6. Qualities and Attributes Flashcards
Is it better for a doctor to be a good clinician or a good communicator?
I’d argue that two aren’t mutually exclusive, and being a good clinician inherently entails being a good communicator
(1) Good listener
(2) Good communicator
(3) Handling conflict and negotiating solutions
How would you rate your communication skills?
How have you developed your communication skills?
(1) PALS officer
(2) KEEN London
(3) Mooting
What question would you ask medical students?
How do you know you’re an empathetic person
- The reason I’d ask this, instead of ‘tell me about a time you have shown empathy’ is because the empathetic quality of a clinician isn’t a one off, but rather something that should be a fabric of their being
- Also, the phrasing of the question requires a candidate to reveal the anecdotes and experiences that informed about their empathetic nature, and so teaches you about how introspective a candidate is
(1) Relationships I hold with my friends
(2) Politics
(3) Decisions
Tell me about a time you’ve had to show empathy?
Being empathic was the most important quality I had to demonstrate as a PALS officer, in speaking to patients on the wards about their experiences in hospital.
Often patients would tell me about deeper hardships - their struggles unique to immigration, being estranged from family, and feeling neglected in the hospital. For example, one patient told me about how it felt to see other patients in the ward be visited by family, when she had become estranged from hers. Through being able to absorb her emotion, and in recognizing signals in body language and eye contact, I was able to connect with feelings of loneliness, anxiety and hardship and offer her a listening ear.
After a lengthy conversation speaking to the patient, she told me that she had found a friend in me and subsequently passed my name to my volunteering manager for the difference I made to her that day.
Do you know what its like to be a medical student?
(1) Discipline and self-motivation
(2) Effective researcher
(3) Organisational and time management skills
Describe yourself in 3 words
How would your friends describe you?
Do you have the personality it takes to do Medicine?
- Hardworking
- Empathetic
- Open minded
What makes you angry?
- I don’t get angry very easy at all, I think half of conflict resolution itself is being able to manage your own emotions instead of projecting anger.
- One thing that annoys me is stubbornness e.g. being unable to change one’s views despite being presented with new information or a new perspective that counters it.
- My Law degree is very topical, and in discussions with my peers sometimes we differ over what we believe is just and whether we believe a case was rightly decided. I enjoy entering these discussions with an open mind, and I’m always ready to change my opinion if its found to be flawed. This allows me to make the form the most well-researched, robust opinions, important in Medicine where changing your opinion based on new information is vital to make accurate diagnoses.
- Sometimes I’ve found people don’t share the same open outlook. For example, when I was in the Law Society, we were planning a careers event which we realised clashed with an Open Day at a big Law Firm. The President was adamant to keep it on this day, underestimating the popularity of the Open Day. As a result, one of our more flagship events ended up having low turnout, because of a stubbornness in changing the date. I wasn’t angry, but a bit annoyed that our event couldn’t live up to its potential.
Why are you the best candidate today? Why should we take you on?
What skills do you have transferable to Medicine?
(1) Good understanding of what its like to be a doctor through volunteering and work experiences
(2) Background in law uniquely lends itself to Medicine
2.1 Research
2.2. Communication
2.3 Knowledge
2.4 All rounded
-My strong academic performance in arts and science at GCSE and A Level reveals me to be an all rounded candidate
This means I’m able to employ critical and analytical thinking from my arts background, logical and lateral thinking from my science background, providing me yet a strong skillset to be an all-rounded doctor.
Lastly, in society today there’s an increase recognition that Medicine is not just a science, but interlinks with humanities. It’s importance to produce doctors who view disease and illness in not just a scientific but a A good quote is that cited in my PS …. –> I therefore think my humanities background will allow me to view disease and illness in not just its scientific but its social context.
Tell me about your hobbies, and how they relate to Medicine.
(1) Cooking/hosting dinner parties
- Socialise
- Bond
- Enjoy ourselves on a tight budget
- Relax
- 1 Effective delegation of tasks and teamwork
- 2 Planning and calculation
(2) Fashion design
- Reading fashion magazines
- Photography archives
- Designing clothes by hand
- Sewing machine
- ->Cambridge Fashion and Luxury Business Society
- 1 Expanded my worldview by enriching me culturally, socially, and historically
- 2 Enquire further than what I see at face value
What are you most proud of/what is your greatest achievement?
My greatest achievement is developing a reputation for mooting amongst my Law cohort, and representing my university at Mooting competitions. Mooting is a mock court trial where you assume the role of a Barrister. You’re presented with a case study and are allocated a line of argument to defend. You then deliver your case against a judge, who will interrogate the robustness of your legal argument by critiquing and challenging it, as would happen in a normal court trial.
The reason its my biggest achievement is because of how much it facilitated my character growth in university. When I started out mooting, it was because of peer pressure. Realistically I was daunted by it, I lacked confidence and I was intimidated by its competitive spirit, assuming I’d never win. So, I reframed my thinking and considered it as an opportunity to develop my skills and hoped I’d be eliminated by the first round. I ended up succeeding in 3 rounds, won the competition and landed an internship at a silver circle law firm in my first year of university. This experience taught me to underestimate my own abilities, and to embrace new situations as an opportunity to learn. With more experience, I began representing LSE at Mooting competitions, judging in competitions and was elected Mistress of the Moots in the LSE Law Society, all of which facilitated my character growth into a more optimistic, confident person who rises to every challenge.