<p>@zryzor sorry I didn’t see this until now, I kinda talked about it on the other thread but I’ll rerun it here for future generations :)</p>
<p>My interview was fine, I had 3: one with the program director, one with a current physician/researcher, and one with a 4th year med student. My interview with the director was intense to say the least - I got the impression that she was a very nice lady, but sharp and smart as a whip. I indirectly felt like she really homed in on what I knew about the world of medicine, especially how I thought about doctors, other medical faculty, and who doctors really were. Making sure I didn’t have a glamorized version of medicine, I’m assuming. She told me she didn’t really care for what I had accomplished previously - that had gotten me to the interview, and it meant I was qualified. At this stage, she was more interested in knowing what type of person I was and whether I was ready. Makes perfect sense - most medical school faculty I’ve ever spoken to say that you can just tell who is a doctor and who isn’t, there are certain traits that are always present. She talked a lot to me about what she invisioned the program could do for students. I would say my interview was 35% me talking, 65% her, which was interesting and not what I expected. She seems the type to separate the men from the boys, so to speak, and I know that some of the interviewees who were on the same day as I was sweated it out like mad and really had a tough time braving her rapid-fire, probing questions.</p>
<p>My interview with the current doctor was very chill, probably the most relaxed out of all of them. I did have to brave the Chicago cold to walk to another building, though - bring gloves and a hat to your interview! The doctor was SUPER sweet and nice, and we just chatted about my experiences, her experiences, and some advice she had for me in terms of balancing medicine, research, and a family life in my far future. She was so kind, and had some really great insight into medicine!</p>
<p>My last interview was with the current 4th year med student. He had some more “think-heavy” questions, like what I wanted to do about my future, my weaknesses, challenges, and other assorted questions that kept me on my toes, but not as much as my first interview. We chatted a bit about movies and stuff. He told me a bit more about the HPME program, too, and different options that were available.</p>
<p>Things that they DID NOT ask me:
Medical ethics questions (how I felt about abortion, stem cell research, assisted suicide, etc.)
What branch of medicine I was interested in
What sort of research I had done
Why I wanted to be a doctor (surprising!)</p>
<p>Things that they DID ask me:
Why HPME?
Why Northwestern?
What’s your greatest failure?
What do you do outside of school?
What are your proudest accomplishments?</p>
<p>Don’t sweat it - the types of questions they asked were mostly instinct questions, ones you could not have prepped for and ones I can’t remember now. If you’re a good interviewee, and if you are able to form coherent sentences under pressure, you’ll be fine. Good luck to future HPME applicants: I know that I read through every single page of this thread when I was applying and interviewing for ANY tidbits of information that might help me, so I am happy to help by sharing my own experience! Now to wait to see my decision!</p>