If you look up tips for how to answer medical school interview questions, you'll find a bunch of different techniques and frameworks to follow. One of the most popular is the STAR technique. Today I'm talking about why you SHOULDN'T follow these frameworks—and what to do instead.

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When going into your medical school interview, it's important that you remember the purpose of the interview, which we covered a few videos back. The purpose is to connect with your interviewer, have a conversation, and allow them to get to know YOU. It's not to sell yourself or pitch your skills.

And this point leads directly to today's topic: Should you use frameworks like the STAR technique for answering your med school interview questions?

STAR stands for situation, task, action, result. It's a framework for answering behavioral questions in all types of interviews. But I don't recommend using it, as an interviewee. Because it will most likely distract you from your most important goal—authentically connecting with the interviewer.

Remember, the medical school is interviewing YOU, not the STAR technique.

So drop the frameworks for how to answer med school interview questions. Be you. Be authentic. Share YOUR thoughts, experiences, and interpretations. Forget about the frameworks.

You want the med school interview to be a coffee shop conversation. Would you use the STAR technique when chatting with your friend in a coffee shop conversation? No, you would just genuinely and authentically share your thoughts in the most natural, authentic way that made sense.

When you are answering authentically, you can handle any question the interviewer throws at you: Just pause to think about the question, and then answer.

Also, you don't need to know all the laws and details about medical ethics in order to answer interview questions about them. You can share your thoughts and ideas without claiming to already be a physician who is prepared to act in all of these scenarios.

Way too many interviewers walk out of the med school interview not knowing who the student is. All they know is that you gave a canned answer or you regurgitated back some parts of your CV using the STAR technique.

The more rehearsed, frameworked, and scripted your answers are, the more barriers you are putting up between you and the interviewer. You want to CONNECT with the interviewer (and everyone else there) on your interview day. You want to come across like a real person.

Another point: Don't be afraid of silence. Don't be afraid of asking for more information. It's okay to say "I need a moment to think about it." This allows you to take your time and be concise, instead of just bouncing around between different threads of ideas.

Again, drop the frameworks. Be present. Have a real conversation. Be willing to pause and think about your answers before starting. Do this, and you will be able to answer any question they throw at you, and authentically, too.

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