Many medical schools, including those at Duke, NYU, University of Massachusetts, and Rutgers, are using the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) to evaluate applicants. This is because it is an effective way to evaluate an applicant’s ability to process a complex scenario or issue under pressure and use critical thinking, teamwork, and communication skills to provide a response. It also reduces interviewer bias by allowing prospective students the opportunity for numerous interactions, which decreases the relative importance of any one interviewer’s opinion.
Multiple Mini Interviews typically consist of between six and ten interview stations, with some schools including rest stations in between. Interviewees are provided with a question prompt or scenario and are given a short period of time to think, before they are asked to engage with the interviewer for a five- to eight-minute response. The questions may ask the applicant to collaborate with other interviewees, act out a scenario, respond to an ethical dilemma, write an essay, or elaborate on a past clinical experience. Whatever the format, interviewers are looking for applicants to showcase a strong sense of ethics and the ability to see multiple viewpoints.
To prepare for an MMI, you should review dozens of practice prompts. While there is no way to predict the exact questions you will be asked, if you practice, you will gain comfort processing a prompt, assessing a situation quickly, applying one of our many frameworks in your response, and you will come into your MMI interview day feeling confident and prepared.
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Multiple Mini Interviews typically consist of between six and ten interview stations, with some schools including rest stations in between. Interviewees are provided with a question prompt or scenario and are given a short period of time to think, before they are asked to engage with the interviewer for a five- to eight-minute response. The questions may ask the applicant to collaborate with other interviewees, act out a scenario, respond to an ethical dilemma, write an essay, or elaborate on a past clinical experience. Whatever the format, interviewers are looking for applicants to showcase a strong sense of ethics and the ability to see multiple viewpoints.
To prepare for an MMI, you should review dozens of practice prompts. While there is no way to predict the exact questions you will be asked, if you practice, you will gain comfort processing a prompt, assessing a situation quickly, applying one of our many frameworks in your response, and you will come into your MMI interview day feeling confident and prepared.
We also recommend that you...
- Stay informed. Read newspapers and health journals every single day to ensure that you’re up to date on key topics in medical ethics and healthcare policy. Write down the topic areas that you encounter frequently and take an informed position. Practice speaking on your position(s) and the reasoning, out loud, with an eight-minute time limit.
- Participate in Mock Interviews. Mock MMI interviews will give you a realistic interview experience after which you can gather candid feedback. Record these meetings and critique your responses, focusing on how well you verbalized your thought process and supported your viewpoint. You should also take note of how adequately you made use of the available time.
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