{"id":1498,"date":"2018-09-05T12:00:39","date_gmt":"2018-09-05T11:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/?p=1498"},"modified":"2018-09-05T12:00:39","modified_gmt":"2018-09-05T11:00:39","slug":"easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2018\/09\/05\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\/","title":{"rendered":"Easy question first: why do you want to study medicine?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Dr James Moss debunks some of the myths around medical school interviews and shares his\u00a0personal perspective as a\u00a0member of the interviewing panel for Imperial College School of Medicine.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Interviewing prospective students is a privilege that our staff and student panel members really enjoy. It makes us the custodians of the medical school, gatekeeping passage into our community. Our panels include staff and students, and every panel member has an equal say (and we don\u2019t always agree!). We have about 20 minutes to interview each candidate and decide if we want to make them an offer.<\/p>\n

Myth 1: We\u2019ve got a \u2018type\u2019 of student we\u2019re looking for<\/h2>\n

Not true.<\/strong> There isn\u2019t an Imperial mould and we\u2019re not looking for the finished product. Candidates are often (and understandably) nervous, their voice trembles and their mouth goes dry \u2013 that\u2019s OK, it\u2019s the normal physiological response to a high stakes environment. Nerves are not a weakness, they\u2019re natural.<\/p>\n

Try to relax and tell us what you know about medicine, why it\u2019s right for you, and what attributes you have that will help you achieve your dream. <\/em><\/p>\n

Myth 2: We\u2019re trying to catch you out in the interview<\/h2>\n

Wrong.<\/strong> There isn\u2019t enough time to play games like that! Every minute is valuable and we want to spend it getting to know you better. It\u2019s not an interrogation, and you\u2019re not a rebel spy. After all, you\u2019re also scrutinising us to decide if Imperial College London is right for you, so we want to make a good impression too.<\/p>\n

If we\u2019ve invited you for an interview, we must already be impressed with you, so you\u2019re halfway there.<\/em><\/p>\n

Myth 3: Shaking hands is a test<\/h2>\n

Rubbish.<\/strong> This is entirely optional, and you are not expected to for any reason, including religious beliefs \u2013 just let the panel know when you enter. The way the panel greet you when you come into the room will vary based on the preference of the chairperson (chief interviewer). Some interviewers prefer not to shake hands at all as it takes up valuable time. Me? I\u2019m a shaker. But if you choose not to shake my hand that\u2019s totally not a problem!<\/p>\n

In general, the best advice is to follow the panel\u2019s lead.\"\"<\/em><\/p>\n

Myth 4: The interviewers know how many spaces are left<\/h2>\n

Nonsense.<\/strong> That\u2019s not our job. The Admissions Team deal with the \u2018big picture\u2019 of student recruitment, but the interviewers on any given day are dealing with each applicant in front of them, and deciding about them on the merits of their application and interview against predefined criteria. It is, of course, possible that a panel may make offers to all students interviewed in a morning session, for example, or we may not make any offers at all.<\/p>\n

Everyone gets the same treatment, regardless of the time of the panel, time of day or time of year.<\/em><\/p>\n

Myth 5: Beautifully rehearsed and recited answers are better<\/h2>\n

No, no, no.<\/strong> We are not a School of Performing Arts, and we\u2019re not auditioning for the latest Hollywood blockbuster. It is usually clear who has memorised what they want to say, as it comes across very robotic. This strategy often means you don\u2019t actually answer the question we have asked.<\/p>\n

Candidates should listen to the question, take a moment to think, then answer the question honestly and in a natural, conversational way. <\/em><\/p>\n

Myth 6: Not receiving an offer is the worst thing ever!\"\"<\/h2>\n

Not necessarily.<\/strong> I can appreciate it may feel like the end of the world, but we have a duty of care to our interviewees as well as our students. It is important that we, to the best of our ability, offer to students who we think are ready to meet the academic, professional and emotional demands of the course. Also, university is very expensive, and we want to make sure students invest their money in the right degree at the right university. After all, Imperial may simply not be the right fit for you! People can change a lot, even in a year. Transitioning into university is tough. Alex, one of our incoming Year 2 students, recently shared some of her experiences in her blog<\/a>. Our students are family, and people look after their family.<\/p>\n

If you are unsuccessful, ask us for feedback. You can use that to strengthen your weaknesses. Often, gap years can be used to re-evaluate your interest and aspirations, get more exposure to clinical environments and to reapply.<\/em><\/p>\n

To those of you looking to apply to Imperial College School of Medicine this year, good luck! I hope to see you at interview.<\/p>\n

Dr James Moss<\/a>\u00a0(@DrJamesMoss<\/b><\/span><\/a>) is Senior Physiology Teaching Fellow based at Imperial\u2019s National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Read more blog posts by James Moss<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr James Moss debunks some of the myths around medical school interviews and shares his\u00a0personal perspective as a\u00a0member of the interviewing panel for Imperial College School of Medicine. Interviewing prospective students is a privilege that our staff and student panel members really enjoy. It makes us the custodians of the medical school, gatekeeping passage into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1171,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[200866,14860],"class_list":["post-1498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-school-of-medicine","tag-medical-school","tag-medical-student"],"yoast_head":"\nEasy question first: why do you want to study medicine? - Imperial Medicine Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dr James Moss debunks medical school interview myths as a\u00a0member of the interviewing panel for Imperial College School of Medicine.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2018\/09\/05\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Easy question first: why do you want to study medicine? - Imperial Medicine Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr James Moss debunks medical school interview myths as a\u00a0member of the interviewing panel for Imperial College School of Medicine.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2018\/09\/05\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Imperial Medicine Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-05T11:00:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/files\/2018\/09\/JAMESMOSS3.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Moss\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Moss\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/05\\\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/05\\\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"James Moss\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6875ff6dcddb8d6e4db105bd02c26d03\"},\"headline\":\"Easy question first: why do you want to study medicine?\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-05T11:00:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/05\\\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":817,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/05\\\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/JAMESMOSS3.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Medical school\",\"Medical student\"],\"articleSection\":[\"School of Medicine\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/05\\\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/05\\\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/05\\\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\\\/\",\"name\":\"Easy question first: why do you want to study medicine? - Imperial Medicine Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/05\\\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/05\\\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/JAMESMOSS3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-05T11:00:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6875ff6dcddb8d6e4db105bd02c26d03\"},\"description\":\"Dr James Moss debunks medical school interview myths as a\u00a0member of the interviewing panel for Imperial College School of Medicine.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/05\\\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/05\\\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/JAMESMOSS3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/JAMESMOSS3.jpg\",\"width\":1181,\"height\":660},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/\",\"name\":\"Imperial Medicine Blog\",\"description\":\"Stories from Imperial's Faculty of Medicine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6875ff6dcddb8d6e4db105bd02c26d03\",\"name\":\"James Moss\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8efd7c2c149352f9e0c2808181be40ed17f4d7d81d2ea9e4e41195ac89f33545?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8efd7c2c149352f9e0c2808181be40ed17f4d7d81d2ea9e4e41195ac89f33545?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8efd7c2c149352f9e0c2808181be40ed17f4d7d81d2ea9e4e41195ac89f33545?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James Moss\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-medicine\\\/author\\\/jmoss1\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Easy question first: why do you want to study medicine? - Imperial Medicine Blog","description":"Dr James Moss debunks medical school interview myths as a\u00a0member of the interviewing panel for Imperial College School of Medicine.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2018\/09\/05\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Easy question first: why do you want to study medicine? - Imperial Medicine Blog","og_description":"Dr James Moss debunks medical school interview myths as a\u00a0member of the interviewing panel for Imperial College School of Medicine.","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2018\/09\/05\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\/","og_site_name":"Imperial Medicine Blog","article_published_time":"2018-09-05T11:00:39+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/files\/2018\/09\/JAMESMOSS3.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"James Moss","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James Moss","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2018\/09\/05\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2018\/09\/05\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\/"},"author":{"name":"James Moss","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/6875ff6dcddb8d6e4db105bd02c26d03"},"headline":"Easy question first: why do you want to study medicine?","datePublished":"2018-09-05T11:00:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2018\/09\/05\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\/"},"wordCount":817,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2018\/09\/05\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/files\/2018\/09\/JAMESMOSS3.jpg","keywords":["Medical school","Medical student"],"articleSection":["School of Medicine"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2018\/09\/05\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2018\/09\/05\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2018\/09\/05\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\/","name":"Easy question first: why do you want to study medicine? - Imperial Medicine Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2018\/09\/05\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2018\/09\/05\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/files\/2018\/09\/JAMESMOSS3.jpg","datePublished":"2018-09-05T11:00:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/6875ff6dcddb8d6e4db105bd02c26d03"},"description":"Dr James Moss debunks medical school interview myths as a\u00a0member of the interviewing panel for Imperial College School of Medicine.","inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2018\/09\/05\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2018\/09\/05\/easy-question-first-why-do-you-want-to-study-medicine\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/files\/2018\/09\/JAMESMOSS3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/files\/2018\/09\/JAMESMOSS3.jpg","width":1181,"height":660},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/","name":"Imperial Medicine Blog","description":"Stories from Imperial's Faculty of Medicine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/6875ff6dcddb8d6e4db105bd02c26d03","name":"James Moss","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8efd7c2c149352f9e0c2808181be40ed17f4d7d81d2ea9e4e41195ac89f33545?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8efd7c2c149352f9e0c2808181be40ed17f4d7d81d2ea9e4e41195ac89f33545?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8efd7c2c149352f9e0c2808181be40ed17f4d7d81d2ea9e4e41195ac89f33545?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"James Moss"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/author\/jmoss1\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pg9uH0-oa","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1171"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1498"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1516,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1498\/revisions\/1516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}