Know The Standard Mmi Question Types To Anticipate
Just like with panel interviews, there is no question bank or a sample MMI to review in order to prepare for an MMI interview. Interviewers can and will ask you a variety of different questions in order to assess your suitability comprehensively, some of which you will likely not have ever thought of before. This is to be expected, though, as this is one of the reasons medical schools have been consistently implementing MMIs as part of their admission process in the past several years. The different stations of an MMI interview gives admissions teams the opportunity to form a more organic interaction with the candidates, where students have had less of a chance to practice their answers to anticipated questions.
Lastly, make sure you also have a read through our newly updated blog post 50 Medical School Interview Questions, which has compiled a list of commonly asked questions during medical school interviews. This can serve you as a good resource to use as a checklist to make sure you have familiarised yourself with the most likely questions to come up and help you plan beforehand what structure you might want to use for them and how you want to tackle those.
Read Each Prompt At Least Twice
Make sure you take your time to read each prompt outside of the interview room at least twice. If you rush, you are more likely to miss key information and wind up delivering a poor or even judgmental response. Remember, you usually have 1-2 minutes to read each prompt, then 6-8 minutes to provide a response inside the interview room.
In practice, an organized and concise response should take no longer than 3-4 minutes. This means youll have extra time inside, and can afford an extra minute or two outside the room to make sure you understand the question even after the buzzer sounds. If you do enter the room late, make sure you briefly apologize for the delay, and explain you wanted a bit more time to gather your thoughts before delivering your response. That would actually put you ahead of your competition, because it shows careful thought and deliberation even in high stress situations.
Mmi Challenges And Tips For Overcoming Them
What could go wrong? Well, lots of things. Donât worry, though â weâre here to guide you through this process by ensuring youâre ready for even the most unexpected situations. Here are a few things that can get in the way of reaching your full potential and acing the MMI.
Knowing What to ExpectWhile itâs true that you canât know the exact wording of the question prompts before the MMI, you can still invest time in your MMI prep for medical school.
Using guides provided by the university or an expert admissions consultant, you can prepare by ensuring you understand the format of the questions and topics that are likely to be addressed. If you fully understand what the test is trying to learn about YOU, then you should have no problem acing your interviews.
Time Limits
Many people struggle with timed tests. Timed exams often cause students stress and anxiety that can affect their ability to accurately portray their abilities.
If timed tests are not your strength, the best thing you can do is get a good nightâs sleep. Donât leave prep until the night before the MMI test. Deep breathing exercises before and during the test can also greatly reduce anxiety. If working under pressure is not your usual strength, focus on developing your skills.
Lastly, think of developing these skills of working under pressure as prep for the biggest test of all â your career in the field of medicine.
Follow-Up Questions
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The Format Of The Mmi Interview
Instead, the multiple mini interview consists of a series of stations. There are at least six stations, but no more than 10. At each station, youll be asked a question. Then, youll have two minutes to think about your answer to the question. Finally, the interviewer will join you and discuss your answer to the question. Youll talk with the interviewer for eight minutes. The full interview will last up to an hour.Youll be asked a variety of questions, designed to test you in the following areas:
- Teamwork
To evaluate you in those areas, youll be asked questions in the following categories:
- Ethical scenarios
- Character development
- Teamwork
When you enter each interview room, youll be faced with one of two scenarios: acting vs. non-acting. A non-acting interview is where your interviewer is acting as the interviewer. Youre having a discussion with them about the question. In an acting interview, youll be talking to an interviewer who is pretending to be the patient who is the focus of the question.
Heres an example.
If the interview is the non-acting kind, then youll simply discuss your answer with the interviewer. If the interview is acting, then youll talk with the interviewer as if they were Roger. Instead of talking about his case, youll talk to him. Youll try to assess whether he has the cognitive function to sign a DNR.
What Is The Best Way To Prepare For The Mmi
The MMI does not test specific knowledge. The format is designed to allow candidates to showcase their interpersonal and critical thinking skills. The best way to prepare is to practice expressing yourself articulately and logically in a timed environment.
According to an applicant who completed the MMI, I felt like the MMI allowed the interviewers to get responses that couldnt be so easily prepared for in advance, thus giving them a very realistic picture of the applicant and enabling them to make better decisions. I felt prepared to show who I am in everyday life!
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Pros Of The Mmi Interview Process
Here are some of the reasons why you should look forward to your MMI interview if this is the format with which youre being interviewed.
How To Answer Mmi Teamwork Questions: Instructor Role
The instructor must lead the performer through the simulation. As the instructor, your goal is to work with your partnereither your interviewer/evaluator, who will be acting as the performer, or a fellow applicantto replicate the design in front of you in the given timeframe.
As the instructor, keep the following things in mind:
Put yourself in the performers shoes. What may seem very simple and common sense to you will be foreign and unknown to the performer. Are you being sensitive to the information imbalance between the two of you without being condescending?
Use clear instructions and speak at a slow and steady pace. Giving complex directions or even multiple directions at any given time can be overwhelming to the performer. Treat the performer as if you are teaching someone a new skill, such as tying a pair of shoelaces.
Check in with the performer. Sometimes a confused performer may not ask questions for fear of holding the team back. As the instructor, you have an obligation to make sure your partner is not lostwhether or not they admit to being lost. Try saying, Can you please tell me what you see in front of you, so we know that were on the same page? This quote shows that you care about the performers understanding and demonstrates your willingness to work as a team.
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Some Things To Keep In Mind For This Format:
With good preparation, MMI interviews are nothing to be afraid of. In fact, if you are well prepared, they may offer you a distinct advantage over other applicants, who in most cases arent ready for them.
ACE YOUR
How Can A Premedical Student Prepare For The Mmi
If you read the websites of multiple medical schools, some will tell you that there is no way to prepare for an MMI. In other words, just relax, be yourself, and do your best.We disagree.
Can you predict which prompts will be used in your MMI? No, of course not. There are dozens and dozens of different potential prompts that you might be faced with.
Can you prepare for the MMI? Of course. Although you wont know the prompts in advance, and therefore wont be able to memorize your response, you can definitely prepare. In this post, we review 9 of our expert strategies to help you prepare for the MMI.
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How To Succeed At The Mmi Interview
Written by Reid Vander Vleuten
Preparing for one interview? No sweat. How about 8 small ones in the span of one hour? Yikes. That was my thought process heading into my first MMI Interview. However, as I worked up the mental courage and confidence to challenge the interview I began to feel calm, collected, and excited for each new station. For myself, the nature of multiple mini interviews became a game of sorts. A new twist and turn behind each door. I remember finishing the MMI interviews more energized than when I had begun. Fortunately, my enjoyment of the experience translated into success as I was admitted to each PT school that I performed the MMI at. Now that Im a few years into my career as a Physiotherapist I have reflected back on the physiotherapy admission process and want to help you feel as I did with the MMI. Interested? Lets go.
As I reflected on my time preparing for and taking the MMI interviews there were three common themes that I identified as keys to my success and enjoyment. I want to share them with you and hope that they will assist you in succeeding at the MMI interview.
Medical Ethics And The Mmi
To start, lets examine an important bioethical problem that often shows up in MMI questions: resource-allocation in times of scarcity. Often, we have a shortage of resources and a preponderance of need. Unfortunately, this means that not all those who need help will receive it. But how do we choose who does?
Organ transplantation is a classic example. Lets say youre a transplant surgeon, and you have one available liver. You alone get to decide who will receive it.
You have two patients in front of you: a 50-year-old man whose liver has degraded due to alcoholism. There are no complications if he receives the liver, he will almost certainly recover and his system will regain full functioning capacity.
Next to him is another 50-year-old man : a father of three whose liver is riddled with cancer. His daughter is about to graduate from high school and is planning on attending university next year. Patient Y will definitely improve with a liver transplant, but theres no guarantee hell be cancer-free.
To whom do you give the liver? On the one hand, we have a man who will certainly recover, but may have deserved his illness in the first place. On the other, we have a man who did nothing to merit his disease, but has uncertain chances for recovery.
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What Happens In An Mmi Interview
It depends a bit on the specific medical school and whether itâs an in-person or virtual interview, but hereâs what applicants can generally expect:
- Applicants rotate through different stations with different interviewers. This could be as few as 5-6 stations and as many as 10-12.
- At each station, applicants are given a prompt to respond to or engage with.
- Applicants are given 5-8 minutes to respond to the prompt.
- With any leftover time, interviewers will often ask some follow-up questions to debrief on the prompt.
- Applicants continue to rotate through stations until the interview is complete.
- Interviewers use rubrics to evaluate each of the applicantsâ responses, and these evaluations are combined for an overall score.
How Long Are Multiple Mini Interviews
Each station at the MMI usually takes about 8-10 minutes. Keep in mind that you donât need to talk for all of your allotted time in a station. Itâs actually wise to save a minute or two for follow-up questions and conversations with the interviewers.
Some medical schools offer a break station where youâll have 8-10 minutes to relax in between stations.
The entire MMI process will likely take about two hours, but it could be longer or shorter depending on the number of stations included.
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The Multiple Mini Interview
Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, one of the main complaints among patients about their care was bedside manner.
For years, medical schools admitted students based on cognitive ability. Their ability to interact with patients was not high on the list of requirements.
In comes the McMaster University School of Medicine with their solution, the Multiple Mini-Interview format. It is said to be a better predictor of finding ethical, professional and empathetic doctors than regular interviews.
How Can I Find Out About My Interview Format
To prepare efficiently, know which interview type your chosen medical school uses. Most interview invitations will provide you with this information, including the interview format as well as what to expect on interview day. Dont worry if your invitation does not include this information. It should be available on the schools website, but if it isnt, go to the Medical School Admission Requirements website. There is a section called Selection Factors, which will provide you with the most up-to-date information on the interview formats.
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Get Familiar With The Mmi Format
The first thing you need to do after receiving your invitation to an MMI interview is to find out the precise format it will have. Despite the general layout being fairly similar across the different universities that use MMIs in their interview process, each medical school does put its own little twist to the way they conduct their interviews. That can be seen in many different ways, whether it’s a different number of stations, slightly different length of stations or a particular task that is unique to that exact university.
If youre not prepared and dont know what you should expect, even a small surprise has the potential to throw you off your game on this stressful day. So make sure you do your homework and are diligent about it, and thoroughly research the nitty-gritty details behind the med schools MMI format, in order to be able to prepare accordingly.
Another very important point to emphasise, which has not been a matter of consideration for medical school applicants in previous years, is the layout that all medical school interviews are taking this year. With the COVID-19 pandemic still very much having a hold of our everyday life and social engagements, a decision has been made to conduct all medical school interviews for 2021 entry online. What this means for you is that you need to be prepared technically before the day of your interview to ensure that no silly mistakes get in the way of your performance.
The Mmi Scenario Station
A scenario- based discussion is the most typical type of MMI station, usually ethical in nature, and can involve every day scenarios, those that take place in a medical setting, or real-life medical or policy scenarios that present an ethical dilemma. In this type of scenario, the rater will usually have follow up questions for the interviewee. These questions will be individually tailored and based on each interviewees approach to the scenario.
The key to success in an MMI interview is to think quickly and communicate your thoughts succinctly, clearly, and logically. Raters are also assessing a students ability to consider all aspects of a problem or situation so becoming adept at this is key. To illustrate your ability to think critically, you must also know what information you dont have or you could use to make a more informed decision.
Since some stations involve current issues or polices in medicine, it is smart to read about policy issues in healthcare. This is not because you need to have knowledge for the MMI interview but because understanding the current climate in medicine will improve your ability to think critically about challenging policies. We recommend periodic review of the Kaiser website for this purpose.
Bioethical principles and ethical decision making
Truthfulness and confidentiality
Autonomy
Informed consent
Beneficence and nonmaleficence
Justice
Critical thinking skills
Talking about your own experiences
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Tip #: Don’t Just Read About The Mmi Practice Mmi Questions Regularly
You can read as much as you want about the MMI, different questions and scenarios etc. but to actually improve your performance, it is so important to practice questions regularly!
The point of practice is not to give a perfect answer each time, but to help increase your comfort level with the timing, and discussion , making eye contact with the interviewer/camera, reducing filler words .
My suggestion is to start with 1 or 2 questions a day, and as you get closer to the MMI date start practicing more questions more frequently as you approach the actual interview date.
Practice according to the format of your interview.
- For IN-PERSON MMI interviews: Print some sample questions . Paste the first sample question on a door
- Get a timer, give it to a friend who will act as a timer and interviewer.
- With the friend sitting inside a room, and you positioned outside the room, have your friend start timing 2 minutes while you read the question on the door.
- Have the friend knock, when the two minutes are up, walk in.
- Begin speaking about the subject while your friend times for 6-8 minutes.
