Top 50 Medical School Interview Questions

Your application for medical school is important, but did you know that your medical school interview could be what makes or breaks your acceptance?

Unfortunately, having good grades and good test scores aren’t always what gets a student into medical school. You also need to have excellent communication skills and the ability to relate and communicate with patients.

Your medical school interview is a very important phase in the admissions process. If you’re asked for an interview, this usually means that the school believes that you, (at least the “you” on paper), have what it takes to be successful in their program.

Because your medical school interview is critical to being admitted into medical school, it’s best that you make sure to prepare prior to your interview.

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If you’re curious about the questions that you’ll be asked during the interview, we’ve compiled a list of the top 50 medical school interview questions to help you prepare.

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Top 50 Medical School Interview Questions

1. Why are you interested in our program?
2. Have you applied to other schools? Which ones? Why those schools?
3. Have you been accepted anywhere else?
4. What is your first choice in medical school?
5. Tell me why you’re interested in medicine.
6. Tell me about your decision to pursue medicine. When did you decide to become an MD, and why?
7. Why would you be a good doctor?
8. What do you do in your spare time?
9. What is your favorite book? Why?
10. Define success.
11. What are the three things you want to change about yourself?
12. How do you handle stress?
13. What are your greatest strengths?
14. What are your greatest weaknesses?
15. Do you have any family members or role models who are physicians?
16. Why did you decide to choose medicine and not some other field where you can help others, such as nursing, physical therapy, pharmacology, psychology, education, or social work?
17. What will you do if you are not accepted to medical school this year? Do you have you an alternative career plan?
18. How do you handle failure?
19. Are you a leader or a follower? Why?
20. In your opinion, what is the most pressing health issue today?
21. What was your favorite class in college? Why?
22. Tell me about a leadership role you’ve held in college?
23. What are your specific goals in medicine?
24. What travels have you taken and what exposure to other cultures have you had?
25. Thinking of examples from your recent past, how would you assess your empathy and compassion?
26. As a pre-med student, what skills have you learned to help manage your time and relieve stress?
27. If you could be granted three wishes for making the world/society/ your community a better place, what would they be and why?
28. What kind of experiences have you had working with sick people? Have these experiences taught you anything that you didn’t know beforehand?
29. What family members, friends, or other individuals have been influential in your decision to pursue a medical career?
30. What is “success” in your opinion? After 20 years as a physician, what kind of “success” would you hope to have achieved? Please explain.
31. Describe your style of communicating and interacting with others.
32. Give an example of a situation in which you had to utilize effective interpersonal skills.
33. Describe how you would effectively deal with someone in crisis.
34. Tell me about a time when you demonstrated initiative.
35. Tell me about a time when you faced a conflict or anger with another individual.
36. What experiences have you had working with diverse populations?
37. Describe a situation in which you have worked with a diverse group of people — What did you learn from the situation?
38. How would your classmates or coworkers describe you?
39. How would your professors or supervisors describe you?
40. What else do you want us to know about you before you leave today?
41. If there are 1,000 applicants just like you, why should we pick you?
42. What do you have to offer our school?
43. What impact will you have on the medical profession?
44. Tell me about a time when you were criticized unfairly. How did you respond?
45. How do you handle change?
46. If you could start your college career all over again, what would you do differently?
47. What do you think of euthanasia?
48. Do you think a physician should tell a patient he/she has eight months to live?
49. If there were an accident on the highway, would you stop and help the victims if it could lead to a malpractice claim against you?
50. If you had a choice to give a transplant to a successful elderly man or a young drug addict, who would you chose?