The Other Side of Interviews

I got to participate in my school's interviews for the incoming class of medical students recently - it might sound weird, but I had an absolute blast. I obviously can't say much about the interviews themselves - there are still more applicants waiting to interview later in the year, plus I signed a very official-looking confidentiality form, so the less said, the better. All I'll say about the interviews and applicants themselves is that I was extremely impressed by the overall quality of candidates. It was a great reminder that all candidates, even those who don't get an acceptance this year, have done some pretty incredible things. Further, they'll likely go onto do more incredible things in the future, whether that's within medicine or outside of it. It was great to meet some of this individuals and a privilege to be a part of the selection process.

Another interesting part of the weekend was my interactions with the other interviewers. My school uses a panel format with a medical student, community representative, and physician. By far the most interesting person in our group was the community representative. I could have talked for hours with them without getting bored, they had so many compelling stories and anecdotes.

I also had great conversations with the physicians, and not just the one I was directly interviewing with. Since the panel interviews weight all opinions equally, this may have been the first time I was on equal standing with a fully-qualified physician in completing a task, working with rather than for them. Whether because of that or other reasons I can't think of, I had some very open and honest conversations with these physicians. For someone on the verge of choosing their specialty and, in many ways, their path through medicine, these conversations are like finding diamonds. They're incredibly valuable and extremely rare.

So, interview weekend was a worthwhile experience in a number of ways and an event I hope to be a part of again next year. Despite all the new opportunities I've had in clerkship, this was a highlight of my year.