The Conversationalist

"Interview" is really a misnomer for the conversation that occurs between an applicant and Admissions Committee member. Interview seems to imply that one person is asking the questions, really grilling the other person, while the applicant spitfires rehearsed, trite, and long-winded answers. An interview does not at all describe what transpired between me and the first applicant with whom I spoke today. (Yes, I was scheduled for my first "interview" on Thursday, but a physician interviewer canceled, and I was recruited to take his place.)

Have a conversation with your interviewer. In fact, having a conversation is precisely what my Dean of Admissions instructed interviewers to do - to coax a conversation out of the applicant, to assess the genuineness and spontaneity of his or her answers, and to discern whether the applicant responds to the interviewer's facial expressions and body language, particularly when explaining potentially challenging topics such as research endeavors.

Today's applicant did a fantastic job embodying the conversationalist approach to interviews. I was impressed by his consistent eye contact, lack of fidgeting, and natural intuition regarding my level of interest in the things he described. In truth, the young man I interviewed today was far from the most outstanding applicant with whom I will speak this season, but his poise, sincerity, and articulateness were more than enough to impress me. "Two thumbs up."

Start Your Engines

For the most part, I applied to be on my school's admissions committee because of my interest in medical education. Ultimately, I hope to conduct research and teach medical students and residents at a large, academic institution, and as a result, most of my extracurricular activities in medical school have related to medical education in some way - curriculum development task forces, institutional accreditation committees, teaching and tutoring, etc. A year on the admissions committee seemed very consistent with my endeavors and sounded like a fun and educational way to give back to my school. Nonetheless, a portion of my motivation for joining the admissions committee was my desire to get a insider's look at the admissions process. Along with the other student committee members, I met with my school's Dean of Admissions yesterday to discuss the beginning of interview season. I have to tell you, I am absolutely giddy with excitement about the whole process getting underway.

Of course, I cannot share with you the specific rubrics we use to assess applicants or the voting procedures themselves. But, what I can do is continue to provide nuggets of information that will hopefully demystify the process and help you in your pursuit of the right school. Most importantly, what I learned at the meeting yesterday is that there is no "formula" for the perfect applicant. MCAT scores, GPAs, research, extracurriculars, and many other components are intimately interweaved and make each applicant very different. As my Dean of Admissions explained, every applicant we interview is qualified to attend our institution. In fact, about 1,000 of the applicants who don't get interviews are also qualified. Interviews go a long way toward distinguishing candidates, and ultimately the committee's gestalt coupled with some good luck leads to the creation of another diverse and immensely talented group of future physicians.

Stay tuned in. I'm conducting my first applicant interview on Thursday, and I can't wait to share with you what I learn about the process so that I can continue to provide with you honest and reliable advice.

Policy Prep

The state of American health care. This is a topic that terrified me when I was in your shoes four years ago (Fall 2007 - the 2008 election was just a year away, and "the health care debate" was all the rage). Even now, after almost four years of studying the health care system, reading about it, attending lectures, and observing as patients and physicians alike navigate though it, I admit to being confused. It is nearly impossible to master this ever-changing system, and luckily no interviewer is going to expect that of you.

That said, some interviewers will be more eager than others to talk shop. It simply can't hurt to have a few comments to contribute. The best way to do this is to keep up with current events. I recommend making a point to spend about 10 minutes each day reading about health care policy in the national paper of your choice. For me, that's the New York Times (click the Health link), but the Wall Street Journal also has great relevant pieces, as do other papers and news outlets with which I'm less familiar. Having an "issue" oriented approach to preparing rather than trying to learn the nitty-gritty of the health care system will prove much more fruitful (and much more fun). While you're at it, you may find interesting articles unrelated to policy but very relevant to the topics discussed on the interview trail. Here and here are two of my recent favorites.

In the Neighborhood

Many applicants apply to schools in "geographic clusters" - for example, every school in Chicago, New York, or northern California. If you don't live near your geographic clusters, then it is certainly ideal to avoid traveling back and forth multiple times. Sometimes, a brief email to the admissions office can alleviate your travel woes.  A sample:

Dear ___,  

I recently learned I will be in Boston on September 22 for an interview at another institution. Would it be at all possible to accommodate me for an interview at Tufts during the same week? I am very interested in interviewing at Tufts, and I am hoping to minimize travel as much as possible. Thanks for helping me with this matter.

Warmest regards, 

Sam Student

Additional suggestions:

• If you know the name of the person who receives correspondence for the admissions office of interest, include it; otherwise "Dear Admissions Committee" is sufficient.
• Do not share the name of the other school. You will appear either pretentious or desperate, neither of which is desirable.
• Be succinct and kind. The administrative assistants who work in the admissions offices are the people who can make things happen for you! 
• Finally, recognize this is a long shot. Some schools can and will accomodate you and others won't, but it is absolutely worth a shot.

Date Me? Errr, Update Me.

As I have previously mentioned, at almost every interview you will be asked, “Do you have any updates you would like the Admissions Committee to know about?” (previously discussed here and here).

The answer to this question is YES even if you suspect the answer may be no. Undoubtedly, you have done something between when you submitted your AMCAS and your interview! Whatever this is, you want to make it sound as good as possible.

If you have major accomplishments, publications, job changes, or leadership positions to report, then your job is easy. Practice succinctly articulating these updates. Additionally, prepare a document to leave with your interviewer. This can be a letter to the Admissions Committee, an updated CV/resume, or a bulleted list of updates. If an article was published, bring a copy. The point isn’t the format – it’s that you’re leaving a hardcopy of your update with the interviewer rather than relying on his or her memory to report these updates to the Committee. Your additions will likely become part of your applicant file. Moreover, a hardcopy of your update goes a long way toward making you look prepared, enthusiastic, and thoughtful. Bring several copies to your interview, as you will often have multiple interviews.

If you don’t have any major changes to your application, then the task may be a little more difficult. For starters, you don’t need an update letter or document – don’t highlight things that aren’t important. Instead, think of one thing you can genuinely explain to the interviewer – a new class that is engaging, a new task at your job, a new experience of some kind. Simply demonstrate that you are remaining engaged as your conquer the application and interview process.

Teeter-Totter

What a week! The Northeast survived an earthquake, and now we’re facing a hurricane. As for personal triumphs, in addition to finishing my residency application, I took my final medical school clerkship “shelf” exam.

The balancing act of strengths versus weaknesses and preparing for interviews

I have mixed feelings about “preparing” for interviews. I think it’s healthy to have a balance between rehearsed answers and organic spontaneity. Interviewers will see right through trite or overly-rehearsed responses to their questions, so use some restraint as you prepare. That said, there are a few questions you simply must be ready to answer.

• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• Do you have any updates you would like the Admissions Committee to know about? (briefly mentioned here; more details to come)
• Do you have any questions for me (the interviewer)?

The “strengths and weaknesses” question is a toughie. It’s easy to come up with glowing strengths but much harder to assess your own weaknesses. Moreover, you do not want your weaknesses to appear so weak that they case doubt of the quality of you as an applicant. A few things to consider:

• Be humble. Interviews are like a marketing campaign. Yes, you want to shed positive light on yourself. However, if your strengths are significantly stronger than your weaknesses are weak, it will appear as though you think very highly of yourself or are unable to self-assess and discover weaknesses (an important part of being a physician!).

• Use anecdotes. Actions speak louder than words, so be ready to support your strengths and weaknesses with an example. If a strength is “leadership,” have a **very brief** story prepared regarding a time when you demonstrated leadership.

• Put a positive spin on weakness. For example, if your weakness is that you find it challenging to delegate tasks to others, then be prepared to discuss how you’re working on this. You might say, “As I have taken on more leadership responsibility in ___ group, I have recognized how challenging it is to delegate tasks to others. I have been actively working with the group to assess individuals’ strengths as well as their interests in order to appropriately delegate the tasks we need to accomplish, and I feel like I have really grown this year in my ability to do so.” Ta-da! You practically demonstrated a strength.

Certainly, if a mock interview is available to you, go for it! And, if you have the luxury of scheduling a “safety school” interview first, that’s also nice, although most applicants won’t be so lucky.

Fast Forward

It may sound premature to think about residency when you’re not even in medical school yet, but I have a quick tip, and you will thank me later.

Save, save, and resave your medical school application materials. AMCAS information, personal statement, Secondaries – all of it. This will come in very handy when you are applying to residency and trying to remember which action verbs you used to describe the organizations with which you were involved in college! The past employment history will also come in handy. Moreover, you will likely never be a better writer than you are now, and you will be amazed at how many nicely written sentences you may want to pluck right out of your personal statement for medical school and drop into your residency application.

If you’re not already familiar, dropbox.com is a great place to store things like this given that the computer you’re using now will probably not be the one you’re using 4-5+ years from now.

(And of course, saving your materials is also a good idea in the short-term in case you are a re-applicant in the future.)