Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine — Florida (DO) Medicine Interview — Format, Questions & Prep Tips

Burrell FL is a relatively new campus. Does that concern you, and why did you choose a newer program?

COCA accreditation (or candidacy), Burrell's established NM campus provides institutional backbone, and the opportunity to be part of a growing program. Show you have researched the campus's accreditation status and trajectory.

Melbourne is on Florida's Space Coast. What do you know about the healthcare needs of Brevard County and Central Florida?

Research Brevard County: mix of coastal suburban communities, significant inland rural and underserved populations, a rapidly growing elderly population, and gaps in specialist access for inland communities.

Why osteopathic medicine? What specifically draws you to the DO degree over an MD program?

Demonstrate genuine osteopathic philosophy knowledge: the four tenets, OMM/OMT, Andrew Taylor Still's founding vision, and what the DO approach means for your specific clinical practice goals.

Florida has a large elderly population. An elderly patient's family insists on aggressive treatment the patient has previously said she does not want. How do you navigate this?

Patient autonomy, advance directives, healthcare surrogate law, family dynamics, and the physician's role in supporting the patient's expressed wishes.

Describe a healthcare experience that reinforced your commitment to primary care or underserved medicine.

Authentic story with specific detail. Reflect on what you observed about access barriers and how the experience shaped your understanding of what kind of physician you want to be.

Burrell NM was founded to serve the US-Mexico border region. The Florida campus was created to address Central Florida's healthcare needs. What specifically motivated you to apply to the Florida campus rather than New Mexico?

Be specific about Florida: your connection to the region, the health challenges of Central Florida, and why the Melbourne campus aligns with your goals. If you applied to both, be prepared to explain your preference.

Florida has a large population of uninsured or underinsured residents and did not expand Medicaid until 2023. How does that policy context affect the patients you will see as a Florida physician?

Florida's late Medicaid expansion, the coverage gap for low-income adults, federally qualified health centers as safety net providers, and the practical implications for primary care physicians practicing in Florida.

Melbourne has a growing Spanish-speaking and Caribbean-heritage population. How will you ensure culturally competent care for these communities?

Cultural humility, professional medical interpretation, community health workers, and building relationships within specific cultural communities over time.

Describe a time you worked effectively on a team in a healthcare or community setting. What was your specific contribution?

AAMC Interpersonal: teamwork. Choose a concrete experience that shows both collaborative ability and self-awareness about your role.

What is the greatest challenge you anticipate in your first year of medical school, and how are you preparing for it?

Self-awareness and proactive planning. Show you have thought seriously about the challenges of the preclinical years and have concrete strategies, not just generic resilience language.

Brevard County has a large and growing elderly population. How would you think about measuring whether a primary care practice is doing a good job of managing chronic disease in older adults specifically?

Population-health lens: polypharmacy and deprescribing, fall-risk screening, advance-care-planning completion rates, hospital readmissions, and continuity. Distinguish process from outcome measures; keep figures conceptual.

An 82-year-old patient on the Space Coast tells you he wants to 'stop all the pills' because he feels they make him tired and he doesn't see the point anymore. Talk through this with him as you would in clinic.

Demonstrate the encounter: explore what 'no point' means (screen for depression and goals of care), review which medications truly matter, and negotiate rather than dictate. Patient-centered geriatric communication.

As one of the early cohorts at a newer campus, you will help establish study culture and may have less upper-year mentorship to lean on. What is your concrete plan for COMLEX-USA preparation and self-directed learning?

Spaced repetition, board-preparation timeline, building peer study structures from scratch, and resourcefulness when established alumni and tutoring networks are still forming.

A patient asks you whether she should worry that Burrell FL is a brand-new program and whether it will affect her care if she becomes your patient one day. Set that aside — as an applicant, how do you weigh the genuine risks of an unproven program against its opportunities?

Honest, evidence-based reasoning: accreditation status as the decisive factor, the institutional backbone of the established NM campus, and a clear-eyed view of limited match data — without dismissing legitimate concerns.

Melbourne has growing Caribbean-heritage and Spanish-speaking communities. A patient from one of these communities seems polite but disengaged during your visit. How do you recognize and respond to that?

Reading non-verbal cues, building trust across cultural distance, checking understanding with teach-back, and avoiding the assumption that politeness equals comprehension or agreement.