Many of the combined bachelors degree with medical programs (BS/MD or BA/MD) use unique interview style. It is a series of mini questions to screen applicants in their selection process. If you’ve reached this far, rest assured that you are a competitive applicant! You have a good shot of being accepted into the program. But what can you expect to be asked? And what is the format of the multi mini BS/MD interview?
The BS/MD interview format can seem daunting. You have 2 minutes to think of responses, and then an 8-minute interview. You go through 10 rounds of these, with a break in between. Even the most confident applicants get nervous anticipating this mentally and emotionally taxing process. We’ve come up with some insights and pro-tips based on our experiences. We at Empowerly have coached past students who have now made it to the professional realm; this is our advice!
General Advice
First off, be prepared to talk a bit about yourself, as it’s guaranteed you will be asked to. You’ll need to show confidence and emotional intelligence, as well as self-awareness and personal insight. Students who get accepted into a BA/MD or BS/MD program have demonstrated that they are emotionally mature enough to handle the pressures of such a rigorous and demanding program.
This type of interview may seem intimidating at first, but if you put in the effort to prepare, you are bound to get some questions that you had anticipated to be asked and thus more likely to leave your interviewer with a great impression!
Tips to Ace your BS/MD Interview
Here are a few tips:
Try to anticipate the types of questions you will be asked.
There will be a mix of questions ranging from practical application, ethical dilemmas, assessment of team and leadership skills, personal questions assessing your emotional maturity, etc. Take the time to figure out ‘who you are’ before interviewing! Finding a medical textbook published by the school/program can help you run through scenarios they will likely ask about.
Structure and intentionally outline your responses to fall under a certain time limit.
A lot of times, we brush off questions thinking that we know how to answer them. Then we get to the interview and either blank out and can’t think of enough to say, or end up rambling and going on tangents because of nerves. Avoid this by outlining responses in regards to content and time.
Practice organizing your responses in a way where you spend the majority of your time showcasing the skills that you already have that will make you a great doctor.
This goes along with what I said above. If we plan out what we intend to say and base that content on our experiences, skills, and qualifications, it helps us build ethos with the interviewer!
Read up on ethics/health care.
While this is not entirely necessary, familiarizing yourself with ethical principles and reading up on health care will only help you give more educated responses in your interviews that will give you an edge over other candidates.
Practice = Preparedness!
Practicing will allow you to come across more confident and will show your professional abilities.
Relax and appreciate the process!
Lastly, it is important that you appreciate this preparation process. You should realize that no matter what the outcome, you as a high schooler are giving an interview that most people in their mid 20’s give after experiencing a whole four years of college.
Therefore, it is key that you remember how far you have already come and just have fun with the process. The less stressed and more relaxed your attitude, and the more authentic and comfortable with yourself and your answers, the better you will be in delivering great responses!
