medicine interview questions

Why would you like to study medicine?

Basic Questions

What's your greatest strength?

Personality Questions

Tell us about a situation when you had to work in a team.

Scenario

What are the dangers associated with antibiotic resistance?

NHS Hot Topics

What did you do during your gap year?

Personality Questions

How do you cope with stress?

Scenario

What do you know about the A&E crisis and how it could be resolved?

NHS Hot Topics

As of 2021, 63% of UK adults were considered overweight or obese. Explain the impact of obesity on the NHS.

NHS Hot Topics

How do you see the future of the NHS?

The NHS

How will you take care of your mental health as a medical student and later as a doctor?

NHS Hot Topics

What will be the long

term impact of the pandemic on the NHS?

Nearly all medical interventions are free on the NHS, but only a limited number of dental procedures are. Can you think of any reasons why this is?

The NHS

Tell us about an instance when you had to rely on your communication skills.

Scenario

Illegal practice: a 19

year old patient comes to your GP practice and discloses they regularly engage in the use of illicit drugs. They ask you not to tell anyone, including the police. What factors should you consider in such a scenario, and whom would you inform about the situation?

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

Personality Questions

What distinguishes doctors from vets apart from patients?

Basic Questions

If you were to make a change in the NHS budget, how would you allocate the funds?

The NHS

What's more important in medicine: sympathy or empathy?

Insight Into Medicine Questions

What are the three most important qualities of a physician?

Insight Into Medicine Questions

How can Brexit benefit the NHS?

The NHS

What do you understand by the term Multidisciplinary Team (MDT)?

Insight Into Medicine Questions

Should euthanasia be legal in the UK?

Medical Ethics

What has been the greatest medical advancement EVER?

Insight Into Medicine Questions

How would you support a colleague at work that feels discriminated against due to their ethnic background?

NHS Hot Topics

Have you witnessed any examples of improper behaviour during your work experience?

Work Experience Questions

Describe the way you took to get here from your home.

Communication

What are the ethical considerations regarding abortion?

Medical Ethics

You are an FY1 doctor about to end your shift. You look at your watch and realise you'll be late for a date this evening, but you still have a few tasks to deal with. Talk us through the order in which you'd do each of the following tasks:

Call the restaurant to postpone your reservation.

A nurse has bleeped you to help you clog a haemorrhage in the A&E.

A 7

year

What do you understand by the term dementia? How does it differ from Alzheimer's disease?

NHS Hot Topics

How has the pandemic impacted the mental health of the NHS staff?

NHS Hot Topics

Imagine you are the head of the surgical department in a hospital. There are two patients, A and B, both requiring an urgent liver transplant, but there is only one viable liver. Patient A is a 32

year old social activist, with a drug abuse history. Patient B is a 78

You are an FY2 doctor, currently working on a paediatrics ward. You have been taking care of a 5

year old child with suspected leukaemia. As you are walking through the hospital hallway, you stumble across the child's parents, who have been waiting there for hours and look very distressed. As they ask you about the blood results, you realise you forgot to take the samples to the lab. How would you explain to the parents they have to wait another few hours because of your mistake?

What would you do if you don't get in?

Basic Questions

What is the non

academic achievement you are most proud of?

How will you contribute to our medical school?

Insight Into Medical School Questions

How would you calculate the number of water molecules in a glass of water? (Oxbridge style)

Making Calculations

How would you describe how to make tea to an alien who has never heard about water, cups or tea bags?

Communication

Refusing treatment: The 14

year old boy is rushed into A&E after a car crash. The patient is unconscious and has sustained huge blood loss as a result of the accident. Together with your team, you decide the boy requires an urgent blood transfusion. As you are about to take the boy into the OR, his parents arrive and forbid you to carry on with the blood transfusion on religious grounds. How would you proceed, and what factors should you consider?

Could you give some examples of how technology revolutionises healthcare?

NHS Hot Topics

What novel technologies are being currently implemented in the NHS?

NHS Hot Topics

Have you read about any breakthroughs, recent technologies being introduced/used in the NHS?

NHS Hot Topics

What qualities characterise a good medical student in your opinion?

Insight Into Medical School Questions

When can doctors breach confidentiality, if ever? Can you give a specific example of such a scenario?

Medical Ethics

What challenges will the NHS face in 20 years that aren't as significant now?

The NHS

Outline the current structure of the NHS.

The NHS

Have you heard of any effective treatments for any mental health condition?

NHS Hot Topics

Why would you like to study at our university?

Insight Into Medical School Questions

What has been the greatest medical achievement in the last 10 years?

Insight Into Medicine Questions

You've written in your personal statement about working with care home residents who had dementia: How were you able to tell if a patient had dementia?

NHS Hot Topics

Is there a particular person, book or event which inspired you to pursue a career in the medical field?

Basic Questions

What is the Sugar Tax and why has it been introduced?

NHS Hot Topics

Imagine you are on a raft and you're swimming towards a deserted island. Luckily you have a backpack with a few necessary items for survival. Suddenly your raft starts to sink. You need to get rid of five out of the ten items listed below. Which one would you choose and why?

Box of matches, Water repellent jacket, Hammock, Sunscreen, Box of sardines, Mirror, Cell phone, Encyclopedia, Flip flops, Knife

Prioritisation

What is empathy and why is it important in medicine?

Insight Into Medicine Questions

What are the common health challenges among elderly patients?

NHS Hot Topics

What do you know about the NHS Long

term plan? How will benefit the NHS and its patients?

What do you do to calm yourself down, when you are nervous?

Personality Questions

Developing antibiotic resistance is a natural process. How do our actions impact the process of developing antibiotic resistance then?

NHS Hot Topics

Do you take care of your sleep quality?

Personality Questions

What's the difference between dementia and Alzheimer's?

NHS Hot Topics

Anxious patient: A young mother comes with their 3

years old child to your GP practice as a part of the routine immunisation schedule. However, the mother reveals that she decided not to vaccinate their child against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) and appears to be anxious. What would you do?

What are the underpinning values of modern medicine?

Medical Ethics

Have you heard of the GMC's Good Medical Practice guidelines? Why do you think such guidelines are issued? Aren't doctors taught how to be a "good doctor" at medical school?

The NHS

What are some ways that help doctors survive a night shift?

Insight Into Medicine Questions

What do you understand by the term "Gillick's competence"?

Medical Ethics

Why do you prefer medicine over a pharmacy?

Basic Questions

Tell us about a time when you had difficulties working as a part of a group and how you overcame them.

Scenario

What are the three largest challenges doctors face?

Insight Into Medicine Questions

Can you think of an instance that made you understand what empathy means?

Scenario

What's your greatest strength?

Personality Questions

Should Covid

19 vaccinations be mandatory?

Tell me about a situation when you had to work in a team.

Scenario

What would you like to have written on your gravestone?

Personality Questions

How will your extracurriculars help you become a better doctor?

Personality Questions

Currently, around 9.6% of the UK's GDP goes to funding the NHS. Should the UK spend a larger percentage of the GDP on healthcare?

The NHS

What do you understand by the following terms: confidentiality, consent, capacity?

Medical Ethics

Have you ever heard the term "winter pressures"? What is the cause of larger pressures in winter?

NHS Hot Topics

What are the values that underlie the NHS?

The NHS

Has there been anything or anyone that discouraged you from becoming a doctor?

Insight Into Medicine Questions

How is the increasing number of dementia cases posing a challenge to healthcare systems worldwide?

NHS Hot Topics

What's the difference between euthanasia and physician

assisted suicide?

Can empathy be taught at medical school? If so, how can it be taught?

Insight Into Medicine Questions

What are the risks involved in the usage of AI technology in healthcare?

NHS Hot Topics

Why would you like to become a medical student?

Insight Into Medical School Questions

You have 50ml of a 10% solution of H2SO4. How much distilled water do you need to add to create an 8% solution?

Making Calculations

What are the advantages of the US healthcare system over the NHS? What are the disadvantages?

The NHS

Can you think of any examples from your work experience when doctors showed empathy?

Work Experience Questions

What is the importance of teaching in medicine and what forms does teaching take in medical school and later?

Insight Into Medicine Questions

Why do you think the UK has one of the highest numbers of obese individuals in the world?

NHS Hot Topics

"You are a fresh FY1, 2

weeks into your oncology. You are responsible for a 12

What has been the greatest medical achievement in the last 50 years?

Insight Into Medicine Questions

Why do you prefer medicine over nursing?

Basic Questions

What do you understand by the term 'mental health crisis?' How can the UK tackle the mental health crisis?

NHS Hot Topics

What medical speciality would you like to pursue?

Insight Into Medicine Questions

How do antibiotics work and how can bacteria develop resistance to them?

NHS Hot Topics

Why are doctors more prone to suffer from depression or commit suicide (compared with most other professions)?

NHS Hot Topics

Is tackling childhood obesity more important than obesity in adults?

NHS Hot Topics

If you could choose to allocate an additional £20 million to either of the following areas of healthcare, which one would you choose and why? Cancer research, mental health, Covid

19 research, palliative care, prolonging life research.

What are the most important values that all healthcare professionals should abide by?

Insight Into Medicine Questions

What do you know about our course and why would it suit you?

Insight Into Medical School Questions

What is the role of the GMC (General Medical Council)?

The NHS