I have been giving such interviews for many years. I usually give five interviews each spring. I have enjoyed this opportunity to chat with some outstanding students and provide them with (I hope) helpful feedback on the interview process. Since I have little knowledge of medical research, I usually try to discuss other topics with them. This can range from discussions the future shape of health care or legalization of marijuana to discovering which courses they liked best at Penn, what they have read recently, and their experience working in the community. My advice to them may be as simply as advising that they look at the interviewer when they are speaking with him/her to recommending that they read a daily newspaper or take a Health and Societies course.
Jerry Porter