MMI
These three letters are enough to incite some level of anxiousness in any prospective medical student. Rotating round stations, switching your brain from work experience mode to ‘I need to calm down this angry actor’ can be exhausting- it can sometimes feel like your being processed through a medical student machine. Poker-faced interviewers, other polished candidates and strict timing- the perfect recipe for stress? Well not exactly…
When I started preparing I had no idea where to start, how would I be interview ready? How do I even prepare? What resources should I use?
I’m here to tell you that the MMI isn’t nearly as daunting as you might think and it’s doable- I managed to secure all 3 MMI offers and I’m here to show you how you can too.
So what are MMIs and why have most medical schools switched from panel to MMI format?
The interview is essentially a series of stations (7-15 stations). Each station lasts around 3-7 minutes and between each station, you will have a minute or two breaks to read the prompt card. This time helps to familiarise yourself with an ethical scenario or mentally prepare an answer to a question, although at some unis e.g at Kings and Imperial prompts are not given (so it’s just relaxation time in between stations).
Each candidate on the same MMI circuit will begin at a different station and you will all rotate around the room until everyone has completed each station. The whole process can take 1-2 hours.
MMIs allow medical schools to test a more varied skill set and essentially pick the best candidates ie.those with both the academic requirements and the interpersonal skills.
The focus of each station is varied and tests specific skills e.g tackling an ethical scenario, communication/ empathy in a role play station, understanding of a career in medicine in a debate station and so on.
Essentially the aim is to assess whether you possess the right attitude and skills necessary to be a doctor.
MMI vs Panel
Here’s a little comparison table so that you’re familiar with the two main types
| MMI | Panel |
| More showing – you can demonstrate the skills that you have | More telling |
| Different interviewer at each station so less likely to have interviewer bias (fairer) | Fixed interview environment |
| Can forget and move on if you mess up a station- you have a fresh start | It’s kind of awkward to move on if you’ve messed up |
| Less easy to establish a rapport with the interviewer- sometimes the interviewers can only ask a fixed set of questions | Easier to establish a rapport and have a more smooth flowing conversation |
| Fewer generic why medicine questions | It’s more common to have these standard questions at the start of a panel interview |
| Generally, the interviewer at each station will not know anything about your application e.g personal statement/ grades | Panel interviews are open interviews, the interviewers will have read your personal statement/ have it in front of them. |
Now that that’s out of the way let’s dive into the HOW. How did I go about preparing?
How long did I prepare for?
I did about a month of preparation. After the BMAT had finished I began preparing for interviews in November with my first interview in December ( although some interviews e.g Kings can happen as early as mid-November!)
A month of solid preparation will get you far, just make sure you are comfortable articulating your experiences and thought processes- we’re just trying to get into the swing of things.
Was my preparation effective?
I and many of my friends also applying for medicine found that using the tips below well equipped us with the skills needed to tackle any MMI station (although there are bound to be a few surprise stations on the day, using the skills you have developed you’ll have the confidence to tackle them).
Tip no. 1
Read the GMC guidelines.
Perhaps one of the most underrated resources but I would attribute a large proportion of my success at interviews to having read these booklets. They provide you with a solid FOUNDATION.
You can get free copies of the booklets sent to your doorstep or access them all online (I’ve just checked and due to covid they’ve suspended hard copies but you can still access the online versions).
Skim through the booklets and underline nice wordings that you can weave into your answer.
Pay attention to the protocol surrounding different scenarios- for example, there is guidance on when mistakes are made when a patient complains when you are raising a concern (whistleblowing), confidentiality, consent etc. Essentially all ethical interview questions are picked from this guidance, read it carefully and revisit it throughout your preparation.
Here are some examples if you need some extra convincing…
‘ You must promote and encourage a culture that allows all staff to raise concerns openly and safely. You must take prompt action if you think that patient safety, dignity or comfort is or may be severely compromised..’
This could be linked to an ethical dilemma on whistleblowing.
‘ You must give patients the information they want or need to know in a way they can understand. You should make sure arrangements are made, wherever possible, to meet the patients’ language and communication needs’
Domain 3: Communication, partnership and teamwork
‘You must make sure that your conduct justifies your patients’ trust in you and the public’s trust in the profession’
Acting with honesty and integrity
‘You must always be honest about your experience, qualifications and current role’
Domain 4: Maintaining Trust
Tip no.2
Practice questions ALOUD.
Practice a range of questions.
The first step to this is to find yourself some RESOURCES.
A great free resource is the Medic Portal Interview question bank
Other resources that I used:
ISC Medical Interview book- packed full of potential interview questions under every category- this book is very comprehensive. My only reservation with this book is that if you simply read the question and then read the example answer it can somewhat limit creativity in thinking, so make sure to always try and speak your answer aloud before reading the example answer. Additionally, as most applicants have this book, coming up with your original thoughts/ approaches will help you stand out.
Blackstone tutors online question bank- even more practice questions in case you run out.
When preparing I had a notebook where I would jot down some bullet points for each question (I’d give myself say 2-3 mins thinking time before I said it aloud).
Tip no. 3
This is going to be hard, but RECORD yourself.
I did this for two reasons: It can help with timing and by listening to yourself back with a ‘critical’ mindset you can pick up on whether you waffle, say ‘um’ too many times and it may even prompt you to come up with a better structure when answering the question. Do this for a couple of your responses and reflect on what you could improve.
Tip no.4
Get feedback.
Whilst sitting in your room talking and recording to yourself may seem easy to do (but also rather strange) it simply isn’t going to mimic anywhere near what a real MMI would be.
So try and get family members, friends, teachers to give you some feedback or perhaps try and arrange a mock interview with school or any health professionals you may know.
You could give a parent a list of questions and get them to randomly choose a couple, that way you are thinking on your feet.
Tip no. 5
Do a practice MMI.
Try an organise a mock MMI in school or you could go on a course- I went on a mock MMI course and found it was helpful.
Tip no.6
Know the ins and outs of your Medical School’s MMI. Do the research.
Often medical schools will either send or you can find details about the format of the MMI online, i.e the number and duration of the stations, what the focus of different stations are (work experience, communication), how many role plays/ drug calculation stations there are etc.
All in all, there will be fewer surprises on the day.
Tip no. 7
Pick up on cues in role plays. Listen carefully.
Role plays are all about having awareness about how the actor is feeling. If they mention they failed their exams follow this up, offer your support, explore how they are feeling.
Although the task on the prompt may be to simply help an elderly person fill out a form, the actual test lies in the deeper layers of the conversation, they may reveal that they feel isolated or are worried about their health- pick up on these cues and explore them, don’t simply ignore them and rush ahead with completing the task.
Tip no. 8
Have an arsenal of examples.
You’re likely to already have prepared some examples of when you have demonstrated good communication, leadership and teamwork in your personal statement. Brush up on these examples and make sure you are comfortable explaining how you demonstrated these skills.
However, also prepare for more obscure questions, for example, a time when you made a mistake, something you regret, a time when you didn’t communicate well, an example of failed teamwork, a time when you struggled with something and what you did to resolve it.
Tip no. 9
Keep up to date with medical hot topics.
Read the BBC health section every day, sign up the the medic portal weekly email newsletter that summarises the hot topics and also prepare some thoughts around debate topics such as euthanasia, legalisation of cannabis, treating people with self-inflicted illnesses etc. Brainstorm for and against points for these topics but make sure your reasoned conclusion is in line with medical guidelines e.g doctors have a duty to treat all patients non-judgmentally thus discriminating on the basis of ‘self-inflicted diseases’ compromises the equality of care and marginalises individuals in the community.
Tip no. 10
Read the prompt carefully.
Use the time before each station to carefully read the prompt if the station is a role play make sure you are clear on what your ‘role’ is and act accordingly.
So to conclude this post, with consistent practice with feedback you will without a doubt improve your approach to MMI style questions. Remember, it’s not about rote learning answers to as many questions as you can, you’re trying to equip yourselves with the skills needed to tackle any question. If you’re lucky you’ll get similar ones on the day.
I’d love to hear what you thought of this post down below 🙂