Interview Part 2

So last time I talked a bit about the Adelaide interview, how that went for me and the lessons I learned from my “practice” interview. Today I would like to tell you a little bit about how the Monash interview panned out: it’s definitely something that I think anyone interested in medicine should be well aware of as early as possible. Interviews are a completely unique form of assessment and one that you won’t really find outside of the medical field. At Monash the interview process is called the MMI or multiple mini interview. This procedure was developed at Canada’s Macmaster University as a way of selecting post-graduate medical students. Since then, it has been used in medical school exams, physicians exams and medical school entry. Essentially the interview consists of 8 stations, each of which you will be given 8 minutes to answer or respond to a set prompt which can be anything from ethics, education, dealing with crisis or politics. Between each of the stations, you will be given 2 minutes reading time in order to organize your thoughts. There are no other breaks in between the stations making it a very intense but quick 80 minutes. So now that I have explained the basic structure, let me tell you about how my interview day went.
 

Monash

I woke up at 5 in spite of my interview being at 9 and it only taking me 1 hour to get there by car. I was not making the mistake of being late like I did at Adelaide- lesson learnt! I made sure to eat a lot of breakfast because on my interview offer, it had mentioned it was going to be a long day. 1 hour briefing pre-interview, roughly 80 minutes for the interview and then the worst part 4 hours of post interview sequestering. We couldn’t take anything into the interview center but ourselves so I knew I was going to need a lot of food to get through the day.

Similar to Adelaide, I turned up and proceeded to register my name and prove my identity in a 100 different ways. Unlike Adelaide, there was no snacks or nice medical students to talk to us and calm us down. Instead, we were put into a lecture hall with around 20 fellow interviewees and told that the briefing would commence shortly.  This is probably the most intimidating part of the day because you see your competition and they are spectacular. Their achievements run for miles and all in all they are just nice, confident-looking people.  It’s important not to get bogged down here and remember that you are also here for a reason and that you deserve your shot- so make it count. That thought process is what kept me calm through the briefing process. 

During the briefing, they explained how the process would work, how it was important to get from station to station quickly and that there were no breaks between stations. This was the last opportunity to go to the bathroom and even though I didn’t, I strongly advise all of you to take it! After this we were frog marched to another building where the previous group of students had just finished their interviews and were being taken to a 6 hour sequestering period. I didn’t envy their 6 hour wait but their gaunt, spent facial expressions didn’t exactly fill me with confidence.  I didn’t have much time to dwell however as before I could blink I had my back against the door of the first station waiting for that first bell to start what would be the most hectic 80 minutes of my life.  

*Bring* It was like a starter pistol and I just dived into the stations. The whole time was just a blur and before I knew it all of it was. The confidentially agreement they made me sign immediately afterwards stops me from talking about the details of the stations or the interviewers but what I can tell you is that I don’t think I stopped talking for the entire 80 minutes, even between stations! Looking back that is probably the best advice I can give is that each station is designed not to get the “right” answer but test your thought process and structure. So develop a set structure to answer questions but DON’T STOP TALKING. You aren’t going to lose marks for saying too much but you might for not saying enough and not thinking about different aspects. Also stay away from polarizing responses, always think about pros and cons as opposed to right and wrong.

Unfortunately there is no advice I can give you to deal with the 4 hour sequestering period after the interviews. Generally this period is just there so that there is no communication between candidates doing the interview on the same day and looking at the same prompts. One suggestion I will make however is that you avoid talking about the details of the interviews with the other candidates. The old saying “hindsight is 20/20” rings true here so discussing things might just make you unnecessarily upset. This doesn’t mean isolate yourself from the others, it’s a 4 hour period, you are going to need some company! So make some friends because odds are among these candidates are your future coursemates

Overall, my one regret from my Monash Interview was my lack of preparation. Sure, I did a little bit of practice with a few friends but I really wish I had some structure to my preparation and a lot more material. This is where a prep course can be of huge benefit. There are tutors who have had first hand experience through the trials and tribulations of the day and can direct you in the optimal direction to succeed in those interviews. If I can leave you with one final piece of advice it’s this: throughout your entire interview day and preparation- as tough as it is- don’t compare yourself with your peers and focus on self-improvement. Getting caught up in how other people are answering will just distract you from your own structure and thought processes

Happy Studying!