Helloooooo -
This post is just a mishmash of random things that might be useful:
1) Arrive early
Interviews are stressful, don't make it worse by running late!
2) Know where it is and how to get there
Particularly important if you're travelling from far away / have never been to the town/city that the interview is in
3) Bring all the required documentation
Most interviews require some sort of ID and many will need either accompanying documentation (e.g.: Imperial completed checklist) or your invitation letter
4) Sleep well
The night before, it will be hard, but try and get a good night's sleep
5) Eat well
Eat a good breakfast if you're in the morning or a good lunch if you're in the afternoon as it will give you the energy to get through the interview
6) Body language
I can't remember the exact statistic but the majority of our communication does not actually happen through words but other non-verbal cues.
If you're sitting then don't cross you're arms as that appears closed off and defensive. Ladies, crossing your legs when in a skirt would probably be advisable! but if not, go for your legs close together (men also) with hands on your lap - they are then free to gesticulate (but don't wave them about like some sort of interpretative performer!!)
7) Your voice
Obviously, sound enthusiastic and involved in the conversation - don't be monotone and bored!
When something interests you, let the tone of your voice reflect it. When you're being more pensive/considering all options, change the tone to reflect that you can be serious.
8) SMILE
9) Be professional
If you can, walk in and shake their hands. If not, say hello (and even introduce yourself if that's not been done already) and look everyone in the eye
10) When you leave, thank them for their time
Those are just some quick tips - if you have any, add them in the comments section.
bye for now -
Dr Wannabe
xx
Thursday, 28 November 2013
Interviews: What to wear
Hello again,
So you've now got an interview invite (congrats - that's more than halfway there) and you've been preparing (see my previous post for tips). Its now the week before and you're trying to decide what to wear...!
Keep it simple and understated - essentially, what would you expect a consultant to wear if you had an appointment?
BOYS: a suit is always the best way to go because you cannot go wrong. I'd go for a dark colour (navy, black or dark grey) with a simple tie. Shoes should be clean and polished and make sure your hair is nicely cut and looks in order.
The biggest dilemma guys seem to have is: to beard or not to beard?!
Obviously if you've got a beard for cultural or religious reasons then you should 100% keep it.
If you have a beard for fashion reasons, then it depends. I like the trimmed beard/neat stubble look but it has to be neat. It can't just look like you forgot to shave for the past week. As with your clothes, the idea is to look professional and be clean and tidy.
A lot of people say doctors don't have beards but that's not true so just make sure you're comfortable with how you look and that everything looks neat, tidy and professional!!
GIRLS: a suit would work (either trousers or a longish skirt) but so would a smart pair of "dress" trousers with a plain coloured shirt and either a jacket, cardigan or jumper. For girls colour (e.g.: a coloured cardigan on top of a white shirt with black trousers) can be a nice, feminine touch but don't be too outrageous. Shoes should also be clean (and polished if they are leather). Hair should be neat, either tied back or away from your face.
Girls also face two beard-like dilemmas:
1) Heels or flats - well obviously no silettoes but a small heeled boot would be fine, but so are flats
2) Nail varnish - the NHS does have a dress code that states "nothing below the elbow" but this is an interview so if you have a nice, neutral colour (e.g.: nude or pink) then I think that should be fine.
For both girls and boys, you have to be comfortable in what you're wearing as interviews aren't the most comfortable of situations so you don't want to make it any worse - if you've bought new clothes or shoes, wear them once or twice so you feel comfortable (same can be said for boys who aren't used to wearing ties).
Post to come about other interview-related things (like body language, arriving early etc)
Dr Wannabe
xx
So you've now got an interview invite (congrats - that's more than halfway there) and you've been preparing (see my previous post for tips). Its now the week before and you're trying to decide what to wear...!
Keep it simple and understated - essentially, what would you expect a consultant to wear if you had an appointment?
BOYS: a suit is always the best way to go because you cannot go wrong. I'd go for a dark colour (navy, black or dark grey) with a simple tie. Shoes should be clean and polished and make sure your hair is nicely cut and looks in order.
The biggest dilemma guys seem to have is: to beard or not to beard?!
Obviously if you've got a beard for cultural or religious reasons then you should 100% keep it.
If you have a beard for fashion reasons, then it depends. I like the trimmed beard/neat stubble look but it has to be neat. It can't just look like you forgot to shave for the past week. As with your clothes, the idea is to look professional and be clean and tidy.
A lot of people say doctors don't have beards but that's not true so just make sure you're comfortable with how you look and that everything looks neat, tidy and professional!!
GIRLS: a suit would work (either trousers or a longish skirt) but so would a smart pair of "dress" trousers with a plain coloured shirt and either a jacket, cardigan or jumper. For girls colour (e.g.: a coloured cardigan on top of a white shirt with black trousers) can be a nice, feminine touch but don't be too outrageous. Shoes should also be clean (and polished if they are leather). Hair should be neat, either tied back or away from your face.
Girls also face two beard-like dilemmas:
1) Heels or flats - well obviously no silettoes but a small heeled boot would be fine, but so are flats
2) Nail varnish - the NHS does have a dress code that states "nothing below the elbow" but this is an interview so if you have a nice, neutral colour (e.g.: nude or pink) then I think that should be fine.
For both girls and boys, you have to be comfortable in what you're wearing as interviews aren't the most comfortable of situations so you don't want to make it any worse - if you've bought new clothes or shoes, wear them once or twice so you feel comfortable (same can be said for boys who aren't used to wearing ties).
Post to come about other interview-related things (like body language, arriving early etc)
Dr Wannabe
xx
Interviews: How to Prepare
Hello :)
So this is a post for all the lucky interview invite receivers - I'm currently sitting on one interview invite and complete silence from all others so I'm throwing everything into the one I've got!
Before I launch into what kind of things are good preparation, I thought I'd let you all know that TSR (the student room) has so many threads about medicine (graduate and school-leaver entry). Its absolutely amazing (I am indeed a member, which explains some of my silence on this - sorry!!) and a great source of information and a nice place to share your panic about not hearing anything!!
Panel Style Interviews (e.g.: Imperial GEM)
So for some this is the most daunting kind of interview - you in a room with 3+ people opposite you, grilling you on why they should let you be a doctor and why that should happen at their medical school. And yes - all of that is terrifying, but the benefit of this kind of interview is that if you're confident (or at least fake it for the 20-30 mins that it'll last) you can turn it into more of a formal conversation and then you'll relax and be able to shine!
This is the kind of interview I am about to face (in less than a week... ahhhh) so I'll be able to give some more information on what to expect when I've been through it but for now - how do you prepare?
1) Have an answer for "why do you want to be a doctor" type questions
So for this one, its very important to have clear reasons however it is just as important to not sound rehearsed (this can be said for all kinds of questions). When you're thinking about it, maybe lay out some bullet points so that you know in the interview that you've hit every point you wanted to say but you'll not sound rehearsed as you haven't written a speech.
Remember - don't just say you want to help people because there are many professions in a caring role. A good way to think about this is - why do you want to be a doctor and not a nurse? Both of these careers are in clinical, caring environments but what is it that attracts you to medicine specifically.... look at the GMC's document (tomorrow's doctors)
2) Know the uni/course
The "why do you want to come to X medical school" question should actually be one of the easier ones for you to answer as you chose it from the many possibilities for a reason.
I would definitely suggest looking at the website or prospectus again so that you can pick out the bits that attract you most. Essentially, they want to be flattered with this question!! The admission team want to know that if they offer you a place at their medical school that you know what you are in for and you will contribute (positively) to the medical school and university as a whole
3) Current affairs
In this kind of interview, it is very likely that they will either ask you how you keep up to date with medical issues in the news or ask you to tell them a medically-related story in the news that has interested you.
This seems like the most daunting kind of question to prepare for because news happens every day and how do you choose what's important? The key here is to choose something that actually does interest you!!
The BBC health page on their website is great for just a quick look at the headlines and then you can open up the articles and look into more detail.
If a story works well with your degree then even better as you can draw on your knowledge from uni (same can be said if you are working).
The best way to keep this task manageable is to spend half an hour on the internet/looking through journals and picking up what interests you... Also don't just be a sponge, think about what you're reading.
4) The NHS
Obviously know what it actually stands for: National Health Service (you'd be surprised by how many people stumble here from what I've heard!!)
So I'm guessing you've all heard about the Health and Social Care Act 2012 --- if you don't, make sure you do by the time your interview comes around because it may come up.
The Act was drawn up in 2012 and faced a lot of controversy but was finally passed and implemented in 2013, with an aim to complete all tasks by some point in 2014. I'm not going to summarise it here (unless there's a request for it) as its very complicated (and make this post farrrr too long!)
One thing I would say - this is a very big topic, it might not be the best idea to bring it up yourself unless you're 100% confident your facts are correct and your opinion is well founded.
5) Ethical Dilemmas
This one is a tough one but what you have to remember is that there is rarely a right and a wrong answer in these cases. The interviewers are looking more at your ability to form a coherent argument, that is balanced (so can see both sides of the issue) and if an opinion is given - that it is logically drawn out from the information and it can be substantiated.
If you took the UKCAT, these kinds of questions are essentially extended situational judgement questions.
This example shows that you may have a gut opinion but that's not the best way to answer ethical dilemma issues... As you can see, the conclusion does have an opinion but it presents both sides of the argument and illustrates the complex nature of the issue.
Assessment Centres (e.g.: Warwick)
I have applied to Warwick however they are rather tight-lipped about what exactly to expect but generally speaking - an assessment centre is a half day where various tasks are undertaken and you are assessed at each task.
Throughout the day, different tasks will test different skills, including - team work, empathy, good communication skills, motivation, drive to become a doctor (often tested in an essay).
The way to tackle these kind of interviews is to go about each task as yourself but remember you are being assessed - so if you prefer to be a leader, make sure that in some of the team work activities you take a step back and be part of the team showing that you know the importance of both leadership and teamwork. Having said that, don't suppress who you are and not say anything just so you don't come across as dominating!!
MMI (e.g.: KCL GEM)
MMIs are another different form of interviewing and importantly, they vary between universities. For example, MMIs at King's are actually a variety of 5 minute interviews so that you are being assessed at each 5 min interview on a different skill/task by different interviewers to eliminate the possibility of bias. In other universities it may be more of an assessment centre.
The key point of an MMI is to know that you will not be stationary (like in a panel style interview) - you will move between stations and you must try to keep concentration throughout the whole thing so that each interviewer can see what you've got to offer.
As with the panel-style interview, you should keep up to date with current affairs/ethical dilemmas and know why you want to study medicine as it could possibly be that each interviewer will ask you one question from those categories.
---
So that was just a brief summary of the various kinds of interviews universities offer for GEM applications - some are new to the interview system (e.g.: Southampton) and are doing a combination of a group task and individual interviews.
The key point I was trying to make is that you can be prepared although you cannot know exactly what to expect. Interviews are not the most comfortable situations but try and keep your cool so your awesomeness can shine through!
Just about to write a post about what to wear etc etc so be on the look out for that :)
Dr Wannabe
xxx
So this is a post for all the lucky interview invite receivers - I'm currently sitting on one interview invite and complete silence from all others so I'm throwing everything into the one I've got!
Before I launch into what kind of things are good preparation, I thought I'd let you all know that TSR (the student room) has so many threads about medicine (graduate and school-leaver entry). Its absolutely amazing (I am indeed a member, which explains some of my silence on this - sorry!!) and a great source of information and a nice place to share your panic about not hearing anything!!
Panel Style Interviews (e.g.: Imperial GEM)
So for some this is the most daunting kind of interview - you in a room with 3+ people opposite you, grilling you on why they should let you be a doctor and why that should happen at their medical school. And yes - all of that is terrifying, but the benefit of this kind of interview is that if you're confident (or at least fake it for the 20-30 mins that it'll last) you can turn it into more of a formal conversation and then you'll relax and be able to shine!
This is the kind of interview I am about to face (in less than a week... ahhhh) so I'll be able to give some more information on what to expect when I've been through it but for now - how do you prepare?
1) Have an answer for "why do you want to be a doctor" type questions
So for this one, its very important to have clear reasons however it is just as important to not sound rehearsed (this can be said for all kinds of questions). When you're thinking about it, maybe lay out some bullet points so that you know in the interview that you've hit every point you wanted to say but you'll not sound rehearsed as you haven't written a speech.
Remember - don't just say you want to help people because there are many professions in a caring role. A good way to think about this is - why do you want to be a doctor and not a nurse? Both of these careers are in clinical, caring environments but what is it that attracts you to medicine specifically.... look at the GMC's document (tomorrow's doctors)
2) Know the uni/course
The "why do you want to come to X medical school" question should actually be one of the easier ones for you to answer as you chose it from the many possibilities for a reason.
I would definitely suggest looking at the website or prospectus again so that you can pick out the bits that attract you most. Essentially, they want to be flattered with this question!! The admission team want to know that if they offer you a place at their medical school that you know what you are in for and you will contribute (positively) to the medical school and university as a whole
3) Current affairs
In this kind of interview, it is very likely that they will either ask you how you keep up to date with medical issues in the news or ask you to tell them a medically-related story in the news that has interested you.
This seems like the most daunting kind of question to prepare for because news happens every day and how do you choose what's important? The key here is to choose something that actually does interest you!!
The BBC health page on their website is great for just a quick look at the headlines and then you can open up the articles and look into more detail.
If a story works well with your degree then even better as you can draw on your knowledge from uni (same can be said if you are working).
The best way to keep this task manageable is to spend half an hour on the internet/looking through journals and picking up what interests you... Also don't just be a sponge, think about what you're reading.
4) The NHS
Obviously know what it actually stands for: National Health Service (you'd be surprised by how many people stumble here from what I've heard!!)
So I'm guessing you've all heard about the Health and Social Care Act 2012 --- if you don't, make sure you do by the time your interview comes around because it may come up.
The Act was drawn up in 2012 and faced a lot of controversy but was finally passed and implemented in 2013, with an aim to complete all tasks by some point in 2014. I'm not going to summarise it here (unless there's a request for it) as its very complicated (and make this post farrrr too long!)
One thing I would say - this is a very big topic, it might not be the best idea to bring it up yourself unless you're 100% confident your facts are correct and your opinion is well founded.
5) Ethical Dilemmas
This one is a tough one but what you have to remember is that there is rarely a right and a wrong answer in these cases. The interviewers are looking more at your ability to form a coherent argument, that is balanced (so can see both sides of the issue) and if an opinion is given - that it is logically drawn out from the information and it can be substantiated.
If you took the UKCAT, these kinds of questions are essentially extended situational judgement questions.
Example - should alcoholics get liver transplants?
Answer -
YES - everyone has the right to treatment
NO - they have knowingly caused damage to their liver (aka it's their fault/self-inflicted) so why should they
BUT......
It isn't that simple is it?!
Better Answer -
1) everyone has the right to treatment so it is the doctor's duty to do everything they can to help their patient
2) organs donated for transplantation are a very precious gift and they shouldn't be wasted - i.e. will the alcoholic patient just destroy this liver?
3) alcoholism is an addiction aka a disease aka that also needs to be treated
Conclusion - if the patient can become sober therefore look after the liver and getting over their addiction then yes, they should get it. However, it would be a very tough call to make if there was another non-alcoholic patient that also required a liver transplant
Assessment Centres (e.g.: Warwick)
I have applied to Warwick however they are rather tight-lipped about what exactly to expect but generally speaking - an assessment centre is a half day where various tasks are undertaken and you are assessed at each task.
Throughout the day, different tasks will test different skills, including - team work, empathy, good communication skills, motivation, drive to become a doctor (often tested in an essay).
The way to tackle these kind of interviews is to go about each task as yourself but remember you are being assessed - so if you prefer to be a leader, make sure that in some of the team work activities you take a step back and be part of the team showing that you know the importance of both leadership and teamwork. Having said that, don't suppress who you are and not say anything just so you don't come across as dominating!!
MMI (e.g.: KCL GEM)
MMIs are another different form of interviewing and importantly, they vary between universities. For example, MMIs at King's are actually a variety of 5 minute interviews so that you are being assessed at each 5 min interview on a different skill/task by different interviewers to eliminate the possibility of bias. In other universities it may be more of an assessment centre.
The key point of an MMI is to know that you will not be stationary (like in a panel style interview) - you will move between stations and you must try to keep concentration throughout the whole thing so that each interviewer can see what you've got to offer.
As with the panel-style interview, you should keep up to date with current affairs/ethical dilemmas and know why you want to study medicine as it could possibly be that each interviewer will ask you one question from those categories.
---
So that was just a brief summary of the various kinds of interviews universities offer for GEM applications - some are new to the interview system (e.g.: Southampton) and are doing a combination of a group task and individual interviews.
The key point I was trying to make is that you can be prepared although you cannot know exactly what to expect. Interviews are not the most comfortable situations but try and keep your cool so your awesomeness can shine through!
Just about to write a post about what to wear etc etc so be on the look out for that :)
Dr Wannabe
xxx
I'm the worst blogger ever...!!!!
Hi all -
As the post suggests, I'm the worst blogger ever and haven't said anything in WEEEEEKS.... sorry dear cyber friends - this is my apology post and I am now off to write an interview post - say tuned.
Dr Wannabe
xx
As the post suggests, I'm the worst blogger ever and haven't said anything in WEEEEEKS.... sorry dear cyber friends - this is my apology post and I am now off to write an interview post - say tuned.
Dr Wannabe
xx
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