In an interview, how should I answer a question about what I have learnt from my work experience/volunteering/part time job etc.

This type of question is very common in medical school interviews, and you will almost always be asked a question like this. Whilst it is very tempting to answer this question by talking about leadership skills, team work or communication skills these are all quite cliche answers. I found, both in my own interviews and from speaking to interviewers that the best way to answer this question is to talk about something that changed you personally on a more emotional or personal level, this shows reflection, a key skill for any doctor and what medical school interviewers are looking for.I personally talked about how during my volunteering, teaching children with special needs how to swim, I was concerned beforehand that I would treat them differently purely because of their extra needs or that I would react badly without meaning to. But in fact I found that I reacted well and that I was able to treat them just as I would any other child without being condescending or feeling out of my depth. This gave me more confidence for being able to treat vulnerable people, or those with extra needs in the future without worrying about how I may react. Whilst this may seem quite trivial, and something you should expect from anyone, the fact that I have reflected on what I was thinking at the time and learnt from it, if you can demonstrate this skill then it shows that you will be able to reflect as a medical student and as a doctor.During my interview I did actually start talking about the team work of the swimming teacher team, but the interviewer stopped me half way through and told me to really think about something that I thought changed me or something I had learnt personally. Thankfully I was able to come out with the above spontaneously which she said was a very good answer, therefore I would urge you to really think about something personally that you have learnt or you feel has changed you beforehand so you can go in prepared.With any student, I would then discuss their own personal/unique experiences and see what sort of answer we could develop to this question from their own experiences.