@sanguinee. Yes, you are right. The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) gives the USMLE.
I am old. Therefore, I still refer to them as the National Board Exams or just National Boards.
Ok cool. If you don’t mind me asking, what kind of physician are you?
@DualDegreeDoc: Out of curiosity, did you ever feel that going to UMKC hindered your chance of obtaining the best possible residency?
@sanguinee. I’m a plastic surgeon.
@theking101. I was a midwestern boy from Kansas City. Had no aspirations of ever becoming a doctor or traveling outside of Missouri.“Did not know any better.” Just did the best with what ever was assigned to me and looked forward to where ever life lead me. Also said thank you to who ever help me and tried hard not to let them down.
Started medical school at age of 17.
Finished my BA/MD at 23.
Got married at 24.
Did 3 years of General Surgery residency at UC-San Diego. Had my daughter after the second year.
Did 2 years of Plastic Surgery Fellowship at the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo (now the University of Toledo).
Opened my practice in Orange County, California as a plastic surgeon at the age of 29. Had my son the same year.
Not once, have I ever felt that “going to UMKC hindered [my] chance of obtaining the best possible residency.” Again, I did not know any better and was too busy trying to do the best with whatever was assigned to me.
During residency/fellowship and now in private practice, patients rarely asked me what medical school did I go to or where did I do my residency/fellowship. They seem to care more that I treat them with respect, be honest with them, explain things clearly to them, try my best to take take good care of them, and be competent at what I do.
Funny thing… all of these qualities that patients are looking for in a physician are the same qualities that a medical school admission interviewer is looking for in an applicant. When you go into your interviews, be respectful, be honest, be clear, try your best to answer the questions, etc.
My interview is feb 3 and 4
dualdegreedoc - i was very nice reading about u. Good luck with the practice
@DualDegreeDoc I created an account here on CC just to thank you for your insight on the UMKC BA/MD program. You’ve really helped to ease some of my stress of the interview. Thank you!
If you do not mind, can you please reflect on the new “Multiple-Mini Interview process”? I understand that there are gonna be various stations to judge a particular “non-cognitive” trait or competency. I understand that this process is new, but when Med schools give you a certain medical scenario, what are they typically looking for in your answer.
Once again, thanks for your insight and I’m happy to be a part of the CC community.
@dual nice! i want to do either plastics, oncology, or radiology
@ DualDegreedoc: wow you are plastic surgeon huh!!! That is really cool . Doc, I am in OC too and I wonder that you know Dr. L…N…Nguyen? He is also a plastic surgeon , graduated at UMKC around your time and seem very popular in Vietnamese community in OC
My dad’s undergrad friend at Baylor also a plastic surgeon in OC, small world huh ?
I believe that if you doing well at UMKC and have a high scores in national boards ( older ppl version of USLME ) , you can go into any specialty residency you wanted. But in order to gain residency in California , specially at UCSD, you must have a stellar scores and records at UMKC huh ? I am really proud of you DualDegreedoc
@Dualdegreedoc Very kind of you to take time to write such thoughtful advice. My son is going to attend HPME interview next month. As a father of a HPME student, do you have any advice or suggestions? He wants to do engineering at Northwestern before medicine.
@fallpsat. Good luck to your son and Good Job on raising him.
@sanguinee and @SoCalGirlNguyen. I do not envy the job and responsibility of all the selection committees trying to pick from all the high achievers like the two of you. In the end, they will pick the applicants who best matches their program and philosophy. For example, research oriented programs will pick students with research experiences.
If you DO get into a early admission, combined program, then congratulation. If you DON’T get into a program, then it just means that your destiny lies on a different path.
Hope and faith is what keeps patient going. Never do anything to take it away from them. More importantly, don’t take hope and faith away from yourself because it will be what will keep you going through the ups and downs of medical school, residency, fellowship, and practice.
@SoCalGirlNguyen. Yes, I know both of the plastic surgeons very well.
@Dual On a side note, are you happy with your career? I’ve shadowed a couple of doctors and while volunteering at hospitals, almost all the doctors kept telling me that the career is no longer as rewarding b/c of medicare, etc and that you have to work a lot more for less pay. They suggest pretty much all students that shadow/talk to them to go into another field b/c of how bad their circumstances have become. I’m not sure how true this is, but I’ve heard it from a LOT of physicians.
Dualdegreedoc,thank you so much on your insight on UMKC,I also have an interview coming up next week at UMKC and hope to get in.
@matrix007. Sorry for not responding right away.
Congratulation to your son for being invited to the HPME interview. Good luck to him and Good Job to you for raising him.
According to my daughter, Northwestern University matched with what she was looking for … she got the city (Chicago), the campus (in Evanston right next to Lake Michigan), the camaraderie (surrounded by bright and driven undergraduate students with similar dreams and aspirations), and the school (Feinberg’s school of medicine has the name and reputation to open doors).
When your son goes for his HPME interview, he will obviously be nervous.
- Tell him that to be invited means that he will probably be successful no matter where he goes.
- Try to walk around the city, the campus, and the medical school to see if the school will be a match for him (can he picture himself living there for 7 years).
- As for the actual interview, it’s not a test. The school knows that your son is good. They just want to know if he has the qualities and characteristics that will match their program’s philosophy.
- If it doesn’t work out, Northwestern’s loss is another school’s gain.
@UMedBro. Sorry for not responding right away. I did not know anything about Multiple-Mini Interview (MMI) until you brought it up. I had to do some research on it before I can comment. Here is a link to some information about MMI that I found to make my assessment.
<a href=“http://www.pdx.edu/careers/sites/www.pdx.edu.careers/files/MMI%20information_0.pdf[/url]”>http://www.pdx.edu/careers/sites/www.pdx.edu.careers/files/MMI%20information_0.pdf</a>
It appears that the main reason for the change from 2 personal interviews (30 minutes each) to a Multiple-Mini Interviews (10 minutes each for 6-10 stations) is so that they can take the 1 or 2 interviewer’s biases out of the equation.
The reason used in the original research paper from the undergraduate MD program at McMaster University in Canada was ….
“A lucky candidate who is randomly assigned to a like-minded, ‘easy’ interviewer who influences the rest of the interview panel…will score highly… whereas, an identical, but less fortunate candidate who is randomly assigned to an incompatible, ‘hard’ interviewer who influences the rest of the interview panel…will score poorly. Other biases that have been shown to impinge upon the personal interview include both the interviewers’ backgrounds and the interviewer’s expectations. …Such strong biases are unacceptable (and unethical) for an assessment tool that is intended to examine the characteristics of the candidate, not the interviewers.”
The researcher’s proposed solution to the problem was to get rid of the 1-2 personal interviews and replace it with 6-10 situational “interviews.” In the personal interview format, the interviewer was the person asking the questions, interacting with the applicant, observing the reactions of the applicant, evaluating the answers from the applicant, and recording the scores. Now, in the MMI format, the “interviewer” could play one of those roles but not all of those roles. Therefore, hopefully, there will be less interviewer biases and more chances for each applicant to highlight their individual strengths and weaknesses.
In past interviews, the applicant would be asked questions such as “Tell me about yourself.” After the applicant answers the questions, the interviewer would ask follow-up questions based on what the applicant had originally answered. It’s the same thing here in the MMI format. How you first respond to the specific situation or scenario for that particular station will determine what follows afterward. The follow-up questions or scenario, at that same station, will be for the purpose of understanding why your first response was what it was.
In past interviews, the applicant would be asked a question such as “What would you do if you found a wallet with a thousand dollar in it?” In this MMRI format, you might walk into the interview room and actually see a wallet on the floor with money in it. The only other person in the same room with you might be busy looking down and writing the evaluation of the previous applicant.
My assessments of the change in the interview format to the MMI style are:
(1) Sounds like fun. It will an opportunity for you to see what kind of person you are, how you handle stressful situations, and whether you can compartmentalize each situations (don’t let a bad performance at one station affect how you perform at the next station…I’m sure students who have taken 4-5 AP classes in the same semester will be able to understand the concept of compartmentalization. An A in one class does not guarantee an A in another class. You have to “stay in the moment” and focus on what is in front of you.)
(2) The medical school can change the interviewing format (from 1-2 personal interviews to a 6-10 situation MMI style), but in the end they are trying to reach the same goal. They are looking for the same qualities or characteristics in an applicant that best matches their school’s program and philosophy. My opinion is that those qualities and characteristics are same qualities and characteristics that patients are looking for in a doctor for themselves and their families.
(3) The situations and scenarios that you will face will probably be “age or experience” appropriate to you and applicants of your age. For example, to find out about integrity, the school might make a situation similar to you seeing a fellow classmate cheating in class. To find out about empathy, the school might make a situation similar to you having to comfort your best friend who’s father had just passed away. ETC.
Good Luck.
Once again Doc, that was the most comprehensive, uplifting advice I’ve received online about the MMIs. Thank you very much for your generosity and continued support. I hope the very best for you in your professional life.
@DualDoc : Whew… Thank for your input. The most amazing thing is you are taking time from your busy practice to do research about the new process of the UMKC’s interviewing to give us advises that we need. I do think that we need somebody like you nowaday to be a role model for us to look up to. Thank again for your delication to our youngsters try to learn our way to be a doctor.
Any OSS from California applied on Nov 1st deadline get any email today for interview yet ? hummm… My mail box empty !!! So sad (:…
@DualdegreeDoc Thanks once again for your compliments and encouragement about HPME. Definitely HPME is a great option for every one of the reason you mention (except for the cold wind from the lake :)) but I am not dwelling on one or the other programs and am confident that he will find a good college to attend.