Mmi Guide By Arztin

[Arztin]

Okay so I've been doing practice interview questions and I usually end up talking for 8 minutes straight. How can you possibly break down the problem, contemplate the different issues and then suggest possible actions in only 1-2 minutes?! I usually use 5-6 points in that time and I don't really ramble if that's what you were thinking, I just like to explain everything thoroughly. 

If you can make sure your whole argument is great, go for it. Opening statements typically will last more than a minute for sure, but just make sure you stay on topic and make sure your argument can easily be followed by another person.

[Purple13]

i.e. scenario: "your friend Kurt asks you to meet his sister Kate. Kate has cancer and stopped chemo and oncology care. Instead, she started following a guru who can apparently cure any sort of cancer with herbal voodoo traditional medicine. Knowing you are a medical student, Kurt wants you to have a good talk with his sister."

(real scenario that I had in French schools by the way)

I'd go in and say 

-hi how are you?

-actor says whatever

- Hey I know your brother Kurt pretty well. Hum this might be a bit of a sensitive topic. He asked me to talk to you about the fact that you recently stopped chemo and oncology and started following a certain guru who can cure cancer? Would it be okay with you if we talk about this?

 

Something like that, something real quick.

 

Obviously, expect to be left in the dark with a scenario that really doesn't leave you any clue. That does happen. In one of my French stations, it was something like: "Your neighbour Thierry really wants to talk to you. You don't actually really know him. You just know he likes sports, especially football" You find out what's up only once you're in.

 

Could you possibly give us some insight regarding your answer/approach for this type of question? What would you tell the sister? What if she is insistent that you are wrong and that the voodoo witchdoctor person is right? 

 

Thanks!

[amont]

Thanks Arztin.

 

I have a question. I have a MMI this weekend and want to research the school a little bit.

Please let me know which areas do you suggest more (for me to do research about)?

 

I have already researched a little bit about their teaching styles, some of their laboratories, and research field that I am interested in.

 

 

Thanks

[CalvinW]

So in terms of flaws or personal challenges that we have encountered, what are the appropriate answers to say to the interviewers? Can it be trying hard and finally getting good grades, despite having a previous history of bad academic performances? Or what about having social anxiety/fear of public speaking? an it be those?

 

I'm just confused as to what are the challenges that the interviewers are expecting for the interviewees to have overcome.

[vincent56]

Bonjour Artzin,

 

J'ai une question pour les MEM (à l'université de Montréal): quand par exemple, tu es dans une mise en situation où tu dois convaincre quelqu'un (comme par exemple l'année dernière, il y avait une station où il fallait négocier une augmentation de salaire, et l'employeur me propose un ipad). Est-ce qu'il faut refuser le IPAD et insister pour l'augmentation de salaire ? Ou bien essayer de trouver un terrain d'entente ?

 

Qu'as-tu répondu pour cette station en particulier ? Et pour celle où il fallait trouver un cadeau et un endroit pour fêter l'anniversaire d'un ami avec sa soeur qui ne voulait rien entendre ?

[jtlover3]

Hellooo allll,

Anyone in the Montreal Area (even beyond) has Medical School Interviews: a Practical Guide to Help You Get That Place at Medical School - Over 150 Questions Analysed. Includes Mini-multi Interviews and willing to sell, (or lend) or know a place where I can consult/buy? I am willing to pay a reasonable price of course!

 

Thanks so much

[Heisencat]

So in terms of flaws or personal challenges that we have encountered, what are the appropriate answers to say to the interviewers? Can it be trying hard and finally getting good grades, despite having a previous history of bad academic performances? Or what about having social anxiety/fear of public speaking? an it be those?

 

I'm just confused as to what are the challenges that the interviewers are expecting for the interviewees to have overcome.

 

Be honest - don't give a canned response, based on what you think they are looking for. Your examples seem fine to me, as long as they are actual struggles for you. Be sure to talk about what you've done specifically to overcome it... Talk with passion. That's what I think would be nice to see if I was in the interviewer's shoes. 

[gr4v1ty]

You Arztin, went to the MMI last year!  I recognize some of these!

[Doctor_Dre]

To Arztin and other Quebec applicants:

 

For the quebec MEMs there has been a debate on whether you should enter and give a 7-minute speech non-stop, or give a concise 2-3 minute answer to the original question on the prompt and then expect follow questions to complete your answer. How did you guys structure your answers? For most of them I started off with a very long answer (essay style, intro, points, conclusion), expecting there to be no follow up questions. Sometimes I rambled/repeated, sometimes I didn't.

 

Which method do you guys think is better? I fear that if the interviewers are expecting short answers and you give them a long one, even if it is good, it may be overwhelming for them, confuse them and get them lost...I could have been short and concise to start off but my worse fear would be the interviewer replying ''Is that all you have to say?''...At least now I know that in Quebec they have follow-up questions laid out for you already so if I do it again next year I won't pressure myself to have a long elaborate speech at the beginning.

[Username92]

I definitely did not give long answers, except when they asked me to describe some achievements in my life in some stations.

 

For the role-playing stations, I kept my answers short and succinct, and tried to interact as much as possible with the actors, and have them actively participating in the conversation.

 

For the discussions, I did not answer essay-style, but I did look for a way to simplify my overall thought process by finding a main point to which I could hang on for a few minutes, explaining whatever needed to be explained without diverting too much from that main point. Example: I had to extrapolate data from something something, I drew down the pyramid of Maslow for the interviewer to see since it was one easy element from which I could start a deep and complete discussion, and kept referring to it constantly to organise my thoughts and simplify the structure and flow of my discussion

 

So I definitely think long, non-stop answers are a no-no most of the time: you end up lost in your speech and thoughts. Plus I remember them saying specifically at the interview that they want us to sound natural: going long-answer, intro-dev-conclusion doesn't really follow that recommendation

[Doctor_Dre]

I definitely did not give long answers, except when they asked me to describe some achievements in my life in some stations.

 

For the role-playing stations, I kept my answers short and succinct, and tried to interact as much as possible with the actors, and have them actively participating in the conversation.

 

For the discussions, I did not answer essay-style, but I did look for a way to simplify my overall thought process by finding a main point to which I could hang on for a few minutes, explaining whatever needed to be explained without diverting too much from that main point. Example: I had to extrapolate data from something something, I drew down the pyramid of Maslow for the interviewer to see since it was one easy element from which I could start a deep and complete discussion, and kept referring to it constantly to organise my thoughts and simplify the structure and flow of my discussion

 

So I definitely think long, non-stop answers are a no-no most of the time: you end up lost in your speech and thoughts. Plus I remember them saying specifically at the interview that they want us to sound natural: going long-answer, intro-dev-conclusion doesn't really follow that recommendation

 

Thank you for the reply, it helped a lot. I also realized that as an interviewer, I would have preferred receiving succinct answers rather than a speech. Oh well, I guess it's definitely something to consider for next year. Did anyone ever run into a point where they ran out of questions to be asked from the interviewer (since at Quebec I am 99% sure they have a pre-established list of follow-up questions)

[Username92]

I did the McGill and the French interviews this cycle, and only once did I run out of things to say, at one of the French stations: they asked us weird questions about our neighborhood and our implications with it, and implications for the community in general. 1 min before end of time, the interviewer smiled and said, ''Ok, thanks, that's all'' (in French, off course). For the rest of the minute I tried to engage in small talk, didn't work out  But after talking to other candidates post-interview, I wasn't the only one who fell short on that station.

 

Every single other stations in both my McGill and French interviews, they had more questions that I could answer to

 

So yeah, the key is succinct and natural!

 

Edit: It doesn't mean that if you have a lot to say on a particular subject, you have to restrain yourself: just make it feel like it is a discussion with a person, not an essay!

[omega109]

I also did the french MMI and the McGill one in this cycle and at several times (at both occasions), they told me that their questions were over. However, most of the times, the interview ran off time some seconds later. 

 

But in one station at McGill, I clearly completed all the questions, and the interviewer tried to invent some new ones to pass the time left. 

 

I think that it doesn't really matter if you produce long answers or small ones, the key is really to use logical and clear arguments. 

 

In my case, I answer pretty quickly to the french MEM, and I got a score in the top 5 %, so whatever the type of interviewee you are, just be clear and logical and everything will be fine !

[Mansi@30]

Thanks for sharing your valuable answer to me. It would be grateful to us.

[Elijah989]

Thank you for this guide! Really helpful