Applying to NUS Medical School - Essay and Interview Tips and Advice

Applying to National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
(Don't you just miss the days it was just called "NUS Med Fac"?)
By Weng Yanyi and Gerald Tan

Introduction

This is the UNofficial "advice" site about applying for NUS Medicine. I strongly advise you to go through the official NUS Medical Faculty site for Prospective students first - it has tonnes of comprehensive information!!

Timeline

Date	Event
Early March	NUS Open House (attendance is optional!)
1st April (for 2006)	Application deadline Candidates must have Chemistry at 'A' level and either Biology and/or Physics. Candidates will be shortlisted based on: - Best three ‘A’ levels, plus GP grade (90%)~~(85%)~~ - Project Work (10%) - CCA points (5%) (Update thanks to Audrey)
Early April	Shortlisted candidates will be notified. They will be informed about: 1) Submission of a portfolio 2) Essay test 3) Interview (2 rounds)
Mid April	PORTFOLIO - 2 letters of reccomendation, 1 cca list, 1 personal statement. - It is highly advisable to start on the portfolio even before you're confirmed for the interviews because "in my case, I received the notification of shortlisting around 14 April and the portfolio was to be submitted by the 20th. It'll be very rush cos teachers need time to write the recommendations too." (Yanyi)
2nd last or last Sunday of April	ESSAY - Question will be announced on the spot. - 45 minutes - No medical knowledge is required. (The 2006 question was something about defining good professional behaviour and whether it should be a prerequisite for studying medicine.)
End April or early May	INTERVIEWS (2 rounds, usually both on the same day) - First round - Faculty staff from NUS. - Second round - Mix of medical doctors, nurses, alumni, current students.
Late May	SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES WILL BE NOTIFIED! From the NUS website, selection criteria is: - 50% : A level grades, CCA points, Project Work - 50% : Essay tests, 2 interviews, portfolio

Interview questions

First round

Interviewers: NUS/MOH Faculty Staff.
- May include dentists, administrators, researchers, etc. so don't slime those people! (i.e. Stay clear of the "I put Medicine 1st and Dentistry second coz it's more glamourous to save lives than look at stinky smelly teeth" and the "I think Health Administrators are a waste of time and money that could be spent on patients" and the "Research is a waste of manpower that could be deployed in the wards" type of replies.)

This is the more formal interview

Typical questions/topics:
  -    Facts about singapore's and maybe even other countries' healthcare standards and policies.
  -    Current affairs in Singapore Healthcare! know at least 1 health policy! (shameless plug: I have a section on this in my website)
  -    Know about at least 1 disease that Singapore has encountered or is dealing with. (Bird flu, SARS)
  -    Why do you want to do Medicine?
  -    What if you can't get into Medicine? (Don't get discouraged here)
  -    What makes you think you'll be a good doctor?

Second round

Interviewers: Mix of medical doctors, nurses, alumni, current students. (same caveat, don't slime these people too!)

This is more informal - Just be yourself!

Typical questions/topics:
- They like to ask random questions like what you like to do, done anything intellectual lately etc....

Questions from 2007 (Thanks to : Mavis, Wendy, Yee May & Ze Hao (not in any particular order))

"They mostly asked me questions about the healthcare system in Singapore and what opinions do I have on it. Other questions include what kind of specialty do I want to pursue in future and things about it. They have also asked some questions to ascertain my interest in medicine and pursuing a career as a doctor."

"I think almost everyone thinks that the first round of interview is the killer. They were asking questions like why not take nursing or health sciences, since you can care for patients too. My friend had a question on what are some of the new policies implemented in polyclinics, and asked her about dementia(since she wants to become a psychiatrist). she got stumped. i had questions on human transplant and what are some of the common diseases in spore, and really lots of questions probing on myself, until its a bit uncomfortable. And my last question was, what is the thing you want to change about the world, and please don't give answers like world peace :X So i don't think they are a bunch of bored old men, HAHAHHAHAHHA, they are like testing how long your confidence can last. Mine was quite shattered at the end:) But i did pretty well for the second round of interview, it's focused on my activities listed in my portfolio and the interviewers were generally ore friendly:) No students. After the grueling first round of med interview, i thought i can handle all other interviews in the world, HAHAHAh, i think they covered all the typical interview questions possible, besides on medicine."

"My interview was... uh. i don't really know how to describe it. The first interview wasn't really great. I wasn't sure whether the Dean understood what I was trying to bring across and I didn't know the answer to some of the questions that Prof asked [about the changes in Medisave- I knew what Medisave is like now but I wasn't sure which part had changed! was pretty frustrated about that after the interview]. I did answer the question but it was a wrong answer, moreover I was being quite long-winded I suppose. the Dean cut me off quite a number of times. :| They mostly asked how I coped with stress, my personality and what I would do if I didn't get Medicine, but they weren't really interested in inquiring about my experiences. Oh yeah, the Dean also asked me whether I thought the general public was unhappy with the medical profession. yeah that was the part where I wasn't sure the dean got my point.
The second interview was excellent. Probably the best interview I've ever had. They told me they were very impressed by my determination and what I've done in my gap year at the end of the interview. Here, they asked about my experiences and what I would do after I become a doctor. haha"

"I cannot remember much what had happened during Round 1, probably because it was a considerably short interview for me (approx 20 mins tops?? o.O), and probably because I was very much nervous during Round 1 as compared to Round 2 =P What I can remember from Round 1 is that the interviewers asked questions based on my personal statement first before branching off into other stuff.
As for Round 2, these are the questions I can hitherto remember:
  Tell me your greatest strength. What about weakness?
  What makes you think you will be a good doctor?
  A patient suspects that he has a cyst growing on his large intestine, and that he wishes for an operation to be carried out on him to see if he really has it. He denies on other alternatives like having an X-ray done, and insists that he trusts the doctor’s keen eyesight more than technology. He is willing to fork out the money required for the (likely unnecessary) operation as he is able to afford it. As a doctor, what will you do?

Questions?

It's been a while since Gerald took his interview (in 1996, to be precise), but if you have any questions, email him using the link below. Cheers!