Duke SOM Interview Prep Guide (2025-2026)

Duke University’s School of Medicine is highly competitive and seeks future physician leaders who align with its mission of advancing research and improving health globally. This guide provides a comprehensive overview of what to expect and how to prepare for the MD program interview at Duke. It covers the interview format (a virtual Multiple Mini Interview), the school’s mission and core values, distinctive features of Duke’s curriculum and programs, relevant healthcare policy issues in North Carolina and the U.S., the non-academic qualities Duke looks for in applicants, national competency standards that inform the program, common themes from past interview questions, and the key timelines/deadlines for the 2025–2026 admissions cycle. Understanding each of these areas will help applicants approach the Duke interview well-informed and confident in articulating their fit with the program.

Duke uses a Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format for its admissions interviews. Applicants rotate through a series of short, structured stations (typically 8–10 stations about 10 minutes each) rather than a single long interview medschool.duke.edu. These stations include a mix of scenarios: five ethics-focused scenarios, two shorter traditional interviews, one team-based exercise (conducted in two parts), and one video-based station medschool.duke.edu medschool.duke.edu. The MMI is designed to assess how candidates think on their feet and handle various interpersonal or problem-solving situations, rather than test medical knowledge medschool.duke.edu.

Interviews for the 2025–2026 cycle will be conducted virtually via an online platform medschool.duke.edu. Each station’s evaluator (or “rater”) is a member of the School of Medicine admissions committee (faculty, students, or administrators) who has been trained in the MMI process medschool.duke.edu. Notably, the interview is closed-file – MMI raters do not review the applicant’s academic file or application beforehand medschool.duke.edu. This blind approach helps ensure that interactions focus on the applicant’s real-time responses and personal qualities, making the conversation more about your demonstrated attributes than your resume.

The overall interview experience is intensive yet balanced. On the virtual interview day, candidates join a welcome session and orientation (including virtual tours and Q&A panels) before starting the MMI stations in the afternoon medschool.duke.edu. The structured format means multiple independent assessments – if one station doesn’t go as well, there are many others where you can perform strongly medschool.duke.edu. Duke reports inviting only a few hundred applicants out of thousands to interview, so reaching this stage is an achievement. In a recent admissions cycle, about 642 applicants were interviewed for roughly 120 MD seats medschool.duke.edu, highlighting that roughly one in five interviewees matriculated. While this indicates a competitive post-interview selection, it also means every interview is a significant opportunity to demonstrate fit with Duke.

Duke’s mission for the Doctor of Medicine program is centered on preparing physician leaders who will advance biomedical research and improve health in their communities and worldwide medicine.bulletins.duke.edu. In fact, the official mission statement declares the goal of training a diverse student body to serve patients through the advancement of research and patient-centered care at local, national, and global levels medicine.bulletins.duke.edu. This reflects Duke’s dual emphasis on scientific innovation and serving society: students are expected to become doctors who not only excel in clinical care but also drive progress in medicine and public health.

The School of Medicine’s core values reinforce this mission. Duke upholds excellence in education, research, and patient care, respect and inclusion for people of all backgrounds, a commitment to service and solving real-world problems, and a sense of urgency in translating discoveries into improved human health corporate.dukehealth.org. These values show a balance between academic prowess and humanitarian ideals. They indicate that Duke values both what future physicians achieve and how they achieve it – with integrity, inclusivity, and impact. For example, demonstrated dedication to serving others and embracing diversity are seen as just as important as scholarly achievements in Duke’s culture corporate.dukehealth.org.

Understanding Duke’s mission and values is more than an academic exercise – it’s directly relevant to interview preparation. The admissions committee will be looking for evidence that an applicant’s outlook and experiences resonate with these principles. If the school prioritizes community service, global health, and leadership, it stands to reason that interviewers may probe for your commitment to service or your potential to lead and innovate in medicine. By being mindful of Duke’s guiding values, you can better appreciate what qualities the interviewers might be tuning into (such as compassion, integrity, or a drive for excellence) as you discuss your background and motivations.

Duke’s MD program is distinctive for its innovative curriculum and opportunities. The program recently implemented the "Patient FIRST" curriculum – an acronym standing for Foundations, Immersion, Research, Service, and Transformation medicine.bulletins.duke.edu. This design puts the patient at the center of learning from the very start of medical school. Traditional pre-clinical basic science coursework is accelerated and integrated with clinical material, allowing students to move into full-time clinical training earlier than at most schools medicine.bulletins.duke.edu. In practice, Duke condenses the core science education into the first year and shifts students into their core hospital clerkships in the second year. By removing the strict separation between “pre-clinical” and “clinical” years, the curriculum fosters early clinical exposure and continuous integration of scientific and clinical reasoning medicine.bulletins.duke.edu.

A hallmark of Duke’s program is the dedicated third year for scholarly research or other intellectual pursuits. All Duke MD students step away from standard clinical rotations in year three to undertake a substantial research project or interdisciplinary study of their choice medicine.bulletins.duke.edu. Many students use this year to pursue a second degree (such as an M.P.H., M.B.A., or M.S.) or to delve into bench or clinical research, global health, or community health projects. Coupled with a formal curriculum on leadership and healthcare innovation, this research year is designed to "push the boundaries" and develop students as change agents in science, healthcare delivery, and policy medicine.bulletins.duke.edu. When they return for fourth year, students resume clinical work (electives and sub-internships) with a broader perspective and often with significant accomplishments like publications or advanced degrees.

Beyond the core curriculum, Duke offers special tracks and dual-degree opportunities that enrich the program. One notable example is the Primary Care Leadership Track (PCLT), a parallel 4-year track for a small cohort of students committed to careers in community-focused primary care. PCLT students participate in a unique second-year longitudinal clerkship (following their own panel of patients, including prenatal care and deliveries) and devote their third year to a community-engaged population health research project medschool.duke.edu. The goal is to graduate clinicians who are both excellent primary care doctors and effective leaders in health system change for underserved communities medschool.duke.edu. Duke also supports other pathways, such as a Medical Scientist Training Program (MD/PhD) for those pursuing research careers, and options to earn dual degrees like an MD/MBA or MD/MPP through partnerships with other Duke graduate programs. These offerings underscore the program’s flexibility and emphasis on leadership development, whether in research, healthcare management, or service.

An understanding of Duke’s program features can inform the questions you choose to ask your interviewers. Showing curiosity about the school’s unique offerings not only provides you valuable insights but also demonstrates your genuine interest in Duke. For example, you might inquire about how students find mentors for the third-year research project or the types of research recent students have pursued. If primary care or community health is your passion, you could ask about the outcomes of the PCLT and how it integrates with the main curriculum. Similarly, discussing the new Patient FIRST curriculum – perhaps asking how it has impacted students’ learning or patient interactions – can highlight that you’ve done your homework on what makes Duke different. Even questions about opportunities for global health rotations or interdisciplinary work (given Duke’s global health institute and collaborations) would be very fitting. By asking thoughtful questions related to Duke’s program, you not only gather useful information but also subtly underscore how your interests align with what Duke offers.

Duke’s focus on community and societal health means that current healthcare policy issues – especially those affecting North Carolina or the broader U.S. – are relevant in its program and could even come up in interviews. One significant local development is Medicaid expansion in North Carolina, which was approved in 2023. Beginning December 2023, the state expanded Medicaid eligibility to low-income adults, a change that is projected to extend health coverage to over 600,000 North Carolinians axios.com. This policy shift directly impacts the patient population in North Carolina hospitals and clinics, including Duke’s, by improving access to care for many uninsured individuals. Another regional challenge is the shortage of primary care physicians in rural and underserved parts of North Carolina. Duke has acknowledged this gap – the Primary Care Leadership Track was explicitly created in part to address the lack of primary care doctors in the community, preparing students to become "change agents" in improving population health and reducing disparities medschool.duke.edu. Awareness of these state-level issues (access to care and provider workforce distribution) demonstrates an understanding of the context in which Duke graduates may practice.

At the national level, broad healthcare policy themes around access, equity, and ethics are highly pertinent. For example, debates about reproductive health have been intense in recent years. North Carolina itself passed a law in 2023 banning most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy (with limited exceptions), significantly tightening restrictions in the state axios.com. This reflects the broader national conversation following changes in federal jurisprudence, and it’s an issue future physicians must navigate in terms of patient counseling and ethics. Candidates interviewing at Duke might benefit from being conversant about such changes and what they mean for patient care. Additionally, there is a continued push nationwide to address health disparities and the social determinants of health that drive them. Duke’s programs (like PCLT) emphasize understanding and addressing these systemic issues medschool.duke.edu. Topics such as how to improve healthcare quality while controlling costs (for instance, through value-based care models), or how to better serve aging populations and diverse communities, are often part of the dialogue in academic medicine. Being able to discuss a policy issue – whether it’s insurance coverage gaps, public health preparedness, mental health access, or any other hot topic – in a thoughtful, informed manner can indicate to interviewers that you’re engaged with the world of medicine beyond the classroom. It shows you are preparing to be not just a clinician, but a healthcare leader attuned to the environment in which you will practice.

Like other top medical schools, Duke looks at applicants holistically, placing heavy weight on attributes beyond grades and test scores. In fact, Duke’s admissions office explicitly states that personal characteristics and learning skills are as important as academic excellence in their selection process medschool.duke.edu. This means that traits such as maturity, empathy, integrity, and work ethic carry significant importance. Every accepted student is expected to bring a demonstrated commitment to serving others and a well-informed motivation for a career in medicine medschool.duke.edu – in short, Duke wants to see evidence of your heart for service and your understanding of what it means to be a physician. The school also values diversity; building a class with varied backgrounds and perspectives is part of its mission of preparing a diverse student body medicine.bulletins.duke.edu. Thus, your unique experiences and identity are viewed as strengths if they have shaped you into a compassionate, culturally aware future physician.

Duke’s use of the MMI format gives insight into the specific competencies and qualities they prioritize. The MMI scenarios are intentionally crafted to evaluate areas like empathy, initiative and resilience, communication and problem-solving skills, teamwork, insight and integrity, and cultural competence medschool.duke.edu. In practice, this could mean you’ll encounter interview prompts that test how well you listen and respond to a patient’s feelings (empathy), or how you handle a setback or ethical dilemma (resilience and integrity), or how effectively you communicate your thought process under pressure. The very fact that Duke’s interview measures these things tells you what the school is seeking: well-rounded individuals who can collaborate, adapt, and uphold strong ethics. Strong interpersonal skills and character are not “optional” at Duke – they are core selection criteria.

Another key aspect Duke looks for is leadership and a spirit of inquiry. The program explicitly aspires to train future leaders in healthcare medicine.bulletins.duke.edu, so they value applicants who have shown leadership potential or initiative in their endeavors. Similarly, because every Duke MD student engages in research and scholarly work during the third year, having a background or interest in research is a plus. The curricular emphasis on a year of scientific investigation and on “transformation” in healthcare suggests that curiosity, creativity, and problem-solving are highly regarded medicine.bulletins.duke.edu. An applicant who has, for example, led a student organization, started a community project, or pursued research will likely be able to show these competencies. In sum, Duke’s non-academic criteria include service orientation, ethical responsibility, cultural humility, teamwork, resilience, leadership, and intellectual curiosity. Expect the interviewers to probe these areas through your experiences and scenario responses – they want to see if you have the personal qualities to thrive at Duke and to take advantage of all the opportunities the program provides.

Medical education at Duke is grounded in nationally recognized competency frameworks. In developing its curriculum and evaluation methods, Duke has aligned with the standards and guidelines endorsed by organizations like the AAMC and others medicine.bulletins.duke.edu. This means the program isn’t just teaching ad hoc topics; it consciously ensures students build all the skills and professional attributes expected of a modern physician. Notably, Duke’s medical education program objectives draw from:

• The AAMC’s Physician Competency Reference Set (PCRS) – a comprehensive set of competencies in domains such as patient care, medical knowledge, professionalism, and systems-based practice medicine.bulletins.duke.edu.
• The Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) competencies – guidelines for effective teamwork and collaboration across health professions, reflecting Duke’s emphasis on team-based care medicine.bulletins.duke.edu.
• The AAMC’s Core Entrustable Professional Activities (Core EPAs) for entering residency – key clinical tasks (such as patient handoffs, interpreting tests, etc.) that every medical student should be able to perform upon graduation medicine.bulletins.duke.edu.

Because the curriculum is built around these frameworks, Duke expects its students (and applicants) to aim for excellence in all-round competencies. In an interview context, this translates to questions and stations that may each target different skill areas. One station might indirectly assess your ethical reasoning and professionalism (aligning with PCRS domains), while another might assess communication and teamwork (aligning with IPEC’s interprofessional skills), and yet another might gauge your ability to think through a clinical problem systematically (reflecting Core EPA readiness). For candidates, it’s useful to recognize that Duke’s evaluators are looking through a competency lens – they want assurance that you can eventually fulfill all the roles of a physician, from communicator and collaborator to scholar and caregiver. A successful interview will demonstrate that you have a strong foundation in these core competencies or at least the potential to develop them within Duke’s program.

Thanks to student reports and feedback over the years, we have some idea of the themes that tend to arise in Duke’s interview questions. One common category is personal background and motivations. For instance, interviewers (especially in the more traditional question stations of the MMI) have asked things like “Tell me about yourself,” or asked applicants to elaborate on notable experiences from their application and personal statement blackstonetutors.com. You should be ready to discuss your journey, what drives you toward medicine, your strengths and weaknesses, and meaningful activities you’ve been involved in. These kinds of questions are an opportunity to highlight the aspects of your application that you most want the committee to remember – your passions, leadership roles, research projects, volunteer work, and so on – in a conversational setting.

Another prominent theme is ethical or policy dilemmas, in keeping with the multiple ethics stations built into the MMI. Duke’s interview has been known to pose questions about controversial issues in medicine to see how applicants reason through them. In past interviews, candidates have been asked their opinions on topics like abortion, the treatment of HIV/AIDS patients (addressing stigma in care), or the allocation of scarce resources such as organ transplants blackstonetutors.com. These scenarios typically have no clear “right” answer – the goal is to observe how you weigh the arguments, what principles guide you, and whether you can articulate a thoughtful, compassionate stance blackstonetutors.com. When engaging such questions, showing awareness of multiple perspectives and keeping patient welfare and ethics at the forefront is key. It’s less about the position you take and more about your reasoning process and empathy.

In addition to personal and ethical questions, Duke’s MMI format often includes a teamwork or collaboration exercise and possibly a station focused on communication skills. For example, in a teamwork station, a small group of interviewees might be tasked with working together on a problem while being observed, to evaluate how you interact in a team setting. Interviewers will watch whether you communicate respectfully, listen to others, contribute ideas, and help the group move forward – essentially, they are gauging your collegiality and leadership in a group. Meanwhile, a communication skills station could involve a role-play (sometimes facilitated by a short video prompt in Duke’s MMI) where you need to explain something clearly or demonstrate empathy toward a ‘patient’ or actor in a scenario. These have included situations like breaking down a complex topic for a layperson or responding to a distressed individual after watching a triggering video clip. Such stations test your ability to think on your feet, adapt your communication to the situation, and remain composed and caring. Overall, the past interview questions at Duke have spanned personal reflections, ethical reasoning, healthcare policy viewpoints, teamwork dynamics, and communication challenges. This variety mirrors the school’s comprehensive view of a physician – someone who is self-aware, morally grounded, team-oriented, and an effective communicator.

Finally, it’s crucial for interviewees (and all applicants) to keep track of the admissions timeline. Duke follows a typical AMCAS application cycle, with deadlines in the fall and decisions in the late winter. For the 2025–2026 cycle, the key dates and milestones are as follows:

• AMCAS primary application deadline: October 15, 2025 (all applicants must submit their initial application by this date) medschool.duke.edu.
• Duke secondary application deadline: November 15, 2025 (all required secondary materials, including essays and recommendation letters, are due) medschool.duke.edu.
• Interview invitations: rolling from September 2025 through late January 2026 – Duke sends out interview invites in batches during this period, so timing can vary for each applicant medschool.duke.edu.
• Interview schedule: Mid-September 2025 to end of January 2026 – Virtual MMI interview days are held Monday through Thursday throughout these months medschool.duke.edu.
• Admissions decisions: Mid to late February 2026 – The admissions committee releases final decisions (acceptances, waitlist offers, or rejections) by email in the second half of February medschool.duke.edu. For candidates who interview, this is when you will learn the outcome.

Duke uses a rolling admissions process, so some acceptances may be issued as part of that mid-February wave and a waitlist is established afterward. It’s worth noting that applying earlier in the cycle can mean an earlier interview slot (Duke mentions that while timing doesn’t necessarily increase chances, interviewing earlier could get you a decision earlier) medschool.duke.edu. However, whenever you interview, all decisions come out around the same time in February, which keeps things fair. Make sure to plan ahead for these deadlines – submit your primary AMCAS well before October 15 if possible, complete your Duke secondary comfortably before November 15, and be prepared for an interview invite anytime in the fall or early winter. If you’re invited to interview, Duke will give you instructions to schedule one of the virtual MMI days. After interviewing, the waiting period until February can be anxiety-provoking, but knowing the timeline helps set expectations. By late February, you’ll have a clear sense of your status with Duke University School of Medicine.

In conclusion, preparing for a Duke School of Medicine interview means understanding both the process and the institution. This guide has summarized the MMI format (and what it entails), Duke’s mission and values, the distinctive curriculum and opportunities, the healthcare context in Duke’s community, the qualities Duke seeks in its applicants, common lines of questioning, and the application timeline. Armed with this knowledge, you can approach the interview ready to engage in meaningful discussions that highlight your fit with Duke’s program. Remember that the interview is not just an evaluation of you by Duke, but also an opportunity for you to learn whether Duke is the right fit for you. By reflecting on the themes above – from ethical scenarios to your own motivations – and staying true to Duke’s values of excellence, integrity, service, and innovation, you’ll be well positioned to make a positive impression on your interview day. Good luck!