How to answer “What are you passionate about?” in a medical school interview

A strong answer to "what are you passionate about" in a medical school interview picks one pursuit you've kept up for years, describes what you actually do in it, and shows what it has built in you. The interviewer wants to hear you talk about a subject you know well, with an energy you don't have to manufacture.

What the interviewer is assessing

• Self-reflection and growth
• Communication

The question gives you room to show depth and sustained commitment, and to show how you communicate when you care about the subject. The interviewer listens for time invested, for knowledge that could only come from doing it, for what you've made, learned or contributed, and for whether you can hold their interest for ninety seconds. It also tells them whether you have a life outside premed work. Interviewers read that as a sign you'll cope with the strain of training. The pursuit doesn't have to be medical, and many interviewers prefer that it isn't.

In a panel interview, this question often arrives as a break between harder questions, and the interviewer may follow your lead into a conversation. In an MMI, it can be a personal station, where the rater wants one pursuit described well rather than a tour of your hobbies.

How to structure your answer

1. Name the pursuit in one sentence, and say how long you've done it.
2. Describe what you actually do, with enough detail that the interviewer learns one fact they didn't know.
3. Say what drew you in and what has kept you at it.
4. Give one moment that shows the depth of your involvement, such as a project you finished, a performance, a problem you solved or a person you taught.
5. Close with one sentence on what it has given you that you'll carry into medicine.

Choose depth over relevance, because a pursuit you've put real hours into gives you more to say than a cause you've only admired. A sport, an instrument, a craft, a language, a volunteer role or a subject you read about on your own all count. If your answer is research or medicine itself, expect the interviewer to probe, and be ready with specifics. Keep the answer under two minutes.

Common mistakes

• Saying you're passionate about medicine or helping people gives the interviewer the answer they hear from everyone and nothing to ask about.
• Choosing a cause you support but haven't acted on leaves you unable to describe what you've done.
• Listing four interests in one answer shows breadth and proves depth in none of them.
• Forcing a link to medicine onto a hobby that has none makes the answer sound calculated.
• Describing the pursuit without any detail about how it's done suggests you haven't done much of it.

Follow-up questions to prepare for

• How do you make time for it alongside your studies?
• Will you keep doing it in medical school?
• What have you taught someone else about it?
• Has it ever conflicted with your academic or work commitments?
• What has it taught you that you could use with patients?