Preparation For Medicine Interviews

Let me make one thing clear before I begin, I will not be discussing any of the real questions I had to answer as candidates are sworn to secrecy about this. This is something the university takes very seriously. If you are found to have disclosed the nature of any of the questions you can have your offer of a place withdrawn, even if you have already accepted it.

But what I am going to do is tell you what topics I read up on to prepare for my interview.

About me
In this section be prepared to talk about something you're passionate about. Also think of 3 or so words you would use to describe yourself.

Why medicine?
In this section prepare to answer the big question "Why do you want to be a doctor?" Think about your motivation. Do you enjoy science? Do you enjoy helping people? What about leadership or problem solving? Has anybody influenced your decision to apply for medicine, and why? Think about why medicine instead of nursing. Nurses can specialise, prescribe and lead a team. So, why medicine?

What makes a good doctor?
Think about some traits and attributes of a good doctor, both academic and non-academic.

Attributes of a doctor
For the following attributes think about an example of a time where you have shown it and an example of a time where you have observed it.

• Empathy
• Conflict Resolution
• Communication Skills
• Dealing With Stress
• Leadership
• Teamwork
• Resilience
• Limitations and Weakest Attributes

Changes in medicine

Think about a topic that interests you, and a topic you've read about or heard about recently. Think about the most important development in the last ten years, and the most interesting one.

Changes in NHS

Think about the biggest challenges of the NHS at the moment, look up NHS hot topics. Think about an issue you've read about or heard about recently. Think about the most important or interesting development in the last ten years. Also consider if there was one thing you could change about the NHS what would it be and how would you implement the change. 

Make sure you look up the NHS core values, the NHS constitution, the NHS seven principles and the 6 Cs of NHS values.

Think about the NHS five year forward view and the Wanless report. 

Make sure you know who the following are and what they do:

• DOH - Department of Health
• GMC - General Medical Council
• CQC - Care Quality Commissioning 
• NICE - National Institute of Clinical Excellence
• CCG - Clinical Commissioning Groups
• STP - Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships
• BMA - British Medical Association
• BMJ - British Medical Journal

Ethics, confidentiality and other notes

Look up the four pillars of ethics and use them when you answer every ethical question, and remember to give balanced arguments. 

Look up the eight principles of confidentiality and make sure you understand the meaning and importance of these.

Look up the stages of breaking bad news, you may be asked to do this in your interview. They do not expect it to be perfect, you will learn how to do this properly later but they are looking to see if you would have the ability to do this. 

Look up how to assess competency in adults and children, how to resolve conflict, and what makes a good leader.

Your university

Remember you might be asked why you specifically want to go to that university, so remember to research the university and be prepared to convince them that's where you want to go.

Thanks for reading.
Katherine