Updated · 8 min read
PCOM Interview Guide: Traditional Format and Questions
Key facts (2026-27)
PCOM gives one traditional personal interview at all three DO campuses, virtual or on campus as you choose, and the committee has no preference.
- Format
- Traditional personal interview with the admissions committee
- Where
- Virtual or in person (your choice)
- Stations
- 1 personal interview with members of the Faculty Committee on Admissions
Dates for 2026-27
Rolling
Interview invitations
Summer 2026 term through spring 2027 term, rolling
Interviews
Usually 4 to 6 weeks after your interview
Offers and decisions
Checked October 2026 against PCOM: DO application requirements, PCOM: DO Philadelphia FAQ, AACOM Choose DO: PCOM and AACOM Choose DO: PCOM Georgia. Confirm details in your invitation.
The PCOM interview for the DO program is a traditional "personal interview" with members of the Faculty Committee on Admissions, not an MMI, and you choose whether to do it virtually or on campus. That's true at all three DO locations: Philadelphia, PCOM Georgia in Suwanee and PCOM South Georgia in Moultrie.
PCOM's FAQ says "The committee does not have a preference on which you select," so pick the setting where you'll do your best talking. Whichever you choose, Confetto, an AI mock interviewer for medical school and other healthcare program interviews (MMI, traditional, panel), lets you practice a personal interview out loud with follow-up questions on your own experiences.
Interviews run on a rolling basis from the summer term through the spring term, and PCOM usually notifies you within four to six weeks of your date.
As of October 2026, PCOM's DO pages and AACOM listings don't mention Casper or PREview, and there's no secondary.
Below: PCOM's values, practice questions we wrote around them, and a prep plan.
This page covers the DO program only. If you're interviewing for PCOM's PA program, our PA program interview questions page is a better fit.
Confetto isn't affiliated with PCOM. Check your invitation for anything that differs from this page.
PCOM interview format by campus
PCOM uses the same requirements and process at all three DO locations, and its DO application requirements page describes the interview the same way for each: "PCOM will offer a choice of either virtual or on-campus interviews." AACOM's 2026-27 listings for PCOM (which covers Philadelphia and South Georgia) and PCOM Georgia both list the interview format as "Traditional" with the "Option to interview virtually or in-person."
| Campus | Interview format | Virtual or in person | Admissions email |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCOM (Philadelphia, PA) | Traditional | Your choice | admissions@pcom.edu |
| PCOM Georgia (Suwanee, GA) | Traditional | Your choice | gaadmissions@pcom.edu |
| PCOM South Georgia (Moultrie, GA) | Traditional | Your choice | sogaadmissions@pcom.edu |
What PCOM says about the interview
PCOM calls it "a personal interview," and its Philadelphia DO FAQ says applicants are invited "on a rolling basis" by the Faculty Committee on Admissions.
As of October 2026, PCOM's DO pages and its AACOM listings don't give the interview's length, the number of interviewers or a schedule for the day. AACOM's listings say only that it's "a personal interview with members of the committee."
Older versions of this page claimed a 2 to 4 person panel lasting 30 to 40 minutes. We couldn't find that on any PCOM or AACOM page, so it's gone.
Your invitation is the place to learn the length and the number of interviewers.
Application details
Some other facts that shape your prep:
- No secondary. There's no secondary. PCOM says "There are no supplemental application requirements for 2027 admission." Instead you answer PCOM's questions in the Program Materials section of AACOMAS. Reread those answers before your interview, since they're the only PCOM-specific writing the committee has from you.
- Situational judgment tests. As of October 2026, neither PCOM's DO pages nor its AACOM listings mention Casper, PREview or any other situational judgment test.
- Applications and fee. Philadelphia and South Georgia share one AACOMAS application, where you pick one or both on PCOM's Questions tab. PCOM Georgia needs its own AACOMAS application. PCOM charges a $75 institutional fee, and each location's own Faculty Committee on Admissions reviews your file.
- Interview season. Interviews "begin in the summer term and will be conducted through the spring term," per PCOM.
- Decisions. Decisions usually arrive "within four to six weeks of their interview date."
PCOM values and mission: what interviewers are listening for
PCOM's mission statement is one line: "Educating health professionals to care for the whole person and advance the health of diverse communities." Its vision is "Transforming health professions education by integrating human connection with innovation and research."
The same page lists five values, word for word:
- We are accountable to one another.
- We act with integrity and treat everyone with respect.
- We foster innovation.
- We embrace diversity, advancing equity and inclusion.
- We work as a team and seek opportunities to collaborate.
Those values are your best guide to what a traditional PCOM interview will probe.
Accountability and teamwork translate directly into behavioral questions ("tell me about a time..."). "Whole person" and "diverse communities" are where your why-DO and why-PCOM answers should land.
What else the committee weighs
The application page adds what the committee weighs besides grades and the MCAT: "research experience, clinical exposure, demonstrated leadership skills, extracurricular activities, community involvement, motivation to study medicine and letters of recommendation among other factors." Expect your interviewer to pull follow-ups from any of those.
Why this campus
Each location has its own regional focus, and your "why PCOM" answer should match the campus you're interviewing for.
- Philadelphia. PCOM runs Healthcare Centers in North Philadelphia (Cambria) and West Philadelphia (Lancaster Avenue), both renovated in 2024 per PCOM's own news release. If urban primary care is your reason, this is a concrete thing to point to. (The old version of this page placed a center in "Lancaster," which suggested the city of Lancaster. It's Lancaster Avenue in Philadelphia.)
- PCOM Georgia. Its AACOM listing says "The primary focus of PCOM Georgia is to recruit and educate students from Georgia and the surrounding states." If you have no tie to the Southeast, be ready to say plainly why you'd train and possibly stay there.
- PCOM South Georgia. Founded in 2019, it was "founded to help strengthen the healthcare workforce in South Georgia," per its About page. A 2022 PCOM article on the class of 2026 said the recruiting team "highly values" applicants' "commitment and passion to learning in a rural setting." If you're interviewing for Moultrie, you'll want a real answer about rural practice.
PCOM interview questions to practice (written by us, not PCOM)
PCOM doesn't publish its interview questions.
We wrote these to match a traditional format and PCOM's stated values. Use them for practice, not as a preview.
Why DO, why PCOM
- Why osteopathic medicine? Tell me about a moment that made the difference for you.Practice this question now
- Why PCOM, and why this campus in particular?Practice this question now
- What does caring for "the whole person" look like in a 15-minute primary care visit?Practice this question now
The five core values
- Tell me about a time you were accountable for a mistake that wasn't entirely yours.Practice this question now
- Describe a moment when acting with integrity cost you something.Practice this question now
- Tell me about a time you changed how a team did something, and what happened.Practice this question now
- Describe a patient, client or community member whose background was very different from yours. What did you have to learn?Practice this question now
Your application
- Walk me through your clinical exposure. What did you actually do, not just observe?Practice this question now
- Pick one answer from your AACOMAS PCOM questions and expand on it.
More PCOM practice questions (5)
- Philadelphia: PCOM's Healthcare Centers care for medically underserved patients in North and West Philadelphia. A patient there keeps missing visits because of bus fare. What would you do?Practice this question now
- PCOM Georgia: Its stated focus is educating students from Georgia and the surrounding states. What ties you to the Southeast, and where do you see yourself practicing?Practice this question now
- PCOM South Georgia: The Moultrie campus was founded to strengthen South Georgia's healthcare workforce. What would keep you practicing in a rural Georgia county after residency?Practice this question now
- OMM labs: You'll practice osteopathic manipulative medicine on classmates in PCOM's OMM labs. How would you respond to a patient who is uneasy about hands-on treatment?Practice this question now
- Human connection: PCOM's vision pairs "human connection" with innovation. When has technology helped you connect with someone, or gotten in the way?Practice this question now
For a wider set of prompts, see our list of medical school interview questions.
Virtual or on campus: how to choose
PCOM says the committee has no preference, so this is about where you'll perform best and what it costs you. A short checklist:
- On campus. Pick on campus if you haven't seen the location and would only choose PCOM after seeing it, or if a trip is easy.
- Virtual. Pick virtual if travel would cost you a lot of money or class time. The choice isn't scored, so don't pay for a signal that doesn't exist.
- Virtual setup. If you go virtual, test your camera, sound and internet in the exact room you'll use, at the same time of day. Put the camera at eye level and close everything else on the computer.
- In person. If you go in person, plan to arrive early, and have a backup plan for transit. Suwanee and Moultrie aren't near each other, and neither is near Philadelphia, so double-check which campus is on your invitation.
A three-week prep plan
Here's how we'd use three weeks. If your date is sooner, compress it but keep the follow-up drill and at least one full mock.
Show the plan
| When | What to do | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Reread your AACOMAS application, including your PCOM Program Materials answers. Build a values grid: list PCOM's five core values down the side and your six strongest experiences across the top, then mark which experience proves which value. | About 3 hours |
| Week 1 | Write one paragraph each for why DO and why this campus. Read them aloud. Cut anything you could say about any school. | About 1 hour |
| Week 2 | Answer questions 1 to 17 aloud with a timer. Aim for about 90 seconds to 2 minutes each. Rerecord anything that runs past 2 minutes. | Three 45-minute sessions |
| Week 2 | Follow-up drill: have a partner pick any answer and ask "why?" or "what would you do differently?" three times in a row. | Two 30-minute sessions |
| Week 3 | Two full mock interviews in the setting you chose, virtual or in person, mixing all four question groups. | Two 45-minute sessions |
| Day before | Reread your application once more, confirm the time zone and location, and stop practicing by evening. | 30 minutes |
If a value in your grid has no marks, that's the gap a follow-up question will find. Either dig up the story you've overlooked or be ready to talk honestly about it.
Here's a fictional example of the follow-up drill at work. An applicant answers question 2 for South Georgia with "I want to work in a rural area." First follow-up: "What rural care have you seen?" Second: "What would make you leave after residency?" If the second gets a blank stare, the commitment sounds untested. A stronger answer names a real tradeoff, like distance from family or from specialist backup, and says how the applicant has thought about it.
If you don't have a partner for the mock interviews, Confetto's AI mock interviews run a traditional one-on-one format with follow-up questions and give rubric-based feedback. You can start with a free trial.
PCOM interview FAQ
Is the PCOM interview an MMI?
No. PCOM's DO interview is a traditional personal interview with members of the Faculty Committee on Admissions, at Philadelphia, PCOM Georgia and PCOM South Georgia.
Should I interview virtually or on campus?
Your choice. PCOM says the committee has no preference.
When will I hear back from PCOM?
Usually within four to six weeks of your interview. Interviews run on a rolling basis from summer through spring.
Does PCOM require Casper or a secondary?
As of October 2026 PCOM's DO pages and AACOM listings don't mention Casper or PREview, and there is no secondary.
PCOM application dates for 2026-27
| Item | Date |
|---|---|
| Interviews held | Summer term through spring term, rolling |
| AACOMAS submission deadline | February 1, 2027 |
| AACOMAS verification deadline | February 28, 2027 |
| PCOM supporting materials deadline | March 1, 2027 |
| Decision after interview | Usually 4 to 6 weeks |
| $500 non-refundable deposit (accepted students) | April 15, 2027 |
Because interviews and decisions are rolling, AACOM's listing says "early submission is strongly recommended." Dates are from PCOM's DO application page and may change, so confirm them there.
If you're also interviewing at other Philadelphia schools, we have guides for Drexel and Sidney Kimmel at Jefferson, and for another Pennsylvania DO school, LECOM.
Applying to other Pennsylvania DO schools? See our guide to the Duquesne University Nasuti College of Osteopathic Medicine interview.
Applying to other Mid-Atlantic DO schools? See our guide to the Meritus School of Osteopathic Medicine interview.