List of Medical School Interview Questions
Being one of the final steps to get into a medicine school, a medical school interview is a critical part to the admissions process. Students must clearly stand out from the crowd as an exceptional candidate, so preparation for the interview is essential.
Students often assume that skills for an interview are unimportant, however this is far from the truth. You may look like an excellent candidate on paper, however if you cannot communicate your skills and attributes in an interview environment then you may miss an exceptional an opportunity.
Understanding what types of questions you may be faced with, and preparing for this is a key step in preparing for your interview. One way to do this is by looking at medical school interview questions.
At Blue Peanut, our qualified NHS doctors are well experienced in the field of academic medicine, and have written a comprehensive list of medical school interview questions that is an excellent resource for students to refer to in preparation.
Please note we have also updated our blogs with further questions. Please click here for another up to date 54 Medical School Interview Questions.
They have been broken down in to the types of questions you may be asked.
Motivation:
Why do you want to go medical school?
Why do you want to be a doctor?
Why are you interested in medicine?
Tell us about yourself?
What are these medical school interview questions assessing?
Your motivations
Your communication skills
How to answer:
Clarify your answer
Answer in detail, not a long list of reasons
You should sound personal, portray your character
Knowledge of the Medicine School:
Why do you want to study at this medical school?
What can you tell you us about our curriculum or course structure?
What do you know about the course? What appealed to your personally?
What are these medical school interview questions assessing?
Decision to study based on research
Decision to study based on kinds of environment suited to you
How to answer:
Ensure to cover both reasons they are assessing
Should definitely relate back to you
Depth of Interest and Research
Tell us about an interesting article you have read
What is the difference between primary care and secondary care?
What is the ‘postcode lottery’?
What is the biggest problem facing the NHS right now?
What are these medical school interview questions assessing?
Your interest in medicine
Your understanding of the NHS
Opportunity to share knowledge
How to answer:
Cover the key reason they are assessing – your knowledge and depth of interest
Be up to date with recent issues
Offer a different view on the problems and issues
Ethics
Scenario Question: You are a doctor at a sexual health clinic. A 14-year-old girl is asking for an abortion and does not want her parents knowing. What issues would you consider when proceeding?
What is this medical school interview question assessing?
Your thought processes
Your communication skills
That you have the qualities of a holistic approach e.g. considering what is best for the patients’ health, as well as legal and ethical consideration
Your insight and background of medicine
How to answer:
Understand that this is not a test to answer “correctly”
Explain the factors to consider in order to proceed. E.g. consent, importance of trust and confidentiality between doctor and patient, positive encouragement of involvement of parents, considering situational issues (such as when there is a risk of harm to a patient)
Explaining ethical circumstances in sequence and exploring all factors
Examiners may ask if the girl was under 13. In this instance, be clear that someone under the age of 13 is not legally able to consent to sexual activity, and therefore the information regarding sexual activity would need to be actioned.
DO NOT: jump straight into an answer, or let personal beliefs affect how to treat patients
Are you applying to medicine this year? Start your preparation by booking a place on our Medical School Interview Course. Last year our success rate for getting at least one offer was over 98%
