The ASU Shufeldt School of Medicine and Medical Engineering interview format

ASU's medical school is now called the John Shufeldt School of Medicine and Medical Engineering. The AAMC's MSAR report still lists it as the School of Medicine and Advanced Medical Engineering (SOMME), so you may see either name. It is a concurrent MD and medical engineering program in downtown Phoenix. According to its admissions page, "The school's interview process includes three traditional interviews that will take place during a virtual applicant visit day event." The AAMC MSAR entry for the 2027 entering class says the same in other words: "Three virtual, traditional interviews held the same day," all on Zoom.

Item	What ASU and the AAMC say
Interviews	Three traditional interviews on one virtual applicant visit day
Virtual or in person	Virtual, via Zoom (AAMC MSAR)
Interview season	Typically August through March
Invitations	Starting July 2026 (AAMC MSAR)
Day agenda	Provided when you confirm your date. The AAMC says the day includes an orientation, interviews, meetings, program presentations, a dean's welcome, a faculty panel and an overview of support services

What ASU doesn't publish: who the three interviewers are, how long each interview lasts, sample questions or a scoring rubric. We also didn't find a Casper or PREview requirement on ASU's admissions pages. Prepare for the three interviews as three separate conversations and go by your agenda.

ASU's timeline for the 2027 cycle

MCAT: a valid MCAT of at least 504, taken by September 12, 2026, is needed before a secondary application and an interview invitation.
Primary application: November 15, 2026. Secondary and final letters: December 15, 2026. ASU notes some 2027-cycle dates may change.
Interviews: August 2026 to March 2027, on a rolling basis.
Decisions: October 2026 to March 2027, with October 15 the first day decisions can be announced under AAMC rules. Waitlist decisions come April through July.
Secondary: four questions about how your experiences, qualifications and goals fit the school's mission, and a fifth for reapplicants.
Letters: at least four, with one recommended from a clinical experience and one from an engineering or data science experience or instructor.

What ASU looks for

ASU's requirements page says its mission-aligned review seeks "well-rounded students whose experiences, contributions and goals for the future reflect the school's emphasis on innovation, health systems and humanism." At each review stage, the admissions team looks for 15 attributes:

Personal characteristics: intellectual curiosity, humanistic orientation, reliability and dependability, resilience and adaptability, capacity for improvement.
Interpersonal skills: communication, cognitive (critical thinking), social and interpersonal (human behavior), collaborative (working in teams), cultural awareness.
Continued commitment: motivation for medicine, exposure to clinical environments, interest in caring for underserved populations, research experience, and leadership.

The About page describes the mission: physicians who "integrate their medical expertise with leading-edge engineering and augmented intelligence (AI) skills in a human-centered framework," with an entrepreneurial mindset and a focus on health outcomes for Arizona. The page lists recommended experiences in clinical work, engineering and data science, leadership, research, service and extracurricular interests. This is not a standard medical school, so expect questions about the engineering side.

How to prepare for ASU's interview

Be ready for "why both?" Applicants complete a concurrent MD and medical engineering program. Prepare a specific, honest answer about a problem in care you'd like to help solve with engineering, data or AI, not a general interest in technology.
Map your stories to the 15 attributes. You don't need all 15. Choose six or seven that your strongest experiences show, including at least one for resilience and one for working in a team.
Prepare for three conversations. You may be asked the same opening question three times. Vary your example and detail, not your values.
Keep technical talk human. The school's framing is "human-centered." If you discuss a project, explain who it helped and how you know.
Know Arizona. Be ready to discuss health needs in the state, such as rural access, border communities or tribal health, using only things you actually know.
Treat the visit day as part of the interview. Interviews happen during a day with presentations and a faculty panel. Ask questions that show you listened.

ASU practice questions (written by us, not ASU)

ASU doesn't publish its interview questions. These are ours, shaped around the attributes the school names. Practice each aloud for about two minutes.

Why a medical school that also awards an engineering degree?
Describe a problem you saw in a clinical setting that technology could help solve. What are the risks of that solution?
Tell me about a time you had to learn something quickly outside your comfort zone.
Describe a time you led a group, even without a title.
Tell me about a time you were wrong. What did you do about it?
How would you explain a complex idea to a patient with no technical background?
An AI tool recommends a treatment, and the patient's story doesn't match what it recommends. What do you do?
Describe your experience with a community that is underserved. What did you learn and what would you do next?
Tell me about a time you worked with someone whose background or culture was different from yours.
Which of your experiences best shows reliability, and how do you know?

For a wider set, see our interview practice questions with answers.

A drill for the ASU interview

Pick four prompts: "why both," an AI scenario, a leadership story and an underserved community story.
Answer each in two minutes on camera in the setup you'll use on interview day.
Do the "why both" answer three times in a row with a different angle each time, to practice the three-interview day.
Have a partner give two follow-ups per answer: "What was the hardest part?" and "Who benefited?"
Rewrite each story as three bullets and repeat it two days later.

If you don't have a practice partner, Confetto's AI mock interviews ask follow-up questions based on what you actually said and give rubric-based feedback afterward. The question bank has over 500 questions, and you can start with a 7-day free trial.

ASU interview FAQ

Is the ASU interview an MMI?

No. ASU and the AAMC describe three traditional interviews on one virtual visit day.

Is the ASU school the same as the University of Arizona?

No. No. The University of Arizona College of Medicine has Tucson and Phoenix campuses. ASU's school is separate, with its own application. We have guides to both University of Arizona campuses, linked below.

What MCAT does ASU require?

A minimum total score of 504 from a test taken no more than three years before matriculation. ASU's FAQ says you need it before a secondary application is sent and before an interview invitation.

Do I need engineering experience?

ASU lists engineering and data science experience as recommended, along with clinical, leadership, research and service experience. It does not require a specific major.

Is the interview day in person?

For the 2027 cycle, ASU and the AAMC describe a virtual applicant visit day.

Applying to other Arizona schools too? See our guides to the University of Arizona Phoenix, University of Arizona Tucson and Mayo Clinic Alix interviews, or our medical school interview prep page.

Sources: ASU admissions: applying, Admissions requirements, Dates and deadlines, FAQs, About, AAMC MSAR interview procedures (2027).

Confetto isn't affiliated with Arizona State University. Everything here about the school comes from its public admissions pages and the AAMC MSAR report, checked in October 2026. Formats can change between cycles, so go by your invitation email.