Reddit reviews The Medical School Interview: Winning Strategies from Admissions Faculty

You should know the basics of healthcare, but to be honest, I was never asked a single question about healthcare, and I've only asked a healthcare-related question once, and it was as a follow-up to something that the candidate had said.

My advice is to work on commonly asked interview questions (which you can easily obtain from Google). It's also very helpful to find people to practice with in person and have them give you feedback.

Also, I don't know how helpful this would be for you, but I read this book when I was interviewing. Most of the content was stuff that I already knew, but there were a couple of tips that I found to be particularly helpful.

So I read a couple of books because even though I've interviewed for jobs, I realized I had no idea what adcoms on a med school were looking for. Link Here: https://www.amazon.com/Medical-School-Interview-Strategies-Admissions/dp/193797801X/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=3BM4D155KR9XWQ3TCT0A

That got me in the right frame of mind. There is a MMI version too. After that, I practiced the more common 8 questions aloud and got them within 2 minutes time frame. Did some mock interviews. I usually over research and read on ethics too. Haven't been rejected or waitlisted post II yet.

Yup. Adcoms tell us constantly that if they invite you for an interview, they believe you could do well at their program.

Of course I wasn't there to see you interview, but there's always the possibility that you messed up some of the important questions. At the same time, it's 100% possible you did just fine at the interview, but there were people that the adcom liked little better. Or the adcom thought you were a good candidate but ultimately not a good fit for the class. Who knows.

I highly suggest you get this book. It's geared towards med school admissions, but basically you can apply everything it says to PA schools. There's a section that lists the most common interview questions by category and provides the "right" answer. EVERY interview question I got was in this book. (Personally I don't think the popular "How To "Ace" The Physician Assistant School Interview" by Andrew Rodican is very good.)

I realize some may think my advice is overkill, but I'm just going to put it out there. If you can do all of this, and aren't some socially awkward/antisocial person, you will ace your interview:

• know good answers to most of the questions in the book I linked
  
• REALLY know good answers to "why do you want to be a PA," "tell me about yourself," and "why this school"
  
• keep your answers to 30-50 seconds, you can go closer to 50-60 seconds with the important questions in the 2nd bullet point
  
• make a list of "life stories," so to say, that you can draw upon when asked behavioral questions. It's very handy to have 5-6 anecdotes that can be molded to answer typical behavioral questions like "tell me about a time you worked with someone you didn't like" or "tell me about a time you used teamwork." Just google behavioral questions and the STAR technique
  
• practice interviewing with anyone, preferably someone who's really good at interviews
  
• be yourself. i.e. If you're a quiet person, don't force yourself to be the life of the party.
  
  A lot of people poo-poo so much preparation for interviews by saying stuff like... "you'll sound rehearsed" or "stop worrying so much and be yourself." Basically call you out for being a try-hard. Buuut idgaf because it worked for me.

I searched my library for "medical school interview" and perused this book which was pretty helpful.