There are 2 rounds of interview, first by faculty members (eg professors), then by those working in the medical profession(eg doctors, nurses) / current students. Each round should take around half an hour (but my first round was around 10-15 mins.. hopefully it was cause they ran out of questions to ask! but I didn't get chosen anyway so. haha)
First round: Aha the tough one! By 3 professors. Be prepared to think on your feet as their questions can be very diverse and unpredictable. The questions that I got:
1. What do you know about the life of a Singaporean doctor?
2. What do you think of doctors on call in which they may work for 36 hours non stop?
3. For pilots, they cannot work for more than a certain amount of hours (eg they need adequate amount of sleep) while doctors are not granted such a privilege. Why is that so?
4. Why choose NUS
5. Why should we choose you
6. (because I said I wasn't money minded for question 5, they said most doctors come in saying they don't work for the money, but eventually they get involved in unethical behaviour too, eg performing unnecessary operations etc just for the money) Why do you think doctors nowadays seem to value money more than patients' welfare? What should be done to change this situation?
7. What do you know about the Singapore health policy (and I think I mentioned it was better than the Malaysian one, so) why do you think it's better than Malaysian's policies?
Second round: I was interviewed by 2 doctors. This round is exceptionally helpful for bright, cheerful, talkative ones who wouldn't mind telling your family history dating back to your great-grandparents (honestly! they would bear with you till you were done)
Basically they asked me things like:
1. Tell me more about your A level course.
2. What's your favourite A level subject?
3. What's your hobby? (then i replied reading, which is true to some extent; I do read, just not as frequent as I would prefer)
4. Can you tell me about one of the books you've read (I elaborated on Picture of Dorian Gray; actually I was thinking of Roald Dahl but some of his adult books had highly sexually explicit content, so I had to forgo that ^^)
5. What's the difference between government and private hospitals in Malaysia?
6. How have you displayed leadership qualities through past experiences?
5. Do you have anything to ask us? (This question caught me by surprise so I gave them a very, very hesitant no. Because I honestly didn't know what to ask!)
As for attire, a bit less formal than the HKU interview(everyone there donned coats!); guys wore ties and gals just wore formal wear since wearing a coat will practically leave you drenched in sweat before you even enter the interviewing room, memandangkan the awesome weather in Singapore =)
Apparently they only take in 10 international students per intake and last year there were 1 or 2 Malaysians (and so they say; not officially verified information) Candidates will be evaluated based on such scores:
50% A level/other exams results
50% Interview & Essay (title will be given on the spot, a few days before the med interview) & ECA (extra curricular activities)
Somewhere around NUS; didn't get a pic of YLL School of Medicine
All the best for those applying in the future! Don't be shaken on the 1st round though; give yourself time to think before answering their questions, cause it's hard to take back what you've already said!
Oh ya my essay question: Websites, blogs, social networking sites have been proliferating of late. In your opinion, what effect does this have on the educational community? Should restrictions be implemented?
Click here for my HKU MBBS interview =)
