Any Current Mcmaster Students? Interview Prep Advice

[OntarioHopefully]

Hi all I am looking to talk to any current McMaster students that used an interview prep company to help them; whether you found it helpful or not, I would love to hear about it. If you found it wasn't necessary and other resources were more useful - would also be great to learn more. Happy to discuss here or through PM. I am really nervous for this interview (it may be my only shot), and thus would really appreciate any advice!! Thank you

[ameltingbanana]

For the most part not necessary IMO - practice with friends and colleagues and family (ideally friends though, family don't give you objective feedback). You can find tons of MMI question banks online - most are pretty valuable and representative of overall themes the questions are trying to get at. 

 

Universities also often offer free MMI workshops and the like (I know Western did when I was a student there) - make sure you check out your school's career centre or the equivalent.

 

Edit: this website also has tons of random prep groups forming, I would check out one of these before spending potentially large amounts of $$ on private prep companies.

[lisasimpson]

c2019 here! i'd agree with the above, i don't think a prep company is necessary. it's really just about practice and getting comfortable with the structure of the answer you want to aim for. there are tons of freely available sample questions online and you can find other people to practice with either IRL or via skype (I did both and it was helpful). MMI workshops through universities are also a great idea. for mac specifically i'd also say pay attention to current events and social issues.

[Algernon]

Was just wondering what you guys would recommend for the proper answer structure of an MMI question. Would it just be 1) identify the issue, 2) present sides of the issue, 3) pick one side of the issue and justify?

[lisasimpson]

Was just wondering what you guys would recommend for the proper answer structure of an MMI question. Would it just be 1) identify the issue, 2) present sides of the issue, 3) pick one side of the issue and justify?

 

Yep, pretty much! I think it's important also to strike a good balance of presenting the different perspectives but also not being afraid to say exactly what your own opinion is. I definitely wasn't decisive enough on one of my stations and the evaluator had to prod me into actually making a firm statement. If something is important to you and you feel strongly about it, it's good to let that show.

[MacMed2018]

Hi all I am looking to talk to any current McMaster students that used an interview prep company to help them; whether you found it helpful or not, I would love to hear about it. If you found it wasn't necessary and other resources were more useful - would also be great to learn more. Happy to discuss here or through PM. I am really nervous for this interview (it may be my only shot), and thus would really appreciate any advice!! Thank you

 

If it's your only shot, it may be worth it to ensure you're doing the best you can to prepare.  Practicing with other applicants is alright but as you're all trying to get in, your perspectives are likely going to be different from the people assessing you.  Instead, practice with current med students, residents and adcoms if you can.  Most people on here are rather stingy when it comes to paying for any kind of support.   I can see their point as it's easy to get bad advice and even worse so when you're paying for it.  

 

Truth is there are lots of people in my class who paid for interview help including myself.  If you want the name of the person that worked with me and the others in the my class, just pvt me.

 

Good Luck!

[socialmedicine]

Check out the following link: 

 

http://forums.premed101.com/index.php?/topic/78064-how-i-improved-my-mmi/