Congratulations on earning your Temple Katz medical school interview. Let's make sure you're ready for it.

Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University MD program · 2026-27 MD applicants (entering fall 2027)

Your Temple Katz medical school interview

If Temple invites you, you will have three interviews on one day: a primary interview with an Admissions Committee member who has read your file, a blind interview with someone who has not, and a community interview with a member of the local community. Temple says it does not use stress interviews and tries to put you at ease, and most applicants describe the day as low stress, though some report a tough community or faculty interviewer.

Sources (6)

Temple Katz School of Medicine: Admissions Interview · Temple Katz School of Medicine: Interviews · Student Doctor Network: Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine Interview Feedback & Student Rep · Student Doctor Network Forums: 2024-2025 Temple (2024) · Student Doctor Network: 2024-2025 Temple (2024) · YouTube: Jacob W. Ufberg, MD, Associate Dean of Admissions, on Temple Katz admissions and the community member

About 9%of applicants (1,201) had an interview in the 2025 cycle, according to third-party sites Admit.org and PathLynk, which report the same counts. Admit.org · PathLynk

43%of interviewed applicants were admitted in the 2025 cycle (518 of 1,201), according to Admit.org and PathLynk. Admit.org · PathLynk

Congratulations again: by these third-party counts, only about 1 in 11 applicants reaches interview day at Katz, and more than 4 in 10 of those who do are admitted. The pages do not give the school's own rating of how much the interview weighs, but Katz puts every invitee through three interviews: a primary interview with a faculty member, a blind interview, and a community interview. Other sites report slightly different interview counts for the 2025 class (1,171 or 1,139), so treat these figures as close estimates rather than the school's official numbers.

Sources (5)

Admit.org: Temple University - Acceptance Rate, Requirements & Ranking (2025) · PathLynk: Medical School Profile (2026) · Temple Katz School of Medicine: Admissions Interview · International Medical Aid: Temple Lewis Katz School of Medicine: 2026-27 Admissions Guide (2025) · CollegeTuitionCompare: Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University Tuition, GPA, MCAT & Acceptance (2026)

WhoThree interviewers: a committee physician or PhD faculty member, a blind faculty or student interviewer, and a local community member Temple Katz School of Medicine · Temple Katz School of Medicine · Student Doctor Network Forums

How longApplicants report about 30 minutes each (an average of 32), sometimes longer when conversational Student Doctor Network · Student Doctor Network · Student Doctor Network Forums

WhereVirtual, on Zoom, with links sent by email Temple Katz School of Medicine · Student Doctor Network · Student Doctor Network · Student Doctor Network

WhenInterviews run September through April; applicants report invitations starting in late August Temple Katz School of Medicine · Student Doctor Network

4 more: what they know about you, does it count, after, not offered

What they know about youThe primary interviewer has your full file; the blind interviewer has only your name Temple Katz School of Medicine · Student Doctor Network Forums

Does it countYes: all interviewers submit evaluations, and applicants report (2024) your primary interviewer presents your case to the committee YouTube · Student Doctor Network · Student Doctor Network Forums

AfterDecisions in November, December, March or at season's end; some go to a continuing candidate list Temple Katz School of Medicine · Temple Katz School of Medicine

Not offeredNo stress interviews and, per the admissions dean (2022), no MMIs Temple Katz School of Medicine · Student Doctor Network Forums

How you get an interview

Your file is complete once Temple has your verified AMCAS application, the Supplemental Application, Casper results, the $100 fee (waived with AAMC Fee Assistance) and your letters. The AMCAS deadline is December 15 and supplemental materials are due January 15, but interviews run September through April, so earlier is better.

Rank your campuses carefully. You rank campus preferences on the Supplemental Application, and Temple considers them when it sends invitations. Faculty from St. Luke's or WellSpan interview candidates for those sites.
Watch your spam folder. Applicants report (2024) invitations arrive automatically around 3 AM and often land in spam. Invitations started in late August in the 2025-26 cycle.
Book quickly. Applicants report (2024) dates fill fast, sometimes leaving only one option. A 2026 applicant reports getting about a month to prepare.

Sources: Temple Katz School of Medicine: Admissions Interview · Temple Katz School of Medicine: Medicine MD · Student Doctor Network Forums: 2023-2024 Temple (2023) · Student Doctor Network: 2026-2027 Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine (2026) · Student Doctor Network: 2025-2026 Temple (2025) · Student Doctor Network: 2024-2025 Temple (2024)

The interview day

The day opens with an admissions office overview of the curriculum, clinical experiences, service-learning and extracurriculars, then three interviews, a virtual campus tour, and a session with current medical students about student life.

Primary interview. A physician or PhD faculty member on the Admissions Committee. Per the admissions dean (2022), this person has your AMCAS, secondary essays and letters, so expect questions on anything in your file.
Blind interview. A faculty or student committee member who sees only your name. Bring your own best stories.
Community interview. A local community member. Applicants report (2022-2024) it is a group format, about 2-4 applicants taking turns answering. Some find it relaxed; others report being grilled for very specific answers about community and service.

MD/PhD applicants have two more interviews, with the program director and a faculty member.

Sources: Temple Katz School of Medicine: Admissions Interview · Temple Katz School of Medicine: Interviews · Student Doctor Network Forums: 2024-2025 Temple (2024) · Student Doctor Network Forums: 2023-2024 Temple (2023) · Student Doctor Network: 2024-2025 Temple (2024) · Student Doctor Network Forums: Medical - An Interview With the Temple Katz School of Medicine Admissions Dean [ (2022)

What they're looking for

Temple names the qualities it wants: strong interpersonal skills, self-confidence, compassion, social consciousness, and the ability to listen and understand other viewpoints. Its MD program puts a high priority on future physicians dedicated to caring for underserved populations, especially in North Philadelphia and nearby communities.

Service that is real. Applicants advise concrete stories from volunteer work, especially with underserved groups.
Community knowledge. For the community interview, applicants report (2023) questions on the population you would serve, why it draws you, and how you would handle simple scenarios.
Patient perspective. The admissions dean (2022) advised describing clinical experiences from the patient's side, not just listing shadowing.

Sources: Temple Katz School of Medicine: Admissions Interview · Temple Katz School of Medicine: Medicine MD · Temple Katz School of Medicine: Interviews · Student Doctor Network Forums: 2024-2025 Temple (2024) · Student Doctor Network Forums: 2023-2024 Temple (2023) · Student Doctor Network: 2024-2025 Temple (2024) · Student Doctor Network Forums: Medical - An Interview With the Temple Katz School of Medicine Admissions Dean [ (2022)

Questions applicants report

A 2026 applicant called it "classic questions no curveballs," but reports over the years include:

Standard. Tell me about yourself, why medicine, why Temple, where you see yourself in 10 years.
Behavioral. An ethical dilemma, a failure (not academic), a meaningful service experience, teamwork under stress, a time you changed your mind.
Health care and community. The biggest issue in health care, what you would change, why life expectancy differs between zip codes, your experience with underserved groups.
Your file. Your research, and in some reports pointed questions on grades or a weak semester.
Ethics scenarios. For example, a patient whose feeding tube falls out, with no advance directive.

How to prepare

Know your file cold. The primary interviewer has read everything, so reread your AMCAS and Supplemental Application answers.
Prepare for three audiences. Stories that stand alone for the blind interviewer, details for the primary, and community-focused answers for the community interview.
Learn Temple's community work. Applicants advise researching Temple's community engagement and knowing its mission.
Don't count on easy. Most report low stress, but some faculty and community interviewers can feel like an interrogation.
Test your setup. Camera, lighting, microphone, internet and a quiet space, and have questions ready for each interviewer.

Sources: Student Doctor Network: Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine Interview Prep Briefing · Student Doctor Network: Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine Interview Feedback & Student Rep · Student Doctor Network Forums: 2024-2025 Temple (2024) · Student Doctor Network: 2024-2025 Temple (2024) · Student Doctor Network: 2024-2025 Temple (2024) · Student Doctor Network Forums: Medical - An Interview With the Temple Katz School of Medicine Admissions Dean [ (2022) · Student Doctor Network: Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine Individual responses (2010)

After the interview

Temple releases decisions at set points: November, December, March and the end of the interview season. Applicants report (2024) the exact dates shift from year to year and depend on when all your interviewers file reports. Accepted students have two weeks to send a $100 deposit, refundable until April 30.

Continuing candidate list. Some interviewees are placed here and reviewed after April 30 until matriculation. The number taken varies each year. Temple suggests letters of interest starting in April.
Timing updates. Applicants (2024) suggest waiting for your wave's decision before sending an update or letter of intent.
Thank-you notes. Applicants report (2024) being told to send them to medinterview@temple.edu.
Campus is binding. Your campus assignment is set in your acceptance letter.

Sources: Temple Katz School of Medicine: Admissions Interview · Temple Katz School of Medicine: Accepted Students · Student Doctor Network Forums: 2024-2025 Temple (2024) · Student Doctor Network: 2021-2022 Temple (2022) · Reddit: Why is Temple (LKSOM) taking forever to release their decision at the end of Nov (2024) · Student Doctor Network: 2024-2025 Temple (2024)

Your interviewer

Yolanda Whitfield, MD Fictional interviewer

Get a briefing on your own interviewer

Know who's interviewing you? Their LinkedIn profile is the best source.

Use a computer if you can. Open their LinkedIn profile in a web browser, click More (or ⋯) under their name, then Save to PDF.
On a phone: the LinkedIn app can't save a profile. Open linkedin.com in your phone's browser instead, switch to the desktop site, and use More → Save to PDF.
Upload the PDF here, or paste what you know about them (a bio, a profile page).

See the sample briefing

North Philadelphia family physician and addiction medicine leader; Temple Admissions Committee member since 2018 who reads every file and says she cares 'less about what you led than about what you noticed.'

Dr. Whitfield is most likely your primary interviewer, the one who has read your full file. She is an Associate Professor of Family and Community Medicine at Temple (since 2016) and has practiced in North Philadelphia for about seventeen years. Half her week she sees patients at a community health center, where most adults have diabetes, high blood pressure or opioid use disorder, often more than one. She built an office-based addiction treatment program that follows more than 300 patients, prescribes buprenorphine (a medication for opioid use disorder) in primary care, and teaches residents to do the same. She co-leads the first-year session on social determinants of health and neighborhood life expectancy, which is the 'why does life expectancy differ by zip code' question applicants report. Her own words tell you how to prepare: be ready to describe what you observed about patients, communities and yourself, not to list titles. Expect her to know your file well, to probe specifics, and possibly to ask about underserved care, the realities of chronic disease and addiction, and the people you met through service.

Their path

BS in Biology, Howard University, 2000
Pharmacy technician in Baltimore for two years before medical school
MD, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 2005
Family Medicine residency in Philadelphia, 2005-2008
Hospitalist, Riverward Community Hospital, 2008-2009
Allegheny Avenue Family Health Center, 2009-present: staff physician, then Medical Director of Addiction Services (about 17 years)
Associate Professor, Family and Community Medicine, Temple, 2016-present (about 10 years)
Temple Admissions Committee member and interviewer, 2018-present (about 8 years)

What it means for your conversation

She has read everything you submitted. Reread your AMCAS, secondary essays and activity descriptions so you can go deeper on any of them without contradicting yourself.
'What you noticed' is a hint. For each key experience, prepare one specific observation: a patient detail, a barrier to care you saw, a moment that changed how you think. Specific beats impressive.
She teaches about social determinants of health (the non-medical factors like housing, food, income, and transportation that shape health). If asked why life expectancy differs between neighborhoods, give a grounded answer, ideally tied to something you saw yourself, rather than a lecture.
Her daily work is chronic disease and addiction in a safety-net setting. Respectful, non-stigmatizing language about substance use matters to her (for example 'person with opioid use disorder' rather than 'addict'). This is basic professionalism, not a topic to perform.
She runs team case conferences with nurses, case managers and peer recovery specialists (people in recovery who support patients). Teamwork answers that give credit to non-physicians are likely to land well.
She worked before medical school and mentors first-generation premed students. If your path was non-linear or you are first-generation, she is likely to see that as context, not a weakness. Be honest about it; don't overplay it.
As the primary interviewer, she likely presents your case to the committee. Give her clear, memorable stories she can retell.

Questions they may lean toward

Walk me through an experience in your file. What did you notice about the patient or the people there? She states she cares more about what you noticed than what you led, and she has your file.
Why do you think life expectancy can differ by many years between neighborhoods a few miles apart? She co-leads the first-year session on this exact topic, and applicants report the question.
What draws you to caring for underserved patients, and specifically to North Philadelphia? Her whole career is in North Philadelphia safety-net care, and Temple's mission prioritizes it.
A patient with diabetes keeps missing appointments and medication refills. How would you think about that? Likely, given her patient population; tests whether you look for barriers rather than blame.
How do you think about addiction? Have you encountered it in your clinical or personal experience? Possible given her addiction work; she would likely be listening for compassion and absence of stigma, not expertise.
Tell me about a time you worked on a team where you weren't in charge. Her case conferences are interdisciplinary, and her 'less about what you led' comment suggests she values contributing over leading.
Questions about a weak grade or gap in your file. Applicants report pointed file questions from primary interviewers; she reads every file closely.

Honest common ground

If you have done blood pressure screenings, health fairs or church or community-based health outreach, that is real overlap with her monthly screenings; mention it only if it is genuinely in your file.
If you have volunteered in food access (food banks, pantries, community gardens), it connects to her food cooperative board work, again only if it's real.
If you are first-generation, came from community college, or worked before medical school (pharmacy tech, scribe, CNA, etc.), her own pre-med work and mentoring make this natural to discuss honestly.
If you have clinical experience in a community health center, free clinic or with patients who have chronic disease or substance use disorder, you share a practice setting worth discussing in concrete terms.

Questions to ask them

What do you think first-year students most often misunderstand about the patients they meet in North Philadelphia, and how does the curriculum help them see it? Connects to her teaching role and Temple's mission without reciting her resume; invites a real answer.
What have students on the family medicine clerkship told you surprised them most about primary care here? She precepts third-year students and can describe clinical training from direct experience.
How do students at Temple get involved with community health centers or longitudinal service in the neighborhood during the preclinical years? A practical question about the opportunities that matter to Temple's mission, which she can likely speak to.
From your years on the committee, what separates students who thrive here from those who struggle? She has interviewed since 2018; a sincere question about fit, not flattery.

Avoid

Reciting her profile back to her or suddenly claiming a passion for addiction medicine or family medicine you don't have in your file.
Leadership-title lists with no observations. She has told you directly this is not what she values.
Stigmatizing or careless language about substance use, poverty or North Philadelphia (e.g., 'dangerous neighborhood,' 'addicts,' 'noncompliant patients').
Textbook answers on social determinants with no personal example; she teaches this material and will notice.
Inconsistencies with your written application; she has read it all.
Bringing up her hobbies (gardening, Wissahickon walks, mysteries, piano). They are on a public profile but referencing them would feel like surveillance, not rapport.
'Savior' framing of service. Talk about what you learned from the people you served, not what you did for them.

A sample, to show what the briefing looks like: Yolanda Whitfield, MD and their employers are invented.

Based on: The sample interviewer's profile (fictional) · Temple Katz School of Medicine: Admissions Interview · Temple Katz School of Medicine: Interviews · Student Doctor Network: Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine Interview Feedback & Student Rep · Student Doctor Network Forums: 2024-2025 Temple (2024) · Student Doctor Network: 2024-2025 Temple (2024) · YouTube: Jacob W. Ufberg, MD, Associate Dean of Admissions, on Temple Katz admissions and the community member

All sources · 33 plus 8 applicant threads

Applicant threads are linked under each question.