Medical students answer interview questions

You've read the interview prep resources. It's time to start using this knowledge into your interview. Practice applying them with a few interview questions.

Not sure where to start? Learn from our medical students' approach to tough questions.

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48
Question:
Medical students are involved with many extracurricular activities. Choose one and talk about it.
1
Answer the question
Respond to the best of your abilities.
2
Listen to the expert response
Watch how a medical student approaches this question.
Tip: Improve by sharing your answers with friends and family to get their feedback.

Practice these sample interview questions

We asked different medical students how they would answer and made their responses available for study here!

Go straight to the source. Compare your answers to current medical students who were successful and are now interviewers.
35
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others in the last week.
Why do you want to be a doctor?
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others in the last week.
What are the difficult parts of being a physician?
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49
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others in the last week.
Do you think physicians should lie or withhold the truth from their patients, even if its for the patient’s own good? What are some benefits to telling the truth?
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20
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others in the last week.
Your friend tells you that he wants to take an "Introduction to Spanish" course to boost his GPA even though he is a native Spanish speaker. Native speakers are not allowed to take the course. What do you tell your friend?
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46
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others in the last week.
During COVID-19, the Maritimes created an "Atlantic Bubble". What do you think about this decision by public health?
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45
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others in the last week.
What role should privacy play in telemedicine and electronic health records?
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27
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others in the last week.
Choose a health care debate and discuss both sides. Which side do you agree with most?
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30
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others in the last week.
If you were on the admissions committee, what would be the most important thing you look for in a candidate?
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41
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others in the last week.
You are a doctor working ER intake during a particularly busy shift. What do you do?
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28
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others in the last week.
What is your opinion on medicine and research?
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21
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others in the last week.
What do you think are the long-term benefits of the Jordan principle, for the indigenous community on a population level?
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46
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others in the last week.
What do you think health inequality means? What does health inequity mean? Have you ever felt treated unfairly in your own life?
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35
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others in the last week.
Medical schools across Canada continue to switch between in-person and online delivery of medical education. Discuss the impact of online medical education.
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39
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others in the last week.
Most Canadians have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Why do you think some Canadians are choosing not to get the vaccine?
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50
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others in the last week.
What health issue within our province are you most passionate about? Why?
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34
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others in the last week.
You are an attending physician who works at a busy hospital. Patient X frequently ignores the medical advice given by you and seems to dislike being in the hospital. How would you go about handling such patient encounters?
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27
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27
others in the last week.
What is your greatest strength and greatest weakness? Which one is more important to you?
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21
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others in the last week.
What is your greatest weakness?
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44
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others in the last week.
Your little cousin needs to complete 40 hours of volunteering for his school. He thinks volunteering is useless and serves no purpose since you don't get paid for it. What would you say to convince him of the benefits of volunteering?
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33
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others in the last week.
Lord Byron stated “always laugh when you can, it is cheap medicine.” What does this quote mean to you in terms of how you will pursue your career in medicine?
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29
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others in the last week.
The Cannabis Act 2018 came into action across Canada. What are your thoughts on how this Act has affected Canadians?
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28
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others in the last week.
Tell me about a time you handled interpersonal conflict.
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20
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others in the last week.
Some medical schools have a preference for selecting medical candidates from certain geographical locations. What are your thoughts about such selection policies?
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43
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others in the last week.
What are your thoughts and feelings on reflecting your life during the COVID pandemic?
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23
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others in the last week.
Why is confidentiality important for physicians? In what cases should physicians breach confidentiality? Have you ever had to break confidentiality in your life? Why or why not?
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44
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others in the last week.
During your shift, you notice your preceptor is intoxicated. What do you do?
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38
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others in the last week.
Bill-C7, which amended the Criminal Code to permit MAID for individuals whose natural death is not reasonably foreseeable, was recently passed in Canada. What impact do you think this will have?
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40
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40
others in the last week.
What is the Jordan principle? What are some long-term benefits of this principle to a child’s life?
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24
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others in the last week.
Social media platforms have been restricting content that is deemed discriminatory and offensive. What do you think about these practices?
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23
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others in the last week.
Discuss your perspective on how social media is being used in the context of medicine.
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49
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others in the last week.
What is the most important issue facing health care today?
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31
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others in the last week.
What are some ways to reduce healthcare inequalities in Canada?
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50
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others in the last week.
The government wants to track citizens across the country in order to maintain public safety in the face of a pandemic. How would you advise the government to do this?
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31
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others in the last week.
You have two patients who have been admitted after a serious accident. Both require immediate attention in order to survive. One patient is 20 years old; the other is 60 years old. Which life would you save?
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38
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38
others in the last week.
Tell me about the last time you were upset.
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30
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others in the last week.
You are a surgeon, and you discharge a patient. She becomes ill and dies not long after. The family asks why you discharged her. How do you respond?
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36
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others in the last week.
What are issues that people living with addiction face during a pandemic? What are some solutions to these problems?
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37
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others in the last week.
What is your favourite quote and why?
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42
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others in the last week.
Why do you wish to attend our medical school?
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22
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others in the last week.
You are a physician and you have been treating a patient in the hospital for several days. How would you handle this situation?
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50
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others in the last week.
A 16-year-old child wants to have a procedure done but their parents disagree with this. What would you do as the teenager’s physician? Do you have to listen to the patient or the parents?
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47
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others in the last week.
You started your clerkship rotations coincidently with your best friend. In your conversations, he often mentions patients by name and gives details on their conditions as well as their behaviour. What are some ethical issues that may arise in such a situation?
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35
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others in the last week.
What are some difficulties faced by physicians during the pandemic?
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26
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others in the last week.
You are a family physician and another physician at the clinic is dating one of their patients. What would you do?
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24
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others in the last week.
Physicians are using social media to grow their network, showcase their lifestyle, and share medical tips and tricks. What are some positives and negatives of this increased exposure of physicians on social media?
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47
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others in the last week.
Have you considered other careers besides being a physician?
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48
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others in the last week.
What are your thoughts on universal basic income?
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26
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others in the last week.
Aside from the Medical Expert role, select another CanMED role and discuss why you think it is the most important one for a physician.
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48
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48
others in the last week.
Medical students are involved with many extracurricular activities. Choose one and talk about it.
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42
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42
others in the last week.
Pick a health topic that is relevant to today’s society and discuss your thoughts on it.
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45
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45
others in the last week.
You are a family physician. You notice bruises on your patient, a 10 year boy. What would you do?
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25
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others in the last week.
How would you go about convincing a parent who does not want to vaccinate their newborn?
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32
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others in the last week.
Can you tell me why a physician must also be a good collaborator, and provide examples?
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37
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others in the last week.
Compare and contrast between public and private health care.
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41
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others in the last week.
One of the patients hands you a basket of baked goods and wine for the holidays as a gift. What would you do?
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33
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others in the last week.
During your final exams week, your grandmother calls and tells you she feels lonely. What would you do?
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22
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others in the last week.
Tell me about the best day of your life.
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22
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others in the last week.
Systemic issues exist in the provincial health care system. Discuss one of them and how you would address it.
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29
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others in the last week.
A proposed bill would require all individuals to vote in federal elections or face a $100 fine. What do you think about this bill?
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