There is no doubt about it, Medical School interviews are a daunting task for premed students. But it’s necessary. And we must all face this challenge before becoming physicians.
In a way, Medical School interviews are like the culmination of your application. You put all that work into getting a good MCAT score, earning a competitive GPA, and participating in all sorts of extracurriculars. Now it’s time to prove that you are the person you claim to be in a face to face interview.
I love the advice that you should just be yourself during the interview. But this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t prepare.
I remember my first medical school interview. Yes, I did a mock interview before, and yes I did alright. However, I really wish I had read some books that go over the process. You don’t want to be a robot that memorizes the correct answer but you also don’t want to be blindsided by a simple question that you haven’t thought of before.
Plus there is so much more to your Medical School interview than just answering the questions. Everything from how you shake hands to how you conduct yourself after the interview is important.
Here are 3 books that every pre-med student should read before a medical school interview. If you can’t read all three, pick up at least one of these!
#1 The Medical School Interview: Winning Strategies from Med School Admissions
Let’s start with the book that most premed students believe is the best preparation for medical school interviews.
The Medical School Interview: Winning Strategies from Med School Admissions is written by a doctor who is actually on a medical school admissions committee! It doesn’t get better than that. Straight to the source with insider knowledge.
Dr. Samir Desai not only provides his own background knowledge, but he receives feedback from hundreds of admissions deans and committee members. Not every medical school interview is alike, so it’s extremely helpful that this book has so many perspectives.
They also have a book dedicated to the multiple mini interviews (MMI) style medical school interview. The MMI is a new type of interview that more and more Medical Schools are implementing. MMI’s further challenge Medical School applicants with scenarios that create ethical dilemmas. They aren’t necessarily trying to trick you but they do want you to have an intelligent opinion of the subject matter. Prepare yourself with Dr. Desai’s books to really have a strong foundation for these types of interviews.
#2 The Premed Playbook Guide to the Medical School Interview
If you are a premed student, chances are you are familiar with Dr. Ryan Gray and his famous Premed Years podcast.
Dr. Gray is a man with many years of experience helping premed students get into medical school.
He happened to write a couple of books and one of his most useful books is The Premed Playbook Guide to the Medical School Interview: Be Prepared, Perform Well, Get Accepted.
This book provides a step-by-step guide to everything about the medical school interview in a way that prepares you to enter the interview as a unique Human being instead of your typical Type A premed student who focuses to memorize everything. Not that being a type A premed student is a bad thing! Let’s be honest, we are all type A. The goal is to avoid coming across as a type A!
What Dr. Grey is best at is helping students understand the holistic approach to getting into medical school. Getting in is not about checking off boxes of the perceived medical school requirements checklist but rather about demonstrating how you will become the kind of physician admission committees will want when they need medical care. Kind, compassionate, and motivated.
This sort of mentality is evident in Dr. Grey’s Medical School Interview book.
#3 BeMo’s Ultimate Guide to Medical School Interview
BeMo’s Ultimate Guide to Medical School Interview is highly recommended in the premed community.
This book provides aspects of everything regarding Medical School interviews. From how to dress to how to act after the interview is over.
It also covers a variety of different kinds of interviews. 1 on 1, MMI, committee, and even the CASPer exam. For the price, you get a lot. BeMo knows that the Medical School interview is important, so their goal is to sharpen your skills so that you can be more than prepared for the big day.
Prepare For the Medical School Interview By Reading Books About Medicine
Aside from the books above which focus solely on Medical School interviews, I recommend reading books that will broaden and challenge your views about medicine.
Medicine is not black and white. Throughout your future career as a doctor, you will be put into situations that question your ethics. Medical Schools like to see students who will continue to educate themselves on the complexity of the medical career. They like when you have intelligent responses to questions that address issues in modern medicine.
There are a lot of great books out there that question all aspects of Medicine.
I wrote a post that specifically covers these books that I believe every premed should read before going into Medical School. These books are not only entertaining but they also cover the many challenges modern medicine faces. Technology, electronic records, increasing specialization, residency training, and much more.
Read my post on books every premed student should read.
Conclusion
Once again, these books are not meant to provide you a template for what you should say during your Medical School interviews. Rather they are designed to sharpen your skills as an interviewer.
At the end of the day, you need to be yourself and you need to be organic. Admission committee members interview thousands of students and they know which ones are truly genuine. You have worked hard to get to this point, just be the Medical School applicant you have worked so hard to be.