How To Interview for MD/PhD Programs - What I Learned After My Interviews HD

This week’s video is about a couple of the things that I learned after my interviewing process. To get all the details out the way (again), let me list all the places that so graciously offered me an interview during my application cycle: Einstein, Boston U, Columbia, Harvard, Hopkins, Mayo, NYU, Northwestern, Stanford, UCSF, UChicago, UTHSCSA, WashU, and Tri-I. That makes for 14 interviews. You might say that I know a little something and I’ve had a bit of practice. Nevertheless, let me share a few tips and pieces of advice that I figured out after my interview trail. 1. Understand each school’s interview to acceptance ratio. This should let you know that when you get an interview from a choosy school, you’ve already come quite far. Alternatively, when you get an interview from a generous school, you’ve only passed the first obstacle, and you better pull out your A-game when you’re on campus. 2. Always say you want to do an 80/20 split. Always. The reality of the situation is that nobody knows where they’re going to end up 8 years from now and what curveballs life will throw at you. You might as well “lie” and give the standard answer. The only exception to this is if you truly just want to do less the minimal amount of research possible to justify going into an MD/PhD program, in which case, just drop out now while you still have your dignity. 3. Don’t act like you know which specialty you want to go into, especially if it’s not research friendly. I’m looking at you, future neurosurgeons. Am I reading too much into the situation? Maybe. Do you want this to be the reason why you didn’t gain admission into the school of your dreams? No. Be wise, and act aloof. No one can fault you for being attracted to a certain field, but as soon as they catch of whiff of your devotion, it’s over. Better safe than sorry. 4. Convey your research with emphasis on your contribution to the project, its purpose, outcome, and relevance. AdComs want to know what you did and why what you did (or the overall project you were working on) matters. If they’re interested enough, then they’ll ask for the how, just to make sure you’re not full of horse manure. Most importantly, make sure your interview leaves their conversation with you knowing that you were the HBIC on that project and that you handled your business! Even if you were just the assistant who spent most of your time washing test tubes, emphasize your work. If you put in the time, then shine. If you didn’t then don’t bring it up. 5. Lastly, go in with PhD ideas in mind. I believe that we should hold ourselves to the same standard that PhD students are held to, but take my advice with a grain of salt. I’m not saying that you should develop a detailed proposal for your PhD before you go on interviews. Just give it some thought and see which professors/institutions resonate with the ideas that you put forth. You’d be surprised who’s really excited to work with you and see you’re ideas come to life. That’s all I h