Preparation For The Multiple Mini-Interview

January 25, 2020

Preparation For The Multiple Mini-Interview as A Professional

MMI Interview, Multiple Mini Interview, MMI for Medical School

The Multiple Mini-Interview, or MMI, is an admission tool to the medical school that evaluates future medical students beyond their academic and professional backgrounds and interests. The MMI format consists of several stations where students are invited to answer a variety of directions. Students are not informed of the instructions until the day of the interview, and many schools ask the interviewees to maintain the confidentiality of the content of the messages, even after the interview. Because the MMI does not follow the general format of the interview and does not answer the typical questions of the interview, many candidates do not know how to proceed between the stations.

Your performance during the interview and the success of your admission to the Faculty of Medicine (or other health professions) depends to a large extent on the preparation you make in advance. The most effective strategy to prepare for an MMI is to anticipate the types of questions/scenarios you will face and practice your answers. Practice examples of MMI questions.

Here are some tips:

1. Understand the purpose: you should try to answer the questions in a way that demonstrates that you can be an excellent student and, later, an exceptional professional (for example, a doctor, a veterinarian, a nurse, etc.). Make a list of the attributes you think are essential to success, such as integrity and the ability to think critically. Practice the integration of these key attributes in your answers.
2. Work on time management: Many students experience difficulty with the rhythm and actually answer the question in the allotted time. Remember that once the bell rings, the interview should end immediately, even if the candidate has not finished. Therefore, good stimulation is essential. Make presentations 7 to 8 minutes before your interview to become familiar with the timing. Be sure to use a watch that clearly shows the time (for example, a digital clock) on the day of the interview, because you cannot trust a watch present in each interview room. Proper management of your time will give you the opportunity to complete the interview in an organized and efficient manner.
3. Listen carefully: During the MMI, the interviewer will often provide you with notices designed to direct you. Listen carefully to the clues provided so that you can take advantage of any new information that may be presented. The indications can guide you to the specific problems that are the subject of each rotation. While success cannot be guaranteed, your performance can dramatically improve by learning the interview process, acquiring strategies to avoid common pitfalls and knowing how to sell yourself to get the place you deserve. Balance under pressure can mean the difference between achieving your goals and falling short. While preparing for the big day, mock interviews should be a key part of your preparations. Simulating what you are about to experience will help build trust, which will allow you to stay calm and organized on the day of the interview.

If you are embarking on a medical school admissions cycle that will probably include one or more MMIs, avoid these four common mistakes.

1. Over Preparing for the stations you will likely face: although you cannot predict the specific scenarios that will be presented to you in an MMI, you can find several topics in common on the day of the interview. These topics include academic and clinical integrity, as well as interpersonal conflicts in a team. While it’s a good idea to think about how you can react if you confront an unfaithful type or discover that another doctor is falsifying vital signs, developing stereotyped word-for-word answers for these situations is misguided. The goal of an MMI is to capture your real answers to new scenarios. The standardized responses may ultimately seem non-authentic.
2. Under-preparation for the modules you are likely to find: although over-preparation of MMI stations may generate seemingly inauthentic responses, insufficient preparation for common topics may affect the logic or organization of your answers. When examining examples of MMI scenarios, sometimes available online, ask yourself how you would react in each situation and why you think it is the best course of action. Practice supporting your opinions aloud with arguments and evidence so that coherent and logical discussion on important issues is easier.
3. Ignore your body language: almost as important as what it says in an MMI, is how it behaves. Remember, you are interviewing for a vocational school, so behave professionally. Maintain eye contact with the person you are talking to, sit upright, and avoid the types of exaggerated posture that can result from anxiety. Interviewers generally do not respond to your answers, which can help strengthen your nerves. Make sure that the structure of the MMI does not encourage you to adopt nervous habits, such as wringing your hands, sitting with your fingers or grabbing the table or chair. As you practice responding to MMI scenarios before your interview day, also practice as a pre-professional, relaxed and confident student.
4. Allow your experience at one station to color others: the MMI asks you to go through different scenarios, each within minutes of each other. With this constant movement, it is very easy to let your experience in one module influence your reaction to the next. If you feel that you have succeeded or failed at one station, consider them all as a clean slate. If you feel that you have not responded well to the warning in a station, do not let it deflate you when you approach the next station. In the same way, if you think you have responded well to the warning, do not let this euphoria inflate your confidence in the next station. Remember that each scenario is different from the others and probably evaluates different skills. Although it is difficult to forget your answer in the last season, the success of MMI depends on your ability to move easily between the modules.

MMI Practice Questions

• Why do you want to do medicine? Why not another profession that involves caring for others or is it also intellectually difficult?
• What impact do you hope to achieve in the field of medicine?
• What steps have you taken to try to determine if you really want to become a doctor?
• When thinking about your work experience, can you tell me about a difficult situation you faced and what did you learn from it?
• What are attributes needed for a good doctor? Which one do you have and which one do you need to develop the most?
• Who are the important members of a multidisciplinary healthcare team? Why?
• Would you do abortions as a doctor? Do you think that is correct?
• A man was diagnosed with HIV. He is currently having unprotected sex with his partner and refuses to tell him he is HIV positive.
• Are you telling the man’s partner about his condition?
• What does the term “health inequalities” mean to you?
• What would you do differently when you consult a Maori patient compared to a European patient? (NZ)

MMI Preparation Strategies

• Three strategies will allow you to succeed in the MMI:
• Using cue cards
• Expanding your vocabulary
• Building your confidence