Georgetown University School of Medicine (MD) Medicine InterviewFormat, Questions & Prep Tips

Why Georgetown — what specifically about the Jesuit tradition, cura personalis, or the Kennedy Institute of Ethics draws you to this programme?

Explain what cura personalis means to you in practice, not just in principle. Reference the Kennedy Institute, the Medical Ethics and Professionalism thread, and how these align with experiences you have had. Generic prestige answers will disappoint.

A patient in the ICU is clearly dying. The family demands "everything possible" be done despite the patient's own advance directive stating she does not want CPR or mechanical ventilation. How do you navigate this?

The advance directive represents the patient's autonomous wishes and has legal force. The physician's duty is to honour the patient's documented preferences. Compassionate family communication is required, but the clinical team is not obligated to provide futile treatment against the patient's own directive.

Georgetown has strong Catholic and Jesuit roots. How do you reconcile your personal values with a situation where a patient requests a service (e.g. abortion referral, contraception, MAID) that may conflict with Catholic teaching?

Georgetown trains physicians to practise in all settings — the school’s mission requires graduates to provide standard of care or refer appropriately. The AMA Code of Ethics supports conscientious objection with mandatory referral. Be honest about your own values while demonstrating commitment to patient-centred care.

Describe an experience of service — to a community, patient, or cause — that shaped your understanding of social justice in medicine.

Georgetown’s social justice mission is not decorative — it is embedded in the Jesuit ignatian tradition. Connect a specific experience to structural insight: show that service deepened your understanding of systemic injustice, not just that it was personally meaningful.

Artificial intelligence diagnostic tools are increasingly being used in clinical settings. What ethical obligations do physicians have in deploying and overseeing these tools?

Reference algorithmic bias (AI models trained on non-diverse populations), informed consent for AI-assisted diagnosis, accountability when AI errs, transparency to patients, and the physician's ultimate accountability for clinical decisions.

A patient from a devout religious background refuses a blood transfusion that their surgeon believes is life-saving. The patient is competent and has signed a refusal form. What do you do as a medical student observing the case?

Respect patient autonomy — a competent patient’s right to refuse treatment is fundamental, even when the physician disagrees. Your role as a student is to observe the process, support the patient’s right to decide, and learn from how the attending manages the ethical tension.

The US has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the developed world. What structural factors drive this and what would you prioritise to address it?

Reference racial disparities (Black maternal mortality 3x white), lack of universal prenatal care coverage, postpartum coverage gaps under Medicaid, provider bias, childbirth practices, and the role of midwifery and doula support. Georgetown emphasises health equity.

A pharmaceutical sales representative offers your residency programme a donation for educational equipment in exchange for access to residents during lunch sessions. What are the ethical dimensions?

This is a classic conflict-of-interest scenario. The 'gift' creates implicit pressure to use that company’s products. Reference ACCME policies, the PhRMA code, and the evidence that even small gifts influence prescribing behaviour.

Tell me about a time when caring for or working with a patient challenged your personal values. What did you do?

Cura personalis means caring for the whole person even when it is uncomfortable. Georgetown expects physicians who can reflect honestly on value conflicts without either suppressing personal values or imposing them on patients.

Social media companies algorithmically amplify health misinformation because it drives engagement. As a physician, what is your responsibility in this landscape?

Discuss physician public communication obligations, social media guidelines from professional societies (AMA), the tension between free speech and public health, and practical ways physicians can build health literacy (patient education, trusted social media presence, media engagement).

An ethics-oriented station presents data showing a hospital's new sepsis-prediction algorithm performs worse for patients from certain racial and language groups. How do you reason about deploying it?

Bring the four-principles lens Georgetown prizes: non-maleficence and justice demand you not deploy a tool that worsens disparities, autonomy implies disclosure of AI use, and accountability stays with the physician. Question the data — training population, calibration by subgroup — and argue for mitigation before adoption, not after harm.

Role play: You are a student volunteer. A frightened patient facing a serious diagnosis says, 'I just need someone to be honest with me — is this as bad as I think?' but the attending hasn't yet discussed prognosis. (The interviewer plays the patient.)

Cura personalis in practice: don't lie, deflect coldly, or overstep your role. Acknowledge the fear, commit to making sure she gets the full picture from her physician promptly, and stay present with her. Demonstrate whole-person presence within appropriate student boundaries.

A patient asks you to pray with her before a frightening procedure. You do not share her faith. How do you respond?

Honour the whole person without compromising integrity. You may be present respectfully, offer chaplaincy, or hold a moment of silence — and you can gently decline to lead a prayer outside your beliefs while still supporting her spiritually. Center her need; avoid both coercion and cold refusal. This reflects Georgetown's Jesuit attentiveness to the spiritual dimension.

Ignatian spirituality speaks of being 'a person for others.' Tell me about a time you acted for someone else's good at real cost to yourself, and what it taught you about the kind of physician you want to be.

Be concrete and humble, not performative. Connect a genuine experience of service or sacrifice to Georgetown's social-justice and cura personalis mission. The point is earned insight about serving others, not a polished story of self-sacrifice.

Georgetown's Kennedy Institute of Ethics is a world-leading bioethics centre. Pick an emerging bioethical issue — gene editing, AI in medicine, or resource allocation — and walk me through how you'd reason about it.

Show you can think, not recite. Frame the issue with the four principles and competing values, engage genuine complexity and counterarguments, and reach a reasoned (if provisional) position. Naming relevant Kennedy Institute work or scholarship signals real interest in why Georgetown is distinctive.