Episode Transcript
Announcer: This is the show by med students for med students. It's The Med Student Mentor on The Scope.
Interviewer: An interview is a great way to make an impression at a medical school, but knowing how to do an interview is a difficult process. Today, we brought in a Dr. Robert Jay Mayer who's the Faculty Associate Dean of Admissions at the Harvard Medical School. Thank you so much for being with us today, Dr. Mayer.
Dr. Mayer: My pleasure.
Interviewer: Just to start us off. Tell us about what an interview is to you.
Dr. Mayer: An interview is a very important part of our evaluation of candidates. We interview about one out seven to one out of eight applicants. We certainly are impressed with the accomplishments of those people from reading their applications, reading their letters of recommendation and reading their scores on standardized examinations and marveling at the many accomplishments they've already achieved.
On the other hand, what kind of people are they? What sort of ability do they have to maintain a conversation, to demonstrate some poise to justify, reassure the interviewer that their career goal is really in medicine. So for us, an interview is a very important component of our assessment.
Interviewer: So, I understand the interview process for Harvard Medical School happens on your guys' campus and it's sort of after a tour and some sitting in on classes. Can you sort of elaborate a little bit more on what that process entails and is that a normal process for an interview, or is that sort of unique to the Harvard Medical School?
Dr. Mayer: In some schools now, there is almost a speed dating sort of process where they are in a large area, there are stations, if you will, two or three seats and people go from one station to the other as interviewees and are asked a certain question and see how they handle it and then move on to the next booth, if you will.
We don't do that. We believe much more in giving our candidates an opportunity to talk with us, to share their goals and their experiences. It's a much more holistic process. We are much more interested in having our applicants tell us about themselves than our having a checklist of certain questions or areas that we would like to know whether a candidate has knowledge about.
Interviewer: Why do you think it's important to have your interview candidates sit in on classes?
Dr. Mayer: Well, you want to know what the environment and the product what you are applying for really is.
Interviewer: What are some ways that an applicant might prep him or herself for an interview?
Dr. Mayer: I want to look presentable. I want to look an interviewer in the eye. I want to have certain points about myself that I want share with the interviewer and I also think that they ought to be able to talk about what they do for fun and what they do for, in extracurricular areas. We want to probe what is in a candidate's application.
So, if a candidate says that I have a tremendous passion for volunteering in nursing homes and it's perfectly fair game to ask them to describe a patient or an experience or a memory. So, I think the message is what you tell us in your application is what we're going to focus on. We're not going to ask you questions that have nothing to do with that. Lastly, I suppose, we are looking for people who have shown some degree of leadership.
Interviewer: Okay. Well, that's a lot of great things that student can do to prep for an interview. Sort of on the other side of that coin, is there anything a student really should avoid doing in an interview?
Dr. Mayer: Being late. Being disrespectful. Saying or trying to answer something that they really don't know. I would really be very clear that what I am talking about are experiences that I've had. If I've been an EMT and you're asked about being an EMT, I would know what I'm talking about because the interviewer may have been and EMT.
Interviewer: After a good interview, what should the student have hoped to have impressed upon the interviewer and really how should the student feel?
Dr. Mayer: We very much want people to leave an interview or an interview day, saying that's a wonderful place. The people are happy. The people care about students. They care about the applicants. They really were receptive. If you come back from a good interview and you are an undergraduate or recent undergraduate so that you still have a relationship with the pre-medical adviser at your undergraduate school that you let that person know that you've really had a good terrific day. You're interested in the place because that information can be conveyed as well.
Interviewer: All right. So, you're really hoping students come away happy. Well, thank you so much for talking about this today and we really appreciate you stopping by.
Dr. Mayer: My pleasure.
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