|  Author | Topic: NO CHAT THREAD: Previous interview experiences (Read 40,119 times) |
kimmy
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|  | NO CHAT THREAD: Previous interview experiences
« Thread Started on Mar 2, 2007, 4:44pm » | |
UQ Interview 2006 (for 2007 entry)
My interviewers were running 30 mins late, and I had to wait in interview room by myself for 30 mins because everyone else went in on time. 6 panels doing 7 interviews each/day.
Questions:
Tell us about yourself.
Why medicine?
How will your life change when you are studying medicine?
How do you deal with criticism?
Personal strengths/weaknesses
What would you change about yourself?
Good and bad group situations, when did you have to lead a group?
Biggest disappointment and how did you deal with it
Definitions: Laser, photosynthesis, insulin, minority group- can't remember the others.
Debate/discussion: Stem cells
Story about home extension
Where have you formed your opinions of the medical profession?
1 male (GP), 1 female (IT consultant)
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Mimieux
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|  | University of Sydney - MMI format - 2007 Entry
« Reply #1 on Mar 2, 2007, 5:44pm » | |
The USyd interview experience was interesting to say the least. We went up in groups of 8 and had to wait outside a door each, in a hallway. There were 8 rooms. A bell would ring, we'd go in to find a person sitting behind a desk, and on each desk, a laminated A4 sheet with a scenario written on it. We had to read it, then give our thoughts on it to the examiner. After we had answered, they would change the conditions of the scenario, or probe further. There were about 5 further questions / condition changes for each. A bell would ring eventually (I think we were given about 8 minutes to answer, I can't remember), and we had to leave the room, and go and wait outside the next door - everyone would rotate and the whole thing would be repeated. I've seen two people from my group who got in uni - they were both people who I chatted to between each room!
It's really really important not to try and impress and wow the examiners with your superior intelligence or if they query you on something, completely change your argument to agree with them. For the former you'll look like a tool (they know you're intelligent, that's why you're sitting there), and for the latter, well, they're looking for integrity, not someone who will agree with anyone they think will get them ahead. The interview is about personality, not intelligence or sucking up, or the right answers. For this particular interview, there are no right answers, you are marked based on the qualities of character you display. I know people who got in and we all had completely different answers, but the things we had in common were honesty and friendliness and the ability to stick to our guns even if some old guy was arguing blue in the face with us!
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Kurly
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2007
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| | Griffith University - 2007 Entry
« Reply #2 on May 14, 2007, 6:20pm » | |
Griffith Uni 2007 entry Interview:
For my interview I had a panel of 3 interviewers, one of whom came to collect me and take me back to the interview room. 10 minutes prior to the interview we were given a scenario sheet to read and come up with several hypothesis about it. You had to identify the key points and come up with ideas of how they fit certain scenarios/hypothesis. Upon entering the interview room I was asked to explain the hypothesis I came up with and use the whiteboard to present these ideas. I then had to summarise which idea was most likely and why.
After this I was given a further few paragraphs to read containing information relating to the scenario. I was then asked how this effected the previous ideas I had presented and whether it made others now more likely than the ones I initially favoured and if so why. This task was basically just to assess whether you can read a lot of information, pull out the key points and come up with ideas to explain them, just like you have to do in PBL.
After this I was asked why did I want to study medicine, then given another scenario to read. If memory serves me correctly it had something to do with particpating in a PBL and one of the members was not contributing properly and how would you deal with this. Further questions stemmed from this scenario such as whats good and bad about working in a group
etc etc
There was then another scenrio to read, don't remeber what exactly and further questions such as how will studying medicine at griffith change your life? what do you do to relax etc etc
I think there was another scenrio to read based on group dynamics not working together well and what you would do to deal with the situation? etc etc Followed by a few more typical type med entry questions such as how will you support yourself, what will you do if you don't get in? what kind of ethical dilemas would you expect to come across etc etc
The interview wound up with my being asked if there was anything I wished to add or did I have any questions. I did ask a couple of questions and gave a quick 20 second wrap up on myself and why I was a good candidate for medicine then thanked the interviewers for the opporutnity to be there.
One of the interviewers through out was trying to rush things through. He told me to be concise and to the point with the first scenario and gave me wind up signals as well. I think this was a tactic to see how I reacted but I did not let it put me off (as he started doing it after I had only presented a one sentance hypothesis). Mostly the interviewers were friendly easy going and laid back. I went in anticipating this interview to be a practice for me not expecting to get in, I think this took a lot of pressure off me. I prepared for it well but treated it as a learning experience.
The best advice I can give is this, be prepared, be yourself, have an idea about how you personallly would answer some of these questions and how your own personal experiences in the past have demonstrated how you would react in scenarios given. Don't have a word for word preprepared response though. The scenarios do change each year but they are designed to show how you communicate and whether you display the attributes in them that the university wants to see in its students. Checkout the Griffith website for the attributes they look for. Try and think of examples of when you have displayed them.
Most importantly of all sell yourself. The interviewers know nothing about you, you need to show them and convince them why they need to pick you. Maintain eye contact and a friendly demenour, keep your answers short and concise and try to relax and enjoy the interview.
I hope this helps!!! Good luck to interviewees this year. any further questions post them in the appropriate section or PM me.
cheers Kurly
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milo
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Flinders University
2008
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| | Flinders University - 2007 Entry
« Reply #3 on Jun 7, 2007, 12:04am » | |
following from the Flinders thread, here is my 2006 interview experience (with bits and pieces pasted in from other threads)... Bear in mind that its been a while so some bits maybe hazy.
Flinders med school arranges for a first year medical student to ferry you around when you arrive for your interview. Mine was an international student (American) who although nice was a bit distracted but I guess so was I. 
When you arrive you register at the desk, and meet your 'meddie'. You'll sit in a waiting room with a few other hopefuls, and tremble in nervous anticipation together. Although there will be food and drink aplenty, you'll probably feel sick just looking at it.
When your time comes, your name will be called up and you'll be given a scenario to read up on, and led to sit in a prep room. There were 5 others in there with me, all of us a bit pasty white, cramming and making notes. I think you are given about 5-10 minutes from memory.
As the interview panels turn over, one by one, you'll be called out from the room, and led (by your trusty meddie) to your interview room. They'll introduce you to the panel and the panel will introduce themselves to you.
And now the fun begins...
I had 3 on my panel: a research scientist and lecturer with the med school (man), a consultant ObsGyn (man) and a high up medical administrator (woman). I hear that there was supposed to be a 'lay' panel member but I can't think who it would be for me...
Anyhow...
As I sat down (careful not to cross my legs, slouch, fiddle with my fingernails, and all the other squillion things I was told but anyone and everyone not to do) the woman explained that the 'schedule' for the interview: they were going to ask questions then run through the pre-prepped scenario then do more questions. I was a little thrown by this as I expected to get the scanario out of the way first.
First off they just made chit chat, but then all of sudden they were pinging questions at me at a rapid rate. Some they read off the sheet in front of them, some they seemed to make up. They also occassionally passed me little cards with simple scenarios on them and asked questions about them.
All panel members had a clipboard and were making notes as the interview went on. I found this quite distracting as there was no eye contact so sometimes I felt like I was talking to the wall... I also had very little reaction from my panel members to my answers. It almost felt like they were trying NOT to get involved. I even asked at one point if I was on the right track after a particularly long 'talking to the wall' period... (that made them look up btw  )
I can't remember all the questions anymore but I posted a list of questions (not just from Flinders but other Unis) here if ppl are interested.
After the initial bout of questions, they asked me to describe the pre-prepared scenario.
(pasted in from the Flinders Uni thread)
The thing with the initial scenario is that you have to use the whiteboard to present/describe it to the interview panel. I think it would help if you practised explaining a story to your friends/family using flow diagrams etc etc so that you could get your point across clearly and concisely.
My advice would be not to stress but to 'think on your feet'. It doesn't really matter if you get anything wrong as such, its more about being able to communicate effectively and evaluate the info as it comes to you. Last years' scenario was about a carpark of all things!
Like I think I've mentioned before, you'll get more little scenarios thoughout the interview but these will be shorter and designed more to test specific aptitudes/qualities (empathy, perceptiveness, decision-making skills, ability to work with others etc etc)... There is not much you can do to prepare for these - best thing is to just be yourself on the day and try and relax.
Lastly, they asked if there was anything I'd like to add. I also thought about this before so I added a few things but it was mostly just stuff from the heart rather than rehearsed.
I think my interview took about 40-45 minutes.
I was led out to the waiting room again by the ObsGyb guys, and told to wait in case they had any follow up questions. He reappeared 5 minutes later and said that I was free to go.
My meddie then offered me a tour of the school and I finally regained my appetite!
One thing that I would recommend to everyone (if you haven't done this already) is to be very clear about your reasons for applying to do med. They asked me what steps I went through to determine that it was the career for me, and I'm glad that I mulled over this for some time beforehand as even a simple question like this can lead to a convoluted answer, despite one's best intentions.
good luck all. 
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sheep
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Griffith University
2007
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| | Griffith University - 2007 Entry
« Reply #4 on Jun 11, 2007, 6:47pm » | |
Further to Kurly's excellent wrap up for the Griffith interviews ...
I've had 2 (1 successful, one not). The second Kurly has summed up pretty well!
The first was in 2005, I was jetlagged, ill, and altogether not getting along well with my interviewers I'll see what I can remember from that ...
I had 2 or 3 interviewers, 2 female and maybe a male (it was a long time ago!).
The scenario was that Sue owned a diner, and while she went away on holidays for a week, sales dropped. There were other things about the location of the diner, that they sold petrol too, who was left in charge. We had to hypothesise about reasons, and back them up. We were given more information, and asked to elaborate.
In the interview part, there was:
Why medicine?
What are your hobbies? How will you handle not having time for any of them?
Are you close to your family? How will you handle not seeing them?
How will you support yourself through medicine?
As people may remember from the last board, I had an extremely negative first interview. My interviewers seemed intent on making me as nervous as possible, and giving me as little free reign as possible. I found it impossible to engage them in conversation, or find any common ground. My least favourite question was how will you support yourself ... they would not let the question slide until I said I would have to do some work if the other options I had (scholarship, centrelink, wealthy unknown relative dying - I may have just made that last one up) were unavailable - then they seemed to put a big mental cross over me 
My 2006 interview was fantastic however. I had 1 female and 2 males, who were all lovely. One of the males was a retired doctor about 80 years old and played the crotchety old man very well (I prefer to think he was playing a role ). The others were one of the university staff, and an architect.
I felt immediately at ease, and rather than being an interview it was more like a conversation.
So remember, if you get in there and the conversation flows, go with it! Showing that communication ability is far more important than spouting off about your 132923 hours of community volunteering in sick orphans with dead puppies organisation. Or maybe not - I can't compare it.
Also, if you find yourself getting defensive or anything in your interview, take a deep breath, take some of the water that they offer (or from your own water bottle!), and take a few seconds to compose yourself, and mentally start over. If you get off on a bad start, remember the ending will matter far more! If you get off on a good foot, then the rest will come easily
WB: delete personal identifying info for privacy.
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subterranean
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Fremantle
2007
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| | NOTRE DAME FREO - 2007 Entry
« Reply #5 on Jun 18, 2007, 9:23pm » | |
NOTRE DAME FREO INTERVIEWS
Length: Approx 35-40 minutes long.
Interviewed by: We were interviewed by 3 people - an academic, a doctor and someone from the community.
Interviews ran over 3 days last year.
They do not have any info on you other than your name when you walk in. One of the students welcomes you at the door and they take you to a 'holding room' - there are about 7-8 people interviewed at a time so you all wait there to be called in. Some of the 1st year students are there as well to chat with and answer questions (and hopefully loosen up the nerves!). After the interview you all go back to that room and wait to see if they need to call you back in for more questions... this is where you can really freak yourself out.
I found the interviewers really lovely... although I know with some people they chased up questions a lot more than myself... but I had no problems. As a general rule be prepared to justify your answers.
THE QUESTIONS??
Ok here I don't want to give anyone too much of an unfair advantage by listing questions. So I will say this - the ND interview last year was not by the whole rocket science. They do ask many obvious questions. SO.. I would say to think about why you want to be a doctor and why you would like to go to ND.
Last year they gave each person two scenarios - one was generally more an ethical based scenario and the second a clinical scenario (but does not require prior knowledge dont worry!). Think along the lines of common sense, being empathetic and considering all the psychosocial elements that may impact a patient.
In terms of other questions... have a good long think about teamwork, how you fit into a team, the good and bad of being a doctor..
I think you really just have to come across as honest, have genuine empathy and have good motivation for wanting to be a doctor and study at ND. After the interview you can have a little tour and look around the campus. Offers were sent out relatively quickly - about 3 weeks after the interview last year. First round offers were the CSP's and MRBS - followed by 2nd/3rd round offers approx 3 weeks later (consisting of any left-overs plus BMP's and FFP's).
Good luck!
Sub.
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| | Galtaforce: University of Melbourne (2006 Entry)
« Reply #6 on Jul 17, 2007, 7:31pm » | |
The following was originally posted by Galtaforce.
Also note that I did my interview back in September of 2005 although I don't think anything has changed since then.
The Melbourne interview is your stock standard panel interview. They put you in front of a faculty member, another doctor and a non-medical community representative for 30 minutes.
The questions are really all you'd expect from this sort of interview with a few exceptions. Be ready to talk about:
Why you want to do medicine and why you're suited to a career as a doctor
The pros and cons of being a medical student/doctor and what you've done to find out about them
Your support networks and how you'll get through the course
Stress management
What makes good and bad doctors
What you know about post graduate training
You'll also have to answer typical job interview style questions on leadership, team work, dealing with difficult people, difficult decisions and their consequences.
Somewhere in the interview you will be provided with an ethical situation. It will be along the lines of "you are a medical student and the doctor asks you to see Mrs So and So who has...." and you are asked to tell the panel what you would do/say to the patient. You may also be asked something about the behaviour/mood/feelings of the patient.
In another section of the interview, you'll have to explain a technical scientific term as you would to a patient - avoiding scientific jargon.
That's about it really. They'll put you in a holding cell after the interview while they deliberate and reach an agreement about you. If they let you out quickly they all agreed that you either sucked or rocked. If they take ages, they can't agree and there's a chance you'll have to do a second interview in front of a new panel.
In the end it worked out great for me although it was probably the most stressful experience of my life ![[image]](http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3/pagingdr/Forum/smileys/eusa_clap.gif)
Finally, some general advice:
Don't be an impersonal hard-arse. Smile, enjoy the chance to chat with the panel. Show some of your personality and try to relax.
Shake the hands of the panel members as you enter and remember their names so you can use them when you finish and leave.
Don't stress about what to wear, just look nice.
Don't go in with memorised answers - they'll spot it and you'll look and feel stupid even though you may "sound" good.
Practice chatting about why you want to do med with family and friends
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Artanis
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2007
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| | University of Melbourne (2007 entry)
« Reply #7 on Aug 15, 2007, 2:18am » | |
Melbourne Interview 2006
My experience of the Melbourne interview is still quite fresh in my mind even though it was 10 months ago.
The interview is structured and goes for approximately 30 minutes but can be shorter or longer so don’t freak out if you are done in 20 minutes. The interviews are run by a 3 member panel with many interviews being run in parallel rooms. If you have the opportunity, perhaps strike up a small convo with fellow interviewees outside to build up some confidence to speak freely. You are seated in the waiting room for a few minutes, which gave me a chance to dispel last minute nerves.
The panel consists of like Galta said, a community member, department member and practicing doctor. One interesting thing to note is that one of them has been assigned to play the bad-cop. This has been corroborated with others in my cohort. This person will act bored, uninterested, look at their watch, out the window etc. Don’t let this distract you from giving your answers. In my case the doctor was a glum old fellow who barely shook my hand and looked like he would rather be elsewhere! The other two members were very nice and friendly though. There were no tables, just 3 seats with them holding their questions and you sitting close to them. Good posture and body language always help.
First question off the bat obviously is “Why do you want to be a doctor?” Each of us have our own motivations and reasons for wanting to pursue a medical career. Make sure you clearly demonstrate that you have given alot of thought into this matter, not just – ‘Err…I like to help people and I’ve been to the hospital and it seems like a nice job.’
Next question – “Tell us about a difficult decision you made and how did you come about to making it” or something like that. At times they use further probing questions to get more details or clarify a point you are making, like “Did you consult anyone for information?”. They ended with “And were you happy with the decision you made?”. I guess what you to demonstrate your ability to weigh up all factors, options, advantages/diadv, opinions and information to come to an informed decision.
One of the Paging Dr members who did well on the interview last year described the unique difficulties she had whilst making a pudding the night prior!  I guess the confidence and humour of the odd response was a welcome change.
Next question – “Describe a situation where you demonstrated teamwork”. Which could easily be interchanged with leadership. Follow on question revolved around team members who don’t equally contribute or a difficult team member and how you would approach and resolve that. General job interview type stuff.
As Galta listed – “What will be your support networks and how you'll get through the course”. A person in my cohort took a little while to get to the point, and they had to eventually ask her “What about your friends and family?” Pretty obvious stock standard answer, so feel free to elaborate and add something personal and unique
This one luckily I was prepared for – “What you know about post graduate training”. Illustrate that you are aware and have researched Medicine beyond university. That Medicine involves life long self learning and all that jazz Post-graduation, specialties, colleges, options etc.
The detechnicalize section where they want you to explain a scientific term in layman’s language (to a patient) is more or less a communication exercise. Use various analogies and breakdown compound words if you can (eg. photo-synthesis). Simplicity and clarity are key. A few examples to practice on include: gene, photosynthesis, biodiversity, catalyst, cell, hormone, global warming etc. Practise with your parents or younger siblings.
Next communication exercise involved a hypothetical scenario. I had a case of an Aboriginal woman that was having concerns with some disease that her cousin had also got. Follow on questions involve how would you communicate - “What would you say?”, followed by what other ways would you be able to observe her dilemma or something. So basically to do with non-verbal cues like body language, posture, expression etc. Your ability to demonstrate empathy and recognize communication barriers is also a part of this I think
A question that I had encountered in a practice run with a former board member (Head of my Honours lab) was regarding what would you do if someone was seeking medical advice and you were a 1st year student. For example if a neighbour had a lump and was wondering if it could be cancer. He described how once a girl started blabbing on about elaborate medical facts and advice, which was not a good choice. You are suppose to acknowledge that being 1st year you are incapable of imparting medical advice and should refer the matter to someone senior who can.
Next question I hope I answered well. “What do you believe in the difference between the undergrad and postgrads”. I harped on about something to do with maturity, life experience/backgrounds, more certain of their goal/ambitions etc. As they say, us grads have been shown to end up as better doctors
Next question I’m pretty sure I messed up by giving bland generic answers. “What challenges does Medicine face in the future?”. I still am not sure of the what they wanted, I always ponder about if I had said something about the demands of the ageing population, superbug pandemics, obesity/diabetes demands, or the implications of genetics/genomes on privacy and treatment. So in case where you are caught off guard, give yourself sometime to think of a decent answer instead of blurting out junk heh.
That was how i recall my interview, but also be prepared for questions relating to ethics, stress, goals, strengths/weaknesses, alternative career, negative aspects, course structure, why Melbourne, life challenges etc.
Some advice I got from the former interviewer was most importantly to be yourself. If you answer truthfully you should do fine. Try not to panic but if you do just take a few short breaths. Give yourself a few seconds to think about each question before answering to make sure you are saying what they are asking. Obviously prepared answers they can be detected quite easily. Something fresh and unique would surely stand out among the many applicant responses.
Smile and exude your enthusiasm at wanting to study and practice Medicine. Good luck guys, all the best with your preparation
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| | University of Melbourne - 2006 Entry
« Reply #8 on Aug 19, 2007, 1:51pm » | |
Galtaforce
The interview panel consists of 3 people:
* A member of the faculty staff
* Another doctor
* A member of the community who is not a doctor
The interview consists of questions and verbal answers only. No group-based tasks, mind games or otherwise. Interviews go for half an hour.
The interview was quite formal in nature and mine ran exactly to time. There's no real opportunity for informal chatter. I was given a chance to ask questions at the end though I don't think I had anything to ask the panel.
As far as the questions go, just think carefully about why you're going to do medicine, how you'll cope and think about the role of the medical student in a health care scenario. Also be ready to explain a scientific concept in very, very, simple language.
After the interview, they place you in a "holding chamber" where you wait until you are told you can leave. This is when the panel checks they all had similar scores for you. If you get let out quickly, there's been little debate amongst the panel - they either all loved or hated you or all thought you were in the middle ground. If there's no agreement amongst the panel, you may be asked to return for a second interview (with an entirely different panel) later in the day. I'm yet to hear from a student to whom this happened though.
Your interview is scored from 1 - 5 which is the direct metric used for selection into the course. Ties are broken by GAMSAT and GPA.
Kai
Following on from Galtaforce regarding Melbourne's interview, it's a good idea to think about a time in your life when you've...
- Had to make a hard decision
- helped someone
- Worked in a team, including all the good and bad aspects of it and how you handled it.
It's also important to identify your strengths and weaknesses, to understand medical ethics and have a good and realistic idea of the paths one can take post-med degree.
SOME ADVICE...
I noticed, when waiting to be called for my interview that other potentials in my interview group all wore the same drab grey or black suits. My personal advice is to wear something distinctive, whilst still appearing neat, clean and most of all, professional in an effort to help demarcate you from the pack at the get-go.
The interview is designed to test your intelligent, discover your motives etc., but it's also designed to get an idea of your personality. As such, I think that's its best to present yourself rather than a facade to the panel, in both appearance and in answers. When they ask for examples, give them something that you experienced, rather than something you heard about, so they can get to know you. I also believe it's important to go in with your own agenda containing what you want them to know about you. They aren't necessarily going to ask you about your volunteering experiences directly, but you can work it into one of your other examples.
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gemmbo
Medical Student
University of
Western Australia
2008
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| | UWA Interview - 2007 Entry
« Reply #9 on Aug 19, 2007, 2:38pm » | |
UWA interview 2007 entry
The interview was held at the QEII medical centre (where the faculty of medicine is located) not the uni. The interview lasted approx 20mins followed by a listening exercise which lasted approx 15mins. We were able to choose the date and the time of the interview - I chose Friday 13th October - YES, it was BLACK FRIDAY!
There were 4 interviews on at the same time as mine. All four of us were seated in a holding area with two current med students after we arrived. Here they gave us name tags and we had a bit of a chat, but most of us were very nervous. When everyone had arrived and was settled they briefly ran us through how the day would proceed, our obligations and a confidentiality agreement we had to sign which stated we could not talk about what was in the interview until after the interview period, and then they gave us each a picture that we got to look at for about 10 mins, and a story to accompany the picture - to have a bit of a think about what the interviewers might ask about it. Then we gave the pictures back and were taken to another seating area closer to the interview rooms where the interviewers called the names of each person they were to interview, and we proceeded to go into our interview rooms to begin.
My interview panel consisted of 2 women and a third women who sat behind me (this person was to check how the interviewers were performing). The interview was completely structured meaning that all interviewees were asked the same questions in the same way. The interviewers were writing continuously throughout the time i was talking but they made the effort to try to look at me when i was speaking. The did not ask me any follow up questions due to it being a structured interview but they did stop me, and repeated the question (i presume i was on the wrong track ) My interview ladies were very lovely and made me feel very welcome from the beginning. There was no playing good cop/bad cop.
Some of the questions (ill try to remember as many as i can):
1. why do you want to be a doctor - what do you know about medicine as a career
2. experiences in teams
3. your weaknesses in teams
4. why UWA (which i wasn't really expecting!)
5. barriers to health care facing people living in isolation/migrants
6. how will you get through medicine and a career in medicine ie support networks
About half way through the questions they referred back to the picture we were given in the holding area. They asked what each person in the picture was feeling and how they were coping with the situation and what you could do to help them out....or something along those lines.
After the interview we were led back to our second holding area where we waited for the other members of our group to finish. (I was the second person to finish my interview out of our group of 4).
Then we were led to another building in the QEII medical centre for our listening exercise.
Here we were placed in front of a computer with headphones. Each of us where given a multiple choice answer sheet of about 10 questions per film clip that we watched - there were 2 clips. However, we weren't allowed to look at the answer sheets until we had watched the film clip. Both clips were short bbc documentaries probably each 10 mins long so you really had to listen and remember. Also, being from the bbc the characters had english accents some with very strong accents that made it difficult for you to listen to. Also the sound wasn't very loud, with no way of turning it up which again made it difficult.
After that we gave our answer sheets to a med student and we were free to leave.
(As i left a guy caught my eye - he was wearing navy suit pants and a black suit jacket ![[image]](http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3/pagingdr/Forum/smileys/shocked-smiley-9449.gif) didnt look cool - he ended up walking to his BMW in the parking lot - the number plates were 'PYLORI' !)
Months after the interview we were able to find out how we went in the interview in the form of a percentile. Which was good as most unis wont tell you how you went.
Hope this helps
gem
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~WunderBunny~
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| | UWA - Undergraduate - 2005 Entry
« Reply #10 on Aug 19, 2007, 2:53pm » | |
Anonymous contributor
I'm not sure if the undergrad interview is any different to the graduate one, so bear that in mind. Also my interview was in 2004 and they obviously change the Qs every year...
The interview is completely structured, meaning they ask exactly the same questions in exactly the same way to all candidates. This can make it feel a bit artificial and clinical, but I guess it has equity advantages.
When you are invited to an interview, you book the day and time you want online. At this time you also print off some information about the process which is quite helpful, as it tells you the categories that they will be asking Qs about. Eg decision making, working in a team, dedication to studying medicine etc (I think there are 8 or so).
I found my interview pretty good! I was pretty nervous before hand, but once I got into it you sort of forget your nerves, which is important, because you don't have long to think about your response to the questions. I signed the agreement to not disclose any Qs in 2004, and its only until the interview period is over, so I'll try and remember some of the Qs I were asked:
"what do you know about medicine as a career."
"Describe a time you were in a group and the group didn’t get along."
"How did you handle the situation? What could you have done better?"
"What is your decision making progress? If things don't turn out as well as you'd planned, what do you do?
Same as for if things turned out better.
There were a lot more questions obviously, but I can't remember them anymore. I think there were things to do with emotional demands of medicine, barriers to health care for people living in isolation/migrants, personal beliefs and how these may affect your patients.
I don't know how they score it. Vet said they score it out of the 3, so this could very well be the case. However I'm not sure, as you are able to find out your interview ranking in the form of a percentile a couple of months after the interviewing period is over (I found out mine - they give it to you in terms of your percentile rank eg 40th, 50th..)
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dedalusdiggle
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| | Australian National University - 2005 Entry
« Reply #11 on Aug 22, 2007, 5:58pm » | |
ANU Interview experiences: I was interviewed in 05, and assisted in interviews in 06 and 07.
Part 1: Group interview. Small group 'committee meeting' to decide something. The idea is that you work as a team - it's for this reason I call it a meeting rather than a PBL. It's not a medical problem (at least it hasn't been in the past) - something about how public funding should be allocated, or similar. The important bits are how you contribute and interact with others. Obviously, you need to participate, facilitate, and encourage others. No put-downs. No overbearingness. And don't sit in the corner and say nothing. If you feel you have nothing to contribute, ask questions and make yourself more fully informed, like you would in a meeting.
Part 2: Multiple mini interviews. These are similar to what Miss-G- described for USyd, above.
The questions from previous years:
a) An ethical/practical dilemma (Unlabelled blood sent to the lab, you're asked to relabel it.)
b) A direction exercise (teach someone to fold an origami frog from across the room)
c) A following directions exercise (learn to fold an origami frog from directions)
d) A problem solving exercise (You've lost your wedding ring on the beach)
e) A response/empathy scenario (Someone comes at you, hysterical, when you enter the room)
f) A motivational inquiry (Why do you want to be a doctor? What challenges do you forsee?)
There must be two more, but I can't remember them.
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jay
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| | Australian National University - 2007 Entry
« Reply #12 on Aug 22, 2007, 9:58pm » | |
To add to that, the other two stations are a straight question-and-answer - "Why do you want to be a doctor?, what area of medicine do you think you want to go into? Have you had any personal experiences with the healthcare system?" I was also asked "Is anyone in your family a doctor" but I don't think that was one of the preset questions, he just threw it in.
The other station is rural medicine. It is not only for people entering ANU's rural stream (that has a separate interview) but it's basic questions like "What are your personal rural experiences?, what do you think are the major health problems facing people in rural and remote areas today?"
I'll post the rest of my interview experiences when I have more time...
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Grouchy
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| | Australian National University - 2007 Entry
« Reply #13 on Aug 22, 2007, 11:49pm » | |
The two other questions from ANU I remembered were:
1) What problems do you foresee with you studying or practicing medicine? What are your weaknesses?
2) Scenario: You are left behind in the outback when your tour bus drives off and you're left with a few items. (I think a blanket, aluminum foil, and a chocolate bar but I really can't remember for sure). What would you do?
The ethical scenario I had was about students using someone else's work and passing it off as their own.
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sparkles
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2008
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|  | UQ 2008 Entry!
« Reply #14 on Sept 24, 2007, 12:47pm » | |
OK I'll see what I can recall after almost 2 weeks. Went much the same as Kimmy's with some minor changes that threw me off a little. It lasted all of about 25 minutes 
Questions were about:
1) Tell us about your interests other than studying.
- I spoke with them for a while about knitting
2) What personality traits make a good doctor
3) Biggest disappointment
4) Group situations
Bad group situations
Good group situations
When have you had to lead a group?
Have you ever had to sack anyone? Would you be able to?
5) How will you support yourself in med school?
6) Strengths/and weaknesses
7) If you had a magic wand, what would you change about yourself?
8) Science definitions: Amphibious, Enzyme & gravity (I chose enzyme)
9) Humanities definitions: Social status, Only one I can remeber
10) Debate: There was a list to chose from with 5 options, including
IVF for Homosexual couples
Capital punishment
commercial whaling
- I did it on the statement "Commercial whaling should be reintroduced" I argued against and felt the interviewers pretty much agreed with my take on it cause they didn't have much to argue for it.
11) Story about a home extension, guess it was the same as Kimmy's
-One couple was having a baby and planning to extend their house. The second couple were upset cause it would block their newly built courtyards sun. There were children involved, they used to be friends etc.
12) When did your wanting to go into medicine begin?
I had 2 panelists, 1 male paediatrician, and the administrator of First year med at UQ or something who was female.
The above were just sort of the set questions they asked, there were lots in between, like they asked me how I got to uni and stuff, and we chatted about the trains and cricket and lots of random stuff.
I was a little thrown off by the omission of the why medicine? Why UQ? how do you deal with criticism? and what will you do next year if unsuccessful? questions as these were probably the ones I had thought about the most. I also felt that they were trying to push me into saying 'I'm a leader' a lot. Also the way they spoke about it was more so 'you'll be doing this next year' and wasn't 'If you get in you'll be doing this next year'. If you get what I mean.
Hope this helps
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jess
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Griffith University
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| | Griffith University - 2008 Entry
« Reply #15 on Sept 24, 2007, 6:21pm » | |
For those interested, here is the fascinating and enthralling tale of my interview journey with Griffith:
At 09:00, I arrived in the waiting room with other potential applicants. About 10 minutes later, we were given our first scenario on a clipboard with a pen and some writing paper attached.
We had 20 minutes to read and process the scenario, but we could only speculate what we would be asked (though it was very obvious). Then we were each called into our interview rooms by one of the interviewers. My name was the second to be called.
The interviewer led me into the room and introduced me to the other two interviewers. There were two males and a female. The two males were both doctors, though I have no idea what in, and I don’t know what the female did. Once we were all introduced, they asked me to present on the whiteboard what I felt to be the main points of the scenario and then present my hypothesis as to why I thought it was happening. I presented 5 hypotheses and then told them which two were more likely. They then gave me a piece of paper to read which had additional information regarding the scenario on it and then asked me how this affected my previous hypotheses.
I was then asked a series of questions:
• Tell us why you want to study medicine
• Many doctors (especially in Queensland!) are very unhappy with their jobs and think that people considering medicine should study something else. What is your response to this?
• Studying medicine and being a doctor can be very stressful. How do you know when you are getting stressed?
• How do you cope with a stressful situation?
• What do you do to relax?
• What will be the hardest thing about starting to study medicine? I told them about moving down the coast away from my 6yr old sister and they asked how I would go about finding accommodation.
Next I was given another scenario regarding group work, which I’m sure is almost exactly the same as previous years.
Then came a series of questions about groupwork:
• What are the benefits about working in a group?
• What are the bad points about group work?
• How do you handle it when someone doesn’t contribute the group?
• What about when someone talks over the top of everybody else?
Then there was another scenario regarding groupwork.
Then one of the interviewers read out a question that said something along the lines of: you are to meet with a careers counsellor following a series of three aptitude tests. The test scores revealed that you are a highly analytical thinker and that you make all of your decisions based on fact without letting your emotions get in the way. Would you say these results are typical of you, or have they got your results mixed up with somebody else’s? Then he laughed his head off and said “who would say that these weren’t their results, that’s stupid! Let’s skip that and go to the next question”. Are you an analytical decision maker? How do you make your decisions? Give us an example of how you go about making decisions. (I think this was the one question that I answered pretty well given the time pressures!)
Then they had a few more questions:
• What are your strengths?
• What do you think makes a good doctor?
• Why do you think you will be a good doctor?
Then one of the interviewers said that I was a good talker, but as a doctor I would need to listen as well (which I had said in my ‘what makes a good doctor spiel’). Then he asked me to pretend he was a patient and I was the doctor and this was the very first time he had seen me and I knew nothing about him. What would I say? I said “Tell me what’s brought you here”.
Then he explained about how they would each give me a score and these would be added up and checked that they were relatively similar. They asked if there was anything I wanted to add, if I had any questions. Then they asked if I had any comments to make about the interview and I thanked them for being so friendly, as I’d heard some horror stories. “But that was at the ‘other uni’s’!!!!!” Which made them laugh (yessss!)
That was the interview over, so I shook their hands, thanked them again and the same interviewer who walked me in showed me out again.
Looking back, I think I did ok, but I don’t know if any of my answers stood out from what anybody else would have said. I talked too fast and got a bit flustered in the first scenario, because I had a quick rush of “Oh my God!!! I can’t believe I’m actually in the interview!” But I apologised and tried to slow it down from then on. I hope I didn’t blab on too much, but I’m sure I did!
I think for me, I’ll either just get in or just miss out, I think I’m right on that thin line. Of course, I’m very hopeful, so I’ll just have to wait and see.
What I would have done differently:
• Waited a few more moments before answering each question to try and do it as succinctly as possible
• Thinking before I spoke
What I wouldn’t have changed:
• Getting there super early! (I got there at 7am for a 9:30 interview, thanks to my super-organised Pop!) It took so much stress away driving in minimal traffic, and knowing that if it built up, I would still be early. It was great to suss out exactly where I needed to go and then going for a walk and getting a few cups of tea, reading the paper and hearing about my Pop’s plans to walk across Spain (which made me feel like I’d much rather be doing a medical admissions interview!)
• Preparing!! Practicing over and over with scenarios, preparing a pretty well-rounded answer for why I want to be a doctor and then just main points for the rest of the possible questions.
• I had a practice interview the week before with a resident at work who just got accepted for a dermatology fellowship, and this was his first year applying! It was great to get his feedback and tips.
And that's my tale. If you want to know more about the scenario (which I imagine no one will until this time next year), PM me. I didn't put them up as everybody at Griffith had the same ones (I think!) and it makes my post wayyyy too long (you almost need a packed lunch!). I have the whole thing saved as a word file on my 'puter if you want it.
All I can say is YAAAAAYYYYY that it's over and I can't wait to find out offers!!!!!! ![[image]](http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3/pagingdr/Forum/smileys/yay.gif)
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Tree14
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2008
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| | Griffith University - 2008 Entry
« Reply #16 on Sept 24, 2007, 6:31pm » | |
Now for my interview experience with Griffith University. It all started with getting a clipboard....and looking at a scenario for 10-15minutes before going in for the interview.
The interview started very quickly after I entered the room - just a first names introduction and that was it! Then straight into the scenario bit.
The major scenario was a problem in an airport and you had to come up with reasons as to why there was a glitch in the system.
This was fairly straight forward - though i was probably most nervous for this part of the interview and only wrote half of what i intended up on the whiteboard. I meticulously came up with about 10 hypotheses LOL and they asked me to narrow it down to most likely 3. I used a dodgy flow chart to describe the scenario.
Then we sat down.
The first question they asked me was 'why study medicine'?
Then they asked me what my strengths were - and I told them what I thought they were - then they pretended to misinterpret and I had to clarify why i thought they were strengths and they asked whether my friends would agree and how would i know that they agree! I got grilled here! Then they did not bother to ask about my weaknesses LOL
Then we did a scenario based question about group work and something not going to plan - a person not pulling their weight due to personal difficulties and how would you work through this.
There was another scenario based question about a group coming together but only a few were contributing and the rest were not - and how to correct this.
They also asked me what I thought would be most tough about medicine as a career and how I came to finding this out.
They also asked me how I would support myself in medicine and also what changes I would have to make to my current lifestyle to accomodate going back to study.
They asked me if there was a time where I needed help - but kind of asked this about help with work/uni etc - and I said NO!!! ooops - then remembered a time where I did actually require help.....so phew did answer it in the end!
Oh yah - the worst question I had was how do you know when you are stressed? I was like - huh ummm huh ummm I feel tense and a little uptight LOL. Then they asked me how I cope with stress. Then they asked me what was the most stressful thing that has happened to me and how i dealt with it - talk about a grilling!!! That was tough!
At the end they asked me what I wanted to add - so I told them a little about my clinical experience and research interests (case studies - not test tubes!).
I had one very nice female panelist and 2 male panelits. One questioned almost everything I said and even yawned in the middle of me talking (i think it was an act and it made me laugh in my head!). And the other male was looking down for most of the interview....and only game me a smile right near the end! But overall they were not mean ... but definitely not really friendly either! But the lady whose name I think was Sue - she was a lifesaver!
It all took about 1hr. And I was glad for it to be over.
Hope this helps next years Griffith interviewees!
Kat
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~WunderBunny~
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| | Griffith University - 2008 Entry
« Reply #17 on Sept 24, 2007, 8:00pm » | |
I interviewed with Flinders last year. Griffith purchased the course from Flinders. I had a fairly good idea what to expect.
Unlike Flinders, Griffith does not offer a first year buddy or a big spread of sandwiches. There are no alarm bells. The service is equally professional. Maxine greeted me and ticked off my name. Because I was twenty minutes early, I went for a walk around the building. It goes around in a perimeter like Flinders. I walked into a random PBL room. I was horrified by the volume of writing on the whiteboards. So many technical terms, tests, diagnoses. It made me want to run out screaming. I was assured me later that most PBL groups don't make such detailed notes. It was just gunners showing off.
I eventually moved to the proper waiting room, where some other girls had already arrived. They were ALL wearing black suits (skirt + jacket) and had dark hair. Two of them were nervously chatting about HOUSE ("It is never lupus!"). We got clipboard folders, pens, paper and the scenario on a laminated sheet. Two people arrived late because they did not know they were supposed to arrive 20 min early for the scenario. One of the girls was keying something into her mobile and then writing things down. It looked like she was copying notes from her mobile. 
I was the third person summoned to interview. My panel comprised one female flanked by two males. The male, who brought me to the room introduced the others. I was ready to present the scenario but I was told to sit down.
First interviewer
He asked me if I had any difficulty parking. Then he asked if I was surprised to be given a scenario to read. The first interviewer set the scene. Each interviewer would take turns asking questions. We would rotate twice through the interviewers.
Scenario
I drew an aeroplane and a long rectangle. I divided the rectangle into three sections. I wrote the words "duty free", "arrival hall" and "baggage claim" in these sections. Then I pointed to different parts of the diagram and explained all the possible causes of delay. The interviewer asked me to choose one "most likely" hypothesis. Then I read the follow up and drew up a new hypothesis.
Second (female) interviewer
Why have I chosen a career in medicine?
What reasons would a doctor have to dissuade me from choosing medicine?
What would I find the most difficult aspect of practising medicine?
Third (male) interviewer
What are the advantages and disadvantages of PBL?
He presented me a scenario about a group of six teachers and four students working on a discipline policy. I was asked to explain the group dynamic. There was a follow up question: Suggest ways for getting the group moving.
At this point, I had a bad cop moment. The first interviewer interrupted and suggested my manner was so confident that I would be at risk of dominating a discussion. How would I recognise this happening?
First interviewer
What are my strengths?
Would anyone, who knows me, recognise these as my strengths?
Same aptitude test question as explained above.
Do I make decisions in a logical analytical fashion?
You are obviously a busy person. What do you do to relax?
Second interviewer
Scenario about a PBL group. One of the group members was not contributing. Other members called her a parasite. This member confides in me all her problems. She asks me not to disclose her information to the other team members. She is very stressed. What do I do?
What is an ethical issue affecting a patient would I expect to face as a doctor?
What would I do if a patient refused treatment?
How would I cope with living away from my family and usual support networks?
Describe a time when I needed support and what I did to get support.
Third Interviewer
We have gone over time. Is there anything else you would like to tell us about yourself or do you have any questions for us?
If the interviewer was not satisfied with my answer, they would prompt me for what they were looking for. This was probably the major difference between this interview and the one at Flinders.
There was a plastic cup of water on the table waiting for me. Halfway through the interview, I needed water. My interview appointment was 8:30 and I handed back my clipboard folder at 9:30 am.
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deedlebug
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University of Queensland
2008
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| | UQ - 2008 Entry
« Reply #18 on Sept 24, 2007, 10:04pm » | |
I arrived at the venue about half an hour early (the details we were given before the interview said to arrive at least 15 minutes before our allotted time). I gave my name to the receptionist, and then sat and waited in the waiting room. One of the interviewers came out and called me into the interview room – my interview actually started 15 minutes before the scheduled time, so I guess my interviewers were running ahead for the day and were eager to go home! I was interviewed by one man and one woman (both doctors, didn’t specify specialties).
Questions as follows:
Asked me to tell them a bit about myself.
What have been my other leadership experiences?
What are the qualities of a good leader?
Why do I want to be a doctor?
What area of medicine am I interested in?
From where have I gotten my impressions of the medical profession?
What are some major issues in health in Australia?
Then I was given a list of three science words: sonic boom, virus and I can’t remember the last one. I had to explain in layman’s terms what one of the words meant. I chose virus. I found this quite difficult and fumbled a little, but got there in the end.
I then did the same task, choosing this time from a list of social science terms: autonomy, histogram and again I can’t remember the last one. I explained autonomy. I explained this term generally first, and then used autonomy within the women’s movement as an example, and they clearly loved this. This was the only time in the interview that I got any impression on how I was going.
Then one of them read me a short story, about a family that wanted to build extensions on their home but had problems with the neighbours. I had to summarise the story, tell the interviewers what the key issues were, and answer a couple of other questions about the story.
After that came the debate. I was given a list of controversial topics, including commercial whaling, alcohol in Indigenous communities, capital punishment, deforestation and a couple of others (7 topics in all to choose from). I talked about whether or not assisted reproductive therapies should be restricted to married heterosexual couples. I stated my own position, and then had to defend my position against their rebuttals. I found this section quite difficult, and the only section I was not well-prepared for, as it’s virtually impossible to predict what they will say in rebuttal.
Then I was asked what my best and worst qualities were, and what I would change about myself if I could.
What was my biggest disappointment and how did I deal with it?
How do I deal with criticism?
What do I think makes a good doctor?
What do I think will be difficult about being a doctor?
How would I support myself financially through medical school?
How would I handle the demands of the course?
What will I do if I’m unsuccessful?
I was then taken to a holding area where I waited for about twenty minutes while the interviewers conferred. I was then told that I was free to go. The interview took about half an hour. The interviewers were polite and cordial, but I wouldn’t say they were overly friendly.
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upandgo
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University of Queensland
2008
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| | UQ - 2008 Entry
« Reply #19 on Sept 25, 2007, 12:05am » | |
UQ 2007 interview (a few weeks ago)
The interview was running on time, and luckily i arrived really early because i parked a mile away and had to walk in the blazing heat wearing a suit!
I walked into the building to find it had no AC, and only one other guy was wearing a suit (i didnt care, i looked uber professional).
i was a bit sick, and they were compassionate about that.
i signed in and was called by one of the interviewers when it was my time. she was really short, and i cant remember her name. inside one of the rooms was another guy. both were doctors, but i dont know what type.
they asked me questions i was expecting, especially as i did the des o neill course. i read on this forum a lot of stuff that basically said that it was a waste of money, but i have to disagree. I was willing to spend a hundred dollars if it would help me get where i wanted (and i think it did)
the social terms i chose was random distribution
the scientific one i chose was photosynthesis (the others were enzyme and maybe gene?)
the topics were
1. should australia reintroduce the death penalty
2. should commercial whaling be allowed
3. should IVF be restricted to married heterosexual couples
4. should alcohol be banned from aboriginal communities
5.... hmm was there a 5? cant remember
i was no about to touch 3 and 4 with a ten foot pole. i would consider them dodgy. number two was a joke, so i went with one. i said that aus should not reintroduce the death penalty, which i dont think you can really argue with. the woman tried a bit, with an emotional story about rapist-murderers, but generally did not grill me. the man didnt speak in this part (in fact he didnt speak much at all,,, not in a bad cop way, but i think it was his turn to sleep)
the situation they read to me was called "cheating at chess", about a chess game where one guy cheated and the other guy found out and got irrationally upset. they then asked me a few questions about it.
the interview went for 45 minutes and they were very friendly. they told me to wait in the tea room in case they wanted to ask me more questions. i waited for about 10 minutes and the guy came and said he didnt need to. then i calmly and casually walked out of the building and felt the enormous burden of med interviews rush off me.
one question that i thought was dodgy was "where did you get your perceptions of medicine from"; i think thats a trap for those son of a doctor son of a doctor son of a doctor son of a doctor type people...
advice to interviewees:
1. have a prepared answer to the questions like "what are your strengths/ weaknesses/ what would you like to change" and all the group situation stories
2. realise that the interviewers are real people, who will go home and chat to their spouse or whatever about the crazy people they met who wanted to be doctors. they probably have a dog that jumps up on their leg or a door that squeaks... theyre just normal people. i saw SO many people freaking out and shaking, and i think thats a BIG turn off. they want someone who can handle stress. so do whatever you need to do to de-stress before the interview.
3. be friendly, and be nice. dont talk down to them, dont be arrogant. i told a few jokes (read the situation before telling any) and they really warmed to them.
4. dress to impress. i wore a nice suit and felt like a million dollars.
5. realise that you only have about 45 minutes to show them that you are what they want in a doctor, and try to pack in as much about yourself as possible.
hopefully ill see all the lucky ones next year!!!
ALSO, as far as the blackout ban goes, all interviews are not over yet. I know that USyd is still conducting interviews.
WB: True. The blackout is only lifted for UQ and Griffith.
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guts
Medical Student
Griffith University
2008
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| | Griffith University - 2008 Entry
« Reply #20 on Sept 25, 2007, 8:15am » | |
Griffith '07
I had an 8.30 interview, which was nice. Arrived about 8am, got ticked off (on the list, not in the sense something happened that p![[image]](http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3/pagingdr/Forum/smileys/verymad.gif) sed me off), and sat in the waiting room with six or seven others - including one other pagingdr contributor..
Got the scenario - evidently they were all the same. I figured this at the time simply because the scenarios were handed to all of us in the waiting room in no particular order, yet when I proceeded into the individual interview room my panel knew exactly what my scenario was. Ergo, all scenarios were identical (at least for that session). It was the airport/immigration hall delay scenario. I read it, thought up two or three hypotheses and then spent a few minutes sketching how I would actually utilise the whiteboard.
Had the typical panel of 2 male, 1 female. No idea what they did, although it is safe to assume at least a couple of them were doc's of some variety. Went through the scenario, got the new info and then changed my hypotheses as expected. Nothing surprising there.
Proceeded on to the same questions (basically) As the other griffith uni interviews, in the same fashion. They would each ask a few in sequence. I got the same group dynamic scenario as WB, and the same group PBL one also.
Usual questions as the others at griffith - why medicine, how will you support yourself, how do you know when you are stressed and what do you to ease it, what will be the biggest change if you get in and have to move here, QLD doc's complain about the health system so why the fk do you want to join it you silly little bh (I wish they had of used those words), etc
Also got the 'your personality has been described as analytical, ... - is this accurate and would your friends agree?' question.
My panel was all gold - we had a couple of laughs, no-one did anything to try and put me off (at least that I remember). Finished up with the 'anything you think we should know about you' - I talked myself up a bit then out I went. All done and dusted in about 40mins.
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happy
Blastocyst
University of Queensland
2008
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| | UQ - 2008 Entry
« Reply #21 on Sept 26, 2007, 3:16pm » | |
Hello all,
My UQ interview experiences (accidentally posted in the UQ Interview thread by mistake):
My experience was almost identical to those of 'Bec' in 2006 as described on the Marek Steiner site.
Only wish I'd seen that site two days BEFORE my interview, not two days AFTER!!!
The interviewers were very friendly and professional.
We seemed to talk about every topic under the sun EXCEPT being a doctor, which made me wonder if I was in the right room, but I'm sure they must have been using secret interviewer powers to build all manner of psychological profiles of me (?).
Only downside (I hope) was the final Q - they asked me to talk about why whaling should be legalised. So, I launched into a great speil etc. Wasn't until after the interview I got to thinking - Did they want me to mount an argument FOR whaling, or did they want me to pick one side or the other?? Eeek! Now they think I'm a baby whale butcherer!!
UQ interviewers, if you're reading this - I'm not a baby whale butcherer! I think they're majestic animals who should be protected! I was just making an argument I thought you asked me to make! aargh!
ohwell....will just have to wait til November/December I guess.
How were other people's UQ interview experiences?
rgds,
Happy
Reading upandgo's post above reminded me - I was also a bit crook in the interview (had a sniffly nose from being in an airconditioned room all night - had come down to Brizvegas from the country). They were very sympathetic, as one would hope being doctors!!
It was funny - at the end of the interview instead of just telling me to leave they asked me wait outside. I wasn't expecting that so I immediately assumed the worst: I was so bad they need to confer! (Probably laughing - THIS guy wants to get into med!)...
Turns out its a perfectly normal part of the process and the 30secs or so I had to wait wasn't the worst of it by the sounds of it!
Was a bit concerned when the interviewer wished me luck, though - does this imply I'm going to need it! I mean, my future's in her hands, if she wishes me well she controls the outcome... ahh the neurosis of selection interviews.
I just feel for the poor interviewers having to sit through two weeks of that stuff!
Happy Days!
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peter
Medical Student
University of Notre Dame
Sydney
2008
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| | University of Melbourne
« Reply #22 on Sept 26, 2007, 4:01pm » | |
in preparation for my own interview at UNDS I asked a friend of mine what his experiences were like when he interviewed at melbourne (he got in by the way). I thought this might be of help to some uni melb hopefuls.
they asked the following questions:
why do you want to do medicine?
what have you done to prepare yourself and how do you think you will cope with the challenges of medicine?
what do you know about the training that you are required to undertake after you complete the course?
give an example of a time when you have had to make a difficult decision and explain the process by which you were ultimately able to make a choice.
as a medical student you have been left alone with a 35 year-old, pregnant aboriginal woman. She is nervous about having a screening procedure for down's syndrome and doesn't think she will go through with it. She asks your opinion regarding the safety and necessity of the procedure. What advice do you give?
Without using technical or scientific language, explain two of the following terms so that a lay person would understand them:
ph, oxidation, normal distribution, osmosis, greenhouse effect
What do you consider the most pressing health issues in Australia today?
hope that's of benefit to someone
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Mera
Medical Student
University of Queensland
2008
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Posts: 72
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| | UQ - 2008 Entry
« Reply #23 on Sept 27, 2007, 2:42pm » | |
My UQ - 2008 Entry Interview Experience
My interview started a bit early - I was due at 20 past but was called for at around 10 past. The female interviewer who came to collect me was welcoming and friendly, which was a very stress-reducing way to begin. I was lead to a room that must have once been a supplies closet and was introduced to the other (male) interviewer. They sat in front of a table and I sat opposite - just far enough away to feel like I was at an interview and not a chat, but not far enough away to be intimidating.
They offered me water and told me that this was going to be a getting-to-know-you session.
First they asked me to tell them a bit about myself. They didn't ask me if I did any volunteering work, but they did ask me if I played any sports  .
They asked me if I had any leadership experiences, but they didn't ask me what makes a good leader. In retrospect, I should have include those aspects in my answer. At the time, I didn't elaborate because I assumed they would ask me specifically. They did ask me to elaborate on what conflict and criticism I encountered as a leader, and how I responded.
I was asked about my biggest disappointment, and how I dealt with it.
They asked me why I wanted to be a doctor, the area of medicine I was interested in and where I got my impressions of the medical profession. They also asked me about some major health care issues in QLD, and then also in Australia as a whole.
I was asked the "what makes a good doctor" question and I didn't get the time to answer the question properly! I started off by saying "3 general things" but only got up to describing the first two before they went on to the next question! I didn't have the nerve to say, "hang on a moment, I haven't finished yet!"
I was also asked what would be the worst thing about being a doctor.
They gave me a sheet of paper with science words on it and told me to give an explanation in layman's terms. I got: Amphibious; Gravity; Enzyme
The next were the social science terms, but I can't remember what they were except for my choice: group dynamics. I explained that in one short sentence and I think it may have been too short, and they were a bit surprised, but after a slight pause they said something along the lines of "er... well, fair enough."
The female interviewer read me a story about a couple who had hired a family friend’s son to repair their back porch, but the son hadn’t done a good job and so she didn’t want to pay him, but her husband did. They asked me to summarise the story, and then she asked me why she had used the phrase "We are at least agreed on that", and why the wife might have wanted to pay the son.
I thought I'd do well in this "story" part of the interview, but I think I did badly.  I found it hard to remember the story well enough to summarize it, and looking back I thought of lots of other answers I could have made to the questions. *sigh*.
Then the controversial topics debate. It was pretty straight forward. I was given a list of about six or seven statements (whaling, alcohol in aboriginal communities, IVF for gay couples etc) and asked to explain whether I agreed or disagreed with a statment and why. Here the male interviewer seemed to take on the role of "bad cop" in that he challenged my arguments, but it was done in a sort of wry, aware manner that was not intimidating or hostile. I felt strongly about the issue I chose, so I didn't find myself at a loss for words, whether or not they agreed with my opinion.
They asked about problems facing doctors in rural areas and why doctors might go out and work in rural areas.
They asked me where I saw myself in 15 years time.
They asked whether or not I would be able to financially support myself throughout the medical course.
Questions I was not asked: What would I change about myself? Even though I had thought of a good answer to that question! Afterwards, I remember being surprised that I wasn't asked it. (At least, I don't think I was. It's easy to forget what you were and were not asked. At least, it is for me.)
I was told to wait in a tea-room down the corridor and I chatted with another nervoulsy waiting interviewee. It seemed like a long time, but actually I think it was only a few minutes before the female interviewer appeared and told me they didn't need me for any more questions. She really was very friendly. I was lucky with my interviewers.
The interview went by really fast. I remember feeling that they hadn't asked half the questions I was expecting (though now when I go back and look at "Bec's" interview experience on Marek Steiner's website, they actually did ask most of those questions). If I have to do it again, next time I will definitely practice saying more in the most efficient way possible.
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gesax
Medical Student
University of Queensland
2008
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Location: Brisbane
| | UQ - 2008 Entry
« Reply #24 on Sept 27, 2007, 4:28pm » | |
When I arrived at the UQ interview building there were half a dozen people sitting around waiting and chatting to ease the nerves. I was reminded of that creature from the movie war of the worlds because people would be randomly taken out of the room (never to be seen again) while the rest of us sat around looking nervous. While waiting we were told individually that our interviewers would be Dr X and Dr Y.
Eventually my name was called and I was taken by one of the interviewers to a small room containing the other interviewer, a small table against the wall and three chairs facing each other. The interviewers played a good cop / bad cop routine with one of them acting cold from the start and through most of the interview and the other interviewer being really friendly. The unfriendly interviewer asked most the questions while the other one seem to write lots and lots.
I found that the interview questions where asked much more informally than they are written below and they were more shaped around my answers as I went along.
Questions:
Tell us about yourself.
What are your hobbies?
Tell us about when you worked in a group.
How do you deal with conflict in a group environment?
When have you lead a team?
What are characteristics of a good leader?
What are your personal strengths and weaknesses?
What would you change about yourself?
What has been your biggest disappointment? How did you deal with it?
Why do you want to be a doctor?
How would you define a "doctor" and what a doctor does?
What makes a good doctor?
Why did you choose to apply to UQ?
What will be the challenges you will face while studying medicine?
What are the current health issues in the state?
Should smokers be denied health care for smoking related illnesses?
Explain one term from each of these catagories like you were on the radio.
Science Terms: Electrolysis, Inertia, Nucleus
Social Terms: Social policy, Skewed distribution, Group dynamics
State your views and present an argument on one of the following.
Debate topics: IVF for gay couples, death penalty reintroduced, commercial whaling, banning alcohol in aboriginal settlements, deforestation, embryos for stem-cell research
Listen to this story.
Story: Read from authors point of view, author and "spouse" hire friends son to repair the back porch (described previously)
Summarise the story and answer these questions... etc
Is there a shortage of doctors in Australia?
What specialty do you think you will do if you become a doctor?
How will you support yourself while studying medicine?
I thought that my interview went really well and it followed the structure and format that I was expecting. I used the shortage of doctors question to point our the shortage in rural Australia and issues relating to rural medicine. I wasn't nervous and wasn't thrown off by the unfriendly interviewer because I was expecting the worse and I managed to make that interviewer smile a few times during the interview before returning to his act.
The story was the most difficult section because there was a lot of information read very quickly and unenthusiastically. After the interview I was asked to wait in the small tea room, then a few minutes later was told I could leave.
Good luck if your doing a UQ interview next year!! (if there are interviews next year?)
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drsmum
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| | Australian National University - 2008 Entry
« Reply #25 on Sept 27, 2007, 11:06pm » | |
Group session was about whether the driving age should be raised from 17
8 stations
1 make an origami frog following instructions
2 give some instructions to enable them to make a frog
3 scenario on plagiarism
4 what are your weaknesses and how can you handle them
5 when did you want to do medicine and general discussion around this
6 discussion on rural medicine and problems and challenges
7 playacting scenario where someone has had a wallet stolen and you have to deal with them
8 stranded in the outback with a raincoat, torch and chocolate - they were looking for creative uses of them
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lulu
Medical Student
University of Sydney
2009
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 148
| | Australian National University - 2008 Entry
« Reply #26 on Sept 27, 2007, 11:11pm » | |
The group interview was about coming up with a strategy to tackle the introduction of voluntary student unionism...we did quite well as a group
1. Receive instructions for frog
2. Give instructions for frog
3. Scenario with prison doors too heavy and guards on strike..they wanted you to be creative...i was so tempted to say that i would install a teleporting device...
4. Lady acting who had wallet stolen...got kicked out of this, i assume because i calmed her down enough and came up with a plan of attack
5. When and why medicine etc.
6. Plagiarism video and discussion
7. Impediments or challenges as a doctor
8. rural and aboriginal experience etc.
Very nice interviewers and interviewees...stressful day though my head was dead by the end!! worse headache ever!
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yami
Medical Student
University of Wollongong
2008
 overthinking things
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Posts: 932
Location: living la vida gonga
| | University of Wollongong (MMI) - 2008 Entry
« Reply #27 on Sept 28, 2007, 4:59pm » | |
We had to arrive half an hour early and submit paperwork like our campus allocation forms and place type preferences. They gave us a name-tag and water bottle - both with our gamsat photos on! A cute touch, and great for security purposes, but it was a bit surprising to be faced with that gnarly picture a year on.
Our water bottle was the only thing we could carry with us from the reception area. They kept bags, phones, pens etc. (note that this meant no note-taking while reading and preparing scenarios. Also why this write-up will be a bit vague)
A staff member came and chatted with us briefly then took us to a room. She was very encouraging and welcoming. She said that we had done really well by getting so far and that we should be proud of that whatever the outcome. She also said we should try to relax and enjoy the process of the MMI. She said they were not looking to trip us up or rule us out and that there was no right or wrong answers, they were trying to test our personal qualities. We were told how the MMI was done, how it was set up and how to deal with the structure of it.
They held the MMIs in 10 small PBL rooms off one hallway. The rooms were clearly numbered and there was a chair outside each. Under each chair was a scenario. When the bell went, we had two minutes to read our scenario and prepare an answer in our heads. The scenarios were brief - quick to read and understand - so most of the two minutes really was thinking time.
When the bell went again, we put the scenario back under the chair and entered the room. A copy of the scenario was available there too, to refresh your memory. We had eight minutes to discuss the scenario issues. When the bell went we came out and immediately went to the next station to start reading the next scenario. NB sometimes people finished a station in less than the allocated time. If that occurred we were told to wait on the current station’s chair until the bell. IE not to go early to the next station, and certainly not to start reading the next scenario!
I was really surprised how few follow up questions I was asked (most often none). I also got NO scenario change/curveball questions. There were no actors; we had to discuss scenarios not pretend to be in the middle of them. Each station had one interviewer; a few also had an observer in the corner for quality control marking. They had told us that the interviewers were trained not to give us encouragement etc. It was pointed out that nods or comments like "yes", “uhuh" etc could sound like approval (or disapproval), and could deliberately or accidentally lead us to believe our answer was good/bad or complete/incomplete. So this feedback was not to be given.... Having heard that I was surprised that all of the interviewers were very warmly welcoming and all but one seemed very encouraging as I went through.
Here’s what I remember of the stations (in no particular order). I am not putting in my answers. I feel I did OK (nothing spectacular, but OK) but I feel a bit fragile to be critiqued atm! It’s all a bit fresh.... :S
Station 1
Pick one item from your portfolio that best explains why you will make a good doctor. Discuss. [For those unfamiliar with the UoW portfolio, its a bit like a CV - briefly listing things you have done and which demonstrate attributes like teamwork, leadership, service etc. Particular emphasis is on RRM ties]
Station 2
One of the UoW vision statements is to be a Medical School that addresses the need for more Rural, Regional and Remote medical practitioners.
What skills/experiences do you have that would make you suitable for this?
What do you regard as the positives/negatives of RRM practice?
Station 3
You are the CEO of an NGO with staff posted in a developing country doing important work - fixing sewerage systems, handing out food aid.
Some form of military coup/instability breaks out, and UN peacekeepers are being targeted.
You have three Australian and two local staff members. Do you evacuate them? What are the issues?
Station 4
You have a 75yo female patient who presents with injuries consistent with abuse perpetrated by her husband, who is her carer.
She begs you not to raise it with him or authorities. How do you handle this situation.
Station 5
You are putting together funding to build and equip a much needed new children's wing in a local hospital.
A local tool company offers the rest of the money you need.
Later (before the money comes?) you are told (by someone at the hospital board I think) that a tobacco company owns the tool company.
Do you take the money? Discuss.
Station 6
There is a proposal to give preferential admission to med school to applicants who agree to not smoke tobacco. Discuss the pros and cons.
Station 7
You are opening a medical practice in an area with a high immigrant population. What issues do you need to consider?
Station 8
A decision has been made to release a repeat offender convicted paedophile to parole. You are involved in recommending what information should be released to the media and the public about this man.
Station 9
Patient presents at hospital having an asthma attack. She is asked but refuses to be examined by a medical student. Is seen and treated by a doctor.
The question was something like: what are the issues around patient/volunteer participation in training medical students and junior doctors.
NB This one stressed me for two reasons:
I hated the way the question came sort of separate from the scenario, so I felt unsure how to tie an answer together. I don’t know - maybe I totally misread or misunderstood the scenario. Guess I never will know.
This was the only scenario where I had a "bad cop" style of interviewer. I actually didn't understand her points anyway. Sigh.
For example she asked what I would discuss with the patient later. I talked about offering the patient the opportunity to give feedback about what had happened, and also discuss med student training, patient volunteering etc. The interviewer interjected "but what would you discuss with her that's NOT related to the medical student issue?" I went blank. I still don't know what she was getting at.... all tips accepted. (but post tips in the UoW interview thread maybe as this is non-chat. I can modify this post too I guess if we work out where I messed it up so royally J)
Anyway, that interviewer was warm and friendly when I went in (as they all were) but seemed frustrated (and even irritated?) by my answers and particularly when asking me questions. So it was a bit disheartening but I am actually ok with it because I can’t change what is.
Station 10
Thanks to Surbs for reminding me what this one was: we were given a quote along the lines of "a patient is much more than just the sum of his/her symptoms" and asked to discuss what we thought it meant.
OK so afterwards we went to a room where our bags were waiting for us. There was a brief chat. We were told that we would hopefully hear by late October and needed to accept (or not) any offer by a specified day in late November (21st??) We were asked to complete a brief survey about the med school and the admission process. They said again that we had done really well by getting so far and that if we were unsuccessful we would be welcome to reapply in 08.
It went like clockwork and totally on time. All in all it was genuinely fun and interesting. To anyone doing it next year I'd say you really couldn't prepare because the answers seem to be about you - about your ability to identify and weigh up issues etc. So do relax and try to enjoy it because that way you’ll really be able to give them your best.
(edit to fix scenario ten, thanks again surbs)
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daronge
Medical Student
University of Queensland
2010
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Gender: Female
Posts: 173
Location: NZ
| | UQ interview (2008 entry)
« Reply #28 on Sept 28, 2007, 5:48pm » | |
Hi guys,
I had my interview only a week ago.. but already can't recall
many questions! ![[image]](http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3/pagingdr/Forum/smileys/eusa_wall.gif)
Questions I was asked..
- tell us about yourself
- why medicine?
- your strengths and weeknesses
- have you even been a leader in a group?
- if so, how did you deal with criticism?
- what was the biggest disappointment?
- how did you deal with it?
- what activities do you do? like hobbies..
- where do you see yourself in 15years?
- how are you going to support yourself financially and emotionally?
- if unsuccessful, what are you gonna do?
- what do you think is the most serious health issue in QLD/Oz?
- what speciality do you want to do after graduating?
- what do you want to change about yourself?
- what do you think are the disadvantages about being a doctor?
Scientific terms: erosion, ketone, molecule
Non-scientific terms: arithmetic average (only thing i recall now..)
A story about hiring a son of family friend to do some repair jobs - the same story as what Mera and gesax had.
Debate: Death penalty should be reintroduced (again, only thing I remember..)
There were many side questions related to the big questions listed above. The interview lasted for about an hour.
The interviewers (1 male paediatrician, 1 female from some sort of community?society? I don't remember...) were really friendly especially the female interviewer.
It's rather short but hope it helps!
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skywalker
Medical Student
University of Queensland
2008
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Joined: Jul 2007
Gender: Male
Posts: 124
| | Re: NO CHAT THREAD: Previous interview experiences
« Reply #29 on Sept 28, 2007, 5:56pm » | |
Here's my interview experience, whatever I can still recall of it. It was a telephone interview in early June, about 25mins long.
I was informed who my interviewer would be and that she would call me at 730pm US time/830am singapore time (she was calling from america). So I waited anxiously with a fully charged cordless phone and continued waiting till 930am and still nothing. Then I signed in to gmail to send an email to my interviewer, and just as i hit the send button, she had also sent me an email message! She was just coming from the airport and her flight was delayed. So we rescheduled.
A few days later, she called same time and it opened with us greeting one another, then she said she'd ask me some questions, and then I'd have the opportunity to ask her some questions too.
Questions by her -
1) Tell me about yourself
2) Why UQ?
3) What 'international' dimensions are you going to bring to UQ?
4) Then i can't remember how it happened but we started discussing how america was reducing research funding for its teaching hospitals and how this would have consequences on the advancement of medical science and clinical medicine.
Questions by me -
1) In what areas of medicine are UQ particularly strong in?
2) I've noticed the UQ class size is very large, how does UQ manage to run a class of this size?
Then she said she'd email me an information sheet which i received about a week later. It seemed tailored for canadians, but the info in it was very useful nonetheless.
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