How to get into medical school: aspiring doctors learn what not to say

Would you report a senior doctor if they’d been drinking? And who would you want to be stranded with on a desert island?

These were some of the questions that prospective medical students were asked at a workshop held at Wellington College.

The medical applicants preparation day on November 21 attracted 40 students in Year 13, all of whom have applied to medical school and needed to prepare for interviews.

Guest speaker Dr Abe Bashir from The Medic Portal, a company that helps students get into medical school, covered interview techniques, how to be confident but not arrogant, and how to show commitment to the NHS (“Don’t say you’re planning to train here then work in Dubai”).

He also put some students on the spot, making them role-play a mini interview, asking one student what she would do if she arrived in an operating theatre and smelled alcohol on a doctor.

Other topics included ethical themes such as organ donation, drug and alcohol use and self-inflicted conditions.

Guest speaker Dr Denitza Williams, a lecturer at the School of Medicine at Cardiff University, talked to the group about careers in medical research and a panel of Old Wellingtonian medical students also shared their experiences.

Students attended from 14 schools in the Wellington College Student Alliance including The Holt, Bulmershe and Maiden Erlegh.

One said afterwards: “It broke down the sections that could come up in the interviews. Before this, I felt like they could ask anything under the sun, but now I know there are categories, so it is less daunting.”

Another said: “It was eye-opening to talk to people who are actually involved in the interview process, it made everything much clearer to me. Before today, I’m sure I would have said some of the things in interviews that they told us not to, but I won’t now!”

The event was an annual day run by the Wellington College Student Alliance.