Medical School Interview, Job Applications, and etc!

I was hoping to get a bit more free time to make some posts. I am either busy catching up with work, or dead tired. So I will be addressing many things in this post.

1) Medical School Interviews

I know I'm a bit late with this, but hopefully most of you have seen my older posts on tips for medical school interviews. Because I had my interviews back in 2008, I'm not as "updated" as others out there as I'm sure the system has changed. In regards to my particular medical school, we still run the standard panel of 3 interviewing 1 applicant. Each applicant has 20 minutes. Here are some quick tips, which I have mentioned before:

• Reflect on your experiences. Integrate reflection of your past activities into your interview questions. It is one thing to answer the question with one word, but show us an example of when you had shown "this" particular skill or a particular experience where you learned something that helps you be a strong applicant
• Dress smartly - I'm not kidding you...I have seen some applicants turn up in a wrinkled shirt and creased trousers. I guess I don't have the right to judge someone's dress, but this is an interview for a very competitive spot in medical school. You need to impress and the first thing the interviewer sees, is you and how you carry yourself and what you're wearing. Yes we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but why start an uphill battle before you have even sat down in front of the panel. 
• Medical schools want to find out more about your personal qualities that they couldn't get from your personal statement. This is your time to shine in an interview. Some schools allow the interviewers to have read the applicant's personal statement before they come in for their interview. Expand on it.
• Confidence. Yes it is very nervous time, but you need to put on your confident face. Deliver your answers confidently. Don't sound unsure as these are questions about yourself. You shouldn't be unsure of your own personal qualities/experiences/achievements.
• Give succinct answers aka don't beat around the bush, yet try not to give very short answers as that means the interviewer will need to come up with more questions to ask you...
• Think your answers through before answering. You don't lose any points sitting for 30 seconds to think over your answer. Think the interviewers appreciate it more if you gave a structured succinct answer. 
• Back to basics: eye contact, try not to fidget while sat in your seat (trust me the interviewers notice it and it is quite distracting), and try to smile (it just makes the process seem so much less dreary and gloomy)
• I remember before going into my interview I told myself it is just questions about myself. I know myself best and no one knows me better than me. Interviewers (from what I have experienced) aren't out there to catch you out. They honestly want to know more about you and see if that personal statement matches the applicant who sits in front of them. 20 minutes isn't a long time to make that judgement, so as an applicant you don't have much time to get your personality across.

2) Job Applications

Right this biggest pain up the backside you'll face in your final year. Why is it a pain? It is because you're trying to focus on passing your finals, then this FPAS application crops up a few months prior so you're trying to revise yet do your job application correctly. The first step of job applications is filling out your basic details, your degree details/any additional degrees, if you are going for an academic job you have to answer 3 questions where you have 250 (?) words to answer, and then rank your deaneries which are based on regions. You have to rank all 26 or so regions, so you cannot opt out of certain regions. That means doing it strategically as well. Obviously London will be extremely competitive and you'll need to be realistic about your score and whether you can keep up with the rest of the country to get that job. You'll need to have in mind your "backup" region in case things don't go so well. 

Once you submit your application, there are these exams called the "Situational Judgement Test". It is 2.5 hour exam on ethics and being a good doctor. They give you a bunch of scenarios and you have to rank in order or select the best 3 things you should do. It's not exactly an exam you can study for, but it is worth practising. There are lots of books for sale. I personally used MedGrad book "Situational Judgement Test for the Foundation Years Programme 2nd Edition" and found it to be really accurate and similar to the paper itself. It also has really good explanations with the GMC guidance alongside for your reference. It's not cheap, but I thought it really helped me prepare for the SJT. I started practising approximately 2 weeks prior to the exam so it's not something you need to spend a lot of time on. Think the main thing to keep in mind that this exam is about what you SHOULD do, not what you would do.

Once SJT is over, we don't get our results until we find out about our deanery allocation in March, but the wait isn't that painstaking since there are finals to think about! As usual this year jobs have been oversubscribed so we'll see how that goes - fingers crossed.

3) Other Things - Update

So like the title of my blog - life of a medical student is pretty crazy...and I should just rename it to "hectic". I'm now on my final run of placements before end of medical school. Pretty crazy to think about that. It's just now working on skills that are needed for an F1, so that means not going to clinic or theatre and spending majority of my time on the wards and doing jobs. Bit weird to be honest. I always have this temptation to go down to theatres for a nosy.

What has been happening right after exams? I had another rotation in Orthopaedics as we all know you can't get enough of Orthopaedics. It was a really good attachment. Got a lot of theatre time and clinics peppered in between. Scrubbed loads of times and got to work on my surgical skills. Still got all my fingers as well - that's always a bonus. Now in my final year, I've finally really grasped this "pro-active" concept of things and think it has really helped. Instead of waiting to be asked to do something, I offer to do it first or just go off and get it done. Seems to go down well and I've gotten a lot more opportunities to do things and be more involved. Think it helps with gaining trust from the registrar/consultants. Also still managed to stay true to myself and continue to be really personable with the other team members (e.g. consultant, registrar, SHOs, etc). We are all human at the end of the day and no one likes to talk about work all the time. Gotten to know a few more registrars and a few consultants while sat in the coffee room in between cases and just makes the experience more enjoyable. Of course this is after gauging the other person's personality and how open they are. I know when to keep my beak shut and just be really quiet. So far the consultants I have encountered are pretty talkative and really laid back so quite lucky in that sense.

I shall give you all a break! Long enough post I believe! Sorry again for lack of updates...final year just seems to be that much more hectic...somehow.

Empathy.

Empathy is probably one of the most popular answers to medical interview questions such as "skills required to be a doctor." Empathy is essentially the skill to be able to feel another person's feelings. To be entirely honest...it seems like it is a skill that you LOSE, not gain as your career progresses. As a medical student, I treat the patients with a lot of respect and take the time to listen to them and try to empathize and sympathize with them. It is definitely not an easy task. There are countless amount of times where I found myself fake sympathizing/empathizing with patients as I sometimes find it very difficult to place myself in his or her shoes. And some of you may think why you "lose" your empathy skill as you progress through your career. Obviously this is a generalization and there are definitely lots of consultants out there who are really good at empathizing with patients; however, there are some where you start questioning their bedside manners.

I really don't blame the consultants for not empathizing with patients. After doing your job for 30-something years, you might not be as interested in it as you were 30 years ago. Some consultants have extremely busy schedules and it is a shame they don't take the time to empathize with patients. With an aging population, we now see a lot of elderly patients on the wards with chronic conditions. These patients might be in for their 10th surgery on their hip, for example. Sometimes it is unfortunate that surgeons/doctors don't acknowledge these things. Yeah you need to fix a patient's hip, but after having so many surgeries, it is obviously going to affect the patient psychologically and socially. I know there are some doctors who believe in holistic medicine. These doctors would tend to all the needs of the patient: psychological, physical, and social. I feel like the patients who have these sort of doctors feel like they are cared for and sometimes I guess it is pretty frustrating to be tossed between 5 different teams in a hospital as consultants won't know you as well.

Then we start to asking the question: are doctors too specialized? I mean just under orthopaedics, we've got consultants who specialize in only hip replacements, or hand surgery, etc. With such specialized doctors, we start to realize that these doctors start to lose knowledge about other systems in the body. In hospital for hip replacement but have a breathing problem so the orthopod has to refer you to the respiratory team. Are we becoming too one dimensional? It's definitely a tough argument. By having such specialized doctors/surgeons, we get people who are excellent at their field. If we have a bunch of doctors who knows a bit of everything...well we get doctors who are just good at everything and not excellent in anything. It's a tough argument, but to be honest, I would much prefer having a very specialized doctor as I would know for sure that he or she is fantastic at treating a certain condition or performing certain surgical procedures. If my life is at risks...I would obviously want the best and only the best.

Hmm...think I got a bit off topic there. Anyways empathy. It is a shame that some doctors lose this skill and overlook a patient's social/psychological well-being. But like I said earlier...I really don't blame them. I hope I will still be good at empathizing with patients 30 years down the line, but I know it will be something I will have to keep reminding myself to do. What's the point of being rude to patients? You gain nothing. Might as well be nice and listen to them and make their stay at the hospital better. Easy to say...hard to do.

Holiday!

Holiday technically started a week-ish ago, but because of results, it didn't feel much of a holiday. It's been quite a few days since results (yes I realize my exam and results post were fairly recent...but in reality my exams were like 2 weeks ago). I will be going back home to spend my short winter holiday and just make the most of my time with family and friends. Should be good so I'm really excited. Seems like I haven't had a break in ages, but technically just got off in August. This year has been extremely long.

Anyways I will be off for a few weeks. So happy holidays to everyone and congratulations to those who have already received offers (yay!) and those who have received interviews! For those who are still waiting, try your best to not think about it and have a nice holiday/break!

Research Attachment.

I just got my Research Attachment Proposal list and what a head scratch. The university has given us 93 research projects to choose from and if I had to be bluntly honest - I've only seen 3 which have "appealed" to me. Hard part is that we have to pick 5 projects and list them in the order of preference. Tough choices! At the moment I've picked another 2 but I have NO interest in them and would be quite disappointed if I ended up getting placed in them. At the moment I'm doing more research into the other research topics to see what seems interesting despite not knowing much about those other research topics. What a tedious process...especially going through each and every single research topic, but if I want to pick something I would do well in then I guess it is worth my time to look into each thing.

For those just joining my blog and reading around - please let me direct you to my archives over to the right. I've written a few blog entries on application and interview tips which may come in handy...especially the interview tips as it is interview time now.

Good luck to those who are having their interviews and those who are still waiting to hear from their universities - don't fret! Be patient...no point of worrying as no matter how much you worry it's not like the faster you'll find out about whether or not you'll get an interview. There's nothing you can do so try and relax and concentrate on your school work!

Those with an offer: YAY congratssss!!!!! Exciting stuff. Just meet those offers and you'll be itching to get to university and embark on your new journey.

Countdowns

2 more days until Easter Break.
9 more weeks until Exams.

Seriously starting to get a bit nervous.

Goal: To start studying during 2nd week of Easter holiday! If not study - sort out all notes for studying!!!

In other words - Happy St. Patrick's Day to whoever celebrates it! Wishing good luck to those who are still having interviews or waiting for medical offers from their universities! And congratulations to those who already have their offers!

Interview Tips!

Today I feel like posting in my blog despite having a bit of work to do for tomorrow. I will make this one brief and hopefully informative.

I have noticed people are starting to get interview offers and I reckon giving out some tips should be useful.

IMPORTANT: REFLECT REFLECT REFLECT! AND EXPAND ON YOUR ANSWERS!

1) Look around the city before going to the interview! A common ice breaker question would be: "Why *City*?" Make sure you find something to talk about the city/university. Nothing better than completely messing up the first question. It is a great time to help yourself calm the nerves as you SHOULD know the answer.

2) Look at the medical course that the university offers. A common question would be something like: "Why this university?" This would be the perfect to time to show off your knowledge about the university and the course. Shows that you are keen and you know where you applied.

3) Please have something to say when they give you the good ol' vague question: "Why medicine?". I personally hated this question because it is SO vague and you could basically talk for ages. A great thing to remember when answering is to try and pull in stuff that you wrote in your personal statement. For example you can talk about your work experience/volunteering helped you discover more about medicine/educated you about the career. Also draw in positives such as your skills that you have picked up helping you to succeed as a doctor. Make sure you try to keep the answer short despite it being a difficult task. Just give a summary and make sure you cover the important points and cover some of the stuff in your personal statement.

4) Read the news especially about the NHS/health. In some interviews - the like to ask you about something recent that happened in the NHS or a recent medical advancement. The day before just go on BBC or something and read up on some stuff. Don't pick the hardest thing you saw in the news...pick something that actually drew your attention and that you find interesting so you can actually talk about it in the interview.

5) Reflect on what skills a good doctor should embody. This is a pretty common question. They could ask you to name a skill or they could name a skill and ask you to talk about that skill. Remember to always try and relate the question to yourself. If they ask you about empathy - find something that you have done which helped you develop empathy/care for people. Something like working at the hospital or care home would be good things to talk about. Remember in an interview the interviewer wants to know about YOU and how capable you are to becoming a doctor. Show that you are three dimensional and do other things other than go to school.

6) Be prepared for an ethical question. There is no right or wrong answer....actually none of the questions have a right or wrong. Do not fake an answer...answer honestly because interviewers are smart. Don't think you can actually outsmart them. The best thing about ethical questions is to prepare a structure on how you will answer it. Remember to look at both sides of the argument! Don't just completely ignore the other side of the argument as it is important to acknowledge it.

7) Some interviewers like to play the "Good Cop/Back Cop" game. Ignore it and be patient! They may ask very similar questions where you will have the same answer. Don't get frustrated and just answer the question with different wording. Sometimes it'll get annoying but some could be testing how you cope in stressful/annoying situations.

Random Tips:

1) Dress professional/well.
2) Be awake! (I must admit I did fall asleep in the waiting room though) - but be awake during the interview!
3) Don't fidget during the interview - it is distracting.
4) Know your personal statement - they will draw stuff out from it and ask you about it.
5) Smile!
6) Don't ask "dumb" questions at the end. I know some will argue that you will sound keen if you ask a question but seriously most of the answers can be found on the university's website/prospectus. If you really have any questions before the interview - call up the admissions office to ask or if an upper year is taking you around for a tour - perfect time to ask questions.

To be honest I didn't find interviews that hard as they are asking questions about YOU and only you know yourself the best. If you do your research and know the course and genuinely want to go the university you'll cover the factual questions. Just relax. The minute you tense up you get what I call "brain farts". Avoid it because you'll find yourself saying "um" and "uh" for the next what feels like hour. Plus it gets awkward too when the interviewers just stare at you waiting for an answer. Oh and don't rush your answers...make your answers concise and to the point, but at the same time show that you have reflected about it and try and draw positives to yourself.

Anyways I should get back to working. Hope this post helps. I know it is brief but I really don't know what else is there to cover about interviews. When you get an interview it is technically like you got your foot in the door, you just need to get the rest of your body through. They won't ask for an interview if they aren't interested in taking you. Quite simple.

Good luck!

Interviews plus random ranting.

Hello! Well sadly I will have to start this post with a rant. I STILL HAVEN'T GOTTEN MY VISA LETTER FROM MY UNI! At this pace I will not make my flight on Sept 15 and MIGHT miss freshers week. Ughhh. I've been calling up the uni every day so far rushing my visa letter and they said they'll email me today with the tracking number. Guess what? I didn't get it. Like I understand that the uni is busy and A Levels came out (congrats to those who made their offers), but the Visa letter is quite important. HOPEFULLY I'll get an email with the tracking tomorrow.

*End Rant*

So the main topic of this post will be about med school interviews. How I see with interviews is that you've got your foot in the door and all you need to do is make a final push to get through. This means that the uni is probably quite interested in you, so put your head to it and deliver a fantastic interview. For some it may be a breeze, for others, interviews may be their worst nightmare. For me I'm pretty talkative (if you haven't realized) so I found the interview pretty relaxed. Depending on the uni, the interviews will be set out differently. You could have a panel of 2 - 5(?) interviewers...the more...not the merrier. It is quite nerve-racking to be interviewed by a large amount of people as when one person asks the question you've got the others just sitting there either looking bored to death or intrigued. The uni generally will ask some ice breakers which are pretty easy/guessable questions. Obviously they will ask "Why Medicine?". Please do know how to answer that...it is a basic question where you can answer easily with just a little bit of preparation. Before your interview there are some things that may help:

1. Re-read your personal statement - interviewers will most likely ask you about it

2. Research about the university - come up with points that you like about the uni (impress the interviewer with your knowledge)

3. Look professional!!!!!!!!!!!! - please dress properly and appropriately to the interview. don't just throw on a pair of jeans and a shirt. dress well!

4. Do a bit of prep work - research some common med questions, think about some answers. BUT I am quite against people memorizing their answers because when it comes time for them to answer, they sound like a robot rehearsing a line! just think about the question no need to start writing out answers! natural is what's best! Sometimes the interviewer may ask about medical advancements or anything medically related in the news. Be prepared for that! Don't talk about something you know nothing about.

5. BE CONFIDENT! - try not to be shy with the interviewer, they aren't there to whip you. they just want to find out more about you. answer honestly and be confident in every answer you deliver...try to avoid the annoying "ummm"s and the excessive use of "like".

6. Smile! - don't walk into the room like you've been sentenced to death. have fun (i know it's easy to say...not so easy to do but do try!)

Let me give you a helping hand on SOME possible questions:

Why Medicine?

Why this university?

Why not be a nurse?

What are some qualities of a doctor?

With all questions remember don't just answer "Why Medicine?" with "Because I like to help people." Expand on your answer reflect on it, what have you done to help you decide that Medicine is the career for you. With every question make sure you expand. If you have to answer a negative question like "What is one bad quality about you?", don't just say "I take a long time to do my work". Instead, turn your answer into a positive and say that you take a long time, BUT you take long to make sure your work is done with the best of quality and there are no errors. It isn't really that hard.

Interviews isn't rocket science. Just be yourself. Give genuine answers which are straight from your heart. Remember you only get an interview because the uni is interested in having you. Good luck!