How to answer interview Qs: state key point > quality of doctor/link to nhs > link to personal
experience > summarize
Interest
Why medicine
- Lived in yemen for a while when younger
- Conditions and lack of resources
- Minimum doctors and not the cleanest place
- I want to make difference - even if its not grand i want to help them as cliche as that
sounds
- Link it to work experience - solidified my thoughts
- Secondly like the idea of using science and lifelong learning - constantly evolving
- Not always clear rules to treat patients - A doctor needs to weigh pros/cons of
treatments, treat patients with empathy, and approach ethical dilemmas.
Medicine vs Nurse
- Nurse = more patient time = emotionally rewarding
- Doctor = ultimate responsibility for the patient & drive decision making process - nurses
also contribute significantly but final decision is usually w/ doctor
- Some nurses have some doctor held roles but its a minority - work together for one goal
Medicine vs Researcher
- Doc responsibility = academic, clinical and management - work together and manage
patients to find best treatment possible
- Researcher = impact more wide scale but i like direct patient interactions - fulfilling
Why this university
- As i was scrolling through the blog i saw a section and it caught my eye that they thought
about taking my skills to a third world country as a career option and i knew they
would take me seriously in such environment and they would give me true and helpful
advice to reach that goal
- Teaching style - there was this concept i came across and it's called learning in
layers, building upon previous knowledge and i truly resonate with that as it allows me to
grasp the core and learn deeper as you go along - so i can link points and truly
develop an understanding of greater topic medicine
- Range of resources both online and in person - 3D human anatomy models, DVDs,
books and most importantly professors and doctors in the university
Why me?
- I can mold myself to what they need and willing to learn and become a better clinician
and person
- Societies in the school -
- Don't compare yourself to other candidates
- I want to go to the uni b/c (previous para) - talk about them and how they fit me, and why
i good for them
- Good at management and organizing my time as i love doing lots of things - but i also
know when to prioritize certain things such as studying more and spacing out my
studying throughout the year - love studying
, What do you think is the most important medical advancement in the last 100 years,why?
- Vaccines
- Polio is now rare
- Vaccines like MMR - w/ enough eradication may be possible
- Flu jab - reduced effects, symptoms and burden on NHS
What public health campaigns are you aware of and why is it important to have public
health campaigns?
- Stomber - quit smoking for a month campaign
- Motivated and dont think its for long just a month but if they quit for that month likely to
quit it
Recent advancements, research/news (read WIDELY)
- Study on around 3000 ppl found loneliness increases risk of dementia when older
- Mediterranean diet decreases risk of APOs esp gestational diabetes
- Covid smell loss could be due to persistent T-cells mediated inflammation in the
olfactory epithelium even after the removal of SARS-Cov-2
- Impacts of covid on the NHS
● Shortages of staff b/c ill / isolating
● Online GP appointments no visitor
● Better long term rules to cope with covid ^
● China rise in cases and no self isolating - many controversy and anger w/in NHS as
- Aging and multimorbid populations
● Shift to prevention rather than treatment - esp for obesity and its links
● Age has increased but not too much
● increasing cases of multimorbidity in young ppl
● WHO predict age 65+ will increase from 524 mil -> 1.5 bil by 2050 and age65+ will
outweigh -5yrs - france
● Demand of resources increase on NHS
Work experience
- Learnt - doctors are more than just someone who you see in a consultation - they can
impact your life in many ways. Multidisciplinary meeting - communication - moving as
one to ensure best care for patients. - talking to the patient before a surgery to calm her
down - adapt communication skills w/ env
- Challenges - not being able to do anything for patients and breaking bad news to the
patient and their family - comfort of patient is the most important and need to come w/
good terms w/ it as a doctor
- Elderly medicine - patience, understand how they feel and make them comfortable -
change communication style depending on who the patient is
- Multidisciplinary team meeting everyone gave their insight