What are the new interviews like?
- Posted by
- On
Imagine this:
There are 10 doors.
On each door, there’s a scenario.
A bell rings and you get 2 minutes to read the scenario.
Another bell rings, you walk through the door into the room and answer the questions for 5-10 minutes, depending on the uni.
Another bell rings, you go to the next door and start reading the scenario.
This continues until you’ve done all the stations.
Except now, since COVID, there are no doors and they’re not even doing this in person.
Some uni’s have 2-3 people on a zoom-style online session who ask all the questions, while others are setting up online stations…
And, get this…
Some uni’s require you just to talk to your screen with no one there and record it. You get one take. Not in your own time but at a time they say, and you do a one-take recording.
You don’t know which one of these interviews you’re going to get but you have to prepare for all of them.
And it’s not about the words you say either.
I’m going to be talking more about this in the coming days, but you’ve got to change your thinking about the interviews from – what are the words I need to say and when do I say them?
To – how do I think about the questions? How do I use a strategy to be able to address any question they give me?
It’s like I say about the GAMSAT:
There’s only one thing you can expect to come up in the interviews…
And that’s the unexpected.
Some questions come up every year (regurgitating memorized answers for this is bad, obviously), but a lot of them are brand new and you have no idea what they will be.
So how do you prepare for all that?
How do you walk in there confident, and more importantly, capable?
Well, that’s why we’re doing this.
It will show you:
* What to expect on the day and how to get ready for it
* What types of questions will come up (including scenarios, ethical-based questions, and other hard ones) with examples and sample answers.
* The best way to prepare efficiently, what to practice, and how much preparation is needed so that you can attend the interview knowing you are totally prepared
* What the interviewers are looking for – things like the characteristics and qualities of a medical student, as well as experiences and knowledge – including the obvious stuff you may not have thought about and also the hidden secret things they won’t tell you about on their website or even their invitation emails.
* How to tell what the examiners are really asking and what answers they are looking for… this is NOT what you expect.
* How to best answer the ethical based questions, and other tricky ones like “why do you want to become a doctor?” and do it on the fly with only a few seconds to think even when you had no idea what questions are going to be asked (this won’t be easy, but if you follow what I tell you then you’re going to do better than you probably ever expected).
* How to sound, and be, genuine and confident without sounding rehearsed or arrogant.
* How to actually get an interview in the first place – not everyone with a high GAMSAT score gets one!
* Why so many people mess up their applications each year and don’t get an interview when they probably should get one.
* What is a portfolio and personal statement, and how to make it good.
* Why people with a lower score, like your friend, got an interview and you didn’t even though you had a higher GAMSAT score and GPA – and I’m not talking about being a rural or international student either.
Obviously, none of this stuff happens ‘by osmosis’.
You’re going to need to apply it, apply it correctly and apply it often. Essentially, you’re going to need to study your butt off for this like you did the GAMSAT.
There are no ‘hacks’ or magic pills here, just dependable, proven, and reliable approaches that work.
We do have a bunch of ‘shortcuts’ that will save you time and heartache but even those require you to think about what you’re doing and putting in the work.
If that sounds useful to you then here’s the link to get it.
Cheers,
Dr “This is the final step” Tom
