Cambridge Medicine Interview - Experiences of 8 students
2017-10-17 · Long video (solo, talking head or whiteboard) · Ali, a guest · recording, 12:19 · watch on YouTube
Topic: Medicine and his doctor years · mode: Personal story · tags: Aimed at students
Ali and seven Cambridge medical students describe their Cambridge medicine interviews: friendly, academic and science-heavy two-way conversations, like small-group supervisions, in which interviewers push past what you know to see how you think; Ali says the reported curveballs are a myth.
What is said
The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).
00:00:00 — Ali introduces eight medical students on their Cambridge interviews; everyone's experience is similar
- ★★ Ali, a final-year Cambridge medical student, presents himself and seven medical student friends on their experiences of the Cambridge medicine interview, for applicants to Cambridge or Oxford. — 00:00:00 · University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Medicine interview
- ★★ Ali says the students' accounts of the Cambridge medicine interview are repetitive: everyone has broadly the same experience, enjoying an interview that is scientific and academic. — 00:00:21 · University of Cambridge, Medicine interview
- ★★★ Ali says Cambridge interviewers ask about what you know, then about what you don't and try to teach it to see how you think, so applicants should think out loud. — 00:00:21 · University of Cambridge, Medicine interview
- ★★ Ali says a dedicated video of tips for the Oxbridge interview is coming out within the next few days. — 00:00:50 · Medicine interview
00:01:19 — Enjoyable, friendly interviews: comfy sofas, a two-way conversation like a supervision
- ★★ a guest: A student loved the Cambridge interview: rooms with comfy sofas and chatting with awesome people; expecting not to get in, the student decided just to have fun. — 00:01:19 · University of Cambridge, Medicine interview
- ★★ a guest: Another student found Cambridge the most enjoyable of four medicine interviews: questions the student vaguely knew were explored in more depth than covered before, so the student had to think a lot. — 00:01:49 · University of Cambridge, Medicine interview
- ★★ a guest: Expecting old men behind a desk firing formal questions, the student found the Cambridge interview friendly and relaxed, in a lounge with comfortable sofas, a two-way conversation rather than an interrogation. — 00:02:30 · University of Cambridge, Medicine interview
- ★★★ a guest: After five years at Cambridge, the student says the interview was much like the small-group supervisions: the supervisor teaches something on a topic, then asks a question about it, in a two-way dialogue. — 00:03:00 · University of Cambridge, Supervision, Medicine interview
00:03:29 — Two science and maths interviews: getting things wrong, being guided, first principles
- ★★ a guest: A third student's Cambridge interview was science and maths, unlike the student's other interviews: two separate interviews with two groups of interviewers and waiting around all day. — 00:03:29 · University of Cambridge, Medicine interview
- ★★★ a guest: The student kept getting things wrong in a maths interview and was guided to the answer; Cambridge interviewers look for someone who can get things wrong, recover and learn, because they will be your tutors. — 00:04:13 · University of Cambridge, Medicine interview
- ★★★ a guest: The student advises not being afraid of getting things wrong in a Cambridge science interview: have a go, using first-principles knowledge of basic biology, maths, chemistry and physics to reach an answer. — 00:04:43 · Medicine interview
- ★★ a guest: The student got only about halfway through a question in the second Cambridge interview, but says the interviewers only wanted to see how the student's mind works. — 00:05:12 · Medicine interview
- ★★ a guest: Another student calls the Cambridge interviews two half-hour science tests, great fun: the interviewers probed until they found something the student did not know and watched the response. — 00:05:39 · University of Cambridge, Medicine interview
- ★ a guest: Another student, interviewed last with tired interviewers, came out of a quick Cambridge interview thinking it had been horrible and expecting not to get in. — 00:05:39 · Medicine interview
00:06:25 — Keeping your head on unfamiliar content; friendly interviewers; a thorough test of the basic sciences
- ★★★ a guest: A student says the Cambridge interview is not about knowing answers right away: when asked something unknown, keep your head, work through it and talk the interviewers through your thinking. — 00:06:25 · Medicine interview
- ★★ a guest: A student found the four interviewers across two Cambridge interviews polite and friendly, smiling and shaking hands, as if they wanted to be there, which eased the student's nerves. — 00:06:54 · Medicine interview
- ★★ a guest: The student unreservedly recommends the Cambridge interview to medicine applicants, since it is like a little supervision, the small-group teaching at Cambridge, and a pilot of that way of learning. — 00:06:54 · University of Cambridge, Supervision, Medicine interview
- ★★ a guest: Another student's Cambridge interviews were a thorough test of the basic sciences; the first was more clinical, on medical problems and what it is to be a good doctor professionally. — 00:08:12 · University of Cambridge, Medicine interview
- ★★ a guest: The student says the entry level of the Cambridge interview questions, such as genetics and organic chemistry, was accessible to anyone who knew the AS-level syllabus. — 00:08:41 · Medicine interview
00:09:09 — Why medicine first, then science: a probability question; a general and a science interview
- ★★★ a guest: A student says Cambridge interviewers do not want only to ask what you don't know: they see how much you know, then, more importantly, how much they can teach you and how receptive you are. — 00:09:09 · Medicine interview
- ★★ a guest: Another student found the opening why-medicine questions perfunctory, a screen for applicants who are awkward or have not thought their answers through; the real meat was the way you think. — 00:09:37 · Medicine interview
- ★★ a guest: The student calls the interview a dance in which the interviewer pushes the implications of existing knowledge one step at a time; the first question asked for the probability that a drug will not work. — 00:09:59 · Medicine interview
- ★★ a guest: Another student had two Cambridge interviews; the first was a general one many applicants prepare for, on why medicine and why Cambridge. — 00:10:27 · University of Cambridge, Medicine interview
- ★★★ a guest: The student had covered nothing from the Cambridge science interview before, some not until third year, and advises expecting questions on what you don't know, since interviewers want to see how you think, not what you memorised. — 00:10:56 · University of Cambridge, Medicine interview
- ★ a guest: The student says a video on the student's own channel goes through the questions of that Cambridge science interview. — 00:10:56
00:11:25 — Ali: the repetition is good news, the curveball stories are a myth; sign-off
- ★★★ Ali says the shared experience helps applicants know what to expect: Cambridge interviewers do not throw curveballs such as the rugby ball out of a window seen in newspapers; that is completely mythical. — 00:11:25 · Medicine interview
Threads in this video
- refine · How do you prepare for a medical school interview? — Ali says Cambridge interviewers ask about what you know, then about what you don't and try to teach it to see how you think, so applicants should think out loud. (00:00:21)
- progress update · Ali promises more videos on the BMAT, interviews and personal statements (2017) — Ali says a dedicated video of tips for the Oxbridge interview is coming out within the next few days. (00:00:50)
Where the stories that moved here went next
Mentioned
Central: Medicine interview · University of Cambridge
Also: Supervision · University of Oxford
Taking part: Chidera
Replied to by
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