UCSD Interview #2

I had about an hour of free time between my first and second interviews. I used that time to do some research on Dr. YYY - to find out what his specialty is, what kind of research he does. A quick PubMed search in the library gave me a whole list of his publications on alcohol and opioid abuse. It occurred to me that I was able to do this so easily because I have the home court advantage here at UCSD.

Finding Dr. YYY's office was frustrating, but I arrived on time in spite of the rat's maze that is the VA Medical Center. Dr. YYY asked me to wait for a few minutes. This gave me some time to take some meditative deep breaths and contemplate a tropical scenery painting hanging on the wall. Dr. YYY greeted me warmly and apologized for keeping me waiting. Like Dr. XXX, he began the interview in a conversational tone, though not quite as carefree.

Soon, he did start asking me real questions, ones that I have already faced and answered satisfactorily in previous interviews.

• How did you end up at a small liberal arts college on the East Coast?
• What attracted you to that school?
• Since you took all my pre-med courses in undergraduate, did you go into college intending to become a doctor?
• Is this the first time you have applied to medical school?
• Why did you decide to go to graduate school instead of medical school?
• Why did you go to graduate school straight out of college?
• Why did you leave graduate school with a terminal Master's?
• What was your plan when you left your program?
• What made you decide to go back to medicine?

This sounds like a lot of very direct questioning, but Dr. YYY had a way of asking them in a friendly manner, as if it were idle curiosity and not evaluative. These questions were peppered in between mostly unrelated topics. We spent a good deal of time talking about running, not because he is a runner himself, rather because his son ran track & field in high school. I could tell that he was very proud of his son's accomplishments. "Is that your son?" I asked in the middle of a sentence, pointing to a screen saver picture that popped up on his computer. He smiled and said yes, and we continued talking about personal bests and different track events.

At the end of the interview, Dr. YYY asked me if I had any questions for him. I asked him about the impact of the California state budget on the educational experience at UCSD, and he was very good at answering this concern. I also asked him about his own personal experience with UCSD. Dr. YYY wrapped up the interview by giving me his e-mail address and saying "Please contact me if you have any more questions. I'd be happy to help."

That was definitely a good sign, a good way to end the interview. I was impressed that he made himself so accessible. I left the interview feeling good about the intangibles, e.g. rapport and ease of conversation, but feeling less good about the quantifiable aspects of the interview. I felt like I didn't answer his direct questions as well as I had answered them in my Colorado interviews. I am far from objective in this matter, though. It is possible that Dr. YYY had an entirely different perspective of my interview performance.

UCSD Interview #1

The office of admissions didn't give us applicants our interview schedules until literally 15 minutes before the first interview. One person had to take the shuttle bus down to the Hillcrest campus. I got lucky and had both of my interviews in the VA Medical Center, which is just a five minute walk from the admissions office.

I couldn't have been more lucky to get Dr. XXX as my first interviewer. He had a calming voice and demeanor that helped set me at ease when I most needed it. He started the interview by talking about the UCSD program, as if he were trying to anticipate questions that I might ask him later. "The way I see it is that at this point we're beyond the evaluative stage," he said. Good to know, I thought. I let him talk, since that's what he seemed to want, and also as he proved to be very informative, but at the same time I grew increasingly concerned that I was not maximizing this time to convince him that I belong at UCSD.

The entire interview was conversational, though Dr. XXX did ask me a few direct questions about my application. The first direct question was about my experience working with magnetoencephalography (MEG), which is a technology that measures tiny magnetic fields emanating from the brain and infers brain activity from that information. "Why hasn't MEG caught on? Why isn't it being used clinically?" I told Dr. XXX that the fundamental hurdle facing MEG as a clinically relevant tool is the complexity and unreliability of its data analysis. A magnetic field is generated when a current flows in a straight line, such as during an action potential along axons. The problem is that, if two action potentials travel parallel to each other but in opposite directions, the magnetic fields that each action potential creates would cancel the other out. Another problem limiting the usefulness of MEG is that you can only really measure magnetic fields generated close to the brain surface - in the cortex, but not in deeper brain structures like the thalamus or striatum.

This entire MEG-related interaction lasted only about 2-3 minutes. Dr. XXX did seem genuinely curious about a rather obscure experience in my application, but I got the sense that the secondary purpose of the question was to evaluate how I discussed my past research experience.

The conversation then shifted to running and triathlons. I got the sense that Dr. XXX knew that this subject would make me more comfortable. He showed me a picture on his wall of him finishing a triathlon while holding the hands of his two children. "They don't let you do that anymore," he said. I asked, "Did you do triathlons in medical school?" It turns out that he did, and that he surfed. "Sounds like you had a well-rounded life while in medical school." Dr. XXX actually went to medical school here at UCSD, so this fact was very relevant to me. He also got married during his fourth year.

Toward the end of the interview, I found an opportunity to tell him about my recent medical relief mission to Honduras, since it isn't included in my application. Dr. XXX raised his eyebrows and said that he in fact participates in a very similar program in Fiji. He then explained to me how the cultural history of the island has created a sort of health care crisis. There are essentially two separate populations on Fiji: native islanders and Indians brought over during British colonial rule. There is a distrust between the two groups such that the native islanders won't even accept medical care from someone of Indian ethnicity; most doctors there are Indian. People in Fiji also have to deal with tropical diseases, and recently there was a big flooding problem. So, Dr. XXX talked about his experiences volunteering with the Loloma Foundation (I pulled out a pen in the middle of the interview and wrote down the name of the organization). I felt good that this was yet another topic on which we had something in common.

I left the interview with a decidedly positive feeling. If we really are "beyond the evaluative stage," then this interview was about personality and making connections. I think I did that very well with that in both the running and international volunteer work parts of the interview. Still, it's difficult to get a sense of how this interview will impact the committee's decision.

Impact of the California state budget on medical education

One question on my mind while interviewing at UCSD was how the California state budget woes could impact my medical education. This question was partly addressed by the dean's opening presentation. Before the budget deadlock, the School of Medicine was set to break ground on a new medical training facility in January 2009. That of course did not happen. It's unclear, now, when construction will begin. How does that impact me? Minimally, I would guess. Even if the new medical training facility were finished on schedule, I would be well into my clinical years by the time it opened.

I also asked this question to my second interviewer. "It'll affect the faculty more than the students," he said. There's a hiring freeze in effect, which means that we can expect the status quo until it's lifted. "The status quo here isn't all that bad." Dr. YYY also said that the hiring freeze will impact the School of Pharmacology since it is new and growing. The thought occurred to me that medical students take Principles of Pharmacology in the first year alongside pharmacology students.

These are definitely issues to be aware of, but when it comes down to whether my medical education might suffer because of the economy or state budget issues, I'm not all that concerned.

Getting into UCSD: no unforced errors

At the end of the interview day, a guy from the admissions office came in and gave the group some practical information, most importantly when we might expect to get a decision. The committee meets every other Monday, we were told, with the next meeting on March 23rd and the following meeting on April 6th. Most likely, we would be discussed in the later meeting. Decisions would be sent out the following day, phone calls for acceptances and e-mails for those who are placed in the "acceptable pool of applicants."

The big catch: we were invited to contact the admissions office and request to be moved up to the earlier meeting. "I really want to know now!" I thought. Should I request an earlier review? This felt oddly like some sadistic social experiment. I decided to ask the opinion of my co-worker who has served on admissions committees. "Don't mess with them," he advised. "Remember, this is a process of elimination, 6000 applications for a hundred or so spots." The game, now, is to lie low and not stick out from the crowd in a bad way. No unforced errors.

UCSD Interview: General Information

Interview day started at 8 am with an introductory presentation by the dean of admissions to a total of 7 interviewees, including myself. She gave us some pertinent information about the program and some statistics about the admissions process. Particularly heartening is that UCSD looks well upon the non-traditional applicant such as myself. The mean age of entering first-year students is 24.

• >5500 Primary applications
• ~Secondary applications
• 600 interviews
• ~300 offers of acceptance
• 134 students in the entering class

The dean also said that 225 offers of acceptance have already been made for those 134 slots but stressed that the admissions committee is still making offers of acceptance. In other words, I'm not just wasting my time interviewing for a spot on their waiting list. UCSD's waiting list is non-ranked, and they euphemistically call it the "acceptable pool of applicants."

Medical schools are able to make more than twice the number of offers as they have room in their entering class because applicants tend to accept offers to multiple schools. Medical schools actually have access to that information: the dean said that one applicant who they accepted holds acceptances to more than a dozen other medical schools. The chances that that person ends up at UCSD is pretty slim. All applicants are required to hold an acceptance to only one medical school by May 15, so around that time there is a "national shuffle" of medical school applicants as they formally turn down their multiple offers. So, additional acceptances are offered to applicants placed in this acceptable pool around May and June, and even into July.

Curriculum
I also got some interesting information about the curriculum. UCSD is on the quarter system with one predominant class per quarter and several smaller classes that are less intensive; most medical schools are on a semester schedule. I asked some students if they felt that being on the quarter system in any way impacted their medical education. The general response I got was that no, it didn't, except maybe for having more frequent tests.

UCSD medical students are evaluated on a strict pass/fail system. Other medical schools also tend to use pass/fail, but it's common to taint that by introducing "honors" or "high honors."

One quirk about the UCSD curriculum is that human anatomy is taken during second rather than the first year. This is in contrast to all other programs that I've seen. Talking to some current medical students about this, it seems that the rationale is to move from microscopic to macroscopic, learning topics such as pharmacology and cell/molecular biology before the rote memorization of human anatomy. None of the students voiced any complaints about taking human anatomy second year. As much as human anatomy is a rite of passage for first-year medical students, I imagine it might feel strange postponing that experience until second year. This is not a deal-breaker, though, and not necessarily even a negative.

UCSD requires students to complete an independent study project (ISP) prior to graduation. They provide an enormous amount of flexibility as to its topic so that it really can be anything I choose. I was wondering whether I might even be able to use the ISP to continue my work in my current lab. It's a possibility worth exploring, but I also see the value of finding new topics that interest me.

Third-year clerkships take place at six different locations around San Diego County:

1. Hillcrest
2. VA
3. Thornton
4. Children's
5. Balboa Naval
6. Scripps-Mercy

In general the placements are random, though we were told that the dean's office is very good about working with each individual student's needs and may be able to fulfill requests for placement at a given location.

Student Run Free Clinic
Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of the UCSD experience is the Student Run Free Clinic program. The office of admissions goes to great lengths to highlight this program. It is what it sounds like: a clinic that is for the most part run by students. There's a hierarchy of mentorship, of course, with older students having supervisory responsibilities and an attending physician ultimately responsible for all patients that go through the clinic. What particularly appeals to me about this program is the unique opportunity to gain clinical experience - working directly with real patients - even in the first year of medical school. The first two years of all medical schools are heavily weighted in lectures and coursework. Basic clinical skills are taught to a limited degree in the first year, with some schools devoting more time to it than others, but this is no substitute for genuine patient interaction and the experience provided by the Free Clinic.

Office of Student Affairs
The Office of Student Affairs also gave a presentation. I was very impressed by the lengths to which UCSD goes to make life just a little easier for their students. There are organized events such as outings to the theater or opera, or wine and cheese social mixers that include both students and faculty. When I toured Drexel and Colorado, I didn't get the impression that their students had nearly as much in the way of such life-balancing experiences provided by the school.

The mentoring system, too, is extensive and structured. All incoming first-year students are paired with a faculty mentor, in a casual-type relationship, and with a second-year Big Sib. Third- and fourth-year students can become "senior mentors" to the Big Sibs, which creates a sort of "family tree" of medical students. This structure is rather common across medical schools, probably because such a social arrangement is effective in supporting students throughout medical school. Students also choose a faculty mentor for their ISP, and finally, students choose another faculty adviser at the end of their third year specifically to help them navigate the process of applying to residency programs.

UCSD Interview: Nerves

My UCSD interview is coming up quickly: next Tuesday, St. Patrick's Day. I should wear a green tie. Or not. I'm getting kind of nervous, not quite the same breed of nerves that I felt before Colorado but a little edgier.

I keep reminding myself how fortunate I am to have so many people within UCSD actively pushing my application forward. A coworker asked me, "Do you know who your interviewers are?" Medical school applicants typically don't find out who their faculty interviewers are until the morning of the interview. It's better that way, in my opinion, because otherwise a whole Pandora's box opens, with applicants obsessively researching their interviewers' academic careers and memorizing their curriculum vitae. I told my coworker, no, I don't know who they are, and she offered to try to find out for me. I'll take any little advantage I can get! Well, I didn't get that particular advantage, but her friend on the admissions committee instead gave me this advice, which, from my perspective, is much more valuable:

1. Be relaxed. Most interviewers are not going to give you a hard time.
2. The ability to relate to another person you just met is important.
3. Know yourself: a) destined for primary care; b) destined for research; c) interested in a specific program.
4. Know your application: what about it is special; what about it is typical for students accepted to the school; what about it is less than typical for the school. Be able to talk with passion about the first category. Be able to succinctly answer questions about the former in a positive way.
5. Prepare questions, but do not ask questions about things that are readily obtained from the website or catalog; rather ask questions that draw upon the interviewer's personal experience.

Colorado interview summary

I flew into Denver on Saturday morning for a Monday interview. My intention was to give myself a couple days to explore a bit, since I could potentially be living here next year. But I also discovered that arriving a few days early was advantageous because it gave me time to acclimate to the altitude. I had headaches for the first day - not debilitating, but bad enough so I wasn't at the top of my game. A little rest and a lot of water, and I was good to go on Monday morning.

I stayed at the Crystal Inn, which is conveniently located midway between the School of Medicine and the airport. They also partner with the School of Medicine, offering free shuttle service to and from the airport, and also to and from the campus on interview day. Very convenient and reasonably priced.

Introduction
Interview day started at 8:00 am. There were about 30 applicants, the majority of us from out of state. We fidgeted nervously in the small auditorium, a life-size cardboard cutout of Barack Obama standing at the podium, waiting for the program to start. We first got a brief introduction on the history of the Anschutz Medical Campus from the Dean of Admissions. This is a brand new medical school, so new that the University of Colorado only moved in last January. They bought the land from the Army for $1 under the condition that the Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center be preserved. This was where Eisenhower received treatment when he had a heart attack; apparently, Fitzsimmons was known as the "White House of the West."

Pre-Interviews
We were given a five-minute break after the introduction. A couple current medical students passed me as a group of us applicants walked down the hall to go to the bathroom: "Hang in there, guys, you're almost there!" It was a small gesture, but it made me feel better. A group of faculty interviewers were waiting for us when we returned from the bathroom. My first interviewer actually approached me and introduced herself, no doubt recognizing me by the photo included in my application. I was impressed by their friendly welcome and genuine excitement, not just on the part of my own interviewer but by all of the faculty.

Interview #1
Dr. XXX is a pleasant woman in her mid-50's, a pediatrician and geneticist. She started the interview with a relaxed, conversational tone, remarking how unlikely it was for a student from California to hear of a small East Coast liberal arts college, much less go there. The interview progressed with get-to-know-you questions with a decidedly friendly tone. I didn't let that lull me into a false sense of security, though: I was still "on," or as my friend calls it, frontal lobe inhibited.

Dr. XXX did ask me if I have given thought to what kind of medicine I want to specialize in. When I gave her my standard response ("Neurology or neuroradiology would be a natural extension of my career, but I'm keeping my mind open to all possibilities."), she suggested neurology with a sub-specialty in pediatrics. An interesting idea... I told her I would keep it in mind.

Before ending the interview, Dr. XXX gave me an opportunity to mention anything that isn't reflected in the application. Naturally, I brought up my recent medical relief mission to Honduras. This seemed to impress her as she asked a lot of follow up questions about my experience. How did I get connected with that organization? What did I actually do down there? What about the experience was most rewarding to me? Then the interview ended rather suddenly since we were out of time.

I left with a very, very good feeling. I knew that my first interview went well.

Interview #2
I was a little bit worried about my second interview, going into it. The Dean of Admissions, during her introductory talk to the entire group of applicants, lauded the accomplishments, rankings, and awards of her medical school. She specifically mentioned Dr. YYY, a retired neurologist who was involved in ground-breaking fetal stem cell research in Parkinson's disease in the early 1990's, and noted that two applicants would be interviewing with him. Given that my essays discussed my Grandpa Don and his Parkinson's disease, it's likely that the admissions office matched us based on similar interests.

Dr. YYY started the interview with a disclaimer: "Now, we have a limited amount of time and a lot of ground to cover. We're going to jump around a lot. I want you to know that I am not your adversary, rather your advocate to the admissions committee." He then added in a less crisp tone of voice: "Also, if we have time, please remind me to tell the story I have for you." This was rather cryptic, but I acknowledged him and waited for the interview to begin.

As I soon discovered, this was the type of medical school interview that my family-friends who are doctors prepared me for. Throughout the interview, Dr. YYY sometimes cut me off in the middle of an answer after he was satisfied (or not) with my response, often to a completely unrelated topic. I didn't let the brisk pace of the interview faze me, and I tried to maintain a respectful, humble, and confident tone.

How did you become interested in medicine?
I talked about my grandfather who had Parkinson's disease, watching his deterioration as I grew up, and wanting, in a general sense, to do something to help him.
Is this the first time you have applied to medical school?
Yes, sir.
You have never applied to medical school before?
No, sir. My response seemed to have surprised him.
Why not?
A lot of reasons. It wasn't the right time in my life, right after college. I wasn't ready emotionally. This was a reference to one of the essays that I wrote for Colorado's secondary application. He didn't follow up on it since, from my essay, it's clear that I am ready for medical school now.
So you decided instead to go to graduate school. Why?
I explained that, being exposed for the first time to biology research, and with my grandfather's continued decline, I saw that a major breakthrough in treating - or even curing - Parkinson's disease would come by way of knowledge gained from research. I downplayed this as somewhat idealistic, hoping to avoid coming across as naive. "Don't underestimate the influence of grandfathers," Dr. YYY replied, to my surprise. He then told me a story of a good friend of his, whose grandfather died of cancer. She went on to become a chemist - a remarkable achievement for a woman in the post-WWII era, and eventually won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for her contribution to drug research, including development of the AIDS drug AZT. The moral, Dr. YYY said, is that grandfathers matter. When I got home, after doing a little research, I found that his friend is Gertrude Elion, who shared the 1988 Nobel Prize in Medicine. The interview then jumped back into its original pace.
What do you think is the best way to improve our health care system? Did you read Atul Gawande's article in The New Yorker, "Getting There From Here"?
This article examines the predicament that Americans face with our health care system and discuss precedents in other countries such as Great Britain, France, and Canada, for enacting universal health coverage. Each country arrived at universal health care in different ways, due to the vagaries of history, resulting in disparate health care systems with their own idiosyncrasies - yet all providing universal coverage. The moral of the story is that sweeping changes are made incrementally within the framework of pre-existing systems, and that approach is likely the one that we must take here in America.
In college, do you think that running ever got in the way of your academics?
No sir, quite the opposite. The coach and team culture were very supportive of academics. Running injected a routine to college life that helped me academically.
What was the best thing that ever happened to you?
The question took me by surprise. I took what seemed to me like a very long time, but was in reality probably only about 15-20 seconds, to think about such an all-encompassing question. Finally, I answered: When my parents had my little sister.
Why?
I took another 15-20 seconds to think. Because through my little sister, taking care of her and being a role model for her, I learned what it means to love. In retrospect, I realize that this was an impossible question designed less to discover a meaningful turning point in my life and more to test my character and insight.
What was the worst thing that ever happened to you?
Leaving my graduate program. This, too, was a loaded question, designed to see how I handle the challenges that life throws at us and what I have learned from them. Dr. YYY and I explored the circumstances of my situation, and the motivations behind my decisions. I stressed that, as difficult as that experience was, it led me to where I am today. "I'm glad it worked out for you," Dr. YYY remarked before moving on.
What diversity will you bring here?
Another loaded question! This is a common-enough question that some of the other schools even asked on their secondary application. I have diversity of experience but not much else. I fumbled my way through a response to that effect. Dr. YYY pressed a little bit more, but I hesitated.
Would you like to move on?
Yes, please. I was grateful that Dr. YYY gave me a pass on that question but wondered in the back of my mind whether I had wounded myself by taking it. There's no time for second-guessing yourself in the middle of an interview, though, and we continued.
I see you have presented several times at scientific meetings and have a publication from graduate school. Do you have any more publications on the way?
Yes, I'm working on several publications right now.
Will you be first-author on any of them?
Yes, on two papers. I was surprised, though, that Dr. YYY did not inquire into the nature of those papers.
Is there anything else you want to tell me that will help me better understand your application?
I took this as my opportunity to re-frame a few poor undergraduate grades. Dr. YYY looked at me wryly and said, "If that's it then you have nothing to be worried about. I got a C in calculus, and I turned out fine." What a relief!
Is there anything else that you want to add to your application?
Like with Dr. XXX, here I told Dr. YYY about my medical relief mission to Honduras.
Do you speak Spanish?
Fluently enough, conversational. The indigenous people of the Miskito Coast speak a local dialect, I explained, but I did help translate between the English-speaking and Spanish-speaking members of the team. As I read on the School of Medicine website, immigration is a major issue in Colorado. Illegal immigrants from Mexico tend to pass through Arizona into Colorado, since Arizona's immigrant laws are much more strict than Colorado's. So, I imagine that speaking Spanish is quite an asset for practicing medicine in Colorado and that my answer served me well.

The interview with Dr. YYY ended quickly just as my interview with Dr. XXX had ended. I left the room feeling good about the experience, for the most part. I'm unsure about how my answers to some of the questions (like diversity and health care) came across, but I am also confident that I presented myself in the best possible light, highlighting my strengths, and giving it my best effort.

Interview at Drexel: Summary

I stayed with a first-year medical student, who I found through a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend. His apartment was right across the street from the medical school, making it very convenient to just walk over the morning of the interview. He was very hospitable but holed himself up in his room all night studying for a test. I arrived late and was hungry, but my host told me that there is nothing - literally nothing - within walking distance, not even a convenient store. So instead, I heated up a can of soup and ate a banana I had stashed away.

Interview day started at 9am, but I got there an hour early to eat breakfast at the student cafeteria. The omelet was pretty good but settled heavy because of nerves. There were 15 of us total, not counting one or two who showed up late because of traffic. We all sat awkwardly around a conference room table, some keeping quiet and some making nervous small talk. I was rather amused watching how each person handled the stress, knowing full well that people-watching was how I handled my own.

First item on the agenda was a Powerpoint presentation on the history of Drexel college of medicine. Then, we were given a tour of the medical school. The complex is relatively new, even with some construction still in progress. When we were down in the anatomy lab, surrounded by cadavers, we heard an ominous thud-thud. All the applicants looked around at each other. "That has never happened before!" our tour guide apologized, then she explained to us that they were driving piles for a new simulator for first and second year medical students, to be completed in 2010 or 2011.

We also stopped in two classrooms that demonstrated their two programs, one called Interdisciplinary Foundations of Medicine (IFM), which is lecture-based, and the other called Program for Integrated Learning (PIL), which is small group learning structured around case studies. I am particularly intrigued by the PIL, because I think that I retain more information when it's put in context, and because I spent my undergraduate years learning in small groups.

The PIL students were in the middle of discussing a case study when we walked in; they were so absorbed that the discussion continued without skipping a beat until the faculty moderator interrupted them to talk to us. I asked a lot of questions, of course. Most pragmatically, they tell us that there is no statistical difference in USMLE Step 1 performance between IFM and PIL students. Still, I would prefer to see the data myself and still feel a nagging discomfort about whether such a radical departure from the traditional medical curriculum could adequately prepare me for the Step 1. Fortunately, deciding between IFM and PIL is something I don't need to worry about until later.

After the tour, we were given a "surprise" essay to be completed before the day was done. These days with online pre-med forums, admissions committees can't keep secrets. It was to be hand-written, and space was limited to half a page.

Next, we had a student interview over lunch. The student who interviewed me was very laid back and easy to talk to. She conducted the interview more like a social conversation, but also throwing in some standard interview-type questions to keep the conversation rolling: "What do you do for fun, in your free time?" and, "If I asked your three best friends, separately, each to describe you in one word, which words would they choose?" Interestingly, student interviewers at Drexel have full input on the admissions committee.

The rest of the conversation followed naturally from my responses about running, San Diego (she spent some time there), traveling, etc... Then she asked me if I had any questions for her about Drexel (I had already asked her about her own background and how she ended up at Drexel). The most important question that I asked was this: "I have heard a lot of great things about Drexel, and not to be negative, but is there anything about Drexel that you don't like or disappoints you?" Aside from the cafeteria food, she answered that some people do not like doing their clerkships all over the state of PA. Earlier in the day, though, I learned that housing is automatically provided if a hospital is located more than 40 miles away; also, if there are extenuating circumstances, one can request to stay in the Philadelphia area.

After lunch and the student interview, I waited for my faculty interview, scheduled at 1pm. My interviewer was a half hour late, though, because a meeting went over. Dr. XXX was started the interview by saying, "Let's jump straight to the parts in your application that the committee is going to have questions about. It was an open interview, I saw, which means that the interviewer has full access to my entire AMCAS file, including grades and MCAT scores. I decided to take her cue and answered her directly about the aspects of my application that need more explaining.

Dr. XXX went through my entire academic record with a fine-toothed comb, starting at my thought process in deciding to go to a small East Coast liberal arts college. Why did I major in biology? Why did I go to graduate school in neuroscience? Why straight out of college? Why did I leave my graduate program? Why did I move back to San Diego? Why did I get a job rather than find a new Ph.D. program? How did I come back to medicine? What precipitated that decision?

In summary, Dr. XXX's interview was a very methodical exploration not just of my academic history but of my motivations and thought processes behind each and every decision and turning point in my career.

At the end, she opened it up to questions. My first question was this: "Are you satisfied with my answers to your questions?" She said yes, without hesitating. Next, I asked her about her personal experience with Drexel. This was very informative, as she has in essence spent her entire career at this institution, through all its transformations.

Thus ended my interview at Drexel. Decisions in 6-8 weeks.

Interview Invite: UCSD

I got an interview at UCSD!

The UCSD School of Medicine Admissions Committee wishes to further evaluate your candidacy for admission to the UCSD School of Medicine by inviting you to La Jolla for interviews. We also wish to provide you with this opportunity to become acquainted with our campus, students and some of our faculty. Interviews have been scheduled for you on: Tuesday, March 17, 2009.

Woo hoo!

Interview request at the University of Colorado School of Medicine

Colorado invited me for an interview!!!

I got the news at an internet cafe in Puerto Lempira, Honduras. Part of my motivation for going down to Honduras when I did was to escape from constant obsessing and waiting for interview invitations. I needed to do something beside sit around and wait; being part of a medical relief mission with Rescue Task Force (www.rescuetaskforce.org) gave that to me. Throughout the mission, I lived in the moment by necessity, whether during the three days of clinic or just getting from point A to point B (which, in Honduras, is not as easy as it sounds).

That doesn't mean, though, that I completely forgot about my medical school applications that I left behind in the "real" world. I was excited to learn that even the frontier town of Puerto Lempira has internet access because I wanted to check my e-mail. Maybe, just maybe, an interview invitation would be waiting for me in my inbox. I jumped up from my computer and screamed "Woo hoo!" when I got this e-mail:

I am writing to invite you to come for interviews with the Admissions Committee of the University Of Colorado School Of Medicine on Monday, 2/9/2009. On the day you are here, you will attend an orientation session during which you will receive information about financial aid and have the opportunity to talk with medical students. You will have two interviews with individual members of the Admissions Committee, lunch, and tour the campus.

Interview at Drexel!

I got an interview at Drexel!

On behalf of the Medical Student Admissions Committee of Drexel University College of Medicine, we are pleased to invite you for an interview, information session and a tour of the College of Medicine.

Most medical schools, in their interview invitation just tell you the date that you're going to interview, making it really difficult to reschedule if you have a legitimate conflict. Drexel, though, forwarded me to a website through which I could choose my interview date. Very convenient. I scheduled for January 30th - it feels so far away, such a long wait. But getting into medical school is like traveling: lots of hurry-up-and-wait.