Southampton medical school is welcoming and friendly.
It is an integrated course with a heavy focus on pre-clinical knowledge for the first two years but still gives opportunities for clinical placements. They do this via the medicine in practice (MIP) course which helps you develop history from the get go.
The medical school is very big on acting on feedback and also provides great pastoral support via Personal academic tutors and senior tutors.
Southampton university Interview Information
😊How does Southampton University select candidates for interviews?
The candidates are selected for the interviews based on whether they meet the Academic criteria and how well they do on their UKCAT interviews.
Personal statement: It is not used for the selection criteria of an interview but it could be referred to during the process of tm,he interview.
Academic critera: Southampton expects their students to meet a basic academic criteria of AAA in their chosen subjects.
🧬What is the interview format?
The interview format for Southampton University is a panel interview that is followed by a group discussion.
The panel interview would usually last for 20 minutes, where you are usually asked questions regarding your personal statement and also why you are interested in doing medicine.
The main goal of a group discussion is to test your team-working abilities. They last for 20-30 minutes usually.
📆When will you get interview invitations?
You will get your interview invitations between November and February.
👩💼When are the interviews usually held?
The interviews are usually held between January to March.
📝What are the main topics I will be asked at the interview?
In the panel interview, you will be tested about your interest towards medicine. Some example questions are:
Should the NHS fund IVF?
Do you think care should be free or should the people pay?
Why do you think communication is very important in a team? Have you ever witnessed a scenario with bad communication?
Are you a leader or a follower?
You will be assessed on your knowledge regarding the NHS and basic medical ethics as well. It is helpful to read up about some research projects that interest you.
When it comes to the group interview, you are usually given a topic and are asked to discuss it. Such as:
How do you think the NHS should distribute their funds?
☑️How will my interview be marked?
There are no right and wrong answers when it comes to such interviews. The interviews are solely held to test your resilience, how interested and motivated you are to pursue medicine as a career.
🏠How many applicants are there per interview (Home)?
Southampton gets around 1421 applications and 749 of them got invitations to interviews.
🌎How many applicants are there per interview (International)?
Southampton gets around 194 applicants, and 66 of them were invited for an interview
✨How likely is it that I will be given an offer after an interview?
Home: Out of the 749 students interviewed, 587 of them were offered a seat.
Internation: out of the 66 students interviewed, 20 of them were offered a seat.
Ensure you are very familiar with your personal statement and able to talk about it.
Look at what the university course is like by using the southampton website-which parts of the course do you like?
Ensure you know the four pillars of medical ethics and be able to apply it to scenarios.
A Southampton medicine interview typically contains a group activity which involves around eight candidates sitting around a table discussing a certain topic.
Make sure you demonstrate that you possess abilities like respect for others, good listening, teamwork.
Don’t forget to speak up – but don’t dominate the discussion!
Check out our Medicine Interview Course!
Example interview questions
🔥 Motivation Interview Questions
Why do you want to study medicine?
Why not nursing or another medical course?
What direction do you see your career taking in medicine?
Where do you see yourself in ten years time?
Why do you want to be a doctor/study medicine?
What appeals to you about this city?
⚖️Medical Ethics Interview Questions
What is your opinion on breastfeeding voucher schemes?
At southampton there was a group task where you had to discuss a medical ethics topic
🤯Values and Skills Interview Questions
Where have you shown leadership skills?
Describe a situation where you have learnt something independently.
How will you balance work and extracurricular activities?
What are your strengths/weaknesses?
What is the biggest mistake you’ve ever made?
What do you think makes a good doctor?
🏥 Work Experience Interview Questions
What did you learn from your volunteering at a care home?
How much time do you spend volunteering on that placement?
How did you arrange this work experience?
Tell us about a team activity you organised. What went well/badly/did you learn from this experience?
What did you learn/how were you affected by this experience (referring to an experience described in the personal statement)?
🏨 Teamwork Interview Questions
What is the importance of teamwork as a doctor?
Do teams need leaders?
📰Current Affairs Interview Questions
Can you talk to us about a medically-related book or article that you read recently?
Can you tell me about a significant, recent advance in medicine?
Southampton medical school has pre-prepared prosected cadavers with expert anatomy lecturers. Southampton has early clinical placements and opportunities to spend time on GP placements from first year. There is also an element of humanities and creativity via the student selected modules in the first few years where creative mediums such as art and drama in medicine is explored.In your second year you train to become a health care assistant to experience hospital life in a different role. In 3rd year all students carry out a research project and there is an option of an intercalated degree.
The lecture theatres, research labs and practice rooms are located in the South Academic Block of a large teaching hospital. The hospital is to the north of the city centre, with great transport links to all parts of the city Social life. Southampton is a vibrant city with lots of green spaces from the main common to lots of other smaller parks. There is lots to do in the local area from exploring the docks to visiting the museum that explores the history of the titanic. At Westquay shopping centre there is many shops and activities such as bowling and the cinema. The nightlife is excellent with bars and clubs spread out across the city. On campus there is lots of sports and societies that all students can join.
At Southampton in your first year you are usually at halls of residences meaning you get to mix with medics and non medics. There are common rooms in some accomodations, sport facilities and a gym at Mayflower halls. There’s plenty of societies which range from sports, charities, academic, performing arts and more. There’s a mixture of activities to suit everybody and you can get involved as much or as little as you like. Both the Southampton Student Union and the MedSoc are very active with 100s of societies and sports teams to join. Rich in history, but full of lively and modern art, culture, restaurants and nightlife, it’s a safe, friendly and walkable place.
Soton medsoc is very supportive and runs great events. In normal times there is events such as a medics BBQ and a medics ball. Southampton pairs freshers up with older medical students so freshers can ask any questions they may have and receive advice from those who have already been there.
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