How many people interviewed you?
| Response Average | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 3.05 | 20 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Positively | 12 |
| Negatively | 4 |
| No change | 4 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 4.22 | 18 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 7.30 | 10 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 7.70 | 10 |
No responses
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 5 minutes | 0 |
| 10 minutes | 0 |
| 15 minutes | 0 |
| 20 minutes | 0 |
| 25 minutes | 1 |
| 30 minutes | 2 |
| 35 minutes | 3 |
| 40 minutes | 4 |
| 45 minutes | 7 |
| 50 minutes | 1 |
| 55 minutes | 1 |
| 60+ minutes | 2 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| At the school | 20 |
| At a regional location | 0 |
| At another location | 0 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| One-on-one | 9 |
| In a group | 10 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Open file | 2 |
| Closed file | 18 |
| Response Average | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 3.05 | 20 |
"Why MD/PhD at Western? "
"Role acting question mentioned above. "
"the exact questions you would expect."
"tell us about yourself"
"Tell us about yourself. (say everything you want to talk about during the interview, remember that its closed-file!)"
"Why Medicine?"
"If you came upon an accident where you smelled alcohol and gasoline what would you do?"
"Describe your research"
"Why Meds? Why western?"
"what is an under served population in terms of medical attention"
"With respect to physicians being gatekeepers, how would you address a crowd of people in a developing country when the food drop-off that week was spoiled? What actions would you take if you came upon an automobile accident in which the driver seemed to be drunk and injured and there was a strong smell of gas? "
"tell me about yourself"
"Why do you want to be a doctor?"
"Why do you want to study medicine?"
"How would you approach forming your lab?"
"Something on time management"
"Western makes it very tough for you to get an interview, and I'm sure you are highly coveted by other schools, so why western?"
"A woman wants to commit her mother to an old-age home. As a physician, how would you deal with this? "
"You are in africa and are in charge of handing out food to a village. The shipment doesn't come in this week. What do you do?"
"Tell me about yourself (describe everything b/c they won't ask for elaboration)"
"What do you like to do other than science? What special-needs groups do you feel need your advocating?"
"Where did you grow up? Who are your role models? What do you do for fun? How do you balance your life/time and how will you do this when in the demanding field of medicine?"
"tell me about your role models or mentors"
"Why do you want to come to Western?"
"What assets can you bring to enrich the class and the program?"
"How would you balance the prestige of medicine versus the pressures in research?"
"Why medicine"
"Why medicine?"
"Can you describe a movie you've seen lately?"
"Who is your role model, and what have learned from them?"
"Who are your role models? "
"Why Western/London? Why medicine? Why the switch from engineering?"
"what do you like about Western?"
"What type of medicine do you see yourself practising?"
"Interviewer stated, ''This is going to be a poorly articulated question. Perhaps you can make sense of it...He (purposely) rambled on about the SARS situation and eventually talked about doctors conforming to their instructions or disregarding them and returning to work infected."
"A role playing scenario where I was asked to give advice to a ''friend in crisis''"
"Cannot disclose, required acting."
"how do you feel about rural medicine"
"What do you think about the cost of higher education, what should be done about it, what kind of advice would you give a high-school graduate about the expenses"
"although, i was asked to sign a confidentiality statement, and thus, i cannot divulge these questions, there is no need to worry! all the questions that were asked were the expected ones that you have i'm sure already prepared for!"
"I signed a confidentiality agreement, but the most interesting question was a follow-up revolving around my research. "
"So why Western?"
"Which would you choose if you had the option of heading up the Canadian Medical Protective Association or being the top GP in your area?"
"Hmm... trying to think of an even remotely interesting question. Nope can't."
"There were three ethical scenerios..."what would you do if..." kind of questions. Everything else was pretty standard"
"none, all very formulaic. I believe that the interviewers only ask a set of standard questions for all the applicants they interview. "
"nothing really interesting"
"What specific group of people in Canada need specific consideration for health care? (After I answered - And supppose you were the physician of this group - how would you solve the problems associated with their health care?)"
"why do you think mental illness has stigma? how do you think we could resolve that?"
"Explain a situation in which you had to teach a group something complicated and how you dealt with the inherent difficulties involved."
"None of them were crazy in any way. Most interesting... "Comment on your preference of either public or private healthcare" "
"The ones with multiple questions within the question that they rattled off all at once. hard to keep track of what had been answered."
"See ''interesting question''"
"None. Since most of the questions are open ended it is easy to think of an answer. "
"something about rural doctors"
"Tell me about yourself (they know nothing about you. Trying to sum up your entire life in 5 minutes is hard)"
"Think of an ethical situation from any area of your life and discuss both sides of the issue"
"A question dealing with the allocation of VERY finite resources."
"Scenario about resource distribution - what is the most ethical way of distributing resources when they are scarce?"
"After discussing in depth a major project I worked on during an internship, I was asked if there was anything I would do differently. I couldn't think of anything. "
"I wouldn't say any question specifically was challenging. The challenge was in attempting to engage the interviewers."
"probably the ethical scenarios"
"none, i had asked someone that had the interview a week before me and the so-called "hard" questions were the same."
"how would some data got from a basic knockout mice experiments relate to a physician in the ER treating a patient?"
"What questions would you ask to an elderly mother, who had just fallen and hurt herself but did not want to move into a retirement home and her daughter who felt that her mother needed to move in order to be safe?"
"why do you think docs have such power?"
"How would you explain to a (Canadian) patient your views on public health care?"
""Comment on one group of people in Canada requiring specialized/distinct healthcare". I said aboriginals because of potential conflicts with traditional beliefs and medicine..."
"Little bit of reading of canadian health care system, reviewed ethics etc."
"This site"
"This was my last interview amongst many. I felt prepared and very relaxed. Remaining calm is important, but easier said than done. "
"this was my last interview so I felt very prepared and had zero stress"
"ethics, learning about the school"
"Nothing"
"Went to school for the last six years, researched UWO on the internet, talked with some friends"
"read over sketch and resume and did lots of thinking. "
"I bombed my first interview at another school because I thought it would be better to sound genuine and unrehearsed. I learned my lesson and did a couple practise ones with friends."
"Researched the health care system, read a medical ethics books, mock interview, practice questions, introspection"
"read an ethics book, kept up on current events, read my sketch"
"CMAJ, lots of internet sites, pre-med forum, med students, practice at student centre"
"read over application"
"Mock interview, this site, reviewed Western's website (particularly curriculum objectives and learning outcomes), read Romanow report and other similar ones, read newspaper daily, etc."
"spoke with UWO students; introspection; etc"
"Sincerely pursued my interests, visited internet sites like this one, talked to med students, read a lot and went out the night before."
"Drank lots the night before, yet still got a good night's sleep. Honestly, partying with the 1st year class helped me relax and feel at home."
"Nothing outstanding, a formal interview as expected However, I am very appreciative in that they looked past my substandard MCAT and interviewed me based on my research experience."
"Campus is beautiful and students gave a decent tour of the medical building. "
"The campus is beautiful. All buildings are well spaced out, there is much greenspace as well. "
"The waiting room area was nice and there was plenty of food/drinks!"
"everything"
"Everything. Systems based pre-clinical. High level of responsibility for clerks. "
"The interviewers put extra effort into making me feel comfortable during the interview so they could really get to know me. It really made me feel welcomed"
"how nice the uwo campus was, and friendly the tight the class seemed."
"The campus is much nicer than I expected, as is the city."
"the video prepared by the first-year med students was very funny and really eased my nerves."
"Friendliness of the student body, presence of financial aid officer, the apparent preparation on the part of administrators and students."
"The video was funny and the students seemed to really love their school. The program also impressed me, although it seemed like way too much lecture time first year."
"the friendliness of the students"
"students are extremely nice and they really seem like a very close knit group. They seem to have a lot of fun on top of studying. Everything was also very very well organized. "
"students were close"
"The closed file nature of the interview was really interesting! It let me guide my own interview since we could only talk about experiences that I brought up. Make sure to know what you want to say at the beginning when they say "Okay, we only know your name thus far, what do you want us to know about you?""
"they were able to accomodate my interview at off-hours.. my two back-to-back interviews began at 5pm and ended by 7:30pm"
"How friendly the students and faculty were! Everyone just kept smiling and offering to help me do things! Absolutely unbelievable how much the entire Meds 2006 class was there FOR the interviewees!"
"The 1st year class was awesome"
"How arrogant the students were. Also, the one interviewer kept doing the whole head-bob-I'm-sooo-tired thing. Compared to MMI interviews I have also had, panel interview was awkward and less effective IMO."
"N/A"
"The Western stereotypes are true. "
"It seems that the stereotype that the rich kids go to this school is true."
"The students giving the tour did not seem particularly enthusiastic."
"one interviewer had his head down resting on his hands during the entire interview"
"Nothing"
"The students spent a lot of time putting-down other ontario medical schools in order to prove that Western was the best"
"nothing."
"There was no recycling program in place at the lunch which was provided. Also, the student's seemed a little young. Not in a bad way, but they tended to emphasize how Western was the--and I'm quoting here--"Bestern." Following this philosophy, instead of emphasizing their academic side, they focused a lot on the party life in London. This is something I'd like to know, but our tour guids got so excited while describing city-life that I thought they might flash me (okay... so maybe I wasn't negatively impressed persae)."
"Not many people had morning interviews on my day so it was pretty empty. Only 3 people or so at the video and intro session :("
"London"
"The interview itself. My interviewers seemed disinterested and the questions were simply read of a list. There was no dialogue whatsoever and I never felt at all comfortable."
"The interview...it was closed file, so I assumed the interviewers would ask me to elaborate, or question me further on my answers. Nothing like this at all, they just moved onto the next question. By not feeding off my answers, and following a rigid set of questions, I didn't think they got a good idea of who I was."
"my interview. I was the last one of the day and my interviewers looked absolutely uninterested. The committee member looked like he was going to pass out. The faculty member was really a robot, and although i thought the med student was nice, I think I caught him snoozing off. bad experience? yeah..."
"they were doing renovations while i was there and it seemed run down but i'm sure it'll be better after all of it's done"
"Nothing, it was a fantastic experience."
"their responses to my questions"
"Construction of the Med Sci Building."
"The health science building was kinda labyrinthine..."
"Their tendency is take those with the most research experience possible (expected), thus students with Masters have a significant advantage versus undergraduates."
"Western Road actually changes name before intersecting with the street I was on. So I went passed whatever that road is called and ended up asking for directions. "
"Some specifics about the curriculum. "
"there was role-playing"
"How much I like this school "
"I wished that I had really understood the very interesting implications of "Ecosystem Health": a component of the curriculum that is certainly unique to UWO. Read-up on that for sure."
"Questions are all standardized and there's very little time/room to say what is unique about you."
"They interviewers no absolutely nothing about you. They do not even have the autobiographical sketch"
"The pressure associated with a closed-file interview where the panel asked no supplementary questions. I should have taken half the interview to answer the "tell us about yourself" question because really that was the only one that would allow them to get to know you. Also, that everyone would get asked the same questions, even at the interview two weeks later. To me this just doesn't seem fair."
"That they wouldn't ask for elaboration, so I should have described everything!!"
"nothing, I do undergrad at western so there's really nothing that really surprised me. "
"Nothing."
"Western really wants students to do the research part of the combined program first - I'm still not convinced."
"Well, to twist the question a little: I wish I knew that Western was going to end up being the school where I do my MD. During interview time, I had two schools I had rather gone to, but only AFTER I got acceptances at those two schools did I suddenly decide I wanted Western the most afterall!"
"Nothing really. The interviewers don't know ANYTHING about you before your interview so be prepared for that, i.e. they don't have your autobio sketch."
"Meh, was not overly impressed at all."
"As expected. Western's formal, cookie-cutter medi-clone protocols left little to no surprises."
"Decent. The interviewers were the friendliest in that they always had pleasant and compassionate expressions on their faces. Students were nice. I came only for the interview and left soon after, so I was not able to meet a lot of students or watch their video"
"Went well. Met some people I had met earlier at other interviews. Students seemed genuinely happy. There were many of them to help guide us where we were needed."
"everything about the school was great; my interview may have been my worst. It made it harder because I liked the school so much"
"nerve-wracking at first, but the interviewers definitely helped me to feel at ease."
"A very good all around experience. My interviewers were very attentive and provided me with many good follow-up questions. Being undecided driving into London, I knew when leaving that I would be happy there."
"Great. I enjoyed it. I was a little late in being called into the room and this became agonizing because med students and other interviewees would constantly pass by me and exclaim "oh you STILL haven't gone in yet?" - in the end, I did get the 45 min in there but I didn't have my calm when I walked in there in the beginning (as a result of the long wait). "
"Western seems it would be a great school to study medicine, especially with the revamped interior and the influx of new money. As for the interview, the closed-book approach seems a bit off-putting, but there is a good way to deal with it: Put everything on the table with the first question (within reason)and let the interviewers take it from there. "
"Well if it's not obvious from the preceding comments my experience was largely negative. The day itself was very well organized and the students were friendly, but my specific interviewers were stone-faced and disinterested ."
"Wasn't impressed. I didn't think the interview format (structured questions without followup) fit the closed-file nature of the interview"
"Western seems like a great med school. At least from the students' enthusiasm, they seem really into helping you out. The interviewers however looked like I was boring them to death. I tried to crack a few jokes and it was a dead audience (perhaps I'm just not funny). So, how to succeed? Find out the questions they asked to the candidate that's in your interview room before you. Very likely the questions will be exactly the same. I'm not kidding. They have a sheet of set questions. If you can find out the questions before hand you'll feel more prepared. Even questions from people the week before will likely have resemblence to questions you will be asked."
"lots of scenario questions. ethics/current events/political issues are WAY too overemphasized. to other potential interviewees, just relax. esp if you've grown up in canada all your life, you'll already know the basic of the systems and if you don't i think you're in big trouble. overall a good experience, not stressful."
"The interview was very comfortable and all three interviewers were attentive, relaxed and interesting people! The med students were loads of fun, and spent a lot of time getting to know the interviewees. Western has become my #1 choice after this experience."
"the MD interview was rather formulaic considering it was closed-file"
"Western wasn't my first choice at the time of the interview and I felt very confident about my chances at two other schools. As a result, I was very relaxed. I even played air guitar and sang during my UWO interview. The panel liked that apparently.... I guess the secret is, and always will be, 'just be yourself'. The air guitar thing was just something I would have done in most conversations if I was asked the same questions the interviewers asked. I didn't think it right to act like some other person so I just did what I would have normally done, and I'm glad that was the message that was conveyed."
"Pretty relaxed, really short. I was expecting them to ask "tell us about yourself" as the first question but this never came up. I had to bring that spiel up at the end. Everyone I talked to was in and out in under half an hour. It was really straight forward. The interviewers weren't super friendly at first but we were all laughing by the end of it. The school is great. "
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Student | 14 |
| Faculty member | 0 |
| Admissions staff | 0 |
| Other | 0 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Enthusiastic | 5 |
| Neutral | 1 |
| Discouraging | 0 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 7.90 | 10 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| In state | 7 |
| Out of state | 4 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 0-1 hour | 1 |
| 2-3 hours | 3 |
| 4-6 hours | 0 |
| 7+ hours | 4 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Airplane | 3 |
| Automobile | 5 |
| Train or subway | 3 |
| Other | 0 |
YYZ
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| At school facility | 0 |
| With students at the school | 1 |
| Friends or family | 1 |
| Hotel | 2 |
| Home | 0 |
| Other | 0 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| < $100 | 3 |
| $101-$200 | 1 |
| $201-$300 | 1 |
| $301-$400 | 0 |
| $401-$500 | 1 |
| $501+ | 2 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 7.70 | 10 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 6.80 | 10 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 6.10 | 10 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 8.00 | 1 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 8.00 | 1 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 8.00 | 1 |
We help students become doctors. TM
What is one of the specific questions they asked you (question 1)?