IUMC Interview

Assalamualaikum, and hi.

it's been a while. 

well, I never intended to blog sometime around this particular time. I'm in the middle of finishing my economics note on unemployment and inflation. Only a quarter finished by the way. sigh.. But I just couldnt concentrate. I kept on thinking. reminiscing. the Memory kept flooding back. I just couldnt let go. 

My IUMC interview went awful. I dont know who I was in that room. why I behaved that dy. why I responded tht way. I was not myself. I even answered something that I made up impromptu. I was not being genuine. 

As i think back, it was probably I was in a state of shock. because the interview went differently. it was not the usual pattern whereby it always started "okay so tell me about yourself" or "why medicine". it was absolutely nothing like that. Okay, before you all get delusional and scared, my ONLY advice on IUMC interview is you all have to remain calm and YOU LEAD the conversation. just dont slip, or you'll get caught in up in your own words. trust me, that was what happened to me. i didnt even mention that i spent time doing sports, that i manage to do humanitarian projects and all those stuffs that might be an additional point that could earn me some points from other candidates, were NOT mentioned at all.

Okay guys, the interview was very light. I dont know how yours are going to be conducted, but mine, there was two panels. Dr Aileen Patterson from TCD and Dr John MacSharry from UCC. 

The reason that I'm writing this is first, to let things go. I really hope I could after this because at the moment, it shows no sign of at that all. Second, to tell you of my mistakes, what I learned from this so that you all could benefit from it. I dont care if you dont agree, but it's your take.

As soon as i entered the room, I trus okay you're Dr John MacSharrry? (I did a background research on my interviewer) and suffice to say he was surprised and seemed contented. then since they knew I did a research they straight away asked me "Okay so tell us about your research then" I was shocked to the core. first, i had hoped the FIRST question would be the usual "okay so tell us about your self" but it wasnt! (kejutan 1) then it soon followed since i was surprised i thought research? i'm an IB not a PhD! i hadnt done any research for god's sake! then, after that few panicking moments, i realised they were talking about my prior background research on this interview. BUT since I was still in a state of shock, instead of answering Dr MacSharry's background whom I knew he is a Molecular Biology lecturer at cork and did a dissertation of immune something for his Phd I answered about a research i did on Professor Horgan (whom was supposed to be my second interviewere but they changed to Dr Patterson) so i did not have any bg info on dr patterson so ofcourse i did not say anything about her. then as soon as i blurted out Prof Horgan's biodata, i was like seriously! why r u talking about someone who's not in the room! (kejutan 2-dari diri sendiri) it was such a crazy internal conflict i had. and that affects my whole response throughout my 10-mins interview. instead of telling them the info i had on the universities n their system, i told them about irish culture. i tak keluar langsung the prior reseacrh and interesting dicovery of "where fibarr taught let munster learn" to them. :( it went like poof). tak ingat langsung sebab dah panik gila,,

then ttiba dia tanya so how is your interest in science and medicine sparks ke apa ntah. BOOM! panick lagi. (kejutan 3) i was like science? interest? what? again, i thought the following question would be the usual so why medicine? damn it intan this is what you get if youre keep thinking of the same pattern. soalan copy paste.  self reminder and a note for you guys to jot down, yes you can practise these set of questions, but dont expect to hear the same exact copied paste question okay. as i reflect back, they bering about the same meaning, just that they chose a different approach. but silly me. dahla panick, sekali keluar soalan yang i tak sangka, di twist. I jawab merepek. In fact i lied. i thnk its apparent the lies. tak genuine. sedangkan now that i think of it, i would have a better answer. but whats the point of menyesal kan?

adala this one part, tetiba dia tanya pasal commaon health prob kat malaysia. (kejutan 4) pak dia! i was like weh bila aku jawab yang ada kena mengena dengan ni!  I was trying so hard concentrating on avoiding getting these kind of question. sekali dapat. Panik lagi. I straight away answer i dont know. which was really stupid. :( then at this moment i saw Dr MacSharry's face was smirking. he was like ure a medic student yet ure unaware of your country's current health condition? then, i knew i screwed it up. u guys faham tak what i'm trying to say? boleh je jawab stroke, hypertension, kidney failure or obesity. tapi i tak tahu kenapa masa tu tk keluar. trust me panik tahap memang panik lah dalam hati tu. 

the rest is history. kalau nk cerita memang panjang. all the things that i tak mention. haih. but, whatever happens in the room, semua dah ditentukan allah. what was said, what was answered, the ideas, that all came to me from Allah. He was the one gave to me. it ohappened under His ketentuan. I cant blame no one. 

so guys n girls, if u happen to encounter this post, it was written on the second day post-interview. bcs i still cant move on. so whatever it is, you just remain calm. you're the one driving the car. gear's on you. whatever u answer, they'll ask in accordance to your answer. so just dont screw up ( which i did ). next, its a casual talk. talk whatever. next, do bg research on the culture, the unis. look up for videos on you tube. also impress the interviewer by searching for their background okay? i did that, just i did not manage to show them because i panicked. internal conflict. next, if u dont really know of the medical issue, just dont mention about it in your answer. in any part. trust me, they wont ask. but if you do know, then just your honest opinion. some of my friends got qs like "what do you think a good quality of a medic student" something like that. lastly, ask questions. at the end of the interview session. just ask about anything! like something u stumbled upon on youtube, on medicine culture, ure curious about it, then ask their opinions. or ask about the unis method of teching. my friend asked "is it true that all irish love potatos?" or you could probably ask "people say your uni is ____. what would you say about ur uni, from your pov" or whatever it is, just ask anything. dont stress yourself out. dont be like me. i entered the room with calm but due to my expectation of question (which was not met) i get panicked. so what i would say, dont prepare for expected question. jap faham tak masud i? do prepare for the usual question, just rangka mcm mindmap je. tpi jangan expect the exact same question keluar, mcm jawapan sama tpi cara dia taya/words they used tu, lain. Macam IB la, diorg kan suka twist question. tpi pusing2, jawapan sebanarnya sama je.

whatever it is, show them u r competent to be a medical student n mampu jadi doctor. b yourself ok. tu je. takya buat research melampau2 sangat, nnti nmpk fake. cukup sekadar tahu. hafal pun sikit je. tak pun tengok TED TALK pasal medicine culture, doctors, or anything relating to that. humanitarian project ke. as long as remain calm. diorg buat muka pun, jangan panic. thats all. any questions, drop below.

if anything, sebenarnya it wasnt so bad tau. okay dia mcm ni. sebenarnya dia casual talk je. relax je. takda soalan ethics ppe jadah haram tu. haha. irish kan mmg relaxed and laid back. chill je :) tpi sebab i get panic tu yg jadi mcm tu. jangan salah faham tau. if u guys have a really good communication or soft skills, trust me ure going to excel the interview. u have absolutely nothing to worry about. seriously, jangan risau tau. calm. be yourself. confident. eye contact. tu je ok. dont be like me.