<p>I just came back to this site after a while and since its almost time where students will start having interviews - I think its around March, just figured I'd take a second to think about what my interviews were like.</p>
<p>I had an interview for the Union/Albany Medical College program and I think it was actually two interviews. This is a few years ago so bare with me if I don't remember every detail. So first I interviewed at Union College itself. Me and a bunch of the other students that interviewed were all sitting around in a pretty comfortable waiting area and were awaiting our interviews. I was called and this interview was pretty low key I felt since it was the college itself and I don't recall completely what they asked but it was nothing I wasn't prepared for - I think it was why doctor? and about my extracurrics - nothing too bad.</p>
<p>After this we went to Albany Medical College and it was good that they gave us a tour and maybe food? tho I don't completely recall. Anyway, I had an interview here which was extremely difficult because of the person interviewing me and the way he interviewed me. I thought it actually went well at the end of it because we talked for maybe an hour - but I guess not? lol. Anyway this guy was a neurosurgeon at AMC, the first neurosurgeon I had ever met in my life and he was interviewing me. One of the first questions he asked me was why I was applying to Union. I had done research in HS but wasn't interested in the RPI program and so the first thing he told me was that my strong research background would probably have suited me better for RPI. I didn't really expect that but I made do and told him that yes the research was a great experience but it wasn't what I wanted to do. He through out a lot of really hard questions my way. He asked me throughout the interview about universal healthcare and my views on it - which luckily for me I had read up about the night before in the hotel room and when he heard how much I knew about universal healthcare and my stance on it - he was surprised and that was definitely a good sign. perhaps the hardest part about the interview was when he started questioning what I would do in certain moral dilemmas. He said that there was a baby who's parents were Jehovahs witnesses and the baby needed a blood transfusion or it would die. The parents said no because of their relgiious beliefs and the question was what I would do. It was really hard to answer and of course I thought about it there and I told him and this topic went on for the next 20 minutes. I held my cool the whole time because I think maybe one of the points of that interview was to test how I react under pressure - and so I made sure that I was really calm the whole time. I told him what I thought and he said that if I did give the transfusion despite the parents disapproval, I would lose my medical license and can't get it back. It was a really tough situation because as a doctor my job is to help the patient and try to save the patient's life and I didn't know what to do in this case. I went with that I would still try my best to convince the parents that the baby needs a transfusion and that if they kept saying no...perhaps I would go through with it behind their back. His eyes lit up with this and he questioned that a lot and then thus the conversation continued. It was really interesting conversation definitely and I thought I held my own and that was what he wanted to see but I was not accepted and I'm not sure but the interview could have been part of it. I wanted to share because you should be prepared in an interview to answer anything they throw at you and its important not to get too flustered or worried and to just do the best you can. Once in a while you might get a horrible interviewer that will give you a hard time but it's up to you to hold your own. The Albany Medical College interview is something I feel you should prepare for well, as this was a hard interview for me. </p>
<p>My other interview was at the Penn State/ Jefferson medical college program. This interview was again very relaxing at first and then got a little more uphill. What was really funny to me was that the interview started at 8am or so and me and my dad got there at 7 30 and we were worried that it was too early and we'd maybe be seen as too eager or something and it might be bad? We wanted to be close to on time, just a couple of minutes early. Anyway so I got there at 7 30 and when I got there, I'd say already half the people were there. I could tell from that, that I was up against some pretty intense studetns. All 100 people that got interviews that time were there in the auditorium type room they had set up and they handed out fliers and then gave us a presentation. It was all run by the students and I was really impressed. Even my first interview at the program was by a student I guess to see if I was a person. It's funny cause to tell you the truth, the girl interviewing me was kinda hot and that might have made me a little nervous in an already tense situation, but nonetheless I cracked some very interview appropriate jokes that she laughed at, and I made it seem like I was a regular person that would add some fun to the group of students there already. I think that was the point of the first interview anyway - very low key, to see if the students that are already there would get along well with you kind of. Seemed like a bs interview. </p>
<p>Anyway the interview after that was actualyl at Jefferson Medical College. This interview was with an Anesthesiologist. There was no waiting area as in Albany Medical college. Here after the interview with the studetn at Penn State, I was given a card that had the name of the person I was interviewing with and the time when I had to meet her. So I get there exactly on time and this lady makes me wait almost 40 minutes. My dad was starting to get pretty upset because thats unprofessional on her part. (Really though none of us minded the wait if she would like me and accept me haha). So I met with her and we talked and it didn't seem like she knew much about me. I wasnt completely sure if she had read my file thoroughly. She did know a little though. She asked me pretty general questions and this interview wasn't half as stressful or hard as the Albany one with the neurosurgeon. She was a nice lady and just asked me random questions like what kind of doctor I wanted to be. To tell you the truth the neurosurgeon although he asked some crazy questions they were really interesting and he could have sensed my passion for medicine from them I am sure and that interview though it was an hour, didnt feel like that. This interview however, was pretty short and I got the feeling she liked me but she didn't seem to be 100 percent into the interview and I think that was unlucky for me. I think its good to have an interviewer whos really into it, so you can show how passionate you are about medicine. I tried with this anesthesiologist at Jefferson too and told her how much I wanted to come here.</p>
<p>That was the bulk of my interview experience. So basically the process seems to be like this: low key interview at the undergraduate school to show that you are a real person, followed by a more intense interview with someone from the medical school who you should not be too intimidated by. Be sure to prepare for the interviews and make sure you know a lot about the program you are trying to get into, as well as what the future of medicine holds and what medicine is actually like. That should go without saying but it's important to emphasize. If you have any questions for me or about the interviews, post them on this thread and I'll try to reply asap. </p>
<p>PS. And I think I was under the impression that your grades are what get you the interview and after that it's only the interview that matters. However, because my interviews seemed to have went well (at least to me) and because my grades both terms of senior year weren't as high as before, I think they do look over your grades again after the interview. I think what happens is that the interviewer eitehr recommends you or doesnt and they add that to the entire application and from there they look over the entire application one more time and decide.</p>
<p>I was put on the waitlist at Union (and later rejected) and rejected from PSU a couple of years ago. Good luck.</p>