Preparing for the Interview

The interview will provide you with opportunities to discuss your personal experiences and motivation for a career in healthcare. Interviews are also an opportunity for you to draw attention to any aspects of your application that merit emphasis or explanation. Make certain you present yourself in the best possible light by preparing thoroughly for your meeting. Think about how you conduct yourself among current students and staff during informal meetings, too. These interactions still create an impression of who you are and how you present yourself may come up during a post-interview discussion.

Preparing for a professional school interview consists of two key things: 1) interview practice and 2) doing your research.

Practice

Since most admission committee members are experienced interviewers who want to learn about your true character, motivations, and behavior, you should be forthright and open in your meeting and not try to deceive them with false or misleading statements. The interviewer will be attempting to have you respond without using your memorized answers. Rehearsed or canned answers are usually easy to spot.  That said, it is important that you have given thought to the possible questions you may be asked during an interview and have practiced delivering your responses with clarity and precision. Further, how you speak and your body language during the interview is often times more important than the content of your answers. Practicing good eye contact and posture will go a long way to make sure your interview is a success.

On campus, the UGA Career Center assist students with interview techniques and mock interviews. Mock interviews are integral to realizing your interview strengths and weaknesses before the real thing. Also, keep in mind that the fall semester is a very busy time for the Career Center and that you may not always be able to schedule a mock interview before your actual interview date. Therefore, consider beginning interview practice in the spring before you apply and scheduling another mock interview in August or early September.

The Pre-Professional Advising Office is also a great resource for learning more about what you can expect in an interview and tips for preparing. Be sure to schedule an appointment with a Pre-Health Advisor or stop by walk-ins to discuss specific details about interviewing.  Our office also offers two kinds of mock interviews: Recorded Mock Interviews and MMIs.  Because our goal is to offer these mock interviews on demand, they are only available to students who have received an invitation to interview at a professional school.  If you are looking to practice, but have not yet received an interview, we recommend scheduling an appointment with the Career Center or taking advantage of their Big Interview online platform.

You may also have close friends or other people that you trust help you conduct a mock interview.  Consider looking over some of our sample questions.

Career Center - Big Interview

We recommend that you utlize the Career Center's Big Interview online platform. Use this program to practice your interview skills for professional school. You will receive hands-on practice with mock interviews tailored to your specific pre-professional pathway. 

Log into Big Interview  here. Click on the Practice tab and select Practice Interviws. Then select Admissions to be directed to the page below.

Select the professional pathway you would like to practice interviewing for. Once you select a pathway, you will be directed to the following page. The example below is for the pre-dental pathway.

If you select the Dental School Interface, you will be prompted with different interview questions for you to practice your skills. You will record your answer so you can see how well you responded to the question. See image below.

After you start the module process you will be directed to the following page where you can utilize other Big Interview features such as the AI Feedback and STAR tools.

 

Do Your Research

In addition to honing your interview skills during a mock interview, it is also incredibly important that you do your research before even stepping foot on campus for your interview.

Know the school!

Before your interview, investigate the medical school thoroughly by reviewing the program web site and any information which they have shared with you.  Ask yourself:

• Why do I want to attend this medical school?
• What specific opportunities does this school offer me (e.g., community outreach, new facilities, research, innovative curriculum)?
• What could I contribute to this class?

Try to talk with current students to get an accurate sense of what the school is like from a student perspective. You’ll want to impress your interviewer with not only your potential for success but also your interest in his or her specific institution. You can demonstrate these qualities not only through your answers to the interviewer’s questions but by the questions you ask as well.

Know yourself!

It is also important that you know yourself well. This means knowing exactly what you put on your application. Too often applicants forget the specific experiences or activities they may have included in their primary or secondary applications, or even their personal statement. You do not want to be caught off guard by an interviewer asking you about something that you listed.

Begin preparing by reviewing your record, as you may be asked questions regarding your GPA, exam scores, grades on specific courses, or who your letter writers were. Have a good explanation for any grade missteps or withdrawals. Next, consider your overall strengths and weaknesses. Be introspective. Many interviewers will ask what you consider your greatest weakness or strength. Or similarly, what is a time that you failed or were disappointed? They may ask you how you believe your friends would describe you. Try not to be coy ("my great weakness is that I am a perfectionist") but instead, give real answers and some anecdotes that support your answer.  Finally, consider your motivations for wanting to enter medical school and be able to explain them in a clear manner. Try to answer the following questions:

• What are you hoping to accomplish?
• What are your goals and why is this the path for you?
• What else would you do if you did not get into medical school?

Know the profession!

Every interviewer will be attempting to measure your motivation and knowledge in some way. They want to enroll students who understand what is ahead of them both in professional school and beyond. It is important that you have read and experienced things within the profession and the wider healthcare system. Questions about the Affordable Care Act, stem cell research, AIDS, the high cost of the delivery of healthcare, etc. can easily be a topic in your interview. Ask yourself what you consider to be the biggest crisis in the healthcare system right now. You should be able to discuss your stance on these topics intelligently and articulately. We encourage you to begin reading newspapers, journal articles, and online articles to start building your knowledge about the healthcare industry and its accompanying issues.