<p>I’m a medical student and haven’t had to deal with that yet. But here’s what I can tell you from what I’ve heard and seen.</p>
<p>1) Despite what you see on TV - most problems are really common and happen very regularly. A person comes in with what you think may be a heart attack, you get an EKG look for the ST segment to be elevated or not then follow the established guidelines. Or if a patient comes in with anaphylactic shock (ie from a bee sting) the appropriate treatment is taught even to first year medical students (administration of epinephrine/adrenaline). But again, the most critically important problems have very standardized guidelines that work the overwhelming majority of patients.</p>
<p>2) Even the most critically ill patients aren’t going to die in a split second. I think there is always time to take a moment to think. There are always things you can do to extend life, and even you as a 16 year old can probably think of them: keep them oxygenated, keep the blood flowing, stop the bleeding. This is the basis of the ABC’s they teach in Basic Life Support - Airway, Breathing, Circulation. Everything is aimed at keeping tissues with enough oxygen. My Cardiology professor is fond of saying “time is tissue” and while he’s speaking directly to the heart during an infarct, it applies to everything else as well.</p>
<p>3) In the US third and fourth year medical students are always paired with residents (Junior Doctors as you call them), and work under the direction and guidance of either an even older resident or a fully licensed doctor (known as an Attending). There is a lot of back up to make sure treatment is given while individuals are still learning.</p>
<p>4) The residency system in the US is set up to give specific experiences to new MD’s that are appropriate to their chosen specialty. Residencies in the US are 3-7 years in length and from that a resident ends up seeing the majority of common problems and how to deal with them frequently. My friends that are third and fourth year students commonly complain that they have a hard time keeping their drugs and therapies straight b/c they just learned them and the residents always know, and it frustrates many students. However when you realize that the residents have spent 1-3 years only working on those types of problems every day, they get familiar with the drugs and treatments they are using all the time. And that’s the key - building that database of experiences and just being used to dealing with those problems on an everyday basis.</p>
<p>5) Many of the other very common problems that are life threatening happen over a more extended period of time. Appendicitis if left alone can cause death but there’s usually plenty of signs and symptoms that cause people to seek medical attention. That’s not to say that things cannot deteriorate rapidly in many other disease processes, but the things that triggered them were likely chronic in nature and so there is a lot of things you can do before they get to the point they will start deteriorating.</p>
<p>When I went for my BS/MD Program interview, the guy asked a lot of questions that had nothing to do with medicine. Like which two countries do you think the first nuclear bomb will be between. I was also asked questions about health insurance, abortion, and situations with a dying child and parents not wanting donated blood for the child. Its a wide range of questions, but I would be prepared for anything. Watch the news, read medical articles, and brush up about situations concerning the medical field…like stem cell research.</p>
<p>Don’t LIE! People can tell when you’re nervous AND lying. Be youself. It sounds cliche but its true. Nobody wants to be around a fake person. Play yourself up…don’t go overboard and sound cocky but definetly tell them about your medical experiences and stuff.</p>
<p>my oxford interview was really great! it basically turns out to be a lengthy conversation and the interviewer is really eager to see the applicant shine.
I suggest that you get to know the person before hand so that they may become even more familiar whith your EC’s accomplishments, talents, etc.</p>
<p>and it pays off too! I got into all three Ivies I applied to (Harvard, Columbia and Yale). But, I am going to Oxford for Pre-Med in the fall (my #1 school)</p>
<p>is anyone here a premed applicant for cornell in qatar?? I had alot of difficulties with the visa and therefore missed my chance for an interview, but after calling them and talking to them they agreed to interview me for the wait-list. is there any real hope or are they doing this to shut me up??? i would also like someone to suggest to me what i should wear (i am a girl)…should i be formal or semi formal?? the interview is the day after tomorrow so quick replies are appreciated
thx</p>
<p>I interviewed at 4 osteopathic medical schools and it didn’t seem too bad. I found that most of the schools just wanted to know who I was and why I wanted to be a DO. Schools are interviewing you because they already like you. Just practice interviewing skills and get ready.</p>
<p>Harvard interview:
Prof left the room and called it. Came back and asked why didn’t you answer phone. Another kid answered the phone and got yelled at.</p>
<p>At another, asked kid to raise window which was nailed shot.</p>
<p>For the most part, med schools have abandoned “stress interviews” employing such gimmicks. However, it’s not as ludicrous as it sounds. While on the wards, I’ve gotten yelled at for all sorts of things (answering the phone at a nurse’s station, not answering the phone at the nurse’s station, calling a consult too late, calling a consult too early, calling a consult with a case the consult team deems unworthy, etc.). It is definitely worthwhile to see how someone acts in these situations when they are being criticized for something that usually isn’t their fault.</p>
<p>I actually kinda like those Harvard stories. The window nailed shut particularly – surely the appropriate response is “I’m sorry, but the window is nailed shut, but someone stole the Parrot.” </p>
<p>One of my first interviews (in Dark Ages time when Penicillin was still king) the Psychiatry professor ‘accidentally’ threw a pencil at me (?? to see how keyed up I was i guess), then in the middle let some sort of marble he was messing with roll off the desk toward me and when I failed to stop it from falling off the desk shouted a rather vulgar phrase at me populated by a few F-bombs. We actually had a rather nice conversation for about 20-30 minutes about the state of Medicine and Future Financing including how to pay for the uninsured population. He was laughing rather menacingly when he left the room – I ended up attending this school. </p>
<p>One of the other interviews at this school was with an FP from an outlying practice who had been on the admitting committee for years (I guess he took some 4th years students into his building a few months a year). He was your classic small town Grandfather type who was just wonderful in telling you what a great job medicine was and how well the school helped its students – you always felt great after talking the guy (everybody had the same response to the guy). About 45 minutes of ego easing comfort. Unfortunately he died a few years later, but had (still has FWIW) several FP Honors Awards that carry his name.</p>
<p>I interviewed at Baylor, WashU, Duke, Vandy, UA and I don’t remember ever getting really grilled by any of the people. I want to guess each place had between 4-6 interviews back then and I only had one ‘Committee’ interview (4 AdCom members with 1 applicant at a time sort and that felt like I was standing in front of the Supreme Court arguing my case, but even that was pretty laid back). Most of the time, it was a quiet conversation about personal things – where you grew up, anything interesting that’s happened to you. Occasionally I got questions about very general Medical topics (State of the Medical profession, Nationalized Healthcare and/or Universal Access, Malpractice, Specialist vs Generalist), but never really anything all that knowledge intensive and was obviously more to see how you organized thoughts and could coherently speak. A lot of the interviewers had me ask them the questions which is a rather interesting technique I’ve used in later life – it’s amazing the kind of information someone will tell you if you give them the chance.</p>
The best advice I have for interview prep is to make sure you practice with someone who knows about the process and is willing to give you unbiased and harsh feedback. In my case, I spent about 2 months on my interview prep. My family and I ended up going with professional admissions prep because we didn’t want to take the chance and I supplemented what I learned in these sessions with daily practice with family and friends. It was absolutely worth it. I got into multiple BA/BS MD programs including Brown, UMKC, BU, GWU !!! Good luck
