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Session 202
Are interviews for postbac premed programs similar to medical school interviews? Here’s what you need to know to prepare.
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[00:58] OldPreMeds Question of the Week:
“I have a few interviews with post-bacc programs around the country and am wondering how best to prepare. Does anyone have experience interviewing with formal, structured career changer post-bacc programs (Bryn Mawr, Goucher, Johns Hopkins, others)?
I’m wondering what to expect and specifically, what interview questions to prepare for. Should I be reviewing medical school interview questions or is the interview process different?”
[01:30] Postbac Interview vs. Medical School Interview
These career-changer programs are very structured. These very formal programs are going to want to make sure that you are prepared and ready for medical school. The questions they’re going to ask are going to be very similar to preparing for your medical school interview.
'The interview process for postbac programs is going to be very similar to the medical school interview.'Click To TweetThey’re going to have a community of students so they’re going to want to see how you’re going to fit with the community. They’re going to ask behavioral questions. So prepare for your postbac interviews the same way that you prepare for your medical school interview.
[02:20] Make Sure You Understand
Understand your application obviously, including your strengths and weaknesses. Understand your motivations for wanting to be a physician.
If your goal for doing a postbac program to become a physician, they’re going to want to know why you want to be a physician. They want to make sure they’re training people who are going to go on and get into medical school. It doesn’t look good on their program if they take your money and you aren’t sure you want to be a doctor. This looks bad on them.
'They want to make sure you understand everything about being a physician just like medical schools are going to want to know.'Click To TweetYou need to do shadowing and clinical experience. Some programs are going to require you to take an MCAT so you have to work on that too. Outside of that, the interview is going to be similar to a medical school interview.
[03:50] What the Interviews Are Like
The interviews should be very conversational. They should be a coffee shop conversation. You want to prepare like your medical school interview. Check out The Premed Playbook: Guide to the Medical School Interview for some strategies for your postbac interviews. You can either get it on Amazon or Kindle. You should be able to get it through your library system for free.
'The ultimate goal is not to sell yourself. It's to have that coffee shop conversation. Show them who you are as a person.'Click To TweetDon’t sell yourself. The goal is to show them who you are as a person. Show them you can connect with them that will show you can potentially connect with your classmates and future patients.
[05:00] The First Line of Defense
They are the first line of defense to a medical school interview. Hopefully, they have conversations with medical school admissions committees and understand what the medical schools are looking for.
'They're the first line of defense in making sure that the students are going to be able to not only get through the postbac program but also get into medical school.'Click To Tweet[05:35] Other Resources
Check out our episodes about the medical school interview process on The Premed Years Podcast. We will also soon have a Spotify playlist so you can search for medical school interviews and see all of them in one playlist.
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Links:
The Premed Playbook: Guide to the Medical School Interview
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