Sounding over rehearsed.

**The Messiah** · 01-08-2005, 10:38 PM

Originally Posted by Michelle @ Kidderminster

This isnt really relevant to me- cos I dont watch Casualty or Holby City- and I am asking this as a light hearted question

but what do these admissions doctors have against Casualty and Holby City? lol- at every open day I have been to they mention them as if they are the work of the devil- at the Premed Course at Oxford (even THAT cost £50 for a few hours!) they even played a clip of ER and criticised it, lol.

Because they are TV programmes and do not show all that occurs as a doctor, eg. the paperwork etc. All we see are clips which they have changed to sell the programme....

You have to remember the reason for the programme... to get TV ratings, not to inform us about medicine....

Originally Posted by Renal

Tbh, I don't believe in rehearsal. If you have the comms skills and actually have the answers to the questions (I'm no admissions officer, but I'm guessing that's what they might be looking for) than you'll be fine.

The problem with pre-planning answers is that, almost invariably, one question will be asked that you didn't plan for and you'll sit there like a lemon wondering which of your rehursed speeches will suffice. Alternatively you'll just trot some answer you picked up on here which means nothing to you and get into medicine.

There is a difference between being prepared and over rehearsing. I "prepared", and i'm glad I did as i'm pretty sure it saved me in my Oxford interviews...

For example. questions like why do you want to be a doctor you should be able to answer without any rehearsal or preparation. But questions like what qualities does a good doctor need, you can prepare. Key words like empathy, scientific knowledge are the things you should remember. When you are actually in the interview your mind is working to find a way to put these into a flowing sentence, so your speech does not sound prepared, becasue it isn't.

This idea is what you should do with so called "common questions". If you are very smart, you can actually lead the direction of the interview with your answers. For example if asked why medicine, you can give an answer mainly based on use of scientific knowledge. Then the interviewers will probably ask you why not research? Then you can answer it's too impersonal... and so on....

**peaceful_blossom** · 10-08-2005, 08:14 PM

You need to prepare for your interview. About sounding rehearsed you cant possible know all the question they are going to ask you.

I didnt rehearse the questions...yes i did pick up the well known questions and prepare answers but not rehearse them and know them word to word.

The end point is that they can ask you anything..I was shocked by some of the questions they asked but you if you read around and prepared then you should be fine.

All the best.

**kwatt26** · 10-08-2005, 09:08 PM

I'm assuming that your interviews are probably over now, but thought I might just add this in case.

In the Dundee open day, an admissions tutor spoke to us and gave a lot of helpful advice on exactly the kind of thing that you seemed to be struggling with. They recognised that many candidates will have pre-prepared answers, and said that this isn't a bad thing - it allows them to easily move on from the usual questions ("why medicine, why a doctor not a nurse, why Dundee") onto more unexpected questions.

**pilly84** · 17-08-2005, 07:02 PM

Originally Posted by kwatt26

I'm assuming that your interviews are probably over now, but thought I might just add this in case.

In the Dundee open day, an admissions tutor spoke to us and gave a lot of helpful advice on exactly the kind of thing that you seemed to be struggling with. They recognised that many candidates will have pre-prepared answers, and said that this isn't a bad thing - it allows them to easily move on from the usual questions ("why medicine, why a doctor not a nurse, why Dundee") onto more unexpected questions.

The same thing has been said to me a good few times. I suppose sounding over-rehearsed is often inevitable. You just need to keep calm when those unexpected questions come up!

**karnesh** · 06-09-2005, 08:55 PM

Most of what I can say has been said above, so i'll keep it brief. When we interview, we can spot the ones who've done courses or prepared loads a mile off. The "courses" people stand out, as they're taught specific ways of answering, and lock on eye contact that they never break (never try to out-stare an interviewer, bad idea). Preparation is essential for any interview. We know that everyone has "prepared" answers for the common questions. That's why they're there. They're designed to help break the ice, and settle you into the interview, before we move onto the more interesting things. Having prepared answers about 1 or 2 ethical topics is fine. Having answers for almost every ethical topic and all recent medical news articles is over the top. If you do that, then we'll start using more abstract questions you can't prepare for, and this will not only scare you and put you under pressure, it may make you feel that we're really drilling you. Of course, if you're doing really well in the interview, we may do it anyway to see how excellent you really are. As long as you're aware of current affairs and common medical news/advances and have at least a vague opinion of such things, you'll be fine.

k7 · 06-09-2005, 09:27 PM

When you rehearse, it is best to think in terms of "the scope" covered by your answer rather than preparing exact sentences - it's rare that the questions are gonna come up as you formulated them in your rehearsals.

I believe that spontaneity is key to a good interview together with a wide range of knowledge (the more you know, the less alien the questions will appear). I had rehearsed for my interview but I can hardly think of any question similar to what I had prepared...

remember this:
If it's a factual question then you either know it or not and there is no harm in accepting your limits (i.e they asked what Sheffield was famous for? hein.... do you know?... steel.... ok!!!!.).

If it's a logical question don't rush, take your time an think through it.

Finally if it's an ethical question then you can't get it wrong - it's subjective, but chose the argument you can easily argue even if you don't believe in it....

As a closing message, remember that you don't just want them, they want you too. At my interview I felt as though they liked me even when I felt like going totally of tangent.... that feeling help to offset the stress... or it's just me being naive...lol

**karnesh** · 06-09-2005, 10:14 PM

Lol, there's a buzz-phrase - "Know your limits". Others include "multidisciplinary team", and "communication skills", to name a few.

Seriously though, what k7 wrote is right.

Try this link (i've written more about interviews):

http://www.medschoolguide.co.uk/foru...&page=12&pp=10

**rachelm** · 07-09-2005, 05:17 PM

Originally Posted by karnesh

Lol, there's a buzz-phrase - "Know your limits". Others include "multidisciplinary team", and "communication skills", to name a few.

Seriously though, what k7 wrote is right.

Try this link (i've written more about interviews):

http://www.medschoolguide.co.uk/foru...&page=12&pp=10

I've printed that advice off, ta

My weakness is that I always fall into the trap of having to fill a silence. It's easy to think "don't then" but when I'm nervous, reason goes out the window! Hopefully, I'll be less nervous this time round because it won't be all quite so new and scary, and I can shine a bit more.

**irovonne** · 04-01-2007, 08:40 AM

Originally Posted by pianodoggie

Gillian, i hope my reply hasn't come late. I have recently been offered the opportunity to interview the young wannabes who wished to enter medical school. In an ideal world everyone would be accepted; but in reality all we (Barts and London) are looking for is a person who will enjoy working in the NHS (which can be very much of a poo-hole for most people, believe me :-)!)
There are 3 parts in the interview, first, we play a video clip of a really rubbish GP interviewing his patient, and the interviewee has to spot out the 5 things not right about him, and for bonuses to tell what would be the good practices. Then, we would ask the person how much he/she knew about the course - the structure, duration, topics covered, etc - and strengths and weaknesses (identifying the compatibility of one's personality to Medicine - at the end of the day it really isn't for everyone!). Finally, the senior med student in the board would ask you questions about ur interests, which wouldn't matter with our final decision as to acceptance, unless you came up with things like "i enjoy sex and i want to sleep with all of the nurses when i become a doctor!".
I say, be yourself, because the interviewers will be there to help you decide whether you are made for it. However, if you really want the place, then you should have the attitudes for it - someone who isn't impulsive, willing to listen to others, willing to learn and work with others, and enjoys the learning experience. Do not mention your love for Holby City, or ER. They are not impressed with that. Hope it helps!

LOL LOL LOL, sorry for the hysteria, Just finally saw why(one of several reasons) i did rubbish at my Barts interview last year... I actually thought the GP was good with the patient, did mention a few things he cudve done better. LOL wish i had read this thread before then, never mind!!