An overview of medical school interviews
Well done on getting invited to a medical school interview – it means your application has stood out enough amongst the initial academic screening medical schools often do. Invitations to interview can be sent out as early as November and can last until March - so don't be disheartened if you don't hear back right away! Medical schools follow two types of interview – Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs) or Traditional panel interviews. For tips on how to prepare for your interview and my own experience, please see my other articles!
Medical schools that use MMI format:
Aberdeen, Anglia Ruskin, Aston, Brighton and Sussex, Birmingham, Buckingham, Brunel, Bristol, Cardiff, Edge Hill, Edinburgh, Hull-York, Kent & Medway, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle,
Plymouth, Keele, Liverpool, Nottingham, Lincoln, St. Andrews, Exeter, Sunderland, Imperial, King's College, Lancaster, Leicester, Norwich, Sheffield, Queen's Belfast, St. George's and Warwick
MMIs as the name suggests puts you through several mini interviews, each with a different task. This will usually be a scenario and you will be given some time to prepare an answer. Often this will be a question(s) or a statement, but could also be a role-play with an actor whilst an interview assesses you.
Each station is generally a few minutes long and there are usually around 7-10 stations, but this will vary by medical school.
Here are some examples of MMI stations:
Whilst MMI interviews differ across medical schools, there are typical MMI interview questions or stations which are likely to be used by all medical schools. However, it is worth doing your research beforehand and looking into the exact format of the medical school where your interview is and the types of questions/stations that often come up there. Various resources are available online that have information on individual medical school MMIs, although a good place to start is the website of that university. The StudentRoom can be another good place to find help and finding students who have been for interview at that medical school!
At this station you will be asked to explain how to do something such as open a box or how to tie shoelaces without using any props. This not only tests your ability to communicate, but also your patience. Communication is obviously important as a doctor because you will need to communicate everyday - be it explaining medical conditions to patients or working with colleagues.
The tasks at this station can vary, but how effective you are at communicating is most important here, regardless of the task. How you come across in your ability to give instructions or describe a particular situation will determine how effectively you communicate with the interviewer. They may also try and trip you up during the interview by deliberately misinterpreting your instructions - keep calm and be patient if this happens! Try rewording your instructions or being more specific in your description if they appear to not understand at first.
At this station you will be asked to interpret data or a graph or perform some simple calculations relating to a clinical situation. The graph might be anything from a blood glucose graph to discussing an immune response. If presented with a graph, you will be asked to analyse the data and it shouldn't involve any calculation. This type of question will draw upon some basic principles of science which you should already know - being able to draw conclusions from data and spotting trends. You will not be expected to explain every detail on the graph, just be able to identify the most important trends and form some conclusion. Follow up questions could also be asked relating to the particular disease or treatment.
If faced with a calculation question, it too will relate to a clinical scenario. A common question will be calculating the correct drug dosage e.g. You are asked to give a patient weighing 70kg a 1mg/kg IV injection. The syringe contains 210mg in 6 ml. What volume of the solution in the syringe do you need to give? Practicing mental maths will help with any calculation station and also converting between units. Questions at this at this station are one of the easiest to practice for.
This station tests your ability to act professionally when faced with a challenging situation that could arise whilst working as a doctor. It will often be a role-play scenario with an actor, playing a patient or a colleague with an interviewer assessing you. This type of station assesses your communication skills, empathy and patient care - all of which are important qualities in a doctor.
At my Manchester interview I was given a role-play where a colleague was not washing their hands in between seeing patients and I had to confront them about this. It was important here to make conversation before asking them about why they were not washing their hands. You should also consider being sensitive here and addressing the situation in a professional manner - politely ask them about the problem. You don't know the reason behind their actions or what is going on in their personal life. This demonstrates to the interviewer that you're able to handle these situations with understanding and sympathy.
Some medical schools use problem-based learning (PBL) as part of their teaching and they may also have a PBL station at interview. A PBL station will involve working in a group to address a particular problem or scenario. In a real PBL after discussing the scenario, the group would make objectives and go away to research the topic. At an interview however, only the discussion would take place but interviewers are still assessing how well you work as a team. With other candidates you will need to read over the scenario and then discuss the case as a group, identifying any areas you could further research.
A teamwork station will also assess your ability to work with others, although it might not be a PBL scenario. Group tasks can range from giving instructions to others to a debate. It could also be a series of questions desgined to test your understanding of teamwork. Common questions could be: Describe an example of when you worked well as a team? or Tell me about a time when you overcame a challenge as a team? Provide plenty of examples and make sure to always support your points with evidence. Regardless of whether it is a PBL or teamwork station, it is important to remember that listening to others and encouraging ideas will show you have a good understanding of teamwork and understand cooperation.
One of the most common stations will be a role-playing station where you will be asked to act out a scenario with an actor, whilst an interviewer assesses you. Often these scenarios will be dealing with a difficult situation - such as confronting a colleague, breaking bad news or resolving conflict. The focus of these stations will be how well you communicate with others and show emotional intelligence, including use of empathy.
As mentioned in the professional judgement station, at my Manchester interview I had to do a role-play scenario where a colleague was not washing their hands in between seeing patients. They suggested they didn't like the effect of hand washing on their skin. After resolving the situation, I discussed alternatives with them such as using moisturiser and emphasised the importance of hand washing to prevent spread of infection. Regardless of the scenario, make sure you read the prompt carefully and consider how you should communicate in the context of the situation e.g. how you would respond to a friend is different to how you would deliver bad news to your friend's parents.
A prioritisation station tests your rational thinking and ability to make decisions under pressure. It also tests your ability to problem solve.
You will be given a scenario and asked to prioritise a number of items in that list. There is no prior knowledge of the task required to complete it nor
any right answer, but rather a test of coming up with well-reasoned answers on the spot. Common examples of prioritisation stations include:
Always consider each object or person in the list carefully and think about the situation. For example if you were going to a hot desert island, a winter coat would not be that useful. It is also worth justifying all of your decisions with a reason and even stating reasons for objects you wouldn't take.
That concludes this article about MMI interviews, I hope you have found it useful. Other types of MMI station might come up, these are just a few of the more difficult ones to prepare for. Always be ready to answer a station about your motivation to study medicine and work experience/volunteering - these come up very frequently. If you have any further questions do not hesitate to contact via email or on social media! Please check out my other articles below in the medical school interviews series.
Best of luck with your interview!
Posted by Nathan
