DOCTOR INFORMATION
Top 200 Medical School Interview Questions
About you đ©:
- Tell us about yourselfâ
- What are your hobbiesâ
- What are your interestsâ
- How are your hobbies relevant to your studiesâ
- How would you balance your other interests with studying towards a medical degreeâ
- Which hobbies and interests do you think you will pursue at universityâ
- What would you say you have accomplishedâ
- How do you think you need to develop yourselfâ
- Did you take a gap year, if so, how did you spend itâ
- Can you tell us about a non-academic project you took part inâ
Your application:
- Why do you want to be a doctorâ
- Talk us through your personal statementâ
- Why do you think you would be capable of undertaking the studying/work required to become a doctorâ
- Why do you think you would make a good doctorâ
- Why should we give you a place as opposed to another candidate who is better qualifiedâ
- What would you most like us to ask you in this interviewâ
- What are you planning to do if you are unsuccessful in your application to study medicine this yearâ
- What 3 adjectives would you say best describe youâ
Perception of a doctor:
- What attributes do you think are needed to make a good doctorâ
- Why do you think you would make a good doctorâ
- How would you go about putting someone off a career in medicineâ
- What do you think the pros and cons of being a doctor areâ
- What would you say are the greatest challenges for a doctorâ
- Why do you think most doctors no longer wear white coatsâ
- Why do you think 60% of medical school applicants are femaleâ
- What would you say are the pros and cons of increasing the role of nursesâ
- How do you see the healthcare system in the UK changing over the next 20 yearsâ
- What do you think of the way doctors are portrayed in the mediaâ
The role of a doctor:
- What would you say the role of a doctor isâ
- What do you think the different duties of a doctor areâ
- Do you think teaching is important for doctors, and whyâ
- What do you think the relationship is between doctors and nurses/ pharmacists/ lab technicians etc.â
- What is shared leadership in medicineâ
- Why do you think research is important for medicineâ
- What type of research would you like to do as a doctorâ
- What do you think an average week looks like for a doctorâ
- What does it mean to be 'on call'â
- Do you think being a doctor is dangerous and if so, in what wayâ
Motivation đ§ :
- Why do you want to study medicineâ
- Why do you want to study medicine rather than nursing or research for exampleâ
- Why do you want to be a doctor rather than another pursuing another academically challenging careerâ
- What drawbacks of studying medicine do you anticipateâ
- Which of your interests make you a suitable candidateâ
- If you become a doctor, how do you hope your patients would describe you and whyâ
- What branch of medicine particularly interests you and whyâ
- What are you hoping to achieve by pursuing a career in medicineâ
- Where do you see yourself in 10 yearsâ
- What excites you the most about becoming a doctorâ
Medical interest:
- Do you read any medical publications and if so tell us about something interesting you read recentlyâ
- Do you read any scientific publications and if so tell us about something interesting you read recentlyâ
- Can you tell us about a recent scientific or medical development in the news that interested youâ
- Can you tell us about a historical medical development that interests youâ
- What do you think has been the most important medical advancement in the last centuryâ
- Do you think medicine is an art or a scienceâ
- Tell us about a book or film that has made you wish to pursue a career in medicineâ
- Tell us about someone who has had a significant influence on you and your decision to study medicineâ
- Tell us about an event or discovery in the history of medicine that interests youâ
Experience đš:
- Talk us through your work experienceâ
- What skills did you learn or gain from your work experience that you could apply to a career in medicineâ
- How have you prepared to study medicineâ
- Did your work experience change your perception of the role of a doctor at allâ
- Tell me about a challenging situation you dealt with or observed during your work experienceâ
- What impressed you most about the doctors you shadowed or observed in your work experienceâ
- Talk us through your voluntary workâ
- What did you learn from your volunteer workâ
- Why do you think people usually do voluntary workâ
Teamwork đ„:
- Why do you think teamwork is importantâ
- What would you say makes a good teamâ
- Give an example of a time you worked as part of a team and what you contributed to itâ
- Give an example of a time you worked as part of a team and something went wrong. How did you, or how would you in retrospect, resolve itâ
- Tell us about a time you worked as part of a team and what you learned about yourself and successful team workingâ
- How would you deal with conflict within a team you are working inâ
- How would you deal with a team member who is not contributing to the teamâ
- Who do you think would be the most important people you work with in a team as a doctorâ
Leadership đ€:
- Tell us about a time you were a team leaderâ
- What makes a good leaderâ
- Do you think being a leader or a follower is more important for a doctorâ
- would you say you are more of a leader or followerâ
- Do you think it is important to delegate when working as a doctorâ
- Do you think teams need leadersâ
Empathy đ:
- Are you an empathetic personâ
- Tell us about a time you showed empathyâ
- How important is it for a doctor to be empatheticâ
- How do you distinguish between being empathetic and sympathetic as a doctorâ
- Do you think empathy is innate or can be learnedâ
- Do you think you are compassionateâ
Communication đŁ:
- Why do you think communication skills are important for a doctorâ
- Give an example of a time you utilised your communication skills to your advantageâ
- How would you rate your own communication skillsâ
- Do you think communication skills are innate or can be learnedâ
- Tell us how you have developed your communication skillsâ
- What skills do you think a doctor needs to possess in order to communicate with patients effectivelyâ
- How would you go about making a patient feel less scaredâ
Key attributes:
- Do you think a doctor must always be honestâ
- How do you deal with stressâ
- Can you tell us how you have demonstrated your commitment to a medical careerâ
- How do you deal with criticismâ
- How do you deal with failureâ
- What would you say is your biggest strengthâ
- What would you say is your biggest weaknessâ
- How good would you say your organisational skills areâ
- How do you deal with conflictâ
- What causes you to get angryâ
Medical Organisations đš:
- Can you tell us what CCGs areâ
- Do you know what the GMC doesâ
- Do you know what the BMA doesâ
- What do you think the purpose of public health campaigns isâ
- What are the Royal Colleges and their roleâ
The NHS:
- What does the NHS doâ
- What challenges does the NHS faceâ
- What can you tell us about the origins of the NHSâ
- Do you know what role the managerial staff play in the NHSâ
- Do you know how hospitals function at nightâ
- How do you think doctors socialise and relax in a hospital settingâ
- What do you think the problem is with the NHSâ
- What do you think causes anger, aggression or stress in a hospitalâ
The Medical School đ:
- Do you know the duration of the training programmeâ
- Do you know what intercalated degrees areâ
- What attracts you to this course in particularâ
- Why do you wish to attend this medical schoolâ
- What would you contribute to this medical schoolâ
- Why do you think you are well suited to this course, at this medical schoolâ
- Other than a medical degree, what else would you gain from medical schoolâ
- Are there any hobbies you hope to take up at universityâ
- What do you think being a medical student is likeâ
Teaching methods:
- What do know about the different teaching styles and what do think are the pros and cons of eachâ
- What do you know about problem based learningâ
- What are the pros and cons of problem based learningâ
- What are the pros and cons of lecture based learningâ
- What are the pros and cons of an integrated courseâ
Medical Knowledge:
- What is healthâ
- What is the Hippocratic Oathâ
- Can you tell us what evidence based medicine isâ
- Can you tell us what holistic medicine isâ
- Do you know what the biggest health-related problem in the UK is currentlyâ
- Do you think it is better to prioritise disease treatment or prevention and whyâ
- How important do you think the role IT plays in medicine isâ
- Does most medical treatment take place in the hospital or community settingâ
- What do you think 'inequalities in healthcare' meansâ
Politics:
- How do politics influence health care and do you think this is inevitableâ
- What are the arguments for and against people paying for health care as and when requiredâ
- How does the NHS provide expensive treatments for individuals when resources are so limitedâ
- Do you think different social and economic groups are more susceptible to certain diseases, and if so, what can be done about itâ
- What are the arguments for and against non-essential surgery being available on the NHSâ
- What are the current national priorities in health care according to the government, and do you agree with theseâ
- Do you think the NHS should fund alternative or complementary treatmentsâ
Consent and confidentiality â :
- Why do you think consent is importantâ
- What are the different types of consentâ
- If a patient refuses to consent to treatment for a potentially life-threatening condition, what ethical issues ariseâ
- If a patient who has refused consent becomes unconscious, what should you doâ
- What do you know about medical negligenceâ
- What is the UKâs current organ donation system, and do you think any changes are necessaryâ
- A patient tests positive for HIV following an extra-marital affair, but insists that he will continue to have unprotected sex with both his mistress and his wife, who is also under your care, what should you doâ
- Do you think patients have the right to choose what is in their best interestâ
- What is patient confidentialityâ
- Why do you think patient confidentiality is importantâ
Ethics đš:
- What can you tell us about the four pillars of medical ethicsâ
- Do you believe that the NHS should fund treatment of self-inflicted diseasesâ
- Do you think drug companies should be allowed to charge so much for the products they produceâ
- How do you think healthcare should be fundedâ
- Do you think pharmaceutical companies should sponsor conferences and training sessions for doctorsâ
Ethical decisions:
- What is the UK law on abortion and what do you think about thisâ
- What issues are raised by in-vitro fertilisationâ
- What do you think about euthanasiaâ
- If a child was brought into the Accident and Emergency Department, with suspicious injuries, what would you doâ
- How can injury to humans and animals be justified in trials of new medicationsâ
- Do you think patients who continue smoking should be treated for diseases such as heart disease or emphysemaâ
- Do you think people should be allowed to sell one of their kidneys and whyâ
- Due to their religious beliefs, Jehovah's witnesses cannot accept blood transfusion, how would you feel about letting a patient die because of thisâ
- How would you choose whether to give a liver transplant to a mother of 2 young children who is an ex-alcoholic, or to a 13 year old boy, both of whom have equal clinical needâ
- A 14 year old girl asks you to prescribe her the oral contraceptive pill as she has started having sex with her boyfriend, what should you doâ
Notable medical conditions :
- What are the leading causes of death in the UK currentlyâ
- What is a pandemicâ
- What do you know about HIV and AIDS and how its transmission can be reducedâ
- How can we prevent hospital-acquired infectionsâ
- Do you think any types of cancer can be prevented, if so whichâ
- Can you tell us what you know about asthmaâ
- How would you go about trying to combat childhood obesityâ
- Can you tell us what you know about diabetesâ
- What impact does smoking have on an individualâ
- What impact does excessive alcohol consumption have on an individualâ
International Students đ©:
- Why do you want to study in the UKâ
- How does the NHS differ to the health care system in your countryâ
- What difficulties do you think international students who do speak English as their first language faceâ
- How will you cope being away from you family and friendsâ
- Give us an example of a time you demonstrated your independenceâ
Graduate-entry đ:
- How will your undergraduate degree benefit your future career medicineâ
- What skills have you gained from your current job that will be useful for a career in medicineâ
- Why have you decided to change directions with your careerâ
- Why did you not choose to study undergraduate medicineâ
- Tell us about any relevant research experience you haveâ
- Have you got any teaching experienceâ
Oxbridge style questions đ«:
- Why are you applying to Oxford/ Cambridgeâ
- Why are you applying to this college in particularâ
- A âguesstimateâ question e.g. how many footballs fit inside an aeroplaneâ
- An âexperimental designâ question e.g. how would you go about weighing your own headâ
- An explanation question e.g. are humans still evolvingâ
- How do vaccines workâ
- Are humans still evolvingâ
- Who is your favourite scientist and whyâ