Getting into medical school - how to play the game

[zohra]

AA!
It's the time of year when 16 & 17 year olds start writing their personal statements and visiting universities. I've been requested by one 17 year old so far to help with her statement, show her around UCL and maybe give her a mock interview with some others. This got me thinking back to something Naadir said a few weeks ago about setting up a panel to hold mock interviews.
Could we arrange some sort of access program? I know there are loads of kids at City and Islington College that want to do medicine at UCL (2 of our ex-freshers were there before and seem to have left quite an impression on them) and I'm sure there are many others in all the usual places.
Ideas on this?
Salaam,
Z ;D

[NMA]

AA,

interview panles and access programs. Theres a fair bit of talk about these things right now. ULU ISoc are trying something. UCL ISoc wants to try a joint venture.

Anyway, we have a few sixth form colleges in touch with us, also other peoples younger siblings/ cousins/ friends. What have you in mind? A short talk, discussing medical school life, student finance, accomodation, stuff like that, (so they know what they letting themselves in for ) followed on by applications advice, sample UCAS forms (e.g. our old personnal statements), BMAT discussion (they still have samples available online, right?) then straight line of mock interviews, or do them at a separate date?

wasalaam

NMA

[j]

AA,

was just wondering what is happening with the proposed plans for the mock interviews etc.

wasalaam
J

[NMA]

Assalaamu alaikum,

I am still happy to interview potential candidates that want a bit of practice; however, my placements mean that there are only a few days at the beginning of November when I am freee to do this. That said, there should be plenty of others, both students and doctors with interview panel experiance who have more ameanable timetables.

What i would need is someone to take on the organisational part of things... it's not too much-

Arrange a room.

Arrange another interviewer (if there is no one available with past experiance, i might be able to give some quick training about an hour before the start of the interviews)

Arrange the interviewees... this means letting ppl know we are doing it, getting ppl to apply quickly and having a list of the ppl we expect to arrive. Preferably, each candidates personal statements should be submitted in advance. Each interview takes about 20 minutes even though we try to do the interviews in 10; the practicalities of reading threough statements, moving ppl around and overshooting mean that 20 is a more practical timeslot to allow.
Feedback would probably be in a group format afterwards. And yes, that means if we have 5 interviewees, we're talking about a 2 hour session.

I suppose it also helps if there are a few extra ppl available to chat to the kids while they wait.


So, if anyone wants to take on the organisation part of things, then I am happy to come in and interview.

Please reply here soon if you do wanna do this, cos time is short, and it takes time for ppl to apply, etc.

wasalaam,

NMA

[j]

AA

Thanks for the fast reply. So currently we are looking to:

Arrange a room - that should be sorted out via drayton house right? if thats so, then its not a problem, IA i will arrange for that

Arrange another interviewer - i really wouldnt have a clue who to approach

Arrange the interviewees - that is do-able as well.

one thing left for us to decide upon is the deadline....can you please get back to me on this?

Plus is there anyone available with interviewing experience who are willing to participate?

Wasalaam
J

[NMA]

Wa alaikum as salaam,

i'm afraid it's not quite so simple as that. I have never tried to get Drayton House to book a room for mock interviews... somehow the thought never occured, we have always just booked the rooms through RUMS ISoc. but give them a go if you want. To book through RUMS ISoc, you need eityher the treasurer or the president to sign the room booking form, which then has to be handed into the union (second floor bloomsbury desk).

We usually go for a small classroom for the interview room, and a slightly larger one for the waiting room. Examples might be some of the small rooms in the basement of the cruciform or on the ground/ basement level of the rockerfeller. On occasion, we have booked the TLR as the waiting room. The TLR is the one room that you CAN book through Drayton House

WRT another interviewer, could the WebMaster or president please put out an email asking if anyone with experiance is willing to do it? Else I could try training someone, but thats not such a good idea. I guess you'd have to write to them directly. Sorry, I can't send those emails anymore

Finally the deadline: I leave the country on the first Friday of November, (5th, I think) but should be back in town for that week (commencing Monday 31st October). This means there is a possible clash with Eid...

Well, thats the situation. I recommend sending an email to the WebMaster asking him to forward an email to the whole soc lists asking for volunteers... if more than 2 ppl respond, then you will have more freedom than my rather small number of days. Write the email you wish to be sent yourself, so there is no ambiguity...

if the webmaster reads it here first, please just send the email out, as time is now an important factor- (room bookings take atleast a week with UCLU).

take care,

wasalaam,

NMA

[NMA]

AA,

just to add, I think you would have to go with the Monday 31st to be sure of not clashing with Eid, so thats only 2 weeks away. If you book the TLR from Drayton house, thats faster than waiting for a room bokoing application form to be approved by the union, which can take as long as 2 weeks! If worst comes to wosrt, we can interview them in the TLR, by making use of the 'sound- proof' screens...

If anyone is going to have enough time to reply, and arrange to come in, you gonna have to put the word out soon. I don't know if the room is available then, but for my part i will keep that afternoon and evening free until I hear from you.

I still think if you get enough other ppl volunteering and can get a better time slot, you should go with tham and not me.

take care,

Wasalaam,

NMA

[j]

AA,

there has been a good response to the request for interviewers mashallah. now what i require is a fast way to let potential interviewees know - what do u suggest? i have requested ramadhan radio air somehting out to ilford etc. i havent heard anything from them as of yet.

dont worry about keeping Monday free, cos i have a GP placememnt that i cannot miss.


Wasalaam
J

[NMA]

AA,

How many interviewers did you get? and are they all trained, or do they need training?

As we not doing the Monday, that means that you have other interviewers, not me, but more importantly it releases the time crisis a bit.

Still, these things are best done early. If you can find out when each potential interviewer is available, and then decide on a date, then you can begin advertising... the basic information required to advertise the event are:

• What the event is, in this case, Mock Medical Interviews,
  
• When the event is, which obviously needs to be decided (see below), and
  
• How to get enrolled, Which in this case is probably our email address.
  

The rest of the details, for instance where to arrive, when, what to send, etc can then be distributed to successfull applicants at a later date.

With regards to the second point above, might I suggest that the interviews now take place after Eid, perhaps a week later (but not the same time as Eid Dinner, if there is one- this way there is a little less time pressure, ad also there is slightly less logistics, as you don't have to think about opening fast at the same time.
The final advantage of this is that it allows Eid itself to be used as a definate, easy to remember final date for applications, because from experiance, you will end up getting emails or messages from ppl months after the interviews thinking they can still get one.

Which brings my (finally) to your question about advertising. Methods used in the past have included:

• Word of Mouth
  
• E-mail
  
• Adverts in Masjids
  

I have never tried getting anything on Ramadhan Radio (or any other radio for that matter), but by all means give it a go!

Word of mouth is easy, but means it reaches a very limited audience, and hence gets a small return, and in a way helps only ppl who already had a means of help in the first place, cos they woudl have to know someone already here in order to hear about it (mostly).

Email is similar, it is the best way of starting things off a 'Word of Mouth' cascade. Hwoever, I have included it separately, because as well as the RUMS email lists, there are also the UCL email lists, the ULU lists, and the emailing lists of any other soc from any other campus that wishes to send it, even though most medical ones will probably have something similar of their own.

Posters/ adverts in masjids take a bit more work, but reach a wider audience; still slightly restricted to those who get to the masjid, but again, also useful.

One caution is on the workload taken on... remember that each interview requires a minimum of 2 but preferably 3 interviewers, and about 20 mins. That means 3 an hour... or 6, if you have that many interviewers to be able to run parallel interviews. I'm not trying to put ppl off, but that is a considerable workload if you get, say 20 respondants...

Thats all from me for now, I'll check back for numbers later inshallah,

ws

NMA

[j]

salaam,

thanks for all your advice. 7 people have shown an interest. i need to arrange a meeting soon to discuss who has experience. i have been in contact with kaiser and he is willing to train us all up.

E-mails have been sent out, and someone did get back to me with possible applicants though they did add that a significant number of the applicants werent muslims - inshallah that should not be a problem.

ws
J

[NMA]

AA,

I saw the emails. my only comment is that you may wish to advertise the ISoc email account, as it is easier to recall than zchXXXX accounts. I'm not too concerned about the religion of the applicants- it doesn't really matter- but it always amuses me that we send messages out via ISoc and for things like this get something liek a 50:50 spread of replies. I think it says something about the muslims generally. Anyway, this thread isn't the place for that.
ONce dates are sorted, feel free to start a thread for it in the 'events' section, so any visitor who might be scoping out med schools coudl also apply...

WS

NMA

[musaz]

Assalaamu alaikum,

I have been informed that you are going to have mock interviews...is this true? if it is how can i apply as i need the practise!!
thank you

[j]

Salaam,

We are holding mock interviews for medical applicants. What we require from you is a copy of your personal statement - you can send it as an e-mail attachment to RUMS Isoc addressed to [e-mail].

I shall get back to you in due course with a date for a mock interview. If however you have an interview at
a university and you need the mock that we are offering before then, then please include the date of your interview and the name of the university in your e-mail.

wasalaam

Jubli