Service Orientation: desire to help others and sensitivity to others’ needs and feelings a desire to alleviate others’ distress recognizes and acts on responsibilities to society
Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Competencies as defined by AAMC: The most common characteristics that they are looking for are listed below: In general, the purpose of the interview is to assess the applicant’s personal characteristics. Applicants cannot change their MCATs or their GPA, but they can be well- prepared for the interview and make a positive impression. This is the only aspect of the application that is still within the applicant’s control. But students should not take it too lightly. It usually means that the committee is interested in learning more information about you. Getting to the interview stage is definitely a good sign. On average, you can expect the interview evaluation to be weighted at about 35% (Iserson, Getting Into Medical School). Most schools will use the interview evaluation in their final admissions decisions. You will be confronted with different types of interviews and these interviews will be weighted differently in the overall evaluation by each school. Although admissions committees strive to be as equitable and objective as possible, it is not a perfect world and therefore there is no perfect system. Very important! It is important to recognize that each school has its own evaluation system leading to interview and then to acceptance. Interviews are absolutely required for admission and students must travel to the medical school to complete this process. Only a small percentage of applicants are invited to interview (the actual number varies greatly from school to school) and this is the final phase of the application process.
Health professional schools are quite unique in that they are very interested in meeting and getting to know their candidates through an interview.