How To Prepare For A Medical School Interview Course

Welcome to our series of Medicine interview guides. This specific guide gives you some simple tips on how to prepare for a medical school interview course so that you can get the most out of the experience.

How to prepare in the days leading up to the Medicine interview course:

Refresh yourself on your personal statement and other documents

It may have been a while since you wrote your personal statement or looked at your CV (if you have one). Have a read of these to remind yourself of your achievements and motivations. Look at your previous certificates also. If you kept a portfolio of reflections or a diary about your work experience and extracurricular activities than have a read of these too.

Start to think about your personal qualities, achievements and motivations for Medicine

You would have likely started to do this when you wrote your personal statement, which is why re-reading it is a good idea. However, your personal statement will usually only contain your strengths. Start to think about yourself in further depth. What are your strengths and weaknesses? Why would you make a good doctor? How do you deal with stress? What are examples where you showed excellent communication skills, teamwork, leadership etc.? What did you like about your work experience and what did you not like? What do you do for fun? On the course day, we will work on how to form all of these thoughts into actual interview answers using proven frameworks to fashion interview answers so that they have a clear structure and impact. We will talk about what are good examples to include and what to avoid and explain how to give a confident and memorable delivery. It would help you if before the course you started the process of thinking about what examples you could use from your life

Think about any specific things you want to ask or get out of the course.

Our courses are comprehensive and cover all the major aspects of the Medicine interview. Additionally, the interview course manual (which we give to all participants) is very comprehensive. It may be worthwhile if you start to think if there is anything in particular that you would like to ask. Remember, all of our courses are delivered by doctors who have passed all four of their medical school interviews. They provide a wealth of experience, and knowledge and you will have plenty of opportunities to ask them any specific questions that you may have.

Think about any particular challenges that you may have.

Similarly, think about if there are any challenges that you think may hold you back. Do you struggle with nerves? Do you feel that your answers lack a structure or that you waffle? Are you finding it difficult to motivate yourself to practice for your interview or are you struggling with time management? Our course instructors are all doctors who have all been in the same position as you, faced the same challenges and have had the same doubts. They have come across the other side successfully passing all four interviews and are keen to share their knowledge and advice with you.

How to prepare the night before and on the day of the medical school interview course

Come in well rested and refreshed.

You do not want to come in with very little sleep the night before and struggling to stay awake during the course. Have a good breakfast and take some snacks for any trains or coaches etc. If you are travelling, leave in plenty of time, so you are not rushed. Our venues are typically easy to get to. We offer complimentary tea and coffee, and lunch is easy to get to with many places within walking distance catering for all diets.

Don’t be nervous

There is absolutely no reason to be nervous or anxious before attending our courses. Our courses are insightful, interesting and fun. Our instructors are well experienced, friendly and very approachable. You will learn a lot, gain many insights and will not have to do anything that you do not want to do.

Participate and contribute fully

To get the most out of the course try to participate as much as possible. No one will make you say or do anything that you do not want to do but being as engaged and interactive as possible will make the experience much more useful for you. You will have plenty of opportunities to practice answering questions and gain feedback from the course instructor and other candidates if you wish to do this. You don’t need to hold back in your answers or be secretive. While applying to Medicine is a competitive process, within the course you should not see the other candidates as your competition as there are tens of thousands of other candidates. By collaborating in this small select group, you will be able to go further than on your own.

After the course

Medicine Answered team are here to help

After attending our courses, we offer free follow-up support by email. If you have any questions for our doctors, then feel free to get in touch. We also offer other services such as one on one tutoring with a doctor online or in person, mock interviews etc.

Remember your medical school interview course manual

The course manual provided to all attendees is a comprehensive guide to the Medicine interview. It is an excellent tool in itself. It includes a database of Medicine interview questions, step by step guides on answering questions, explains what interviewers are actually looking for, key topics and issues you need to know about such as medical ethics, health organisations, hot topics, body language etc.

Revisit the content to solidify it into your long-term memory

Try to briefly think back on the things that you learned an hour after the course; on the night of the course, a few days after and then perhaps a week after and then a month. Your course manual will help you do this. This spaced repetition will help you to store these things into your long-term memory relatively easily. This is easier and takes less time than looking back at what you learned only many months later.

Get the edge with the Medicine Answered medical school interview course

Medicine Answered have a range of services to help you at any stage of your medical school interview process. Our services are delivered by qualified doctors. To find out more visit the medical school interview courses page or feel free to contact us