Medical science interview

Valley's_girl

Hi my son has just finished his foundation year at uni and is due to go back in October, he did really well in his exams and has the chance to apply for Medical science. He has an interview on monday and is really nervous just wondering has anyone had one of these interviews, and have any thoughts on what they ask so he has some idea, he thinks he will mess the interview up.

I really hope he is lucky with this course we have had such a bad year and hope this is a postive start for him.
Best wishes
Ally x

Esqulax

First of all, REALLY well done!
I've been appplying for med school for 2 years unsuccessfully!(Im not sure of the difference, but i'm going for Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery)

Normally, there will be three people, head(or deputy) of the department, a senior professor, and possibly an older med student.
They're there for the experience, but also for an empathetic ear, because they were in that position not so long ago.
First peice of advice, although its hard.. take a deep breath and be as relaxed as you can.

They'll talk to you about your personal staement, ask you to expand on a few point, especially career wise.. Where do you want to go with this? Why did you choose this path? Why this uni?
Also for the BM,BS, you are given a case study, about 20 mins before the interview. you have to read through it, and they will ask you a few Q's about it, like wat would you do, how would you feel.
Theyre not looking for medically based answers (because you wont know them yet) but more.. what your gut feeling would be, to see that youre mature enough to deal with the scenario, notice the details. This is where the relaxing comes in. you have to be really honest read it throught, and just tell them how it is.
Its a VERY scary prospect, even the second time round, but theyre looking for the ability to think a problem through, come up with a viable solution, and have reasons for it.
If you have some common sense and a bit of intellegence (which you have to get this far) , there is no wrong or right answer (apart from silly things like "push them down the stairs") its not what theyre looking for.. its how you think about it.

Those people in front of you were there aswell, they KNOW how nervous you are, and how much you dont know.. thats why your there.. to learn.

Good luck with it, and I honestly mean that from the bottom of my heart

(Obviously "you" refers to your son.. was just easier to type )

Valley's_girl

Thanks Esqulax that is brilliant my son has read it and can't believe how helpful you have been.:T
He rang up the uni today they knew nothing about his application form that he took in to the uni in May, must of got lost, thankfully they were really helpful and they made him an appointment for monday.
Thanks again for your help we really appreciate it.
Good luck with your course and best wishes for your future.
Love Ally x

Oldernotwiser

Esqulax wrote: »

First of all, REALLY well done!
I've been appplying for med school for 2 years unsuccessfully!(Im not sure of the difference, but i'm going for Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery)

Medical Science degrees are not intended for people wanting to become doctors and are not the same as going to med school. A few may offer a route into this for a small number of students (I believe Glamorgan does) but that's not what these degrees are for.

I think that your advice would be sound for med school interviews but interviews for Medical Science degrees (if one is required) will be rather less formal and rigorous.

Valley's_girl

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Medical Science degrees are not intended for people wanting to become doctors and are not the same as going to med school. A few may offer a route into this for a small number of students (I believe Glamorgan does) but that's not what these degrees are for.

I think that your advice would be sound for med school interviews but interviews for Medical Science degrees (if one is required) will be rather less formal and rigorous.

Hi older thanks matt knows this and he is in Glamorgan uni, apparently a small amount of students if their results are good will be selected to study medicine at Cardiff uni at Year 2.
It is good to know that the interview is likely to be less formal.
Thanks both I will let you know how he gets on.
Best wishes
Ally x

Broke_Student

Hi.

I am a second year med student but have sat interviews for other science courses in the past (Bio Chemistry and Biomedical Sciences).

I would advise you to lay off advice on medical school interviews - applications are in a different world to anything else and the interviews have different objectives.

An interview for a medical sciences course will be alot 'easier' and layed back. It should be approached with the mind set that they are only interviewing you because they want to make you an offer - just don't give them a reason not to withdraw the offer.

I expect that your son will be asked questions on
- why he wants to go to that uni
- why he wants to study that course
- what he can contribute to the uni (e.g. which sports clubs might he join)
- ambitions for the future

If he gets the impression the interviewer is having an informal chat then I would advise him to treat it as one and not get nervous (an extreme example is when I spent most of an interview in Manchester talking about Hollyoaks and the student bar and recieved an offer in the interview).
Answer interview questions with abit of confidence and ambition and hopefully he will get the offer. He should try to make the interviewer feel like he wants to go there (which he really does!). To seal the deal he can maybe end the interview by asking question of his own - this will show them that he has a real interest in the course/university.

Good luck.

edit: To add, I would advise him not to mention in the interview that he his doing to course so he can later study medicine/transfer (if that's the case). This ambition sadly does not materialise for most people and it will seem like he is only doing the course because he has to not because he wants to.

Valley's_girl

Hi Broke student Thanks for your great advice, matt is in work at the moment so when he gets in I will show him your message.

Forgot to mention my son knows the man who is going to interview him, he has been to his lectures for biology, not sure if this is going to be a good thing or not.
We will wait and see.
Thanks again
Ally x