1. Tell us 3 advantages of the HYMS course and explain why those advantages will specifically

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1 Interview advice for applicants to Hull York Medical School We interview applicants in order to get to know you better and to try to understand how your attitudes, creativity and personality will contribute to you as a medical student and as a doctor. There are no right answers to the interview questions. The interviewers are genuinely interested in your expression of your personal opinions and feelings, your discussion of your own experiences and your ability to explore issues from a number of different viewpoints. Here is a list of topics we will ask about and some example questions, so you can have some idea of what to expect. Do not try to learn answers to these questions. You will do best in your interview if you listen carefully to what you are asked, and then try to answer the question you are asked, rather than if you give a prepared answer. Candidates who appear over-coached put themselves at a disadvantage. The first interview question will be about an article you will have been given to read while waiting outside the door of the interview room, followed by seven unrelated questions, one corresponding to each of the sections below. Knowledge of Problem Based Learning and the Hull York Medical School Aim: To explore what you know about the course at Hull York Medical School (HYMS) including problem-based learning, and whether you will thrive in this particular learning environment. An understanding of Problem Based Learning (PBL) IS ESSENTIAL. Before interview, think about how you prefer to learn. 1. Tell us 3 advantages of the HYMS course and explain why those advantages will specifically suit you. 2. Why will a problem-based learning course suit you? Tell us about 2 other aspects of the programme that will also suit you. 3. What appeals to you about the course here at Hull York Medical School? Why do you think it will suit you? 4. This course will require a good deal of independent study. How have you managed this approach to learning in the past? 5. What do you prefer about problem-based learning to the more traditional forms of teaching? What are the other distinctive aspects of the HYMS course? 6. Could you comment on how PBL at Hull York Medical School differs from other PBL courses?

2 7. What ways of learning work best for you? How does this fit with Hull York Medical School? Knowledge and interest in current medical issues Aim: To explore how you have read, researched and reflected about medicine 1. What are the consequences of obesity for health services? Why? 2. Can you tell us about a significant recent advance in medicine or science? Why is it significant? Why has this interested you? 3. Tell us about something in the history of medicine that interests you. Why was it important? 4. If a benefactor offered you a huge amount of money to set up a Medical Research Instit ute and invited you to become its director, what research area would you choose to look at, and why? 5. What do you think was the greatest public health advance of the twentieth century? 6. People are living longer and longer, should doctors take the credit for this? [Supp. Why, why not?] 7. What lessons can be learnt from how the swine flu pandemic was handled? [Supp. What would you have done differently?] 8. What do you think the work of being a doctor entails, apart from treating patients? Why is this important? 9. How do you think the rise in information technology has influenced / will influence the practice of medicine? 10. How do you think the role of doctors differs from other health professions, such as specialist nurse practitioners? Team work Aim: To explore your own experience of the challenges and problems of working in a team. Think about when you have been in a group learning activity, a sports team or a work team. What have you observed and thought about in team situations? 1. Thinking about your membership of a team (in a work, sport, school or other setting), can you tell us about the most important contributions you made to the team? 2. Think of a team situation where your communication skills have been vital. Tell us about the situation and your contribution. 3. Think about a team that you have been in: What do you think is the role of humour in team working? 4. What aspect of your work experience did you find the most challenging, and why?

3 5. Describe briefly a group activity or project that you have organised. What did you learn from it? 6. Tell us briefly about a team situation you have experienced. What did you learn about successful team-working? 7. From what you have seen of health care, has the doctor been the leader or an equal member of the team? Was it appropriate and why? 8. What qualities in other people do you find frustrating? How do you deal with these? 9. What are the advantages and disadvantages of being in a team? Personal Insight Aim: To explore your capacity to reflect on and change your own behaviour. Does your way of thinking promote insight? 1. What do you think will be the most difficult things you might encounter during your training? How will you deal with them? 2. Is there such a thing as positive criticism? How do you think you will cope with criticism from colleagues or other health professionals? 3. How will you cope with criticism from colleagues or other health professionals? 4. Which of your personal qualities do other people find frustrating? What might you do about this? 5. You will probably have got high marks throughout school. On this medical course most marks are awarded as satisfactory or not. How will you feel about seeming average in this new situation? 6. How would you cope with the death of a patient as a result of your mistake? 7. Think of a time (that you can tell us about) when you said sorry to someone? How did that change your relationship with that person? 8. Some people are always very certain about what they believe is right. Some people are never certain. What kind of person are you in this regard? 9. What makes a good working relationship? 10. Describe a work or leisure situation where you have felt stressed. How did you cope and what have you learned from the experience. Capacity for Empathy Aim: To show how you can see the perspective of another person and make competent guesses about their thoughts, feelings and attitudes.

4 1. Give an example of a situation where you have supported a friend in a difficult social circumstance. What issues did they face and how did you help them? 2. One of your fellow students regularly misses lectures and stays in their room a lot. What would you be concerned about? What would you do? 3. What thoughts and feelings might face someone offered an alcoholic drink to celebrate, after receiving a liver transplant? 4. A person with learning disability is regularly teased by their neighbours. How might this affect them? 5. What are the reasons for people wanting cosmetic surgery? How would you respond to a request? 6. What do you guess a very overweight person might think and feel after being told their arthritis is due to their weight? 7. You notice a friend has been putting on a lot of weight recently. Would you tell them? [Supp: How?] 8. A friend has asked your advice about how to tell her parents she intends to drop out of university and go off travelling. How would you respond? 9. A friend tells you he feels bad because his family has always cheated to obtain extra benefits. How would you respond? Critical Thinking and Evaluation Aim: To explore your ability to understand a complex issue, describe your approach to it and reach a reasoned conclusion. You may be given an example of a situation with conflicting or incomplete information or where the outcome will have different consequences for different people. 1. Do you think it is better to give food aid or vaccines to a very poor country? Why? 2. Why can t doctors give a guarantee that a medical or surgical procedure will be successful? 3. What are the arguments for and against non-essential surgery being available free on the health service? 4. In what ways do you think doctors can promote good health, other than direct treatment of illness? 5. What does the current government see as the national priorities in health care? Do you agree with these? 6. Should doctors have a role in regulating contact sports, such as boxing? 7. Do you think doctors should ever go on strike?

5 8. What are the arguments for and against people paying for their own health care as and when they need it? 9. Is there a moral case against drugs companies becoming as large and powerful as the market allows them to be? [Supp: Why or why not?] 10. What are the arguments for and against the de-criminalization of drugs like cocaine? Creativity, Innovation and Imagination Aim: To explore your ability to think about and respond creatively to novel or surprising propositions with imagination and flexibility. There are no right answers probably the wackier and / or the more plentiful your ideas, the better the answer! 1. Imagine a world in two hundred years time where doctors no longer exist. In what ways do you think they could be replaced? 2. You are holding a party with a medical theme how would you make it memorable? 3. Describe as many different uses as you can for a mobile phone charger. 4. How many different ways can we improve the process of selecting students for HYMS? 5. Imagine you had six months with enough money and nothing you had to do, tell us the most imaginative (and non-medical) way you d spend the time. 6. If you were shipwrecked on a desert island with all your physical needs - like food and water taken care of, what three imaginary items would you like to have with you? 7. Your house catches fire in the night. You are told you can pick up one object to take with you when escaping. What would it be, and why? 8. Can you think of something fun (not medical) that you d like to invent, and tell us about it, please? 9. Fashion in clothes has changed hugely over the past 400 years. What do you think we ll be wearing in 200 years time?