Aspiring medical student and your med school interviews are nearing? Read this article as we provide a guide on how to prepare for your medical school interview right from when you receive your invitation for the interview. Most of these tips will be useful for medical schools in the Caribbean.

Get in touch right away.

The first thing to keep in mind as you prepare for your med school interview is to respond to interview requests promptly. Given many students most interview committees are required to process, being prompt will give you an edge. If you don’t respond on time, the impression you are giving out is that you are not very interested in the program or the school. Do remember that some schools have more invitations for interviews than the slots available to them. Your promptness will therefore not just be respectful but might also ensure a sure chance to attend that interview. And more importantly, responding on time will let you choose the most convenient date and time to schedule your interview which will ensure that you can travel and attend the interview comfortably.

Determine your interview’s format.

The next thing you need to work on is finding out what interview format you will be facing. The traditional or panel medical school interviews are not as popular as they once were, although many schools still stick to that format. This format is relatively straightforward, involving one or more interviewers who take turns to ask questions. Note that traditional interviews can be closed or open files. In open file interviews, the panel has access to the application of the candidate as the interview takes place but in a closed interview, the interviewers do not have pre-access to your application form. Therefore, these interviews are very subjective as each interviewer will have a different set and style of questions. While some schools mandate a standard question pattern, some encourage a free-flowing conversation around key themes. If your interview format is not shared with you outright, don’t panic. Look up the school’s website or contact the help desk to learn more.

Keep practicing.

Although one should prepare for the commonly asked questions, know that you can’t predict every type of question you’ll be facing in the actual interview. Some questions may be based on ethical conduct, situational or scenario-based, policy questions based on current events, medical-legalities, rural vs city practice, alternative medicine, etc. Therefore, the key to practice for your interview is identifying the different possibilities of questions you could be asked and preparing a strategic answer for such questions so that you are not caught off-guard. Remember, practice makes it perfect.

With these tips, you will be all set to get started with your preparations. Be consistent and you will be perfectly fine in your interview.