This is a unique book geared towards enhancing the soft communication skills that are absolutely essential for your medical school interview.
Every year thousands of would-be medics are given a chance to embark upon their dream career. Every single one of them invited for interview has been deemed good enough to be a doctor. Unfortunately a large proportion of them will get rejected, destroying their dreams.
The reason for this is often not because all these candidates were not suitable for medicine. It is also not always because they didn't prepare for the interview....it is often because many of them didn't prepare in the proper way.
This short book addresses this problem directly. Written with the unconfident, nervous, inarticulate candidate in mind, each section addresses a different aspect of your preparation technique.
The author is a successful GP writer and speaker, with an additional 6 years experience working in three different medical schools. He has extensive experience in selection procedures, interviews and vivas. As an examiner and a coach, he addresses what the main areas of weakness are for school students being interviewed for medicine. As the author states in the introduction, this book presents 'an alternative model for your interview preparation, focussing on the spoken word'.
He breaks down the challenges facing interviewees in this high stakes assessment from different angles. He then proceeds to outline an effective strategy to address this. This starts off by examining the very way in which candidates often try to prepare and the inherent flaws in this method. By utilising simple techniques, possible for anyone working at home, the effectiveness of one's preparation can be massively enhanced.
One whole chapter focusses on confidence building, and goes deep into the psychology of low confidence and what you can do about it.
He then focuses particularly on how to recreate the stress of the real life situation, and getting used to performing 'in the arena'. As well as that he highlights avoidable stressors that anyone can remove or reduce ahead of the interview.
In addition this book outlines a strategy to get remote feedback from doctors in such a way that it minimises the time commitment from their side.
The final chapter reveals excerpts from transcribed mock interviews, where the candidates statements and phrases are analysed sentence by sentence. This provides a remarkable insight into what students end up saying under pressure and how it can come across.
All in all, this short book is literally a game changer for someone with an upcoming medical school interview. It will certainly not be the only book you read- as the author states, this book is not about content, it is purely about style. However it is the one book that you cannot afford not to read before your interview.
KEY QUOTES FROM 'HOW TO COMMUNICATE CLEARLY AND CONFIDENTLY IN YOUR MEDICAL SCHOOL INTERVIEW':
'The reason why I feel there is a need for this book is because there is insufficient material available to you on how to prepare yourself psychologically and emotionally for this interview. Lots of books will prepare for you what to say - this one prepares you for how to say it.
If you are someone who sometimes can’t think on the spot, who fumbles their words under pressure and gets nervous when being grilled, then this is the right book for you.'
'There are a number of verbal pitfalls that applicants commonly fall into.
a) Superfluous statements that don’t add value to the points being made
b) Waffling and rambling - usually due to not preparing answers to key questions, or by not practicing them under pressure
c) Not answering the question asked
d) Re-using the same adjectives/phrases too much
e) Ending the sentence with a question, or not ending the statement at all
f) Trying to sound intellectual rather than speaking normally'
Every year thousands of would-be medics are given a chance to embark upon their dream career. Every single one of them invited for interview has been deemed good enough to be a doctor. Unfortunately a large proportion of them will get rejected, destroying their dreams.
The reason for this is often not because all these candidates were not suitable for medicine. It is also not always because they didn't prepare for the interview....it is often because many of them didn't prepare in the proper way.
This short book addresses this problem directly. Written with the unconfident, nervous, inarticulate candidate in mind, each section addresses a different aspect of your preparation technique.
The author is a successful GP writer and speaker, with an additional 6 years experience working in three different medical schools. He has extensive experience in selection procedures, interviews and vivas. As an examiner and a coach, he addresses what the main areas of weakness are for school students being interviewed for medicine. As the author states in the introduction, this book presents 'an alternative model for your interview preparation, focussing on the spoken word'.
He breaks down the challenges facing interviewees in this high stakes assessment from different angles. He then proceeds to outline an effective strategy to address this. This starts off by examining the very way in which candidates often try to prepare and the inherent flaws in this method. By utilising simple techniques, possible for anyone working at home, the effectiveness of one's preparation can be massively enhanced.
One whole chapter focusses on confidence building, and goes deep into the psychology of low confidence and what you can do about it.
He then focuses particularly on how to recreate the stress of the real life situation, and getting used to performing 'in the arena'. As well as that he highlights avoidable stressors that anyone can remove or reduce ahead of the interview.
In addition this book outlines a strategy to get remote feedback from doctors in such a way that it minimises the time commitment from their side.
The final chapter reveals excerpts from transcribed mock interviews, where the candidates statements and phrases are analysed sentence by sentence. This provides a remarkable insight into what students end up saying under pressure and how it can come across.
All in all, this short book is literally a game changer for someone with an upcoming medical school interview. It will certainly not be the only book you read- as the author states, this book is not about content, it is purely about style. However it is the one book that you cannot afford not to read before your interview.
KEY QUOTES FROM 'HOW TO COMMUNICATE CLEARLY AND CONFIDENTLY IN YOUR MEDICAL SCHOOL INTERVIEW':
'The reason why I feel there is a need for this book is because there is insufficient material available to you on how to prepare yourself psychologically and emotionally for this interview. Lots of books will prepare for you what to say - this one prepares you for how to say it.
If you are someone who sometimes can’t think on the spot, who fumbles their words under pressure and gets nervous when being grilled, then this is the right book for you.'
'There are a number of verbal pitfalls that applicants commonly fall into.
a) Superfluous statements that don’t add value to the points being made
b) Waffling and rambling - usually due to not preparing answers to key questions, or by not practicing them under pressure
c) Not answering the question asked
d) Re-using the same adjectives/phrases too much
e) Ending the sentence with a question, or not ending the statement at all
f) Trying to sound intellectual rather than speaking normally'
