kwyhan Posted April 5, 2016 Report Share Posted April 5, 2016 Anyone have tips for this question? This is so ironic considering this question is essentially all about me. Who would know me best other than myself?! I guess I have some ideas of things that shape me but I'm having a hard time linking them together and there's no ONE story. Ex) I have an artistic side of me.. (I'm a calligrapher, musician) .. I also love being involved in my community .. global/ local.. which help me relate to a lot of diff people (but then again, just saying this means nothing).. = medicine! Any feedback/guidance is appreciated. Thank you so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medway12 Posted April 5, 2016 Report Share Posted April 5, 2016 Based on my corporate experience, this question is best answered by briefly discussing your relevant academic/professional background in a chronological order and making sure to relate each major event to how it influenced you to be where you are today (e.g. sitting in a med school interview). End with an all-encompassing mission statement that tells them why you are the best candidate for a spot in the class. Just my two cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess85 Posted April 6, 2016 Report Share Posted April 6, 2016 Anyone have tips for this question? This is so ironic considering this question is essentially all about me. Who would know me best other than myself?! I guess I have some ideas of things that shape me but I'm having a hard time linking them together and there's no ONE story. Ex) I have an artistic side of me.. (I'm a calligrapher, musician) .. I also love being involved in my community .. global/ local.. which help me relate to a lot of diff people (but then again, just saying this means nothing).. = medicine! Any feedback/guidance is appreciated. Thank you so much! make it fun and unique! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bambi Posted April 6, 2016 Report Share Posted April 6, 2016 You are given the opportunity to drop the bread crumbs of what led you to medicine, while also showing that you hae led a balanced life in your interests. Being excited about you altruistic and compassionate experiences (without saying that) in volunteering will not only show your personality but also your CanMEDS competencies, which competencies you can also demonstrate by telling about your experiences. You want to practice a potential answer and have someone listen so as to help you improve. As you say, who knows you better than you - and this would be an ideal opportunity to allow you to shine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gottawannit Posted April 6, 2016 Report Share Posted April 6, 2016 ------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heisenberg Posted April 6, 2016 Report Share Posted April 6, 2016 k, no. I'm going to have to disagree with ALL the above responses. Having been on both the asking and responding side of this question, I can tell you with certainty that they do not give a shit about you presenting a pre-made speech about how you tick off all the canmed boxes. This is where you show that you're not a loser and have a life outside of school and pursuing medicine. I was offered a job I absolutely did not qualify for simply because I mentioned that I like to scuba dive when I have the opportunity. Just to illustrate this specific scenario: it was an investment banking job - so very finance-heavy. I had not taken any finance courses yet (was in the business school, though). They gave me a financial competency exam (basically a finance exam) and I scored 1/20. #likeaboss. But I was the highest scoring applicant with regards to personality and everything else, landing me the position even though I was the least capable out of the box. Same goes with medicine. They don't care that you spent every evening and weekend peering over your family doc's shoulder, because that's not a prerequisite, that's what they plan on teaching you anyway. Go in, and talk about the cool stuff you've done with your life; pretend you're at a cocktail party and need to seem impressive really fast. You're not going to talk about how you learned to be leader from your summer at camp, now are you? Fuck no. Talk about that time you went bungee jumping, or that you learned to speak a 3rd language to pick up a girl (all real examples, btw.) This is what gets people engaged in you. These panel interviewers have already seen a ton of kids touting off about their half-assed "premed" experiences that everyone's done. No one cares, they're not special, and they're certainly not interesting. A recent example on my behalf that was highly praised in my med interview. The question was "why medicine"? And of course you get all the bullshit answers like "I wanna be a surgeon because I like working with my hands (then go into trades or physiotherapy)", or some other crap like "I wanted to make my grandfather proud because he came to this country with [insert small monetary amount here] and that was his dying wish." Give me a break. All bullshit. All of them. When I went in there I went on an 6 minute tirade of why I think medicine is incredibly myopic, its position in society unjustified, and that it blatantly misses the purpose of healthcare altogether. Bold move on my part, but thats how I felt about it. The assessor told me straight up that he agreed and that it was about time that people started realizing how archaic clinical medicine has become and that I provided highly appreciated perspective #killedit. Anyways, this rant has gone on long enough. tl;dr: don't be another nerd who lists all their plain jane vanilla extracurriculars when asked "tell me about yourself". Its a bad call. This is bad advice in my opinion lol. My sister has been working in HR for a major International company for a few years. She is heavily involved in hiring/conducting interviews. The last thing they want to hear is a 7 min speech ONLY about your interests and hobbies or "what makes you cool". This gives them nothing to learn about your story, accomplishment and achievements that make you stand out from the rest of the applicants. Of course you can include/mention things that make you unique, including hobbies etc but it should not be the primary/only thing you discuss for 7 minutes. Besides, talking about scuba diving for 7 mins does not allow them to separate you from the pack. Just because it worked for you once in the finance industry does not make it universal. And if I was your assessor hearing you rant about the profession, I would label you as a some cocky kid who is bashing the profession without even starting it. I would ask why are you even then pursuing the field if you are so dissatisfied with the profession? Second, I am fine with people bashing medicine (I agree its not some highly NOBLE profession that everyone should bow down to) but first get there, be in a position to actually critique it, earn that right. And hashtagging "#killedit"?? Where is the humility ? How ironic would it be if you get rejected in May Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savac Posted April 7, 2016 Report Share Posted April 7, 2016 I think it's important to find a balance. I agree that the rehearsed cookie-cutter answers are horribly boring to hear over and over again, so try to avoid them if possible. That being said, having no actual content is probably not a good idea either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdj78we9jtf2o3mgfvj298j Posted April 7, 2016 Report Share Posted April 7, 2016 I talked about my educational/work background, where I'm from, and a couple of hobbies/interests. I'm not sure if there's a purpose of talking about what led you to medicine in your "tell me about yourself" since there's a separate question for that - "why medicine". I kept it to 2-3 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cytosine Posted April 7, 2016 Report Share Posted April 7, 2016 I would break it down in sections : 1) your academic background, 2) your volunteering/work experiences and 3) hobbies. I would talk a little bit about each of these, describing what you enjoyed or learned from each one. I find it's a good way to touch on all the important aspects of your life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukmedstudent Posted July 22, 2016 Report Share Posted July 22, 2016 I would start with a simple introduction of myself e.g. my academic background and other information that would separate myself from other candidates e.g. nationality, age, sports accomplishment. I will try to make this introduction as light as possible and avoid sounding arrogant but I should come across as confident and not confused (about who I am!). Then, I would go on to talk about specific things e.g. experiences/hobbies/science-y stuff I am heavily involved in. As I described this, I hoped to talk about several of my traits e.g. competitive, curious, etc. By then, they would have stopped you and moved you on to the next question Good luck!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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