Interview season for professional schools has begun! Those of you who are selected for interviews may be told that the school will use an MMI interview format. This is a common interview format used by admissions offices for medical schools (MD, MD/PhD, DO), dental, pharmacy, veterinary and other health professions schools. Using the MMI helps a committee assess candidate’s professionalism, interpersonal skills, ethical and moral judgement. Other areas that are assessed are cultural awareness, empathy and listening skills, problem solving and judgement.
The Format In a typical MMI interview, a group of 8 candidates progresses through a circuit of six to eight stations where they are asked to answer a question, complete a task or engage in an activity. Each session is approximately 10 minutes in length. After a brief group introduction, each candidate is placed in front of one of the rooms. Next, they will hear a signal and will have two minutes to read a prompt and think about how they will respond to it. At the next signal, the candidates enter the room and have six to eight minutes to respond to the prompt with the interviewer(s). A final signal will be heard and the candidate finishes their sentence, thanks the interviewers, exits and proceeds to the next room. This cycle continues (for about 90 minutes) until the candidate has visited all 8 MMI stations. In some schools, there is a final station that is about 20 minutes in length where a traditional interview is held.
How to Prepare Here are some suggestions to prepare for the MMI interview.
- Practice your answers to MMI questions verbally with a partner. Review websites to gain familiarity with the typical MMI questions. Here are a few: US News MMI Preparation | Portland State University website that has a comprehensive list of resources
- American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC)
- Review a reserve copy of Desai’s book Multiple Mini Interview MMI: Winning Strategies from Admissions Faculty from the OITE library.
- Practice physically moving through a circuit of stations when answering each question to experience what it is like to adapt to new rooms and persons.
- Practice and use the SAR behavioral interview technique so that you are able to describe the behaviors, feelings, and ways you think through a situation.
- Stay abreast of current issues, events, and policies related to health care by viewing the AMA (American Medical Association), American Dental Association, etc. websites.
- University of Minnesota - MMI Overview
- Prepare for ethics and professionalism questions by reviewing the Hippocratic Oath taken by medical students. The University of Washington has a useful site to learn about ethics in medicine to help you prepare. Also review a copy of the Hebert’s book, Doing Right: A Practice Guide to Ethics for Medical Trainees and Physicians or Hope’s book, Medical Ethics: A Very Short Introduction located in the OITE library.
Visit the OITE website to take advantage of our about our premedical resources. If you are part of our extended readership, we encourage you to visit your college’s pre-med office or the AAMC for more resources to prepare.
