Multiple Mini-Interview Preparation

How do I prepare for Multiple Mini-Interviews (MMI)?

During the application process, I found preparing for the MMIs to be the most stressful. This is due to a couple of factors. To start there is very little reliable information on the Internet. This is compounded by the fact that applicants sign confidentiality agreements prior to interviews, thus making useful online information scarce. The available information is often riddled with inaccuracies, speculation, or “expert” advice that turns out not to be so… expert. Furthermore, it’s also difficult to gauge how well you did on an interview as applicants generally do not get feedback.

MMI’s are designed to be a reflection of your non-academic qualities, and theoretically, it’s developed so that you can’t prepare for it. However, you can develop the thought process involved. When you’re presented with a prompt, you need to identify the issues involved, discuss the implications and ramifications, come up with examples, integrate this information, and articulate it in a clear coherent manner. A good answer will take awhile to formulate, and with practice and stock examples, you get faster and more efficient. So while you can’t really “prepare” for an MMI as the prompts vary, the styles of questions remain relatively similar and you could develop your thought process.

You will need to prepare for three general areas: Ethics, Health Care, and Personal.

Ethics

A basic understanding of ethical dilemmas in medicine is required. You do not have to be an expert, but only demonstrate rudimentary understanding and the ability to work through ethical issues, see different perspectives and come to a reasonable conclusion. To prepare, if you read Doing Right and work through 20 or so situations, you would be more than prepared. When you first start to work through scenarios, it may be difficult, so I would recommend spending 30-60 minutes PER scenario, and spend as much time as you can trying to consider as many perspectives and ramifications as possible. As time progresses, you’d be able to whittle this down to 2-5 minutes, so you could easily formulate an answer while standing outside the door. This is crucial.

In addition, the Canadian Medical Association Journal has a series on bioethics, it’s not necessary reading, but a good resource to fill in the ‘gaps’ in Doing Right or to get a deeper discussion of a specific topic.

Link here.

Health Care

A basic understanding of the health care system and current issues is required. You do not need to be an expert, most of the prompts will simply require you to weigh pros and cons of a system. (See specific post)

Personal
When I prepared for MMIs, I mistakenly made the assumption that there would be very few traditional interview questions. How many standard interview questions you get will depend on the school, but you will get them, at every single school. So you need to know your CV inside and out, forwards and backwards, and in every direction imaginable. It is a good idea to have a personal experience that demonstrates every good and bad quality you could be asked about. Treat an MMI as a standard interview on steroids and you’ll be set.