Health Professional School Interview Workshop

MSU Preprofessional Advising Team

Mo Gerhardt, M.S. Janae Lawler, M.Ed.

Kaitlin Peterson, M.Ed.

Kate Thome, M.Ed.

Purpose of the Interview To get to know you beyond the numbers To assess your ability to interact with people To evaluate your maturity and motivation To set you apart from the rest To assess your fit with the program To answer your questions about the program

Remember: YOU are interviewing the schools as well!

Interviewing Styles

1:1 Panel Multiple Mini Interview (MSU College of Human Medicine,

MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine, CMU College of Medicine & U of Michigan Dental School)

Behavior-Based Blind Partial Blind Open

“Typical” Interview Questions

Tell me about yourself. Why do you want to be a _______? Why is our school a good fit for you? What are some concerns you have about this

program? Name three strengths and three weaknesses.

Healthcare Interview Questions What are some of the issues presently

confronting the field? Choose any ethical topic (abortion, genetics,

etc) and tell me what you think about it? What do you hope to gain from your

education? What are some disadvantages to becoming a

_________? If you had a patient addicted to narcotics

what would you do? What about this profession does not agree

with your personality?

Specific Questions to Application Why this school, when you live in _____? You don’t have a significant science background, how do you

think you’ll handle pharmacy school? How did you become interested in culinary arts/food and wine? You have a busy life, what do you do to relax? You’ve done a lot of volunteering, can you explain a difficult

situation you encountered while volunteering at _____ hospital? You were a restaurant manager, describe a particularly difficult

customer encounter? Do you see a connection between restaurant management and

being an occupational therapist? In your personal statement, you mentioned ________. Could you

tell me more about that?

Non-Traditional Applicant Questions

You’ve been out of school for awhile, why physical therapy school now? How do you know?

How do you know you won’t grow bored with optometry as you have with other jobs?

What triggered the change of careers?

“Random” Interview Questions If someone came in to the ER with ______

condition, what would be the first steps you would consider taking?

What interests do you have outside of school? How do you handle disappointment? Where do you see yourself in 10 years? If you could invite three people to dinner, (living or

dead) who would they be? If you don’t get in to your chosen field, what else

would you do? What does integrity mean to you? What is the last non-academic book you read?

Behavior-Based Interview Questions Give an example of a situation in which you have

developed and maintained a relationship with someone else in spite of a differing point of view.

Tell me about a time when you set your sights too high, or too low.

Tell me about a time when you were creative in solving a problem.

Tell me about at time when you had to balance competing priorities and did so successfully.

Describe a time in which you were forced to make an unpopular decision.

Behavior-Based Interview Questions Give an example of a time when you were unable to

complete a project on time. Describe a time when you may have been

disappointed in your behavior. Tell me about a goal that you set that took a long

time to achieve, or one that you are still working towards.

Give an example of a time you anticipated potential problems and developed preventative measures.

Tell me about a situation where you had to be persuasive and sell your ideas to someone else.

Topics to Know “Something” About Healthcare System (HMO, PPO, Single Payer,

etc) Current events related to healthcare Government efforts/reforms of healthcare Euthanasia Abortion AIDS Stem cell transplants/research Universal Healthcare Current Healthcare Legislation Current Events

Your Evaluation Criteria

Curriculum Facilities Student Body Interdisciplinary/Extracurricular Activities Financial Aid Support & Administrative Services

Their Evaluation Criteria Motivation Professionalism Knowledge of health care field Adaptability Maturity Communication skills Consistency

Your interview begins when you drive on campus & ends when you drive off!!

Proper Interview AttirePeople who wear men’s clothes

Suit and tie Dress shoes Conservative colors Well-groomed Minimal or no cologne

People who wear women’s clothes Suit (skirt or pants) Pantyhose/stockings Button-down shirt Conservative dress shoes (not open-toed) Appropriate Makeup/ Jewelry Minimal or no cologne/perfume Professional bag/coat

Reminders Ask questions Re-read your personal statement and supplemental

application Make eye contact Turn your cell phone off Take a minute to think about your answer Answer the question that was asked Be honest and upfront about your knowledge (or

lack of knowledge) Be yourself Be on time, if not early Write thank-you notes

Preparing for the Interview Have “real” conversations with others List your strengths & weaknesses on paper. Get familiar with the school

Prepare a list of questions that are not blatantly obvious on the website

Day of Interview

Eat breakfast Plan extra time to get to the school, have a

campus map to be sure you get to the correct building

Aspects of the Day typically include: Actual Interview Financial Aid information Campus Tour by current students

Day of Interview – MI Medical School Specifics

MSU COM *Welcome to MSUCOM

*MMI Interview – 6 domains (stations) 10 minutes each

*1:1 verbal station– 10 minutes

Day of Interview – MI Medical School Specifics - continued

MSU CHM*1:1 with a med student – 30 minutes

*Multiple Mini Interviews – 8 minutes at each of 8 stations

*Partial blind – Have access to personal statement, AMCAS experiences, and secondary essays but NO numbers.

Day of Interview – MI Medical School Specifics - continued

OU – William Beaumont

*2 interviews – 25-30 minutes each

*1:1 with faculty/staff member & a physician

*Partial blind – Have access to personal statement, AMCAS experiences, and secondary essays but NO numbers.

Day of Interview – MI Medical School Specifics - continued U of M

*24 Hours in Blue

*6 MMI – 1 hour total

*2 long form interviews – 30 minutes each

*1:1 with faculty members and med students

*Open – have access to entire file

Day of Interview – MI Medical School Specifics - continued WSU

*1:1 with admission committee member, but may also have med student participate – 30-60 minutes

*MMI – 5 minutes at 5 stations

*Open – have access to entire file

Day of Interview – MI Medical School Specifics - continued

CMU -

*Multiple Mini Interviews – 8-10 stations 10 minutes each, one station is an expanded 30 minute interview

*Blind – Have NO access to personal statement, AMCAS experiences, secondary essays or numbers.

Day of Interview – MI Medical School Specifics - continued

WMU-*One Day

*2 “MMI-ish” Interviews – 14 minutes each with 2 questions per station, with a 1 minute rest in between

*1:1 Interview with faculty member

*Open – have access to entire file

Day of Interview – MI Dental School Specifics U of M

*Multiple Mini Interviews – 5 minutes at each of 10 stations

*Blind – no prior info available to interviewer

U of Detroit Mercy

*1 interview – 60 minutes

*1:1 – notified in advance who interviewer will be

*Open – have access to entire file

Interview Tips for the Future

Budgeting, start saving now Clothes, travel expenses

Schedule enough travel time Be aware you might be missing classes to attend

interviews, communicate with professors

Take advantage of orientation programs at schools

Other Considerations

Letter Writers – Keep them updated on your progress --- they WANT to know!

Oct 15th – earliest acceptance date for MD schools

May 15th – last date to hold multiple acceptances

Deposits – typically refundable but check deadline dates

Professional School Mock Interviews

Mock Interviews- Tuesday, October 24th 2017 Time slots available: 9:00 am - 12:15 pm Practice your interviewing skills with a representative from a science &

health graduate or professional school to prepare for the admission process. These mock interviews are offered to any MSU undergraduate student interested in applying to health professional school or science-based master's programs. All practice interviews will be held in Career Services at the Spartan Stadium (2nd floor stadium tower). To schedule your mock interview, please go to https://msu.joinhandshake.com/jobs/788602 and sign up for an interview time slot that works with your schedule and interests.

Students can be directed to this page for sign up and more detailed information: https://msu.joinhandshake.com/jobs/788602/share_preview.

For questions, please contact the MSU Career Services front desk (517-884-1300) or Brian Telfor, Career Consultant, MSU College of Natural Science, at Telfor@msu.edu

Questions? Seek us out!

CNS Preprofessional Advisors Mo Gerhardt, M.S., gerhard4@msu.edu Janae Lawler, M.Ed., curringt@msu.edu Kaitlin Peterson, M.Ed., kmpeters@msu.edu Kate Thome, M.Ed., thomekat@msu.edu

Compliments to Candice Eisenhauer, University of Illinois –Chicago, for sharing the framework for this presentation at CAAHP Conference, April 2009.