Preparing for the FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine interview

The schedule

The published schedule runs from registration at 1 p.m. through a closing session ending around 3:20 p.m., with two interview slots between opening and closing. The reviewed schedule doesn't label a time zone beside the table.

What FIU asks you to do

FIU asks applicants to review their applications, be prepared to discuss pursuing medicine, and stay informed about healthcare issues and ethics. It also asks applicants to test their connection, webcam and audio, pre-register using the supplied Zoom information and review the virtual dashboard.

Put those tasks on a short checklist.

• ID and notes. Check identification instructions and any guidance about permitted notes.
• Same device. Make sure the device you tested is the device you'll use.
• Admissions contact. Keep the admissions contact available if you can't join; don't assume an interviewer will know that a technical problem caused an absence.

Learning about the school

The virtual dashboard and Cafecito Hour with current students provide ways to learn about the school. Use those opportunities to ask about learning and student experience rather than requesting protected questions.

Because interviewers can see both applications, reread the exact versions you submitted. Check dates, roles and the scope of each claimed contribution.

Prepare to explain how an experience developed after the moment described in an essay, while following any instructions about updates.

Our two-listener exercise

Our exercise uses one activity and two different listeners. Give the first listener the relevant application paragraph; ask the second to hear your explanation without it.

These are our rehearsal conditions, not FIU's two interviewer arrangements.

1. Explain what you did and why it mattered to you.
2. Let the reader ask about a specific phrase or outcome in the application.
3. Let the second listener identify missing context.
4. Revise the explanation so it is accurate and understandable in either conversation.

Giving context and describing outcomes

Don't assume file access means the interviewer remembers every activity. Give enough context to make your answer clear without reading an essay aloud.

If a question points to an overstatement, clarify your actual role directly.

For an outcome, distinguish observation from measurement. Seeing someone use a service doesn't establish that your project improved their health.

Explain what you know, what you don't know and what you learned about responsible follow-through.

FIU's NeighborhoodHELP page describes community learning through interprofessional teams and household-centered care. Team participation can include nursing, social work, physician assistant and law students according to a household's identified needs.

This is a curriculum feature to explore, not evidence of a particular interview task or a guaranteed role for an applicant.

Connecting it to your experience

Prepare school fit by connecting a real experience to something you want to learn. Perhaps a service role showed you that one person's problem required several kinds of expertise.

Explain that observation and why supervised team learning interests you. Don't imply you already have the authority or training to provide every service.

This fictional scenario is ours, not a NeighborhoodHELP case or a reported FIU prompt. A volunteer team plans an information visit.

A household member says their immediate concern is coordinating work and caregiving, while the team wants to complete its usual checklist.

How to work through it

Explain how you would ask about the household's priorities and clarify what the team can offer. Don't dismiss the checklist, but don't assume it captures every concern either.

Identify which questions you can address and which need a qualified colleague.

Have your practice partner add that another household member disagrees about the priority. Ask how each person understands the problem and what consent is needed before sharing information.

Avoid promising that the team will secure benefits, housing or treatment.

Reviewing your answer

Afterward, review whether you listened before choosing an intervention. Check whether you respected uncertainty and the limits of your role.

Those are our practice goals, not FIU's unpublished evaluation form.

What is the FIU interview format?

Two separate one-on-one interviews of about thirty minutes each, virtual for 2026-27.

Do FIU interviewers see my application?

Partly. FIU says interviewers can access your AMCAS primary and FIU supplemental applications, and its MSAR entry calls the format semi-blind.