BS/MD Programs / BS/MD Interviews
BS/MD Interviews: Formats, Questions and Practice
An interview invitation means the record is strong enough. The interview decides whether the committee trusts you with a medical school seat.
Updated September 28, 2026 for the 2026-2027 cycle
Two formats
Traditional interview
One or two interviewers, 30 to 60 minutes. A conversation about your experiences, your reasons, and the program.
- Expect follow-up questions on anything in your file.
- Expect to be asked what you would ask them.
Multiple mini interview (MMI)
Six to ten short stations, each with a new interviewer and a new scenario. About two minutes to read, five to eight to respond.
- Ethics, role play, teamwork and reasoning stations.
- Each station is scored on its own, so a weak one does not sink you.
Many programs now interview by video. Test your camera, sound and lighting ahead of time and sit where you will not be interrupted.
Questions asked most often
Motivation
- Why medicine?
- Why decide at 17?
- What if you change your mind?
- Why a combined program?
Experience
- Tell me about a patient you remember.
- What surprised you while shadowing?
- What was hard to watch?
- Explain your research to a non-scientist.
The program
- Why this program?
- What do you know about our curriculum?
- What will you add to the cohort?
- What questions do you have for us?
You
- Tell me about yourself.
- Describe a failure.
- How do you handle pressure?
- What do you do outside school?
Ethics
- A friend asks to copy your work. What do you do?
- A patient refuses treatment. What now?
- Who should get a scarce resource?
Health care
- What is the largest problem in health care today?
- How would you improve access in rural areas?
- How do you keep up with medical news?
Sample MMI stations
| Type | Scenario | What is scored |
|---|---|---|
| Ethics | A classmate with family trouble asks to copy your lab report. | Seeing both sides, reaching a decision, compassion. |
| Role play | Tell a neighbor, played by an actor, that you damaged their car. | Honesty, listening, staying calm. |
| Teamwork | Guide another applicant through a drawing they cannot see. | Clear instructions, patience, checking understanding. |
| Reasoning | Should medical school be free? Argue one side, then the other. | Structure, evidence, fairness to the other view. |
A method for any scenario: restate the problem, name the people affected, give two options with the cost of each, choose one, and say what you would do if new facts appeared.
Answering experience questions
Situation
Two sentences of context.
Task
What needed to be done.
Action
What you did, in detail.
Result
What happened and what you learned.
Six-week practice plan
Gather material
Re-read your application. Write eight short stories from your experience that can answer many questions.
Practice aloud
Answer three questions a day on video. Watch for filler words and answers over two minutes.
Mock interviews
Ask a teacher, counselor or physician to run a full mock interview in each format.
Program research
Know each program's curriculum, conditions and partner medical school. Prepare five questions of your own.
What costs applicants the seat
- Memorized answers that do not respond to the question.
- Knowing little about the program.
- Speaking poorly of a teacher, classmate or school.
- No questions for the interviewer.
- Discourtesy to staff or to other applicants.
After the interview, send a short thank-you note within two days.