortunate, but I'd personally be willing to take the chance of asking a question requiring thought and have the possibility of being remembered for it rather than simply giving them what they want to hear and never be thought of again. By playing ball, you'd run the risk of affirming these people's belief that they are a superstar and I seriously doubt that they would award you any bonus points for it. On the other hand, if your question involves badgering the student unnecessarily, then yes, I could see how they may feel inclined to mark you down (and jusitifiably so), but if it's an innocent, relevant and/or well-thought out question an applicant wishes to hear the student's response to, then no penalty should be assessed against that applicant. If I were to someday sit on an adcom, which I hope to do one day, I'd be more inclined to remember the questions (and applicants) requiring me to think rather than the patronizing dribble spouted forth by someone too afraid to ask anything stimulating. Just my personal opinion. While yes, I'm sure there are a lot of egos out there and it sounds like you have had the misfortune of having to deal with them, it's a sad day for everyone involved when someone who would otherwise make an effective physician is marked down over something as trivial and frivolous as the med student's opinion of them wrt how the applicant made him/her feel in answering the question they posed, especially after inviting the applicant to ask any questions they might have at the conclusion of their interview. I'd hope that this sort of thing is covered in med schools' instructions to interviewers, but there's no accounting for the personalities of those students interviewing for the wrong reasons. Please don't get me wrong here, my aim is not to trash med students. I'm sure that 99% of med students sitting on adcoms take their jobs seriously and are as objective as possible. These people I applaud and rightfully so. It just makes my blood boil to know that there are/could be those loose-cannon students out there who would do such a thing. You'd hope that by 4th year or whatever, these people would have learned to check their egos at the door. The admissions process is tough enough as it is without introducing such a variable as Beaver has outlined. I sincerely hope that no one has been or ever is rejected over such a detail. This should be the goal of med school admissions in the future. Timmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted May 8, 2002 Report Share Posted May 8, 2002 I'm with Timmymax. I seriouly doubt most of the classmates would be offended by a question they don't know, and the limited few that would be offended would either react by faking that they know the answer, or be silent so as not to reveal their ignorance. In neither scenario do I see them marking the student down as a result. . . You really don't know the internal personality of the interviewers who interviewed you. . . to play such guessing games about how people react to your questions is to induce paranoia. . . and I think nervousness from such paranoia would be the real interview killer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Beaver Posted May 8, 2002 Report Share Posted May 8, 2002 Hey Tim I really wasn't trashing Med students. I really haven't had any "misfortunes" with them but just a result of constantly having to compete for what they have achieved requires confidence in ones own abilities and achievements. Sometimes testing this, can create problems for some students who may be slightly peeved at being put on the spot in front of faculty by a candidate. You are right, hopefully any insecure feelings from this does not translate into a lower score. But perception is everything and while you may just be challenging the student it could be interpreted as confrontational....that could cost you. Its really hard to know what is appropriate because there are so many variables such as the med student, the rapport up to that point, your tone of voice/wording etc. I guess just do and say what feels natural to you, after all they are trying to assess you as an applicant so you might as well let them experience what your about. later Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tirisa Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 Hi all, I read this thread last month, and I clearly understand the importance of asking the interview panel questions at the end of your interview. I've been thinking about it a lot, but can't for the life of me think about what type of questions to ask. Like one of you mentioned earlier, you don't want to look like an idiot and ask a basic question about the particular school you're applying to, but I can't imagine asking a personal question to someone you don't know and who happens to be "scoring" you. I don't want to ask any of you to reveal any 'original' questions that you still need to use, but can any of you give us first-timers some examples of the type of questions you're talking about?? Or what to avoid, perhaps?? That may help me come up with some original questions on my own. Thanks a million. T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MayFlower1 Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 Hey Beave...not to clog up the thread...but nice to see you! Peter (formerly known as peterhill0501) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UOMeds05 Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 tirisa, I focussed on asking genuine questions that I had about the points that differentiate each of the medical schools. For example, at Ottawa, I had questions around the bilingual program and the how easy it was to make use of this particular asset. For example, I am primarily anglophone but have a good working knowledge of french that I would like to maintain... I was curious if it was possible to attend lectures in both lectures despite the language of the program you are accepted into. Hope this helps. good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peachy Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 And are you allowed to attend lectures in French? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UOMeds05 Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 almost any time. either language. just not pbl or psd (physician skills development). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sil Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 I agree that questions are important. But I did not ask any in my U of O interview I could not think of anything I wanted to know (I was already a student at U of O in health sciences). Plus at that point I though that I had completely blown my interview and I couldn't wait to get out of there. At my Western interview (at which I was waitlisted) could not think of anything to ask either. So I asked the student what he was going to specilaize in and why. What was the field of interest of the prof that interviewed me. I asked the community member what was her occupation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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