I think MMIs are perfect - they are stress-free and go so quickly, you don’t have time to dwell and panic. MMIs are like speed dating. You are set up in small workstations in a rotating carousel that means you’re tested on different skillsets throughout the day. I will be describing MMIs because I have experienced them twice.
How long does it last? It lasts a whole hour in total, with usually ten stations. You tend to get one minute to read a piece of paper describing the task and then five minutes to carry out that task. The task could range from doing a small question booklet for five minutes or describing your volunteer/work experience. I will give you a break down for each MMI that I have researched.
I believe the majority of the MMIs will contain queries on:
- Structure of the NHS – not exactly Clinical Commissioning Groups etc, but the role of doctors, nurses and administrators in the hospital. How do their roles differ? Who is more important?Use your own opinion but do remember, keep an open minded, fair and equal response. Saying doctors are superior and nurses just do the slave work will give a very negative impression!
- Describe your work experience/volunteer work – they will ask you questions concerning your duties, your role, your responsibilities, what you learned etc. One interview I attended had this in two separate stations, but the other interview asked about both my work experience and volunteer work at the same station.
- Medical ethics – incredibly important! I will definitely recommend you read on the pillars of medical ethics. You shouldn’t know them perfectly, you haven’t done medicine so how are you supposed to know? They just want to know you have some beginning knowledge. That’s what I did, I learnt the keywords and applied it to my answers regarding ethical questions. It was so satisfying when the interviewer raises their eyebrows with a smile as they start jotting, it’s so rewarding! When given a patient comparison question, doctors never prejudice or discriminate so you should discuss each case separately and then give a conclusion based on what you believe. Practise situational judgement tests that concern and include medical ethics!
- Basic mathematics and statistics could be tested, like calculating a dosage or the next time for a dosage. This also includes interpreting a graph and analysing results from a table or chart.
- You could be asked to describe a photo of a skin condition. Practise looking at a photograph of a rash or infected area of the body and describe what you see. You need to be concise and describe what you see. Include colours, a rough indication of size and area affected and possibly describe the relief (ie. Is there broken skin? Is it bumpy?) Remember you aren’t being assessed on your ability to diagnose, you have got no idea what you’re doing! Just simply describe the photograph being shown, as they’re testing your ability to make concise notes that could be used by a doctor later on. This is done in clerking a patient, which involves taking down initial notes that could be used by a doctor later on to assess how the infected area has changed etc. My next and ultimate tip, make sure you sign and date your work! This is what they do on the ward, and an interviewer smiled at me when I did it! Just sign the bottom, print your full name and add a date and a time! Even if not accurate, just make sure those four things have been done!
- Describe what healthcare is like in the local area – make sure you have a little read prior to your interview about common health problems in your surrounding area and the surrounding area you’re looking at. You might also want to look at how healthcare differs.
- You might have to look at possible factors that affect health, giving reasons for the suggestions you make! Think of common problems (they’re not going to test really difficult health problems!) so think skin conditions, breathing problems, chest pains etc. You could be shown something like cigarettes and asked to describe problems with them.
- You could be asked about the university course. I would definitely recommend that you read up about this before you enter the interview. You will be asked about why you have chosen this university’s particular medical course as they all differ. This could be through PBL or CBL, so be prepared to be asked what these terms mean and why you have chosen this course!
- You could also be asked about the city and why you have chosen it as a place you would like to study in.
- Definitely keep up with current medical affairs! Prior to the interview, read the medical news as this could prop up at one of the stations. In the case of discussion, make sure you stay balanced, fight for each case before giving an “In my opinion” conclusion.
One thing I’m really trying to point out about MMIs is that you will be shocked how much they aren’t about you! Having done job interviews, I found I was trying to sell myself constantly and give experiences and point out how it changed me for the better and stuff. In an MMI, the selling has already been done through UCAS with your predicted grades and the personal statement. You’ve sold yourself now. Now they want to see you as a person, are you doctor material?
If you noticed above, I haven’t really dwelled on the personal attributes that will be asked for and tested during the interview. I can’t guarantee they definitely won’t, but I found with MMIs you don’t talk about yourself too much! From my experience, I would say 3/10, 4/10, pushing 5/10 stations will be asking you PERSONAL questions whereas the remaining stations are testing the medical situations, the medical ethics, how you think as a doctor and skills they are looking for.
But, you will get some of the personal things asked about you. I was really thrown off and didn’t expect it in some stations, but you have that one minute thinking time to comprehend the task from the sheet before you have the five minutes to perform.
Some of the “personal” questions I was asked include:
- What was the biggest mistake you made? What did you do as a result of it?
- What is your proudest achievement?
- Why should you be a doctor?
- Why this university?
- Surprisingly I wasn’t asked “What are you strengths?” but I was asked “What are my weaknesses?”!
That was the beauty of MMIs! They are separate stations and only string together at the end of the interview. Your interviewer will be jotting notes down on your performance that are then collated at the end to judge whether or not you get an offer from this university.
They are separate. If you mess up at one station, move on. Just move on. Put it behind you literally. As the buzzer rings to mark “Move to the next station”, just do that! Get up, walk across, smile, shake the interviewer’s hand and begin reading the introduction sheet at this new station and treat it as a new start. You could fuel yourself to try better at this one, and redeem yourself!
The interviewers are also great at wearing their poker faces. Some may not smile, some may not even maintain eye contact for longer than 30 seconds. They could spend the whole time just writing in their notepad and judging your performance. One interviewer I had didn’t smile once but glared at me with dark open eyes. But you battle it, you still smile and sell yourself! He’s testing how you deal under intimidation, how you deal with pressure! No doctor has perfect smiley patients, so he wants to see how you can communicate with him.
Just because your interviewer looks bored and unhappy, don’t think you’re doing an awful job at impressing him. The notes he’s making on you could be gleaming! But you wouldn’t know, you just see his stern look and him jotting down notes.
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