5 Tips to Help You Ace the MMI Interviews

Hello everyone! At this time of year, you are likely thinking about how to prepare for the medical school interview. Given the increasing importance of the interview in medical school admissions (for some universities, the interview is heavily weighted in the admissions process), it is likely that you are somewhat anxious about the prospect of the interview. These feelings are perfectly normal! Hopefully, with the information in this blog post and throughout the rest of the GradReady website, you will feel a little more equipped to tackle this next hurdle. 

The MMI Process - What to Expect

 

Once you get an interview offer, you should have a very good idea of what medical school you will be going to for your interview! The MMI differs between Australian medical schools, so always be sure to prepare appropriately. Medical schools will generally conduct interviews in September and October and you will only have one interview by schools of the GEMSAS Consortium (University of Queensland, Griffith University, University of Melbourne, Deakin University, University of Notre Dame (Fremantle/Sydney), University of Western Australia, Australian National University, Macquarie University, and University of Wollongong). Your interview score will be standardised for use by other schools if you are not successful in gaining an offer of a place at the school at which you had your interview. Interviews for universities outside of the GEMSAS Consortium (e.g., Monash University, University of Sydney, Flinders University) are conducted separately and their interview scores are not standardised for use by other schools.

So, let's dive into the Multi-Mini Interview (MMI) setup, which is the most common interview style used by medical schools. It's like a whirlwind of quickfire interviews or scenarios, each spinning around its unique setup. Imagine this: you might be tackling six to ten "mini" interviews, jam-packed into a two-hour time slot. Each mini-interview includes a short prep period before engaging in a conversation that lasts between five to eight minutes.

What's the deal with these MMI scenarios? Well, they're designed to test your knack for cracking problems, thinking logically, being a people person, and taking the ethical high road. Think about this: one scenario might ask a candidate to describe what they would do if they learned that a physician was giving patients placebos instead of actual medications. Another scenario might ask candidates to respond to a hypothetical where a senior physician is inflating the severity of a patient's condition to expedite care. How do you balance between the issues of patient well-being along with the potential consequences of misleading information? 

Other than ethical scenarios, there are also stations that involve teamwork and assess the ability to work with a partner to solve a problem. For example, you may have to instruct a team of actors in arranging a puzzle. Communication skills also can be assessed through scenarios where actors pose as patients – you may have to enter a room and comfort a crying or angry actor! General communication skills are often assessed in other stations, too; how you answer questions and explain your reasoning are all factors that the examiners may consider when grading your interview performance.

These examples above are very much the kind of scenarios you may expect in an MMI – they can be highly variable and extremely surprising. However, there is almost a guarantee that you will have at least two short interviews which are literally just interviews with one or more assessors in the room. The questions here may vary, but could involve:

So, what's the bottom line? The MMI could be loaded with surprises, but there are known stations that have regularly appeared year after year. You can bank on having at least two mini-interviews that are pretty much a basic interview with one or multiple assessors, with questions along the lines of: 

1. Ethics - e.g. Would you donate the liver to the drug user or the youngster?

2. Social policies - e.g. What is your opinion on Australia’s current asylum seeker policy?

3. Your personal choices - e.g. Why do you want to study medicine? Why would you want to be a doctor? What led you to this? What will make you a good doctor? Why this medical school?

 While the MMI format is the most common format among medical schools, some universities may use other formats, e.g. Flinders University uses a traditional panel interview. While this blog does not discuss formats other than the MMI, the tips discussed here may be generalisable to other formats. You may also find our article on How the MMI differs between Australian medical schools useful.

5 Tips for the MMI

Now, for the grand finale – my top five tips for owning that MMI:

1. DO NOT pre-design your answers for the MMI questions.

While it is good to practise for the MMI, don’t ever try to go into the MMI with a scripted performance. Examiners have a knack for spotting that overly polished act. Instead, focus on reflecting your journey – those experiences that led you right here. Chew over your thoughts, your moral compass, political stances, and how you see the hot-button issues in society. And remember, zero in on the actual question – not what you wish they asked or what you rehearsed.

2. DO be relaxed and thoughtful.

This sounds difficult – how can you be relaxed on such an important day? However, it is vital that you try to be at ease, so you can naturally show the real you. Take your time, allow for pauses and silences, and really think about your response to a question or given situation, instead of rushing through and saying the first thing that comes to mind. Remember that while that time spent thinking about what to say may seem like an eternity, it usually doesn’t come across that way to the listener, and in an interview situation the examiners expect that many people will spend time thinking before answering. Read this article written by one of our tutors about their MMI experience to learn more about how others try to stay relaxed but focused on the day.

3. DO express empathy.

This interview is primarily to demonstrate that you can express empathy toward other humans and understand what it feels like for that person, in their shoes. If you don’t have this skill naturally, don’t despair - it is something you can work on! Read literature that delves into emotions, do volunteer work for the community, and try to engage with people and hear their stories – especially if they are from a different ethnic/class/gender background to you!

4. DO tell stories.

Here's the scoop – the standouts are those who weave storytelling into their answers, especially from their own life experiences. You shouldn’t force this if it isn’t natural or if you don’t have a relevant life experience for that particular scenario. However, if there is an opportunity to demonstrate how your personal experiences relate to answering the question, do it! One way to prepare for the interview would be to reflect on some of your more meaningful life experiences so that you will have plenty of examples to draw from on the day.

5. DO be familiar with the campus area for the MMI as much as possible beforehand

It’s a good idea to do a dry run from your accommodation to the campus (or wherever your interview is held) the day before so that you can plan how you are going to get there and where exactly you need to be. 

Overall, you need to ensure you have the following broad issues in mind:

• The amount of preparation time you put in – just like anything else (e.g. preparing for the GAMSAT), you need to prepare for the interview very thoroughly.

• How you will feel on the day – will you employ relaxation techniques, ensure you get to the venue with plenty of time to spare, wear appropriate attire, etc?

• Will you tailor your interview performance to the medical school? Like an actor, a candidate must know their audience very well and mould their performance to suit the reactions and intricacies of this audience. For example, Wollongong University is typically focused on rural rotations – and so it would be intelligent and prudent to try to demonstrate your interest or experience in/with rural medicine.

 

Conclusion

Here's the scoop – not everyone making it to interviews will sail through, and even among the interviewees (depending on the school), about 50% might not obtain a medical school spot if they don't align with the strict Australian graduate medical schools admission requirements. However, if it doesn’t work out for you this time, please know that the interview is not an assessment of you as a person and there are many, many things you can do to improve your performance for subsequent years.

I hope that this blog post has helped to shed some light on the structure of the MMI, and how to do well in it. If you have any more queries or concerns, feel free to read our other blog posts on the topic of MMIs, or sign up for one of our InterviewReady courses, which include plenty of practice material for you to cut your teeth on. Best of luck!