If you apply to a medical or dental school, you may be asked to participate in a Multiple Mini Interview (MMI), and for preparation, you can go for MMI Interview Course.
As with other, more standard interviews, you can increase your chances of success by learning what questions to expect and preparing your answers. This article will explain a multiple mini-interview and how to answer MMI question bank.
What is a multiple mini-interview?
The Multiple Mini Interview, or MMI, is an interview format used by many medical and dental schools to evaluate candidates. This type of interview sets up a series of 10 stations to assess the candidate. Each station focuses on a different dilemma or challenge to determine how strong you are in communication, teamwork, and social skills, which are traits vital to being an effective healthcare provider.
On average, an MMI can take up to two hours. Candidates are given two minutes to prepare for each task or question and five to eight minutes to complete or solve a problem. Although interviewing ten times at different times can seem intimidating, both admissions specialists and applicants agree that it helps get a more in-depth view of the interviewee.
Topics covered in several mini-interviews vary depending on the school’s or institution’s main line of business, so you should review the program before the interview. The MMI Interview Course was designed to test a candidate’s critical thinking and interpersonal skills, so promptly practicing clear and concise communication is an excellent way to prepare.
Possible MMI Interview Course
While you will know exactly what questions you’ll be asked once you get to the interview, you can prepare for the types of questions. Some common themes in several MMI Interview Courses include:
- Interactive scenarios with the “patient.”
- Essay writing (more time allocated for this type of station)
- Standard interview questions
- Collaborative methods (candidates work together to solve a problem or complete a task)
- Issues that cause an ethical dilemma
How to answer MMI questions
Consider using these steps to answer each MMI question bank in detail:
- Understand: It is better not to reformulate the question but to show with your answer that you understood it. Interviewers want to know that not only do you understand the question but that you can offer some insight into the topic.
- Clarification: It’s important to voice any assumptions or questions you need to answer to make an informed decision. Weigh both sides of the issue and explore multiple approaches to the same problem. This will highlight your critical thinking skills.
- Empathize: Focus on communicating that you can see all sides of the scenario. Put yourself in the place of each hypothetical person to understand where he came from.
- Be ethical: pay attention to the conflict presented. You can use something other than technical terminology. It would help if you recognized that there are opposing sides.
- Answer the question: Always conclude, even under less-than-ideal conditions. Be sure to state the choice you will make.
Sample interview questions at MMI
Here are a few examples of questions that might come up during a multiple mini-interview. You can take MMI Interview Course for preparation:
- A 13-year-old patient asks you for birth control pills and asks you not to tell her parents. What would you do?
- A teenage boy has been diagnosed with a terminal illness and asked the doctor about his prognosis. His parents asked the doctor not to tell the boy about his diagnosis. What should the doctor do?
- What is your favorite quote and why?
- An 18-year-old man was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. He abandoned therapy and returned to college dorms. What should the doctor do?
- A close friend tells you his mother was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Between her diagnosis and school, he feels overwhelmed and considers quitting his college courses to be close to his mother. What would you advise your friend?
- Describe an experience that provided a powerful and essential insight into yourself. How will this experience help you succeed in your career?
- What is the difference between Medicare and Medicaid?
- You have a patient about to go to an acupuncturist or chiropractor. What would you advise them?
- You are a family doctor, and one of your teenage patients, Mark, missed an important exam in one of his classes. He asked you for a doctor’s note saying he wasn’t feeling well, excusing him for missing class. Without the letter, he’ll get zero. Mark has no physical symptoms. Explain how you would deal with this and what you would say to Mark.
- Why do you want to be a doctor?
MMI question and answer example
Applying every five steps will provide the thorough and thoughtful response expected in this scenario. Here is a sample question from several mini-interviews that can be answered using the five-step strategy described above:
MMI response example using steps
Empathize: “Being a chief resident is not an easy job. Most likely, he is not getting enough sleep and is preparing for his final certification exams. It is also possible that he had a rough day. In any case, I need to do something because I don’t know if I can pass my exams or meet the rotation requirements if I don’t see patients or surgeries.”
Be Ethical: “If I choose to go above the boss, I know I risk getting a bad grade and a backlash while I’m there. If I don’t, there’s a chance I won’t make it through this rotation. So my decision is to avoid confrontation or stand up for myself and possibly others.”
Answer the question: “I can empathise with the boss, but part of his job is teaching medical students. I’ll be there early to get the test results, see the patients, and discuss their progress with the nurses to prove to the chief that I can and can help. I hope I can convince him that I am serious about learning. If I do all of this and nothing changes, I will contact the medical school to find out what I should do or who I should talk to to improve the situation.”
For preparation for MMi, MMI Interview Course is considered a better option for practice. Additionally, you can learn by reading through real-world examples of MMI questions and answers. Blackstone Tutors UK offers academic counseling and tutoring in Bromley, Greater London. Instructors contributed the information in this area.
Verify all the information before choosing an instructor. People who aspire to become general practitioners can get assistance from BlackStone Tutors UK to prepare for the BMAT, UKCAT, MMI, and specialty application exams.