[Interview] 5 days till the Big Day

I went to the Wine and Cheese social event organized by the Med Undergrad Society last weekend, and it was really a wonderful night (for various reasons :P). Social-wise, I got to know more med students and reconfirmed my finding that these people are the coolest kids in town. They are so dynamic, so unique, and all so enthusiastic about what they do... I want to be a part of this family.

A few interviewee friends of mine were there too, and one of them were quite nervous about her upcoming interview. She has it at the same timeslot as me.

I, on the other hand, was totally chilled. I could think of a few reasons for this too:

1. I've approached this application as a test run -- just to test the water and see how things work. My real med school application effort will come next year.

2. I'm never the type that gets nervous about exams and interviews; I was talking to another friend the other day, and I figured that my mentality is "do all I can do and see what happens".

3. My mind is just too damn occupied right now to worry about med interview. Is there anything more important than an imminent interview? *Surprised* Yes, yes there is.

Anyway, what have I done in the last little while and what will I do in the next 5 days, in terms of med school interview?

Last week, a friend of mine and I each organized a mock interview, hers at her apartment, and mine at some classrooms on campus. Counting the other practices, I've had 4 runs in total, and really, I think that's enough. If you haven't tried reading the question prompts and answering under time pressure, I strongly recommend you do so. Don't do it by yourself; best to find current med students or friends who are interviewing, but if that's not available, find other friends and family. Just ask them to sit there, keep time, and listen to you talk for 7 minutes.

I'm also reading some books on medical ethics, and I will probably read up on the rural medical issues. The book I am reading is called "Doing Right", by Philip C. Hebert.

Here I'd like to stress how previliged and thankful I feel about having an awesome supporting team of around 10 interviewing students. There is very little sense of competition among our group; we genuinely want each other to do well, giving the best feedback and suggestions we can give to each other. Also, I couldn't find that Doing Right book in bookstores and ordering it would take a month, so I sent out an email to this group for help. Within 24 hours, 3 people replied offering to lend me the book.

Anyway, in the next little while I'm just going to take it slow. Read the stuff I plan to read, do the school work I need to do, and on that fateful Sunday morning sleep in until 10am if I can, get a nice big brunch, take a walk around, shower, change, and drop the bomb.