While what you've said is partly true, OP is also partly right because you could use the same example and apply it to many different stations that ask slightly different questions (why medicine/why this uni for med/what did you get from work experience/what did you gain from volunteering/etc.)
In general MMI does mean that you can recover from a particularly bad answer to one question by speaking to a new interviewer who isn't judging you on the stuff you just said the previous question. I also personally think it's less intense then a panel interview in the way that you don't have three people staring at while you try to be coherent :L it's more personal/relaxed when it's one to one like having a conversation with an acquaintance that shares similar interests :P
I think it entirely depends on an individual's strengths and weaknesses. You can apply the OP's logic and say that for MMI, you would be required to make a good impression on about 6-7 interviewers overall whereas for traditional interviews, you only need to make a good impression on 3 people but you only get one shot at making a good impression. MMI can also test you on how you react to certain scenarios on the spot and are in my opinion more intense at times but traditional interviews also have their difficulties. I wouldn't conclude that one style is any easier than the other, it entirely depends on the candidate's mentality.
I think it entirely depends on an individual's strengths and weaknesses. You can apply the OP's logic and say that for MMI, you would be required to make a good impression on about 6-7 interviewers overall whereas for traditional interviews, you only need to make a good impression on 3 people but you only get one shot at making a good impression. MMI can also test you on how you react to certain scenarios on the spot and are in my opinion more intense at times but traditional interviews also have their difficulties. I wouldn't conclude that one style is any easier than the other, it entirely depends on the candidate's mentality.
I agree, hence me saying I personally find MMIs to be less intense :P
I couldn't seem to find any for a decent price and the ones which were a tad cheaper had like 50 students attending and I didn't want to do that as I would probably doze off and not learn anything.
Sorry to intrude;do they do mock MMI with lots of stations?? How are they?
yeah i know but they'd probably want to send new invites off at the start of the week so they have 5 working days to go through the replies rather than leave it all to stack up over the weekend
Well done to all of you who've been invited to interview! Great news! To those of you who are waiting to hear back - good luck, our fingers are crossed.
We'd like to give you some general advice for your upcoming interviews. We're sure you know that you can't practice enough! But still, remember to try Googling 'med school interview questions' and see what comes up. Get someone to ask you these questions and try and answer on the spot. Then have a go at the same questions, having researched around them.
Another major thing is to make sure you are on top of the latest NHS news. You may find this page from the NHS website useful. Also, remember to keep up to date with the current politics surrounding the NHS, like the stories covering the Junior Doctors contract. The BBC has an article outlining it here. Lots of other newspapers also cover it very well.
At The Medic Portal, we've got loads of free blogs outlining the interview process and the latest medical news - all written by actual Medical students! Feel free to check them out here.Or, you can take a look at our free Interview Question Bank, with worked questions & answers here.
Finally - don't forget to check what kind of interviews you have lined up. Lots of you have MMI style ones it seems. We've got a free blog on MMIs written by a medic here.
Good luck, and feel free to message us if you want any advice!
Guys, my school aren't supportive with interview preperation ( not really supportive for anything !), would you consider paying for a course? Or just do the prep myself? I feel like I would hesitate and stutter a lot so not sure on what to do Thanks!
I went on an AceMedicine course last year with a group of people from my college (was cheaper in a group, but still £99 each) - I thought it was really good, they go into a lot of depth and cover all the bases. They go over NHS structure as well as basic interview technique and even have a few university specific questions - I still have the pack they gave us and was going to have a look at it again for this year.
Doing some of your own prep would definitely helpful though, there are plenty of resources online that you can access for free. I got told in my mock interview that I should practice talking for a few minutes at a time in front of a mirror as I hesitated and stuttered a lot too haha, the lady said I needed to have more conviction in my answers.
Basically you could pay for a course if you think it would help, but I get the feeling you could also do just as well without if you practice enough and do your research
yeah i know but they'd probably want to send new invites off at the start of the week so they have 5 working days to go through the replies rather than leave it all to stack up over the weekend
Eh you never know, people got Bristol interviews last Friday at midnight (the time the emails were sent to them) so you never know :L
yeah but Bristol didn't need any entry tests so they've been sending them out really early. I reckon itll kick off either next week or week after
Point is, let's not making sweeping statements for all the medical admissions teams across the UK when we can only guess. Some people may get interviews today, they may not, so we shouldn't say with such assurance that no more interviews are coming this week when we don't know.