How local candidates for UK medical schools can prepare for key interview
There are ways candidates for medical schools in Britain can prepare for that key interview, a university lecturer tells Shirley Lau
Going to medical school is the dream of many, but it can also be daunting when the invitation for an interview arrives. Trying to stay ahead of the pack, Dr Christopher See did something unconventional a month before his interview with Cambridge University about 12 years ago.
"I talked to people randomly," See says. "I'd go up to people in a coffee shop and say: 'Hi, I'm preparing for an interview, and I'd love you to listen to why I want to study medicine.' I was looking very nervous, and people probably thought I was a salesman. Some people were understanding, but I also had people saying: 'No, go away!' That was a painful experience. But in an interview, people wouldn't be like that, so I had actually experienced the worst thing before the interview. That was quite good."
There's a delicate balance between selling yourself and overselling yourself
He also read books on the school's reading list, writing a short summary for each chapter. The night before the interview, when anxiety was at fever pitch, he relaxed by watching a thriller film he had seen before, just to be entertained without the mind being stimulated by new elements.
All these efforts, together with his good grades, eventually won him a place at Trinity College of Cambridge - and ultimately a rewarding career in the medical profession.
Between 2002 and 2011, the number of local students who each obtained their first degree from British medical schools more than doubled, from 130 to 295, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency in Britain. Locally, more than 1,000 students applied to medical school at Chinese University and University of Hong Kong this year after the release of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education exam results.
