Med School, Take 2

Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to interview for entrance to New Jersey Medical School (NJMS), part of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), which has two schools. My interview was scheduled at 10am, with a tour at 12pm, and a student interview at 1pm. I left my home and drove to Newark, NJ - carjack capitol of the world. Fun ...

Anyway, I got there safely, and as soon as I entered the waiting room and sat down, I was called for my interview. I had been preparing the days before, reading up on the current healthcare crisis, plans for reform, and brushing up on my past research experiences. I was ready to ace this interview. I was led to a small office, which housed a rather large man. I had the pleasure to interview with a retired doctor who now works as a part-time Admissions Advisor. I was told to relax, and soon, the questions began.

I can't say I was asked anything terribly difficult. The toughest question asked of me was to talk about Obama's plan for healthcare reform and to provide my opinion on its probability of success. Lucikly, I had read about it the night before and could more-or-less describe his plans and formulate a rational opinion. The rest of the interview had questions like, "What do you think are the two biggest problems with US Healthcare," "What do you like to do in your spare time," and "How would you help improve the quaility of underserved communities on the individual physician level?" All questions I had already thought about and had an answer for.

After that, we spoke a little bit about NJMS and why I'd be a good fit for it, and both he and I were pleased with the direction of the interview. NJMS has student/patient interaction from day 1, problem-based learning (focus on small groups, not large lectures), a great Neuro/Psychiatry facility (wewt!), and it's close to home (more yay for my 'rents than me). At that point, the interview was more of a friendly conversation, which always feels great. Upon scanning through my file, he questioned why the school didn't accept me last year, and told me that he would fight for my entrance for the fall of 2009. He told me he has no doubt in his mind that I'll one day become a doctor and a great physician. These words were highly encouraging, and I left the room with a great, firm, optimistic handshake, smile, and slight bow.

All in all, I think it went rather well. A little shaky at first due to his initial serious behavior, but by the end of it, we were buddies. I'm pretty optimistic about this year, and this school. The only downside was that my student interviewer never showed up ... jerk. Oh well, at least they paid for my lunch. So ... I hear back in 6-8 weeks, and, in 3 weeks, I have another med school interview with Stony Brook, woo! So look forward to posts on both those events.

And now, I'd like to take this time to wish everyone out there in the grad school application process the best of luck. I have no better advice for interviews than "Be yourself." Reading up on the school is also a pretty good idea. Now get out there and get accepted!