Just randomly stumbled on this channel today. I am graduating from med school this week and i have to say these are some of the best pre-med advice I've seen. Interviews are conversations and making connections with the interviewers is KEY. if they mention anything about themselves ask them followup questions and tie it in to things you enjoy. or if you genuinely have no connection to whatever they mention say that is interesting and you would love to hear/learn more about that. If you are being interviewed they are comfortable accepting you based on your stats. what they are really looking for at the interviewing stage of the process are good people with strong interpersonal skills.
Interviewers: do you really want to be a physician? Me: Well I'm here to beg you to let me pay you 400,000 so you can crush my 20s while I go to school for another 4 years and then do additional training for up to 7 years and maybe more... Interview: mm but do you really tho?
Is there a danger of appearing like you might want to be something else other than a physician when talking about a significant identity of yours? Dancing is a very passionate identity that I have and I would love to talk about that identity for these types of questions, but I'm afraid that may make it look like I want to be a dancer instead of a physician.
I don't think so. Just make sure to keep the focus on that you have personal hobbies, many of which will/have helped you develop into a more complete person and ultimately a physician, but your professional passion is medicine. I'd be prepared to be asked about willingness to give up ___ hobby because of time constraints due to education/training. I think the right answer to that is something along the lines of "_____ hobby is very important to me and I will try to do _____ as timing permits, but my first and most important priority is to my education and training, and everything else is secondary to that."
I have been a dancer since I was 4 and continued to do it throughout college. It was something that I got asked about in all of my interviews because I always mentioned it in tell me about yourself. I also always mentioned that I’ve been learning French for years and they always asked about it. People are allowed to have hobbies and other interests outside of their career goals. From what I learned, it’s actually encouraged. It’s one of the only ways that you have to present yourself as a person and have actual conversations. They have your curriculum and if it’s a closed interview, they will specifically ask you about your experiences. Definitely mention your love for dancing and why it has helped you become the person that you are. There will be plenty of time to discuss why you want to be a doctor.
