Oxbridge Medicine Interview - Q&A

2017-11-21 · Q&A video · Ali · recording, 22:28 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Medicine and his doctor years · mode: Answering questions · tags: Aimed at students, His medical past

Ali, a final-year Cambridge medical student, answers nine viewer questions on the Oxford and Cambridge medicine interviews: revise only the A-level science you have covered, read up on what your personal statement mentions, know the last 12 months of medical news, say plainly when a topic is new and have a go, practise with friends, treat the interview as a friendly conversation, and end answers with a confident summary.

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 viewer questions on the Oxford and Cambridge medicine interviews

• ★★ Ali, a final-year Cambridge medical student, answers questions viewers sent in about the Oxford and Cambridge medicine interviews. — 00:00:00 · Medicine interview, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford

00:00:45 — Should you learn all your A2 biology and chemistry?

• ★★★ Ali says Oxbridge medicine applicants need not learn all their A2 biology and chemistry ahead, since interviews come a few months into year 13, but should know well what they have covered. — 00:00:53 · Medicine interview, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge
• ★ Ali says Cambridge gives applicants a supplementary questionnaire to say which subjects they have done, while Oxford does not really. — 00:00:53 · University of Cambridge, University of Oxford
• ★★★ Ali says the Oxbridge medicine interview is not really a test of knowledge: if you already know a lot about the lungs, they ask about the kidneys to see how you think and can be taught. — 00:01:43 · Medicine interview

00:02:46 — How much detail to know about what your personal statement mentions

• ★★ Ali says an applicant who mentions diabetes should know its types, management and challenges, but not its exact pathophysiology or molecular mechanisms, which medical school teaches. — 00:04:04 · Personal statement, Diabetes
• ★★★ Ali's rule of thumb: for anything your personal statement mentions, such as dialysis or diabetes, read its Wikipedia article and be able to talk about it if asked. — 00:04:35 · Personal statement, Medicine interview, Wikipedia
• ★★ Ali says the junior doctor contract was what applicants brushed up on in 2016, and in 2017 interviewers might ask about the Charlie Gard case. (hedged) — 00:04:35 · Charlie Gard case

00:04:43 — What counts as recent news: Charlie Gard, the Montgomery ruling, the junior doctor contract

• ★★★ Ali's rule of thumb for medicine interviews: recent news is any big medical story of the last 12 months, plus older big ones still relevant, such as the 2015 Montgomery ruling or the junior doctor contract. — 00:05:15 · Medicine interview, Montgomery ruling
• ★★ Ali says the 2015 Montgomery ruling changed everything about patient consent and was a popular interview topic that year. — 00:05:15 · Montgomery ruling
• ★★ Ali says he has a video on the Montgomery case coming up at some point. — 00:05:41 · Montgomery ruling

00:06:27 — A topic you have not covered or a mind blank

• ★★★ Ali advises applicants who get a topic they have not covered, such as the kidneys, or a mind blank, to say so nicely, offer to have a go and then try, rather than bluff. — 00:07:10 · Medicine interview, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge
• ★★ Ali says Oxford and Cambridge interviewers want applicants to feel they are in a teaching session, and are happy to teach a topic the applicant has not met. — 00:07:10 · University of Oxford, University of Cambridge
• ★★ Ali warns against getting confrontational when asked about an uncovered topic, such as saying the question is unfair because it was not on your supplementary questionnaire. — 00:07:39 · Medicine interview

• ★★★ Ali says mental health is definitely scientific: psychiatry is a medical specialty with a big scientific basis, and Oxbridge no longer looks down on it, as it maybe did 20 years ago. — 00:07:39 · Mental health, Psychiatry, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge

  “Mental health is definitely scientific.”

00:08:03 — Does mental health count as scientific?

• ★★ Ali advises applicants who mention schizophrenia, depression or anxiety in their personal statement to be ready for scientific questions about it. — 00:08:25 · Personal statement, Mental health
• ★★ Ali advises applicants who sense interviewers discriminating against them for mentioning mental health to raise it afterwards through the appeals or complaints process, not in the interview. — 00:09:07 · Mental health
• ★★ Ali says mental health at Oxford and Cambridge is particularly in the limelight because of higher rates of mental health problems and suicide attempts at such high-achieving institutions. — 00:09:07 · Mental health, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge
• ★★ Ali says most Cambridge and Oxford colleges he knows are good at dealing with mental health, and people he knows with mental health issues found support there, so Oxbridge and mental health are not incompatible. — 00:09:07 · Mental health, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge
• ★★★ Ali says the best preparation for the Oxbridge medicine interview is mock interviews with friends, giving them a list of questions and asking them to challenge you scientifically. — 00:09:41 · Medicine interview, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge

00:09:48 — Other ways to prepare: mock interviews, no silver bullet, a different style of teaching

• ★★ Ali suggests asking a friend who studies a subject you have not done, such as economics, to quiz you on it and teach it, and seeing how you respond. — 00:10:10 · Medicine interview
• ★★★ Ali says the Oxford and Cambridge interviews are genuinely hard to prepare for actively, since they rest on what you come out with on the day; there is no silver bullet. — 00:10:44 · University of Oxford, University of Cambridge
• ★★ Ali says his Oxbridge interview advice aims to remove the information gap between applicants coached for it, as at Eton or Westminster, and those from schools that send few students to Oxbridge. — 00:11:27
• ★★★ Ali says the Oxbridge interview works out whether you would benefit from and thrive in their style of teaching; some people are not compatible with it, and no preparation changes that. — 00:12:04 · Medicine interview, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge
• ★★ Ali says that when applying he believed the media's view that Cambridge is the best and anything less second best; he now calls that unhealthy, as Oxbridge is a different style of teaching. — 00:12:30 · University of Cambridge, University of Oxford

00:13:24 — Is there a catch? Reasoning from first principles, teachability, being personable

• ★★★ Ali says there is no catch to the Oxbridge interview: it really is about how you think and respond, meaning whether you can reason out a topic from first principles. — 00:13:34 · Medicine interview
• ★★ Ali says Oxbridge interviewers test whether you can take a topic you know further until you no longer know it, and how well you respond when they teach it; the skill can be developed. — 00:14:06 · Medicine interview
• ★★ Ali says Oxbridge medicine interviewers also look for a pleasant, personable applicant they would enjoy teaching, which is why they interview rather than set a test or an essay. — 00:14:58 · Medicine interview
• ★★★ Ali advises approaching the Oxbridge interview as a friendly conversation with people who might teach you next year (2018), not an interrogation, which makes you withdraw into yourself. — 00:15:41 · Medicine interview

00:16:25 — Structuring answers to current-affairs questions, shown with his AFP interview answer

• ★★ Ali says how to structure an answer on a current-affairs topic such as the seven-day NHS or Charlie Gard depends entirely on the question asked. — 00:16:36 · Charlie Gard case, NHS
• ★★ For a general answer structure, Ali uses the point, evidence and link structure taught in English and history, giving several points and expanding on each. — 00:16:36 · Medicine interview
• ★★ Ali had an interview for an Academic Foundation Programme on the day of the video. — 00:17:09 · Academic Foundation Programme
• ★★ Ali says he is interested in medical education and that an Academic Foundation Programme in education, with its postgraduate certificate and a project, would springboard his career. — 00:17:09 · Academic Foundation Programme
• ★★ Ali says he has taught courses for the last five years and has recently begun teaching medical students. — 00:17:37
• ★★★ Ali disagrees with explicitly linking every interview answer back to being a doctor: done unnaturally it looks amateur and over-prepared, as if memorised from an interview book. — 00:18:58 · Medicine interview
• ★★★ Ali advises ending every interview answer with a confident summary restating its direct answer, like an essay's conclusion, instead of waffling and petering out. — 00:18:58 · Medicine interview
• ★★ Ali says the worst thing you can do in an interview is not answer the question. (overstated) — 00:20:24 · Medicine interview
• ★★ Ali says Cambridge has 31 colleges and Oxford about 30, each with its own slightly different interview process. — 00:20:24 · University of Cambridge, University of Oxford
• ★★★ Ali says neither he nor any of the 10 to 15 friends he asked got current-affairs questions in their Oxbridge interviews, so he would not worry much about current affairs. — 00:20:24 · Medicine interview, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge

00:20:28 — Which current-affairs topics Oxbridge asks about; sign-off

• ★★ Ali says the Oxbridge interviews are hard and almost everyone walks out thinking they did badly; the few who leave confident probably missed something or had an easy interview. — 00:21:10 · Medicine interview
• ★★ Ali says more videos are coming about general medicine interview topics, alongside vlogs about life as a medical student. — 00:21:59

In the description and comments

• ★★ Ali says his answers on personal-statement detail, recent news and structuring answers apply to all medicine interviews and MMIs, the rest being quite Oxbridge-specific. — video description · Multiple mini interview, Personal statement

Threads in this video

• kept · Ali promises more videos on the BMAT, interviews and personal statements (2017) — Ali, a final-year Cambridge medical student, answers questions viewers sent in about the Oxford and Cambridge medicine interviews. (00:00:00)
• progress update · Ali promises more videos on the BMAT, interviews and personal statements (2017) — Ali says more videos are coming about general medicine interview topics, alongside vlogs about life as a medical student. (00:21:59)
• promised · Ali promises a video on the Montgomery case (2017) — Ali says he has a video on the Montgomery case coming up at some point. (00:05:41)
• milestone · Ali's final year at Cambridge medical school (2017) — Ali had an interview for an Academic Foundation Programme on the day of the video. (00:17:09)
• refine · How do you prepare for a medical school interview? — Ali advises approaching the Oxbridge interview as a friendly conversation with people who might teach you next year (2018), not an interrogation, which makes you withdraw into yourself. (00:15:41)

Where the stories that moved here went next

• Ali promises more videos on the BMAT, interviews and personal statements (2017) — kept
• Ali promises a video on the Montgomery case (2017) — kept
• Ali's final year at Cambridge medical school (2017) — completed; last: milestone, 2018-06-12

Mentioned

Central: Medicine interview · University of Cambridge · University of Oxford

Also: Organizations: Eton College · NHS · Westminster School · Wikipedia

Concepts: Academic Foundation Programme · Diabetes · Dialysis · Junior doctor contract · Mental health · Personal statement · Psychiatry · Seven-day NHS

Events: Charlie Gard case · Montgomery ruling

Only in the description or credits: 6med · Multiple mini interview

Replies to

• refers to · Cambridge Medicine Interview - Experiences of 8 students
• refers to · Oxbridge Medicine Interview - 15 Tips (Oxford / Cambridge)

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