After finishing year 12, my next concern was the interview process, as once again, I thought I was going in blind. My friends and I signed up for the 2-day interview masterclass led by Michael, and I’m so thankful I did. He led a small class of us through all the different question types in an interview that I’d had no idea even existed, and how to apply a step-by-step burger model to tackle each one and earn a high-scoring response. We put what we learnt into practice while Michael came around and gave personalised feedback and points for improvement to each person. Michael is always willing to help out and generous with his guidance, and even after the masterclass ended, I texted him with a lot of questions and he responded really quickly sending detailed example responses and even calling to give advice. I was invited to attend some interstate interviews, and I panicked because I wasn’t sure how they were going to be structured and I didn’t know anyone who had done them, so after messaging, Michael gave me a reassuring phone call and helped me to analyse the type of interview and the tricks and nuances used that I should look out for. After a hella intense 2019, I’m incredibly grateful to the team at iCanMed for guiding me through to the career that I’ve always wanted, and I believe that I would not have gained a place at Monash Med without them.

For me, the most valuable aspect of iCanMed’s suite of programs was the interview course. I developed an understanding of what is needed to be a doctor, as iCanMed taught me what universities want from their medical students, and why the traits they search for are so important. I also took part in the interview masterclasses, where I put my understanding into practice and learnt how to articulate my motivations and beliefs whilst conveying to medical schools that I was the student they needed. Michael was largely responsible for any interview questions we had and seemed to be an endless source of knowledge regarding interviews and medicine acceptance. He actually told me about the medical program I am doing this year, so I’m not exaggerating when I say I wouldn’t have gotten into medicine without him. Michael also became my mentor over my Year 12 experience, and helped me fully understand why I wanted to be a physician. So not only does iCanMed teach you how to get into medicine and dentistry, they can show you why you should, which is an invaluable lesson for us 2020 medical students and any Year 12 eyeing up a career as a doctor or dentist.

In addition, the depth of the course’s content provided me with an extremely thorough understanding of the interview and the material, while being really easy to understand as well. I love the “content creation” section because other courses that I’ve attended focused on either memorising answers to interview questions, or vague “theories” that do not tie in with what the interviewers are looking for. When I attended the interview at Monash, the experience was exactly like what Michael mentioned; the questions asked were completely new scenarios. However, I was able to approach each question with confidence, because I had learnt the tools and content required to answer them. I liken this to a traditional school exam, where if you were to memorise the answers to a math problem for instance, all the person setting the paper has to do is change the format slightly and you would be lost. The key is to have a repertoire of knowledge that can be adapted to different situations, so that any question that comes out in the exam or interview can be answered.

Choosing iCanMed to help guide my interview prep was one of the best decisions I have made. Having received numerous interview offers, I had no clue on how to best prepare for them but I knew that they could have significant impacts on your application outcome. From the outset I could tell that this course was structured and simple. The videos made learning engaging and being able to review them was useful. Furthermore, Michael shared with us his knowledge on answering different question types during the 2-day workshop, and the hands-on practice and feedback were invaluable. Michael and his team at iCanMed would regularly answer any questions I had, whether it was their opinions on uni courses or providing even more feedback. I cannot recommend this course enough to anyone pursuing a career in medicine.