How much health policy do I need
to know?
Most applicants are not policy experts, and you’re not expected to be. You don’t have to know a lot of health policy - most of the policy questions that you come across in MMI’s are more likely to simply involve a premise where you have to analyze the pros and cons. In all the interviews I had, I can only recall one station where the interviewer asked a policy question that required specific knowledge, and she acknowledged that most people stumbled on it. But as with all interviews topics, a little preparation goes a long way.
Most applicants are not policy experts, and you’re not expected to be. You don’t have to know a lot of health policy - most of the policy questions that you come across in MMI’s are more likely to simply involve a premise where you have to analyze the pros and cons. In all the interviews I had, I can only recall one station where the interviewer asked a policy question that required specific knowledge, and she acknowledged that most people stumbled on it. But as with all interviews topics, a little preparation goes a long way.
For
starters, you should be familiar with the five tenants of the Canada Health
Act. A general understanding of the
advantages and disadvantages of public (Canadian) vs. private (American) or
intermediates (UK) health care systems would be expected. Understand how the
health care system generally operates in Canada. Federal government sets budget
for thirteen independent health care systems, physicians bill each provincial
system, are paid on a fee-for-service basis… etc. A good understanding of the
role of different health care professionals and how they are connected is
advisable.
In
addition, you also need to be aware of some current ‘hot-topic’ health issues
as these will come up at interviews. If you keep up with the health section of
a media outlet such as CBC health, you should get a pretty good idea of what to
know. Common topics include shortage of rural physicians (know the scope of
problem, possible solutions, pros and cons of various incentives… etc), wait
times for medical procedures (a big con of the Canadian system), First Nations
health (this is a HUGE topic), medical tourism, ethics surrounding organ
transplantation.
Again, you're not expected to be a walking encyclopedia, a demonstration that you understand the main issues involved in each topic is sufficient. Here's an example of the depth of knowledge required for one such topic from my notes.
Medical Tourism
Pro's
- Cheaper treatment
- Availability of treatment
- Availability of illegal treatments
- Availability of experimental treatments
- Reduce long wait times (Canada + UK)
Con's
- Regional brain drain of local health care professionals
- Decreased (?) quality of care
- Little follow-up care
- Little legal structure for malpractice protection
- Concerns with commercialization of medical tourism
Again, you're not expected to be a walking encyclopedia, a demonstration that you understand the main issues involved in each topic is sufficient. Here's an example of the depth of knowledge required for one such topic from my notes.
Medical Tourism
Pro's
- Cheaper treatment
- Availability of treatment
- Availability of illegal treatments
- Availability of experimental treatments
- Reduce long wait times (Canada + UK)
Con's
- Regional brain drain of local health care professionals
- Decreased (?) quality of care
- Little follow-up care
- Little legal structure for malpractice protection
- Concerns with commercialization of medical tourism
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