Multiple Mini Interview Advice for Interviewees

Due to a number of requests I am going to impart the advice I would give those people to everyone, about how I believe one can be best prepared for a MMI. Note that I bombed my traditional interview through lack of preparation and so I won't provide any information on the traditional interview. The areas I believe are important for the interview are: communication ability, ethical reasoning, and manual dexterity for some. If you have more please feel free to add them.

1. Communication competence is the main quality of an applicant that cannot be assessed by a personal statement or reference. MMIS involve stations involving roleplay or talking to an interviewer about a statement. For the latter it is simple enough to say that you should be able to coherently talk about everything in that PS. For the roleplay scenarios you may be talking to someone playing one of many roles including: deaf/blind, learning difficulties, foreign, elderly, child, upset friend. You need to be able to act in a very special way that shows how you deal with people like this. Don't have a 'treat everyone the same' attitude', tailor your chat to the person. Here are a few tips on how you can prepare:

-get a job/volunteer requiring you to talk to people such as the elderly or children. practice makes perfect.

-learn to ask open questions instead of closed questions. This is a great tool for eliciting a lot of information quickly and is used in healthcare extensively for questioning patients. I suggest googling this and becoming aware of how to use it.

-if you struggle to come up with a quick coherent answer to questions try practicing doing a 2 minute speech on a topic your friends or parents just decide immediately before you start. A good club for doing this is 'Toastmasters' which is in most cities in the UK. I believe many schools have a similar club. If not, why not ask an english teacher to start one at lunch?

I reiterate this: COMMUNICATION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING BEING ASSESSED AT THE MULTIPLE MINI INTERVIEW!

2. Ethical Reasoning is something some people manage more than others. Should HIV positive patient controlled on a medication be allowed to practice dentistry? Should a homosexual be prevented from giving blood? Should I give money to a homeless man? It is hard to decide on these but my approach worked well in the interview. I used a structured approach to take the interviewer through what I thought the dilemma was, what was involved in my decision making and what my decision was. I believe taking the interviewer through the journey is the best way forward in this. I have found a good link explaining roughly what I did: http://www2.mysanantonio.com/client_pdfs/ElderAbuseHCTCEU8-10.pdf . Please check it out.
REMEMBER that there is no right or wrong answer in an ethical dilemma. You just have to be able to justify it.

3. Manual dexterity is tsted by some universities. I am not going to say how I was tested but try to think about ways that you as a non-dentist could show your manual dexterity skills in an interview. Google it too. I think all the manual dexterity tests I had are up there on the internet.

Miscellaneous
Read the instructions at the station and don't be bullied into starting too early. It helps to even clarify with the station assessor if you need to.

Be able to reflect on a mistake or something you have done that you could have done better. This is a big part of CPD when you qualify.

Wear smart clothing and don't try to stand out with a skinny tie or silly gelled hair. You might be a professional dentist one day, act it at the interview!

Arrive early with all your required documents, passport sized photographs and a smile on your face.

Dont' be shy about making yourself sound like the best thing since sliced bread, others won't!

Although amalgam fillings and fluoridation of water are big issues...they are not necessarily the big thing in dentistry at the moment. Keep up to date with information on dental sites. Start in places like http://www.gdc-uk.org and see how you get on. I am fascinated by air abrasion technology myself!

Most of all relax and enjoy the interview as most people wil tell you it is quite pleasant. I you can get out without talking to anyone then do!

Best of luck applicants! :biggrin:

Reply 1

eleanordavies40

Hey guys I have an mmi interview at UCLAN in december. I have heard there may be stations on puzzles or data interpretation, what is your advice to prepare for these types of stations? Is there a right or wrong answer at any of the stations? or is it more about how you communicate your point of view?

Reply 2

JeevenSD

Thanks for the info, it's great!

Reply 3

Lovebullets

Hey, i used these resources while i was preparing for my own MMI and i hope that they will be useful to anyone who needs them!

http://www.umanitoba.ca/medrehab/media/pt_mmi_presentation.pdf
http://www.my.science.ubc.ca/files/2011/01/Sample-Questions-2011-2012.pdf
http://www.lauriercc.ca/content/documents/fileItemController/Preparing%20for%20Successful%20Medical%20School%20Interviews%202012.pdf
http://uss.tufts.edu/hpa/PDF/MMI.pdf
http://zeroratio.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/MMI%20practice%20prompts
http://www.mcgill.ca/files/caps/MMI_FAQ.pdf
http://mmibook.com/free-scenarios/
http://studentdoctor.net/2011/01/the-multiple-mini-interview-for-medical-school-admissions/
http://astroffconsultants.com/multiple-mini-interview-mmi/
http://www.ehow.com/list_7223810_mmi-tips.html
http://www.medstudentsonline.com.au/f61/practice-interview-qs-25586/
http://pagingdr.net/info/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=155 :tongue:

ractice-questions-scenarios&catid=61:advice&Itemid=102
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~nss/nav/pages/school/Med%20School%20App%2012-13/MMItips.pdf
http://www.multipleminiinterview.com/mmi-questions/
http://www.futuredoctor.net/mmi-multiple-mini-interview.shtml
http://www.futuredoctor.net/questions_and_answers1.shtml
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2053619
http://www.umat.net.au/interview/mmi/
http://sydney.edu.au/medicine/future-students/pdfs/interview-training-manual.pdf
http://www.medstudentsonline.com.au/f40/mmi-guides-25873/
You are working alone in a convenience store as a cashier late at night. An older man comes in and buys a coffee. He is staggering, seems disoriented, and you smell alcohol on his breath. On the way out, he bumps into a shelf and knocks some cereal boxes off. He tries to put the boxes back, but cannot manage this task. What actions might you take in this situation? Provide reasons for your responses.
You are on holiday at a Mexican beach resort with some friends who are staying one floor down from you. In the middle of the night, a large earthquake takes place, and the building you are in is severely damaged. You have injured your leg, suspect it might be fractured, and you hear someone yelling for help near by. What would you do?

I hope these are of help to anyone who needs them!
Credits to all the websites, i created nothing, just compiled them!

2008_09 MMI Cases.pdf314.0KB

InterviewingTips.Capers.OSU.pdf168.1KB

Interviews_MMI_AileenOBrien_JonDowell.ppt1942.5KB

medical_booklet.pdf201.4KB

med_interviews.pdf947.1KB

Practice_MMI_stations.doc29.7KB

PreparingforMMI.pdf124.4KB

pt_mmi_presentation.pdf609.6KB

Reply 4

mchammer911

i have an interview for foundation medicine at UEA does anyone know how the interview is done, i know they have stations but how many? how many people ask you questions at each station and what do they focus on at each station? ive already looked on the "what you should expect at a medical school interview" thread but it was abit confusing. thanks in advance :smile: