The season for medical school interviews is approaching! The pandemic has created a number of obstacles for applicants this cycle and the interview process is no exception. This year, the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) has launched a new video tool that will be used for admissions. This tool, AAMC VITA, will be used to supplement in-person interviews. This has been designed to assess competencies important for success in medical school and also within a future medical practice.
In VITA interviews, applicants will respond to interview questions by videotaping their responses to six questions. Responders will have one minute to read and three minutes to answer. The questions will likely be a combination of traditional and behavioral interview questions related to the five competencies that the AAMC deems important, including:
- Social skills
- Cultural Competence
- Teamwork
- Reliability and Dependability
- Resilience and Adaptability
Applicants will record their interview answers only once and then each school will have access to the responses. As was the case for in-person interviews, schools conduct their own evaluation; your responses are provided to the school without an evaluation or assessment from AAMC.
The AAMC has a guide for Virtual Interviews as well as five tips for VITA interviews. In addition to these resources, the OITE has organized a series of virtual group mock interviews for trainees at the NIH to be run from mid-August to October. These groups will practice the most common questions for one-on-one interviews and discuss some general tips for MMIs. You can register for this online practice session on OITE’s website.
If you are not a trainee at the NIH, you can find more tips on medical school interview through past OITE blog posts as well as our YouTube channel, specifically the video on “Interviewing for Professional School”.
