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133 real interview questions for medical, PA, dental and other health programs, with sample answer outlines for 48 of them. Filter, open an answer, then practice it out loud.
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DO · Equity and access · With sample answers5
Clear filters- Practice this question nowEthicsAdvancedMMI station MD, DO, PA
A patient with Down syndrome is pregnant and wants to keep the baby. Her mother and husband want her to have an abortion. What do you do?
Autonomy and consent · Communication · Equity and access
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Sample answer outline
- Start from a presumption of capacity: Down syndrome alone does not mean she can't make this decision.
- Assess capacity for this specific choice, with supports: plain language, time, visual aids, a trusted advocate.
- Meet with her alone to hear her wishes free of pressure, and screen for coercion.
- Acknowledge the family's worries and bring them into planning support for her, not into overriding her.
- If capacity is truly lacking, follow legal surrogate processes and involve ethics, still centered on her values.
What makes it work
- It avoids the common trap of assuming disability means incapacity.
- It treats the family as partners without handing them the decision.
Avoid
- Siding with the family because they seem more "reasonable".
- Practice this question nowEthicsIntermediateMMI station MD, DO, PA, Nursing, Residency
A convicted child molester comes to your ER needing emergency surgery. Do you treat him the same as everyone else?
Professionalism · Equity and access
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Sample answer outline
- Answer clearly: yes. Care is based on medical need, not moral worth. Justice and the duty to treat apply to everyone.
- Acknowledge that discomfort is human; professionalism means not letting it change the care.
- Handle the practical side: security and staff safety, and letting a colleague step in if someone truly can't give good care, as long as treatment isn't delayed.
- Note that punishment belongs to the justice system, not the hospital.
What makes it work
- A clear position up front, then nuance.
- Honesty about feelings makes the commitment believable.
- Practice this question nowEthicsAdvancedMMI station MD, DO
One liver, two patients: a 60-year-old surgeon who drinks, and a 25-year-old who overdosed. Who gets it?
Equity and access · Critical thinking · Health systems
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Sample answer outline
- Say who really decides: transplant teams follow set criteria, not one doctor's judgment of who deserves it.
- Name those criteria: medical urgency, likelihood of benefit, compatibility, time on the list, and the ability to follow through after transplant.
- Reject social worth: being a surgeon doesn't earn a liver. Be careful about blaming either patient for their illness.
- Note that an overdose, such as acetaminophen, can cause acute liver failure with top urgency, while alcohol use may raise questions about relapse.
- Conclude that you'd follow the criteria and support both patients.
What makes it work
- It moves the question from "who deserves it" to "how fair systems decide".
Avoid
- Choosing by age or profession alone.
- Practice this question nowPolicyIntermediateMMI station, Traditional one-on-one MD, DO
What does the term 'social accountability' mean to you as a future physician?
Equity and access · Health systems
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Sample answer outline
- Define it: the duty of medical schools and doctors to direct their education, research and service toward the priority health needs of the communities they serve.
- Make it concrete with an example from your experience or from the school's own community.
- Show what it means for one doctor: where you choose to work, how you listen to communities, advocating beyond the exam room.
- Acknowledge a tension, such as the needs of the patient in front of you against the needs of a population.
What makes it work
- A precise definition followed by a lived example.
- Naming a tension shows depth beyond the buzzword.
- Practice this question nowPolicyIntermediateTraditional one-on-one, Panel, MMI station MD, DO, PA
What is the biggest problem facing health care in the US today?
Health systems · Equity and access · Critical thinking
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Sample answer outline
- Pick one problem and define it precisely, such as access to primary care, cost or workforce burnout.
- Explain why it happens and who it affects most, using one fact you can stand behind.
- Weigh one or two solutions, including their tradeoffs.
- Bring it back to your future role: what you can do about it as a clinician.
What makes it work
- Depth on one issue beats a list of five.
- Tradeoffs show you understand that policy is hard.
Avoid
- Partisan talking points.
- Statistics you aren't sure of.
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