New format of interviews in Multiple Mini Interviews(MMIs) for medicine

I've experienced both MMIs and a panel interview, and I preferred the MMI.

You have multiple stations in an MMI with different examiners each time, so it doesn't matter too much if you mess up in one station - you can make up for it in the others. I came out of my MMI not quite sure how I'd done, because there were so many different stations, whereas after my panel interview I kept going over things I could have said instead.

I also felt my MMI tested more of my abilities; each station was different so I think they got a clearer picture of me - some stations involved my PS while others involved communicating with patients etc.

Everyone I've spoken to (admittedly my sample size is very small) has said that they enjoyed their MMI.

I suppose one drawback was that I found it difficult to get into the flow of things with the MMI - each time I started a new station I began feeling jittery and nervous all over again. Whereas with the panel interview I began to relax and build a rapport with the interviewers.

Whilst not medical school admissions as such I've always preferred panel interviews to MMIs. There isn't as much time with the MMI stations to develop rapport.