How long do people prepare for MMIs?

[Naruto]

Just trying to get a general idea of hiw much preparation and practice people do. 

[Mithril]

I remember I started preparing in December, and my interviews started in mid-February. Usually twice a week with a practice group.

[Naruto]

8 hours ago, Mithril said:

I remember I started preparing in December, and my interviews started in mid-February. Usually twice a week with a practice group.

 

Thanks. I was thinking 2ish months would be good.

[Bambi]

In my view, you have been preparing for the MMI your entire lifetime by virtue of your accumulated life experiences, the more diverse and difficult, the better. Accordingly, I had my s.o. fire away questions while we were driving in the car and otherwise, there was no real preparation per se. I simply walked in with the attitude to have fun. And this approach worked for me,.

[goleafsgochris]

1 hour ago, Bambi said:

In my view, you have been preparing for the MMI your entire lifetime by virtue of your accumulated life experiences, the more diverse and difficult, the better. Accordingly, I had my s.o. fire away questions while we were driving in the car and otherwise, there was no real preparation per se. I simply walked in with the attitude to have fun. And this approach worked for me,.

 

With no disrespect at all to Bambi I could not disagree more.

Ive heard this opinion before.  Like you might guess, its sort of the "idyllic/pie in the sky" interview approach.  I'm sure it works (it clearly worked for Bambi), but tbh it likely only works for people who are naturally exceptional at interviews.  These people will be successful in interview situations if they come hung over and don't sleep the night before--it comes easily to them.

If interviewing doesn't come easily to you (this was the case with me), PREPARE.  Read doing right.  Write down a list of stories from your life that correspond to various "tell me about a time when..." questions.  Turn them into cute anecdotes.  Go through lists of commonly asked interview questions and formulate answers to all of them.  

I went 3/3 in med school interviews using this approach, and I am nowhere near a good interviewee.  You will have to decide if youre more like me or Bambi.

[Bambi]

It is healthy to have differing approaches as to how to prepare for the MMI. I verily believe that whereas one may be able to netter prepare for a regular Panel Interview, preparations for the MMI can be less helpful - given that the type of questions or scenarios can be almost literally anything. It is difficult to prepare for this other than to be on your toes and your normal, critical thinking, problem solving self. In my view, it is more likely than not that you won't be able to use anything you have rehearsed into the MMI. In fact, to task the edge off, it is worthwhile to go into it on the basis that you are attending a practice run, which will reduce or eliminate performance anxiety. I simply walked in with confidence in myself and the feeling this was going to be a fun experience. And I let the chips fall where they may. I never considered myself exceptional at interviews, never really had any up to this point in my life, but I was relaxed. So much depends upon your own confidence level, your ability to deal with stress or to use techniques to eliminate stress and your accumulated life experiences. Happy New Year to all and I wish success to all interviewees!

[Mithril]

I think preparing for MMI interviews is just as valid as preparing for panel interviews. You can rehearse certain answers or come up with examples from your own experiences for various questions, or practice how to construct a coherent argument or answer to a question. Just like how essays can follow a basic outline, so too can answering MMI prompts. That kind of organisation and structure can be learned and practiced for an MMI interview. Similarly, being more comfortable with the MMI format instills confidence, and certain detrimental mannerisms like using too many filler words or poor eye contact can be worked on when preparing for an MMI.

[frenchpress]

2 hours ago, Mithril said:

I think preparing for MMI interviews is just as valid as preparing for panel interviews. You can rehearse certain answers or come up with examples from your own experiences for various questions, or practice how to construct a coherent argument or answer to a question. Just like how essays can follow a basic outline, so too can answering MMI prompts. That kind of organisation and structure can be learned and practiced for an MMI interview. Similarly, being more comfortable with the MMI format instills confidence, and certain detrimental mannerisms like using too many filler words or poor eye contact can be worked on when preparing for an MMI.

Agree completely. I think there are many different approaches to preparing, and the important thing is to practice and find strategies that help you.

I personally found that trying to rehearse specific answers didn’t help me very much. But just practicing thinking on my feet and putting together coherent arguments was invaluable. I came into my interview practice with a huge amount of on-my-feet public-speaking experience (I was a teacher), but I still found that it took quite a bit of practice with the mmi format to feel like I could put together my answers in an organized way that I was happy with.

I think practicing in certain ways can also really help you get to a place where you can have fun with the process. For my practice I just printed off a lot of sample questions and then met up with different friends (all non-medical friends, mostly with backgrounds in the humanities) that I felt comfortable being serious and open with, but also being silly with — so basically, people that I trusted to give me serious feedback, but who would also laugh with me when I said something I thought was dumb or lighten the mood when I was feeling too stressed. I tried to make the practice into something fun and challenging that I could enjoy doing. And so by the time I got to the interview, it was (a little) easier to have fun with it and to relax a bit.

The amount of preparation time you need will depend on how comfortable you are with the format. Do whatever amount helps you feel more confident and comfortable without stressing yourself out. Now is a great time to start — if you do some practice and you’re happy with how it goes, then thats great! Maybe you don’t need much practice. If you find it challenging, then you have quite a bit of time left to practice regularly and build your confidence.