MMI questions

[OoohShiny]

So I have my first MMI coming up and had some questions I'm hoping you guys could help me out with 🙂

1) If the prompt is one of those ethics scenarios or health policy type questions - are you expected to spend most of the 8 minutes giving your response like an essay or presentation? Or is it like a conversation and I should just give a brief 1 minute summary with the assumption that the interviewer will continue with follow-up questions?

2) Do they ever include a Why this school question?

3) Trivial question alert. Does the break station have a chair for you to sit / are you in your own room or do you just stand by a wall? Ladies out there with unbroken-in shoes may understand the importance of sitting 😛

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[Lya]

1) You won't be talking the whole 8 minutes. In some stations, you do. But in this case, especially ethics scenarios, you won't be talking the whole time. It will be most likely conversational.

2) Depending on schools, yes, I am sure they do ask traditional interview questions.

3) Also depending on schools, you might not have chairs, but I think usually they do have chairs at least as an option. I am not sure you will have your own room, though.

 

[cyaneidae]

I just had my first MMI, so I'll take a stab at your questions. However, every school does things a little differently...so my experience may not completely reflect yours.

Be that as it may,

1) It really depends on both your interviewer and how you initially start to answer the prompt. Some prompts I felt really comfortable with and so basically addressed all sides in my initial answer (and though my interviewers asked a few follow-up questions, one or two basically said I anticipated all their q's & they had nothing else to ask), others I only felt comfortable with a brief summary & so waited for follow-up questions, and still others were dependent on the interviewer (some interviewers made it like a conversation, others only asked prompt-based questions & did not respond to my responses/give me feedback).

2) Yes, sometimes--especially if you've covered the prompt thoroughly with them and have some time left over (this actually happened to me at a few stations). I also asked them the same question if we got done early at a station--how they were involved with the school, what they liked about it, etc. Got more out of the MMI because of this--varied responses and it helped me learn more about the school. Some interviewers were very succinct when I asked them questions at the end (again, only if we were done discussing the prompt) and/or only wanted to discuss the prompt, though.

3) The school I was interviewing at had multiple rest station chairs! 🙂 There was only one person on break per group at a time, though (and the groups were separated spatially where I interviewed so I was sitting in a chair by myself during my rest station).

All the MMI stations had chairs too, though, so I didn't really need the rest station to rest my feet (even though I was wearing 2-3inch pumps).

So I have my first MMI coming up and had some questions I'm hoping you guys could help me out with 🙂

1) If the prompt is one of those ethics scenarios or health policy type questions - are you expected to spend most of the 8 minutes giving your response like an essay or presentation? Or is it like a conversation and I should just give a brief 1 minute summary with the assumption that the interviewer will continue with follow-up questions?

2) Do they ever include a Why this school question?

3) Trivial question alert. Does the break station have a chair for you to sit / are you in your own room or do you just stand by a wall? Ladies out there with unbroken-in shoes may understand the importance of sitting 😛

 

[calgirl1234]

has anyone ever had an mmi station that involved working in groups? how does that work?

 

[OoohShiny]

So for question #1 replies, it seems like it depends, but I don't quite get how you know? If its intended to be conversational, then do a 5-7 minute presentation would be viewed as monopolizing the station. However if its meant as a presentation and I only give a brief overview for a minute, expecting follow up questions that never come, it's then awkward with so much excess time and also a poor response with inadequate details given.

Someone please undo my confusion 🙂

 

[Lya]

So for question #1 replies, it seems like it depends, but I don't quite get how you know? If its intended to be conversational, then do a 5-7 minute presentation would be viewed as monopolizing the station. However if its meant as a presentation and I only give a brief overview for a minute, expecting follow up questions that never come, it's then awkward with so much excess time and also a poor response with inadequate details given.

Someone please undo my confusion 🙂

There are so much variabilities among interviewers, interview prompts and schools. For my interview at Albany, we were told that we were more than welcome to "leave" the station early. For example, you will have a conversation for 3-5 minutes and you leave before 8 minute mark. But for some other applicants, their "presentations" might not be as brief as yours, so they might take the full 8 minutes for their conversations (which won't be viewed as "monopolizing"). Moreover, some questions might require more than 1-minute presentation, so I wouldn't assume that you will be able to answer thoroughly in 1 minute for every single prompt.


Here's the bottom line: Articulate what you want to say and do so without worrying about "Did I talk more than 1 minute?" Your initial answer can be 1 minute long or 3 minute long. Don't worry about it. Usually you will get follow up questions, but if not, and if you don't have any other things to add (if you have other things to add and there is spare time, you should elaborate further without relying on follow-up questions), simply say thank you for your time interviewing me and leave early if you are allowed.


I hope it helps.

 

[Lya]

has anyone ever had an mmi station that involved working in groups? how does that work?

I am not sure if there are MMI stations for a group of applicants going into the same room. I am sure there might be, but I personally didn't do it.

There could be a standardized patient or person that you are told to interact with. In that case, you just simply do so professionally and do the best you can. You aren't expected to know any particular medical knowledge, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. But, again, it depends on schools.

 

[OoohShiny]

There are so much variabilities among interviewers, interview prompts and schools. For my interview at Albany, we were told that we were more than welcome to "leave" the station early. For example, you will have a conversation for 3-5 minutes and you leave before 8 minute mark. But for some other applicants, their "presentations" might not be as brief as yours, so they might take the full 8 minutes for their conversations (which won't be viewed as "monopolizing"). Moreover, some questions might require more than 1-minute presentation, so I wouldn't assume that you will be able to answer thoroughly in 1 minute for every single prompt.


Here's the bottom line: Articulate what you want to say and do so without worrying about "Did I talk more than 1 minute?" Your initial answer can be 1 minute long or 3 minute long. Don't worry about it. Usually you will get follow up questions, but if not, and if you don't have any other things to add (if you have other things to add and there is spare time, you should elaborate further without relying on follow-up questions), simply say thank you for your time interviewing me and leave early if you are allowed.


I hope it helps.

That helps a lot, thank you for the detailed response! I'm not so worried about the actual length by minute of response, just wanted to know whether its generally expected to give a longer, thorough response that stands on its own, or just a short summary that will be further expanded and defended in follow-up questions!

I'm probably over thinking this 😛 and like you said, I just need to deliver a coherent answer of any length 🙂

 

[milkandcereal]

has anyone ever had an mmi station that involved working in groups? how does that work?

Yes. They usually have you working towards some common goal (solving a puzzle, working through a complex problem, etc.). It's just usually to see how you work in a team, offer suggestions, and respond to criticism/suggestions.

 

[milkandcereal]

3) Trivial question alert. Does the break station have a chair for you to sit / are you in your own room or do you just stand by a wall? Ladies out there with unbroken-in shoes may understand the importance of sitting 😛

Also, don't always expect there to be a rest station. Neither of my MMI's had one.

 

[Jimsy]

For those who have done MMI, did you guys have a portfolio folder with you? Would it be any help?

 

[kyamh]

For those who have done MMI, did you guys have a portfolio folder with you? Would it be any help?

At my MMI, we were asked to put away all our things - there was a room where we put all of our belongings, including the folders/pens we were given earlier in the day. Cell phones, wallets, everything.

To answer some of the other questions...

My MMI was conversational, I don't think I ever spoke more than 2 minutes and all my interviewers had follow up questions to ask.

There were two break stations and the stations consisted of a single couch that two applicants were sitting on at any given time. There was an admissions rep there...probably to make sure we didn't compare notes...and the three of us chatted about the school/interviews in general/living in the area.

I had one 'group' station where two applicants worked together. We had different roles in the task and later I came to the same station and repeated the task in the other role.

 

[snowys435]

Did you guys find that most mmi questions were ethical/ health related? I have mmis coming up as well and I was trying to figure out if i should post of my focus on preparing for ethics.

 

[milkandcereal]

Did you guys find that most mmi questions were ethical/ health related? I have mmis coming up as well and I was trying to figure out if i should post of my focus on preparing for ethics.

Depends on the school. Studying ethics prior to an MMI is a waste of time, in my opinion. The chance that a specific topic you read about will appear during one of the stations is relatively minimal. Part of the MMI is seeing how you think on your feet and whether or not you can form and express an opinion on a potentially novel topic.

 

[kyamh]

Did you guys find that most mmi questions were ethical/ health related? I have mmis coming up as well and I was trying to figure out if i should post of my focus on preparing for ethics.

Most of mine were not straight-up ethics questions, but I could imagine how ethics may play into some of the scenarios that you may be asked to act out during an MMI. In general, I find it helpful to think through a few ethics questions and find common themes: privacy, patient autonomy, mental competency, legality, confidentiality, honesty, trust, duty to uphold medical standards, education, sensitivity to cultural differences...etc. I can then come back to these themes and answer any ethics question in the context of two or more of the themes I have thought about. This technique reminds me to give a well-rounded answer (by talking about at least two themes and how they may be acting in opposition) and the technique gives me something tangible (key words/phrases) to hold on to while I try and formulate my argument in a high stress situation.

 

[eliteeli]

Is there specific MMI etiquette? Like do you introduce yourself and shake hands at every station like you would at a normal interview, or do you just jump right in to the prompt?

Also are you usually sitting or standing at each station?

 

[pyrrion89]

My MMI was conversational, I don't think I ever spoke more than 2 minutes and all my interviewers had follow up questions to ask.

Your mileage may vary. I sometimes spoke for 3-4 minutes with time for maybe one or two follow up questions. Some will be questions based off your response, while others seem to come from a pre-made list that they seem to ask every applicant. Some will have no follow ups. For those, they just talked with me casually (one interviewer was really funny and seemed to not take MMI seriously ). I'd often just talk to them about how they got into MMI and what kind of medicine they did. Others will just tell you you're done and to wait outside for the next station.

Many questions will seem to require you to take a stance or make concrete plans based off a questionable scenario presented to you. Generally, I think the best way to go is to always preface your answer by talking about how complicated the issue is, what sort of outside information may be useful, what the presented scenario lacks in information, what factors are complicating the issue, and what the most appealing candidate positions are. Then, take a position, being well-reasoned. That way you seem thoughtful and, even if the interviewer disagrees with you, he'll see you've thought through many of the issues and that you understand the other side (i.e., the side he agrees with).

 

[dsoz]

I did two MMI interviews last year.

The ediquite was different for each. One school gave us a sheet of labels with out name and AAMC ID number on it. We were to give a sticker to each interviewer when we entered the room, then introduce ourselves and start talking. The other school had us just introduce ourselves. I tried to shake the interviewer's hand whenever possible.

Ethics scenarios did happen. Know the basics of patient ethics (autonomy, benevelance, non-malifalence, etc.) then be able to apply them. Since I signed a non-disclosure agreement, I can't give any specific details, but think about patient privacy, end of life issues (families making decisions about health care for elderly and which person gets to decide), or non-compliant patients (and how to handle them in the right way).

I hope this helps. Good luck.

dsoz

 

[MsTeacup]

what does it mean by "presentation". How in depth of a topic do we have to talk about? Would we be given very specific questions?
For example, if they just say something like do you think it should be a law that people get a certain vaccine or what do you think about euthanasia, then isn't it just more like a one-liner?
Yes I think x because of xyz.

Also, so I expect all the stations to be about different things? ex: one be an essay, one be an ethics question, one be a traditional interview or do some schools have multiple ethics questions station?

 

[OoohShiny]

what does it mean by "presentation". How in depth of a topic do we have to talk about? Would we be given very specific questions?
For example, if they just say something like do you think it should be a law that people get a certain vaccine or what do you think about euthanasia, then isn't it just more like a one-liner?
Yes I think x because of xyz.

Also, so I expect all the stations to be about different things? ex: one be an essay, one be an ethics question, one be a traditional interview or do some schools have multiple ethics questions station?

Now that I've actually done a couple of these, I can respond based on my experience with those 🙂

The topics give varying level of detail, but they're generally open-ended. As a result, your response should go more in-depth than just a one-liner. It can be a great opening sentence, but I would suggest that you back-up your statement as well as provide your acknowledgement/understanding of the other side.

And all the stations are of different topics, but several of them can all be ethics questions for example (just different ethics issues) or multiple teamwork stations (but again with different tasks).