Will the MMI questions be testing technical medical or dental
knowledge?
No, the questions may have a clinical flavour but they are designed to test the process of reasoning in for example ethical issues or team building. Medical science graduates or those who have worked in the health service may have more knowledge of work procedures. They are unlikely to be able to handle the ethical issues any better.
To what extent can students fake it?
We can never really know peoples underlying attitudes. We can observe their behaviour. Applicants who have gone through the MMI process report it is difficult to maintain a false attitude as the scenarios are so varied. Likewise, the interviewers are varied. There are most often no easy answers to the scenarios; we are more interested in their line of reasoning. Some applicants will have been coached. We like the idea of applicants reading about, or being coached in, matters of professionalism before they come to us.
What happens if the applicant finishes before the seven minutes are up?
It may well happen that all of the necessary information has been collected within the seven minutes. You are advised to tell the applicant that all the questions have been asked and the mark determined. However the applicant must remain within the room until the bell goes. Likewise, if the bell has gone the interview must end immediately even if not completed.
If applicants score an unsatisfactory in one of the checklist items have they failed?
Please note that an applicant scoring unsatisfactory in one checklist item does not mean the applicant has failed. An applicant doing poorly in one section can be compensated for by doing well in other sections. For those familiar with assessment this is called context specificity.
Should I be concerned about the medical/dental focus of some
of the scenarios?
The scenarios in the MMI have been carefully vetted to ensure that they focus on issues of professionalism. Some of them inevitably have a clinical flavour but we are not testing technical medical or dental understanding but rather, for example, an understanding of the ethical issues arising. The applicant may have trained as a lawyer, medical scientist or economist for example.
Sample MMI Question
Attribute (s) being assessed: Respect for diversity (disability)
Category: Communicator
Imagine you are the principal of a full fee paying school. There has been an allegation by members of the public of an incident in a park in which at least two senior school students were seen verbally abusing a young person with intellectual impairment for the amusement of a group of other students. Two final year students are to attend a hearing with the principal to explain their actions in the incident. What are the issues the principal is likely to consider at the hearing?
Further question prompts for interviewer
1. In what ways might the Principal establish the facts of the case?
2. What possible impact might this incident have for the disabled young person?
3. How might the attitudes of the parents of the disabled young person differ from those of the senior students in responding to the Principal about the incident?
4. What underlying reasons might the Principal give for recommending the two final year students are suspended from school?
5. How might the Principal use the incident to raise awareness around disability discrimination in the school?
