Guide to Medicine Interviews (Expert Oxford & Cambridge Application Advice)
Understandably, the interview can be the most daunting part of the medicine application process. At this time two years ago, I remember feeling at loss about the best way to prepare and succeed at interview.
Oxbridge Medicine interviews are distinct from all other medical schools and require a different approach in terms of preparation.
In this article, I hope to dispel any myths about the interview, share some tips to success and give some general advice about the best way to approach the seemingly ‘impossible questions.’
First things first - these interviews are ACADEMIC in nature. The classic ‘give me an example of when you showed good leadership’ questions you will likely receive at other medical schools will not be asked in great depth. They are more interested in your problem-solving skills, your scientific ability and how you think. You will have scientific interviews and ‘clinical’ or ‘ethical’ interviews.
To prepare for the scientific interviews you should be confident with your A-level Biology syllabus. This means reading ahead till the end of the course on parts relevant to human biology. I cannot stress this enough. From my experience, and from talking to friends, the interviewers assume a base level of A-level knowledge. Only when you can answer these basic questions can the interviewers attempt to stretch you.
The interviewers do not know what order your teachers have decided to teach the syllabus in and you may feel slightly embarrassed if your only answer to a question is ‘Sorry, we haven’t covered that yet.’
If you have time, reading ahead on the A-level chemistry course about parts transferable to medical practice could also be quite useful.
Secondly, whatever scientific concepts you have discussed in your personal statement, make sure you are fully comfortable talking about them and be prepared to be grilled! Interviewers may pick up on a small thing; for example, if you have used the word ‘death’ in your personal statement they may ask you to define what death is in a scientific capacity. Or, if you have talked about work experience and mentioned a disease make sure you know the key points about the disease. A helpful activity is to read through your personal statement once more and highlight any words which the interviewers may pick up on.
Something I found really valuable in preparing for the scientific interviews was to take a random scientific article like something from the BMJ and skim through it. This familiarised me with medical terminology and I would google any diseases or terms I was not sure of. This definitely helped broaden my knowledge and made me more confident in the interview when you have to deal and work through a lot of unfamiliar material.
That brings me onto the next point which is to not be stressed by interviewers asking you about things you have absolutely no clue about. That is the whole point of the interview- it’s not really about what you know but how you think and this can only really be tested when you are dealing with unfamiliar material. The most important thing to succeed here is to voice all your thoughts out loud. They want to hear how you’re thinking and so it is important to show them your thought process. Ask for a pen and paper and draw diagrams if that will help you explain what you’re thinking.
Just never say ‘I don’t know’! Remain calm and try and organise your thoughts into a logical and scientific argument.
It is also important to be responsive to what the interviewers are saying. They know you are only an A-level student so they will help you- make sure you use it!
People often talk about crazy questions asked at Medicine interviews such as ‘What is the concentration of water?’ However, when you take a minute to think about this, it's really not that bad! The density of water is around 1kg/m^3 and its Molar mass is around 18. The molar concentration is therefore 1000/18 which is around 55.5 mol/L. This question perfectly illustrates that the best thing to do is to think calmly and logically.
In the clinical/ ethical interviews questions about medical ethics are common. Classic questions such as ‘Who do I give the liver to?’ or ‘Would you kill a dictator in surgery if you knew they were going to kill many people if they survived?’ can be actually quite hard to answer, especially when the interviewers will play Devil’s advocate.
To prepare for these questions I would recommend reading a book called ‘A very short introduction to medical ethics.’ This will familiarise you with some key schools of thoughts you should address when answering these questions.
Another tip for the clinical interviews is to read up a bit about current medical affairs. You should really do this for all Medical school interviews. They may ask you about medicine in the media or stresses the NHS currently faces. If you have read up, you should have a good basis for talking through the question.
The most important thing is to remain calm in the interview. Do not let nerves cloud your thoughts- remember, you have gotten to interview which is an achievement in itself!
This article was written by Isheeta (Oxford - Medical Sciences).
If you find this content useful, please visit Isheeta's profile for further information on applying to Oxbridge. Alternatively, book support now with Isheeta, using the form below.
Author: Isheeta - Oxford
BA Medical Science
For the past few years, I have built up an extensive network of tutees ranging from pupils sitting the 11+ exam to A-level students. I have over 400 hours of private tutoring experience and thus know what works and how to get the best out of a range of students.
