A Proven Way of Prepping for Interviews

The idiom ¨practice makes perfect¨ can apply to so many different aspects of life, especially when we think about developing proficiency at a particular skill, such as learning to play a musical instrument, acquiring a new language, or committing to memory facts needed for pedagogical/vocational purposes.  

Akin to this idea about practice (and practice again) is the concept of honing one´s skills and abilities for a particular task that may not have to be repeated. One such task can be the interview process for entry into medical and dental schools – nail it the first time and there will be no future need to undergo that challenge again. 

So, how to best prepare for the interview process for professional schools, like medicine and dentistry? It´s not a ¨practice makes perfect¨ undertaking because unlike the clarinet, the Spanish language or the functions of the 12 cranial nerves, each interview process is different from the next, and importantly there is no one correct answer or response for any question. Moreover, the specific questions change with each passing year, and the expectations of what constitutes a ¨great answer or response¨ is wholly dependent on the panel of interviewers that (more often than not) varies among the many being interviewed each year.

Over almost three decades of having undergraduate and graduate students in my research laboratory, I have seen that causal conversations (either one-on-one or in a group setting) are a great starting off point to refine one´s skills at answering or responding to the topics of the week. Our conversations have covered issues in medical research, current events, geopolitics, history – you name it. What I have observed is that these casual, friendly-space discussions have afforded my students a forum to refine their verbal skills and to appreciate others´ prospective on a variety of topics. Thinking in the moment requires some measure of practice, and formulating articulate answers and responses only gets better with each opportunity for verbal discourse. 

I know, from the feedback I have received from my students, that our many chats have helped them when it came time to (successfully) interview for acceptance into dental or medical school. Be it a structured multiple mini-interview or a casual ¨question and answer¨ style interview, my students have used our discussions as part of their process to ready themselves for this all-important vetting procedure.      

With the pandemic, dental and medical schools had to shift from in-person interviews to virtual interviews. Though many students were thriving in this new approach to their university education, the idea of virtual interviews was a bit daunting for many – there is a disconnect, a lack of interaction between the interviewee at home with the interviewer(s) over the internet. To address this issue, I proposed to my students who had received an invitation to interview that we do a mock multiple mini-interview. The 6-station interview was followed by a consultative debrief of their strengths and weaknesses. This practice format proved to be very successful, as all my ¨mock interview¨ students gained entry into medical school this past cycle. 

I can provide you with the same casual and/or mock interview formats to help you prepare for this important step towards your goal of achieving acceptance into medical or dental school. In our practice sessions, I offer you critical and constructive feedback that will most certainly assist you in honing and refining your interview style and performance. 

In closing, let me first congratulate you if you have received an invitation to interview at your dental or medical school of choice. If you wish to see if practice really can yield a ¨perfect outcome¨, please feel free to contact me and let´s work together to achieve that coveted acceptance into dentistry or medicine.