"Tell me about yourself"

[CRC13]

I'm looking for some different opinions here-- from interviewers or interviewees! When attending PA school interviews, how do you best tackle the "tell me about yourself" prompt? I'm thinking you certainly don't want to regurgitate your resume and definitely do not want to rant. Is this a good opportunity to talk about your clinical experiences? Or what led you to eventually pursue PA as a profession? Or the qualities you possess that would make you a great student and practicing PA someday? etc...

 

I'm just curious how others best utilize this very general prompt! 

[PACrankset]

I tended to think more about where I came from, who I am and what brought me to this point. Talk about why or how you found your way to medicine. For me that path was a little longer and more convoluted than people coming out of undergrad, but still. Was there a particular experience that made you take a longer look at medicine, was there things from your past that made you not want to explore other professions.

I also think that it is important to talk about the things you love outside of medicine. Are you married? Do you have kids? Do you run marathons? Are you really competitive at chess? Talk about the things that interest you and that help you relieve stress.

Hope that helps.

[rev ronin]

To prep for interview season, prepare and practice a 2-3 minute summary of yourself.  Whatever it is, make it interesting, short, succinct, and polished.  You'll be answering this question a lot--be well prepared to do so.  Outside of interviews, you'll use this (or variants of it) to introduce yourself to potential classmates, too.

[paPassion7]

@rev ronin Do you recommend focusing on explaining your experiences, education, and other activities related to preparing for applying to PA school? Or should I talk more about my family, my likes and interests outside of medicine, etc. Maybe a bit of both? Thanks!!

[MyPath]

My "tell me about yourself" blurb was structured like this:

1. My background. Where I was born, etc (This is important to my story, but you can talk longer or shorter here. Longer if you went to school in the same state or you were raised in the same state, etc).

2. My education background

3. Why I love medicine and why the PA profession (i spent a long time here as my path to PA school was convoluted).

4. What i have been doing after graduation (longer time here, don't just regurgitate your application. Say you have worked as ___for ___ months or years and what you have learned/experienced).

5. Hobbies outside of medicine (Make this part your actual interests, don't worry about the marathoners/bungee jumpers/globetrotters (If this is you, awesome too!). I just talked about my daily interests.)

Good luck! 

 

[Guest HanSolo]

I often interpret this question as, "why/how would you fit in here?" Relate your previous and current experiences to the potential program, job, place, whatever. Make it seem like you already belong, they just hadn't found you yet. I think a mix of vocational and non-vocational topics are fine, but I wouldn't only talk about your cat or your skiing skills. 

[Bubbles]

When asked this question, I mostly talked about my current PCE, as well as how I got to my current position, which ultimately led me to the PA profession. I didn’t focus on personal aspects.

[Bf555]

I talked about what initially drew me into medicine and then my path from there (college, HCE, to what I was currently doing)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SrTaM]

On 10/18/2018 at 1:06 PM, rev ronin said:

To prep for interview season, prepare and practice a 2-3 minute summary of yourself.  Whatever it is, make it interesting, short, succinct, and polished.  You'll be answering this question a lot--be well prepared to do so.  Outside of interviews, you'll use this (or variants of it) to introduce yourself to potential classmates, too.

This is the best advice here.

I disagree with the comments saying talk about their PCE, etc. The interviewers are asking you essentially what makes you unique, don't use that opportunity to basically regurgitate what they've already read on your application. All interviewees have PCE, all have good grades, etc. You'll have a chance to talk about your experience and what will make you a good student and PA during the interview. So here, take the opportunity to talk about something personal to yourself. When they look back on the interviewees of the day, who is going to stand out more? The person who was only capable of talking about their application, or the person who was personable and engaging?

I was never asked this in an interview but here are examples of things I may have said: studied and worked in journalism for a number of years, I'm the youngest of 4, I love working with kids, I drive a scooter, I've been trained as a mountaineer (and therefore interested in wilderness medicine), I've lived abroad three times, etc. etc. 

Rev is right, you will 100% have this discussion with your peers - during interviews, when classes first start, etc. Talking about more personal stuff will make those conversations less stiff and awkward, and you might actually make friends during the interview by connecting on non-school related stuff. 

[rev ronin]

On 10/18/2018 at 11:14 AM, paPassion7 said:

@rev ronin Do you recommend focusing on explaining your experiences, education, and other activities related to preparing for applying to PA school? Or should I talk more about my family, my likes and interests outside of medicine, etc. Maybe a bit of both? Thanks!!

BaxLN pretty much nailed what I had in mind.  Talk about YOURself, whatever makes you unique.  I grew up in Alaska; that's how I define myself, even though I've lived over half my life in the Lower 48.

[Notfall]

What I did was made 3 bullet points that I essentially focused on and let it come out naturally. At three of my interviews I found out the interviewer had never even read my personal statement. Take that as you may, it may of been only my case. If you have a poor upbringing, strong gpa, anything you’ve overcome this is the time to use it.

[CRC13]

Thank you all very much for the suggestions here!