Osteopathic Medical School Interview Questions and Guide

Osteopathic Medical School Interview Questions and Guide

Now that your AACOMAS and secondary applications are out of the way, it’s time to wait for the decisive interview invitation to pop up in your inbox. If you’ve already heard back from your DO schools, congratulations! Like MD institutions, DO schools also make a significant cut in applicants between secondaries and interviews. So if you hear back, you’re on the right track. Now, it’s time to prepare yourself for the osteopathic medical school interview questions that await you.

Osteopathic medical school interview questions are an opportunity for you to highlight your specific interests and goals in medicine. Moreover, interviewers will use the process to determine whether you have a sufficient understanding of the DO philosophy and if you have the ideal qualities of an osteopathic physician. To help make your interview process a stress-free experience, I have outlined an overview of DO school interviews, how they compare to MD interviews, how you should prepare, as well as a list of osteopathic medical school interview questions to practice before you set off to tackle this important component.

Overview of Osteopathic Medical School interviews

DO interviews typically take place from September through April once the institution has gone through your AACOMAS and secondary applications. On interview day, applicants usually tour the school with other interviewees, and if on a weekday, some schools allow candidates to sit in on a class. 

Osteopathic medical school interview questions evaluate students’ compatibility with DO methods and ideas, along with whether they possess the knowledge and skills sought after in a doctor. Admissions committees don’t just want to see applicants say they want a more holistic approach to treatment; they want to know how candidates have specifically prepared themselves for a DO career. Interviewees need to showcase knowledge of the DO method, convey altruism, empathy, and tolerance, as well as be able to elaborate on their extracurriculars in relation to osteopathic medicine. Once the interview process has been completed, candidates typically hear back within two weeks. 

Types of Osteopathic Interviews

More and more DO schools have started adapting multiple mini interviews (MMI) into the interview process. Students go through 8-12 stations for 5-8 minutes and answer questions after they have been presented with a scenario (with 1-2 minute of preparation time upon receiving the question). Osteopathic medical schools which have switched to the MMI format include:

• A.T. Still University in Arizona
• Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine,
• Pacific Northwest University College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Western University of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific

MMI is an effective way of testing medical school candidates’ nonacademic and noncognitive skills such as empathy, emotional maturity, and interpersonal skills. Applicants are further tested on their communication abilities, as interviewers take note of whether the student listens and answers questions appropriately.

Interview Logistics

The exact logistics of the interview process varies from school to school. Along with preparing for osteopathic medical school interview questions, you should also research the interview format that you might encounter at each of your schools. Check out the specific interview logistics as listed by five DO institutions to get an idea of the different types of formats you might encounter:

As you can see, whether you’ll have to face a traditional or a series of multiple mini interviews depends entirely on the school. You can find out this information beforehand by looking through interview policies on the school’s website. 

DO Interviews vs MD Interviews

Osteopathic and allopathic schools differ significantly when it comes to the number of schools available, dual degree options, and percentage of graduates across career specialties. But both types of schools interview only a small percentage of top applicants. For instance, Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine only interviewed 15% of applicants for the Class of 2023, while Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine invited 12%. Some DO schools have a specific number of applicants they invite, while others operate on a year-by-year basis depending on the applicant quality. At both MD and DO schools, your chances of admission increase significantly once you’ve been granted at interview. For example, while Western University of Osteopathic Medicine has a 7% overall acceptance rate, 30% of students who interviewed received acceptance letters – that’s a big difference!

DO schools look for how students’ specific passion and goals align with osteopathic philosophies. While there will certainly be an overlap in questions about your personality and views on the current state of medicine, the majority of osteopathic medical school interview questions will gauge your interest and enthusiasm for the profession, and specifically osteopathic medicine. Similar to MD schools, DO schools conduct either traditional interviews or multiple mini interviews (MMI).

Preparing for the Interview

Preparation for your DO interviews should follow certain protocols which are similar to preparing for any other interview. Remember basic interview guidelines such as dressing appropriately, arriving 10-15 minutes early, and being polite and courteous to the interviewer. Refamiliarize yourself with your application components so that your interview answers are consistent with what you’ve written in other stages of the process.

Thoroughly research the specific institution you’re interviewing at in order to know find out exactly what about the school appeals to you and how it suits your goals. Be ready to showcase your knowledge of programs unique to the school and discuss similarities between your own background and the program’s mission. 

Content to Cover in Your Responses

When brainstorming your answer for the “why osteopathy” question, go beyond just saying that you want to treat the body as a whole instead of the specific disease. Yes, that’s the purpose of osteopathic medicine, but that’s not a unique enough reason to sway the admissions decision your way. Interviewers will think you’re being too general, and haven’t made an informed decision about pursuing a DO career. Instead you should talk more in terms of how your experiences have prepared you for a career in osteopathy, how you realized you might be suited for a career as a DO, how your extracurriculars are geared towards osteopathy and have helped you make an informed decision.

Prepare to discuss meaningful experiences involving patient interaction as well, whether from shadowing a doctor or volunteering. Focus on how they have instilled in you the characteristics that DO schools look for, such as effective communication skills, compassion, and dedication towards helping your community.

What to Ask Your Interviewer

You’ll likely be asked osteopathic medical school interview questions by more than one person. Make sure you practice answers to enough questions so that you aren’t stuck at any point. At the end of all the questions they’ve prepared for you, the interviewer will ask if you have anything to ask them. Don’t show up to the interview unprepared for this part, trying to come up with questions on a whim. Carefully think about what you want to ask them. 

These questions could center around their experience in osteopathic medicine, what they like best about the particular school and its location, and challenges they might have faced in osteopathy. It’s important to ask unique questions because you want interviewers to remember your enthusiasm when later reviewing your application. 

Osteopathic Medical School Interview Questions to Prepare for

To help your preparation, I’ve included 50 examples of osteopathic medical school interview questions that fall under different categories. Alongside knowing how to articulate your background, interests, and goals in medicine, you should read up on current events in the world to formulate your stance on different ethical issues in medicine today. 

Questions About Yourself and Your Interests

1. Tell us about yourself.
2. What are your biggest strengths?
3. What are your biggest weaknesses?
4. If you could have dinner with anyone living or dead, who would it be and why?
5. Tell us about a particular meaningful extracurricular activity.
6. Who are your role models?
7. What is the last book you read?
8. Describe an experience where you helped others.
9. If you are a minority candidate, how do you feel your background uniquely prepares you to be – and will influence your role as – a physician?
10. Which college course did you enjoy the most and why?
11. What is the greatest obstacle you have had to overcome?
12. How would the person who knows you the best describe you?
13. If you could be any type of cell in the human body, which type of cell would you choose and why?
14. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
15. How well do you feel you function under pressure?
16. What are your hobbies? Do you plan to continue these hobbies while in medical school?

Questions About Your Application and Your Goals in Medicine

1. Why do you want to become a DO?
2. Why appeals to you about osteopathic medicine?
3. Why have you chosen our school specifically?
4. Where do you see yourself ten years from now?
5. Which field of medicine are you most interested in?
6. Which primary care area of medicine are you most interested in?
7. What do you think are the most important qualities in a physician?
8. What are your goals in medicine?
9. What experiences have you had in the medical field?
10. What have you learned from shadowing a doctor?
11. What have you learned from your volunteering experiences?
12. What qualities do you feel are the most important in being a good medical school student?
13. If you had to choose between clinical and academic medicine as a profession, which would you pick? What do you feel you might lose by being forced to choose?
14. Who was your biggest inspiration in your decision to pursue medicine?
15. What will you do if you are not accepted to medical school this year? Do you have an alternative career plan?
16. What aspects of medicine draw you to a medical career? 

Ethical/Scenario-Based Questions

1. Would you get out of your car to help a victim after observing an accident?
2. A pregnant 15-year-old unmarried teenager comes into your office asking for an abortion. What would you do? Would you inform her parents?
3. What are your thoughts on euthanasia?
4. You observe a fellow medical student cheating in an exam. What would you do?
5. How would you tell a patient just diagnosed with cancer that they only have a few weeks to live?
6. If a close family member ran a red light, would you inform the authorities?
7. You have two patients who have been admitted after a serious accident. Both require immediate attention in order to survive. One patient is 20 years old; the other is 60 years old. Which life would you save?
8. Are you aware of any current controversies in the area of medical ethics? List and discuss some of these.
9. How would you feel about treating a patient who has tested positive for HIV?

Questions About Current Events

1. What do you know about the current trends in our nation’s healthcare system?
2. List three issues that confront medicine today. Of the three, which is the most important to you and why?
3. How do you think national health insurance affects physicians, patients, and society?
4. Can you think of any examples in our society when healthcare is a right? When is it a privilege? When are the lines blurred?
5. Do you think that doctors are being paid too much or too little? Why?
6. What are your views on the latest changes to the Medicare program?
7. How would you go about improving access to health care in this country?
8. What have you recently read in the press about health care?
9. What do you think should be done to control health care costs in this country?

Don’t be afraid to discuss your achievements and best qualities. Interviewers must understand why you would succeed as an osteopathic physician and how you could contribute to the campus community. Be honest in your answers instead of trying to guess what the committee is looking for. 

When it comes to osteopathic medical school interview questions, your answers should demonstrate a strong interest in a DO career as opposed to just a desire to become any kind of doctor. Show the school that you’re suited for a profession specifically in osteopathy, and that it’s not just a fallback option for you. By practicing beforehand, you can easily familiarize yourself with the kinds of questions you can expect from your schools. Good luck!