# UK Medicine interview questions



## Majid (Jan 28, 2006)

This is a very useful document I recieved:
Went on a couple of websites and tried to compile a selection of possible medical interview questions. First concentrate on your personal statement, and make sure that you can fully understand everything in it, because most of your interviews will usually be focused on it. 

If applying to medicine make sure you get your HepB course of immunisation started because it is usually done over 6 months and without it you can?t start the course. So don?t leave it too late!

Also if applying to unis that offer PBL make sure that you can talk about it and why you want to do it.

How did you get here?
Why do you want to do medicine? Why do you want to be a doctor?
What do you hope to gain during your medical education? 

What would you do if you weren?t accepted to medicine?
Gives us 2 of your qualities and 2 of your defaults? What makes you special? What are your strengths? What are three things you want to change about yourself?
What do you feel are the most important qualities in being a good doctor? What are the roles of a doctor?
What do you think will be your greatest challenge, completing medical school or learning how to be a doctor?
Why would you be a good doctor?
Are you a leader or a follower? Why?
What do you think you will like most about medicine?
What do you think you will like least about medicine?
If you enjoy working and caring for people, why not become a nurse?
Whats your greatest achievement?

When have you worked in a team?

Has anyone ever let your team down? what did you do about it?

How do you go about learning something?

 
Why do you apply to our uni? (Know why you want to go there and be able to provide 4 or 5 reasons when you're asked.) DON?T say that you applied because you thought you had a good chance of being accepted. 

How did you decide to apply to our medical school? 

Why did you choose our specific program? (PBL/system based)
What do you do in your spare time? What are your hobbies?
Tell us more about your voluntary work and work experience


*Ethical questions*
Expect questions concerning what you think about ethics and healthcare (e.g., abortion, cloning, euthanasia). 
Would you perform abortions as a doctor? Under what conditions? 
Name some strategies to address the problem of smoking among teens; talk about some that haven't been tried before. 

Do you have any questions? Ask about unclear aspects of their curriculum, research opportunities, and so on, but your questions should show that you are familiar with the school so make sure you?ve read the prospectus fully and that the questions you ask are not already answered in it.

If you don?t know the answer to a question don?t go on pointlessly just be honest and say so to the interviewer.

If you enjoy working and caring for people, why not become a nurse?"
How would you describe the relationship between science and medicine?
In your view, what is the most pressing problem facing medicine today?
If you could do anything different in your education, what would you do?
Where else are you applying? 
Have you been accepted anywhere?
What is your first choice?
Tell me about yourself. 
Name something you are most proud of? 

If you could be any character in history, who would it be, and why? 

How would you describe the relationship between science and medicine? 

What do you think about the health care system and which way should it go? 
Name a meaningful experience you've had and how it shaped you 
Which of your college courses interested you the most? 
Where do you see yourself in 10 years? 
What interests you outside of medicine and getting into medical school? 

*UCL university*

Which three things would you take on a desert island.
If you are in an exam and you see a student cheating what would you do.
How can the media affect the public

How do doctors affect the media

Do you think that doctors need to ask for consent when taking out organs of dead people. Where would you draw the line. What if it was only a small blood sample?
50% of the time I (the interviewer) am unable to diagnose my patients immediately, how do I go about solving the problem?
2000 years ago how would scientists find out treatment if they could not use trials such as experiments? 
What are the major problems with scientific research other than the success and failure?
Who works as part of a team with doctors? 

*Manchester university*
What is pbl
sum up in a sentence what would make you a good doctor?

ethical question about conjoined twins, asking is it right to seperate them, have to argue both ways, and then sum up the argument.

what do you think are the pros/cons of making information available to other hospitals and doctors when an error occurs by doctor, which may hav resulted in death of a patient and may have been due to errors in the teaching or common practise of a hosptial?
What are your views on the use of powdered milk in third world countries?
If you had ?1,000,000 to spend on research what would you spend it on?
what you think of *situation in the news*? 

*St Georges university*
What are the positives and negatives of being a Doctor?

What are the characteristics of a good team? (not to be confused with "why is teamwork important in medicine?")
Any recent medical advancements that you have read about recently?

*Keele university*
"Why do you think the PBL course structure suits you?
What role would you take in a pbl group?
How do you deal with stress? 
What qualities do you think a doctor needs/what qualities do you have that would make a good doctor?
Work experience?
Do u have any hobbies?
Ethical issues, eg, expensive treatments, transplants, etc
*HYMS (hull york medical school)*
who are the most important members of a multidisciplinary health team? 
an article to read for 5 minutes before the interview, which they will ask your opinions on. 

*Leicester university*
Lots of ethical questions- views on euthanasia, stem cell research. 
Drug which causes deformities in babies and asked about the ethics of giving all patients a pregnancy test even if say the patient was a 75 year old woman! 
If an HIV positive patient was bleeding profusely from a laceration, what would you do? What if you do not have gloves? What if you have an open sore in your hands?
Would you put the patient or your own safety first?

*Imperial university*
What do you think of people who used their mobile phones on trains

*Newcastle university*
go on then, prove to us here and now that you are kind person ...

do you give money to beggars in the street?
What do you do most evenings?

Whats your greatest achievement?
When have you worked in a team?
Has anyone ever let your team down? what did you do about it?
How do you go about learning something?
What the disadvantages of being a doc?
Why medicine not a nurse?
who's involved in a medical team?
What are the disadvantages of working in a team?
What are your hobbies?
What would you do at 2:00am after a night shift in A+E to relax?
What work experience have you gained to help you learn medicine's right for you?
What would you change about the NHS?
What would you change about your work experience?
Do you agree with euthanasia?
Do you agree with privatisation?
Ethical scenarios.
Do you prefer to learn alone or in groups?
Are you a leader or a follower?
What or who inspired you to do medicine?
would you give a smoker a lung transplant?
What keeps you motivated?
What will you be doing as a medical student this time next year? (i actually got asked this and dint have a clue)
What do you think is the most important medical advancement in the last 100 years?
What will being a doctor be like in 20 years time?
What are the biggest challenges the NHS faces?
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PRIMARY, SECONDARY AND TERTIARY HEALTHCARE??
you are team leader, 2 people in the team aren't getting on with each other but they have to work together because they are the only ones in the team that specialise in those particular areas. How would you go about solving this problem?"
*Pros and cons of using the private sector?
Should the elderly be made to pay for care
*What problems do the elderly face and what treatment can doctors offer to the very old?
What are the implications for doctors of an ageing population?
What makes you special?"
*where will the NHS be in 10 years time???

*what do you want to achieve in medicine? 
ii. How do you see your career in ten years time?
iii. what impact do you hope to make in the field of medicine?
iv, what do you think the job of being a doctor entails, other than treating patients? 
v, imagine you are on comitee able to recommend only one of two new surgical treatments to be made available through the NHS. The treatments are and artificial heart for babies born with heart defects or a permanent replacement hip for people with severe arthritis. Both treatments are permanent, i.e. never need repeating, and are of equal cost. On what grounds should you make your arguments?
"we are spending ?94 billion on the health service this year, compared with ?52 billion six years ago.....so why are wards shut down, operations cancelled and trusts in turmoil?"
Who is the current health secretary and if you were stuck in the lift what issues would you raise?
If you were the health secretary what changes would you make?
How do you feel medical reseach should be funded?
How valuable is homeopathic/alternative medicine?is it a case of cure or con?
what has the been the most important advance in medicine in the past 50years?
Should a patient's partner/immediate family have the right know their condition?
How safe are over the counter flu remedies?
What is litigation and should doctors fear it?
What is gene therapy and can you give some examples?
outline the biology of HIVE, why is it so infective?
How is rejection prevented in transplants? 
How do they choose a transplant donor?
What is vivisection and what are your views on it?
Is it justified to refuse hip operations to obese patients who have no medical reason for their obesity?
Where do you see the NHS in 10years time?

*PBL*
think this is an important read for everybody. Even those people who have no intention of applying to a university that offers PBL. There is every chance that the interviewer could ask you why you don?t you like PBL etc.

You can bet your last dollar that you will be asked about PBL if you apply to a university which does PBL. It?s a new phenomenon, a new way of learning ? modern. Used by the ?modern? universities.

_What is it?
_PBL stands for problem based learning. And that is what it is, you learn through by looking at a set problem.
PBL is usually done in weekly cycles.
PBL are usually done in groups of 5-9 people. Each group is assigned a PBL tutor whose job it is to oversee each group. At the beginning of the week you will be given a case, or a scenario. The scenario is the same for each person in the group. Cases are often real life and related to what you are studying at that time. In the first session once you receive the case; in your group you would brainstorm that case coming up with as many ideas as possible.

For ?homework? you go back to your books and further research the details. Use the library, internet etc. During the week you meet to discuss what you have found. In essence the goal is to find what was wrong with the patient.

_Why did they bring it in?
_The aim of the new guidelines which were bought in by the GMC as they reformed the way of learning and is part of a wider change of educational reform.
_ 
What are the advantages?
_It devlops skills which are essential as a doctor;
? In PBL you communicate with other members of the team and so your teamwork skills and your communication skills improve.
? You are required to research topics looking for things you have probably never heard of. Medicine is sometimes described as a career which involves lifelong learning. As a doctor you will have to make sure you keep on top of the new discoveries which are made daily. PBL trains you to get ready for this as you have to go out to do your own research.

It?s a great way of learning too. It?s different. In a lecture you will have an explanation on how nerves transmits impulses by one person. If you don?t understand this then you have to go out and find what the lecturer was on about in your own time.
In PBL you will get at least 6 or 7 different explanations on how the nerves transmits impulses, one explanation from each person in your group.
 
_What about the disadvantages?
_? It?s a new way of learning. You don?t really know if it will suit you.
? Some members of the group may not work together well. This will hinder the performance of the group as a whole.

Remember in your interview if you are asked what problems you might face with PBL don?t forget to turn the negative of the problem in to a positive.
E.g, 
?it?s a new way of learning so I may struggle with it at first? but I?m really really enthusiastic and motivated to learning medicine and so I feel I?d easily be able to rise to the challenge.?

Make sure you do research on PBL, the best way to get an insight into PBL is to ask current medical students who have experienced PBL. They may moan about it or they may praise it, either way remember that feelings towards PBL will be completely different whoever you ask. And you opinions will be completely different should you experience PBL.
*​*


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## MastahRiz (Jan 26, 2006)

A lot of great questions to think about. Thanks Majid, this is definitely something everyone can benefit from.


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## Majid (Jan 28, 2006)

yep no doubt a excellent document. It was provided by my college so credit to them!


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## vegetablevn (Aug 13, 2010)

Majid said:


> yep no doubt a excellent document. It was provided by my college so credit to them!


 Hi,

Thanks very much for this comment. It help me to think about my ideals.

Thanks again and please keep posting.


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## anticholinesterase (Nov 19, 2007)

Interesting....
Well I had done PBL sessions myself for Surgery, they were really helpful.We were each granted the same case study and we had to prepare it for 2 days I think, then we were given more details about the patient, the lab results and so on, and we had to jolt down our ideas on a white board and argue for and against those suggested by the other teams. Each team who provided a really good argument was granted a point and at the end of the session the highest earning team was the winner and needless to add we won , but I have to admit the girls in my group did most of the work.


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## firas15 (Jan 15, 2011)

thanks this is really helpful but where can we find answers on most of these questions...what i mean to say is when they ask us 'why medicine?' what type of structure should our answers follow? do you know of any websites which can help with interview preparation?


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## colakyngo (Aug 19, 2011)

Hi, 

I agreed with you. Any way, your points of view make me thinking about some thing for my project. 

Pls try to keep posting. Tks and best regards


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## hamburg113 (Sep 3, 2011)

Hi,

Thanks very much for this comment. It help me to think about my ideals.

Tks again and pls keep posting.


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## hambim336 (Dec 2, 2011)

Hi,

Good ideal, pls try to keep posting. I like this topic very much and I will digged this one. Tks again.


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## tra072011 (Jan 5, 2012)

Hi

This topic help me a lot in developing my project. I will contribute more when I finished it.


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## thu062012 (Feb 14, 2012)

Hi,

Good ideal, pls try to keep posting. I like this topic very much and I will digged this one. Tks again.


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## lite_lord (Jul 15, 2011)

more than awesome post,but where are the appropriate answers of these,you diagnosed but didn't told cure.....


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## hua052011 (Mar 7, 2012)

Hi

I found that a member asked same question in this forum some months ago.

Pls use search box to find this questions with comments


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