University of Liverpool Medical School Interview 2023: Quick Survival Guide
Liverpool is one of the largest, oldest, and most prestigious medical schools in the UK and in the world. This top medical school located in this iconic maritime city makes it one of the best medical schools to study in within the United Kingdom.
Before the Interview
After you send off your UCAS application, the university screens each application with a range of tools. You can read about them here.
The Interview at Liverpool: Explained
Interviews will likely be in January and February. The 2023 interview will be online; however, the exact format is yet to be announced. You will be able to see updates from Liverpool here. In the past, the interviews have been in a MMI format.
What Questions Will I Be Asked in the Leicester Medical Interview?
The questions vary each year, but they all revolve around the same topics. Whilst there is no official list of themes published by Liverpool, I have gone through past information and summarised the main topics that are likely to come up below.
Motivation to study medicine
“Why have you applied to medicine, and not nursing?” is a popular example of a question you may be asked. It’s a great time to talk about your interests, passions and link them back to your work experience. When talking about your work experience, always talk about what you learnt, as well as what you saw.
Top tip: You might also be asked to talk about why you want to study particularly at Liverpool, so make sure you’ve read up a little on the university!
Personal Qualities
Lots of things can crop up here, but ultimately, the interviewers want to get to know you as a person. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is an important tool in life, and so interviewers want to see that you are aware of your own abilities.
Top tip: don’t be too over-confident, but also don’t be too critical! Interviewers don’t like hearing you put yourself down!
Specific qualities they may be looking for will include: teamworking, resilience and good communication skills.
Teamwork is a very important attribute of a medical student and a doctor. You can be assessed for this by being asked about “a time you worked in a team and some of the challenges you overcame”. Medicine is a difficult career, and the university want to see that you will be able to power through! You may be asked to “talk about a difficult situation you have been in”, or to “talk about why resilience is such an important quality in medicine”. For communication skills, you could be asked to “talk about a time you witnessed good or bad communication skills.”
Remember: Reflection is key in medicine! Throughout the interview, make sure you are reflecting on all experiences you talk about. Interviewers love to see what you learnt and how you improved.
Top tip: when talking about what you learnt, talk about how you implemented changes and how they helped you overcome future tasks.
Ethical Scenarios
In the past, Liverpool have had 2 types of ethical stations. One is based on you being given an ethical scenario, and you are allowed to write down your thoughts before discussing them in the end. The other station is usually more of a discussion; where the interviewer will ask you questions regarding certain topics. Make sure you are comfortable with the 4 pillars of medical ethics. If you know those, you will be able to talk about any ethical scenario with ease!
Top Tip: when discussing an ethical scenario, try to give an equal number of arguments for and against. Its important to show the interviewer you are keeping an open mind and considering all views!
Calculations
You will likely have a data interpretation station where you will be asked to do some calculations. In the past, there have been a couple of questions to get through, and you are provided with multiple choice answers. The level of calculations will be GCSE maths, so don’t worry too much about it, and you will be provided a calculator as well, if needed!
Top Tip: The interviewers are more interested in how you approach the task, and your problem-solving abilities than your actual calculation skills. So, if you are comfortable doing so, it’s a good idea to say your thoughts out loud, so the interviewer can follow your train of thought!
Empathy is a very important quality to have as a doctor, and the interviewers will want to make sure you understand its importance.
They could ask you how you would approach a difficult situation, e.g., a patient being cautious of a treatment. They could also ask you an ethical scenario and ask your views on a difficult topic such as euthanasia or abortion.
Top tip: remember to link back to the 4 pillars of medical ethics.
Final Thoughts on University of Liverpool Medicine Interview
The interview is a stressful time, but the universities just want to know what type of person you are. Practice example questions with friends and family and make sure you’re happy with the main topics that crop up, but ultimately, be confident in your abilities! Good luck, you’ve got this!
Key Resources for Liverpool Medicine Interview
Liverpool Medical Application Guide
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