MMI Interview Done Right - Part I: Resources

[ArdentMed]

The following is how I, as a current Canadian medical school student, would go about preparing for medical school interviews.Other people may prepare themselves differently. Some people even say that you cannot prepare for medical school interviews. The multiple mini interview (MMI), for example, is often thought to be impossible to prepare for. I am here to tell you that practice makes perfect. This applies to everything in life. Whether it involves preparing for an organic chemistry test, preparing to give a speech in front of an audience, or practicing for an upcoming driving test, practice is a key element to success. Preparing for the MMI and similar formats of interviews is similar to any other challenge you have faced in life. Practice makes progress.

Does which school you are applying to matter?

Seeing as to how I was accepted to multiple schools, I do not see why it would not work at any school that interviews students in the MMI format. Whether that is McMaster, UofT, Queens, McGill, Dalhousie, UBC, or any other school you have your sites on, MMI preparation is a skill that can be improved.

Part 1: Resources

1.      A partner: You need someone to practice with on a weekly basis. Review recent health care articles together and ask each other prompts. Providing feedback for each other is crucial to learning from your mistakes.

2.      Practice prompts: There are quite a few resources available such as UBC's own medical school (http://science-student.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2014/01/Sample-Questions-2013-2014.pdf). The best ones include answers to the questions (http://TeachDoctor.com/interview-questions/ ). If you want to improve your interviewing skills, it would make sense to simulate questions from the interview. This website includes in-depth answers from medical students. You can answer all the prompts in the world but how do you know if your answers are what the interviewers are looking for? This is why it is helpful to have a resource that provides helpful responses that you can practice with.

3.      Medical Ethics: Ethics in Medicine (URL: http://depts.washington.edu/bioethx/topics/index.html). You are not expected to be a walking encyclopedia when it comes to medical ethics. Medical schools understand that incoming students should only have some knowledge on this topic.    

4.      Doing Right: A Practical Guide to Medical Ethics by Herbert. This book is held in high regard by a great deal of students. Does it actually help? I personally believe that the University of Washington’s online lessons are more than enough (see link 2). This book is an enjoyable read, but it does not involve enough active recall and practice. Reading it is a passive task that does not help in preparing you for the interview.

5.      Communication and rapport: You should demonstrate an ability to establish rapport with patients. Obviously, there are indicators that people convey to the interviewer that they can or cannot convey empathy and consideration for other peoples’ perspectives.  You should read the American Medical Association’s 6 tips on how to understand patients (URL: https://wire.ama-assn.org/education/6-simple-ways-master-patient-communication). Again, there are many books on this topic. But the main idea is that you want to convey empathy and establish rapport with patients.

Medical schools want to produce doctors who truly care for their patient. As a matter of fact, rapport and understanding the perspective of others is a central aspect of medicine.

 

[MacMed2018]

I don't know why so many premeds still bother reading Doing Right ????

I would have answered differently re: the prompt about "A 14 year old patient requests birth control pills from you and asks that you not tell her parents. What would you do?"  Didn't look at the remaining prompts and answers.

For starters, I like that they break down the pros and the cons but they ultimately justify that the ambiguity of the information given is enough to break confidentiality.  I practiced a similar situation when I was applying and I was told, you have to think about who you're advocating for.  Is it the 14 yo or their parents? It's obvious it should be the 14 yo patient.  Then are you have to assess their safety and whether there is any explicit information in the prompt? In this case not really ... It's acceptable to explore the possible concerns around a minor having sex with someone over 18 but we know for a fact because the patient does not want her parents to know.  Is her behavior causing a risk to anyone? Not likely.   You would NEED to make a HUGE assumption in saying that she is at risk of sexual abuse just because she is having sex at 14 and then further justify breaking confidentiality and not being an advocate for your patient.   In this situation, I disagree that the physician would be taking a leadership role in the situation by alerting the parents to gather more information on the matter.   At the end of the day, unless your patient tells you otherwise and you have strong evidence not to believe them, you want to give them the benefit of the doubt and maximize their trust. 

Just putting it out there that while practice is a must for these interviews, keep in mind the basics and you'll do well on your interview!

 

[lulu95]

On 5/31/2017 at 8:51 PM, ArdentMed said:

The following is how I, as a current Canadian medical school student, would go about preparing for medical school interviews.Other people may prepare themselves differently. Some people even say that you cannot prepare for medical school interviews. The multiple mini interview (MMI), for example, is often thought to be impossible to prepare for. I am here to tell you that practice makes perfect. This applies to everything in life. Whether it involves preparing for an organic chemistry test, preparing to give a speech in front of an audience, or practicing for an upcoming driving test, practice is a key element to success. Preparing for the MMI and similar formats of interviews is similar to any other challenge you have faced in life. Practice makes progress.

Does which school you are applying to matter?

Seeing as to how I was accepted to multiple schools, I do not see why it would not work at any school that interviews students in the MMI format. Whether that is McMaster, UofT, Queens, McGill, Dalhousie, UBC, or any other school you have your sites on, MMI preparation is a skill that can be improved.

Part 1: Resources

1.      A partner: You need someone to practice with on a weekly basis. Review recent health care articles together and ask each other prompts. Providing feedback for each other is crucial to learning from your mistakes.

2.      Practice prompts: There are quite a few resources available such as UBC's own medical school (http://science-student.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2014/01/Sample-Questions-2013-2014.pdf). The best ones include answers to the questions (http://TeachDoctor.com/interview-questions/ ). If you want to improve your interviewing skills, it would make sense to simulate questions from the interview. This website includes in-depth answers from medical students. You can answer all the prompts in the world but how do you know if your answers are what the interviewers are looking for? This is why it is helpful to have a resource that provides helpful responses that you can practice with.

3.      Medical Ethics: Ethics in Medicine (URL: http://depts.washington.edu/bioethx/topics/index.html). You are not expected to be a walking encyclopedia when it comes to medical ethics. Medical schools understand that incoming students should only have some knowledge on this topic.    

4.      Doing Right: A Practical Guide to Medical Ethics by Herbert. This book is held in high regard by a great deal of students. Does it actually help? I personally believe that the University of Washington’s online lessons are more than enough (see link 2). This book is an enjoyable read, but it does not involve enough active recall and practice. Reading it is a passive task that does not help in preparing you for the interview.

5.      Communication and rapport: You should demonstrate an ability to establish rapport with patients. Obviously, there are indicators that people convey to the interviewer that they can or cannot convey empathy and consideration for other peoples’ perspectives.  You should read the American Medical Association’s 6 tips on how to understand patients (URL: https://wire.ama-assn.org/education/6-simple-ways-master-patient-communication). Again, there are many books on this topic. But the main idea is that you want to convey empathy and establish rapport with patients.

Medical schools want to produce doctors who truly care for their patient. As a matter of fact, rapport and understanding the perspective of others is a central aspect of medicine.

 

Quite true. A big issue with reading Doing Right for MMI prep is that they are set situations, and give you so more information than you would expect in an MMI scenario, so you don't get practice with the habit of thinking of prompts to obtain relevant information. It's an interesting read if you have the time, but I've found it more helpful to just read up on ethical principles and spend time practicing with another human being, or even out loud to yourself. Moreover, the situations won't really apply if you're interviewing somewhere that doesn't do medicine-related questions like McGill; it will be useful, however, to know how ethical principles can apply to daily life.

Speaking of which, when you exhaust the list of practice prompts, which you will (there are only so many, and if you practice with others, you'll have seen the prompts where you've been the interviewer), make up your own conflict scenarios. You'll have gotten a sense of what prompts are like, and there is no shortage of possible real-life conflicts to act out. And, ask your "interviewer" to take notes during the scenario, it'll help with getting as much feedback as possible, as they may forget things as the situation goes on.

[ArdentMed]

 

On 6/2/2017 at 0:17 PM, lulu95 said:

Quite true. A big issue with reading Doing Right for MMI prep is that they are set situations, and give you so more information than you would expect in an MMI scenario, so you don't get practice with the habit of thinking of prompts to obtain relevant information. It's an interesting read if you have the time, but I've found it more helpful to just read up on ethical principles and spend time practicing with another human being, or even out loud to yourself. Moreover, the situations won't really apply if you're interviewing somewhere that doesn't do medicine-related questions like McGill; it will be useful, however, to know how ethical principles can apply to daily life.

Speaking of which, when you exhaust the list of practice prompts, which you will (there are only so many, and if you practice with others, you'll have seen the prompts where you've been the interviewer), make up your own conflict scenarios. You'll have gotten a sense of what prompts are like, and there is no shortage of possible real-life conflicts to act out. And, ask your "interviewer" to take notes during the scenario, it'll help with getting as much feedback as possible, as they may forget things as the situation goes on.

I agree. In addition to answering prompts (preferably ones that have solutions or have been answered by someone knowledgeable), it also helps to generate your own prompts based on common topics and current events.