Medicine interview tutors are doctors or medical students who work alongside students looking to get into medical school, and guide them through the process.
A tutor will therefore have years of experience, in addition to their own experience both in taking interviews and in Medicine itself. Here we’ll consider some top tips that might be shared by a Medicine interview tutor, or during a Medicine interview course.
MMI Interview Tips Beforehand
The first tip is to make good use of the Medical Schools Council Alliance and GMC guidance. Whilst most students will be aware of the importance of the GMC, and have spent some time looking at their Duties of a Doctor documentation, they may well not have paid attention to additional material focusing on the duties of medical students, or perhaps not have looked into the role of the organisation in enough detail.
Equally, the MSC Alliance provides a number of resources that are often under-utilised - in particular, they provide documents on the specific values and attributes expected of medical students. This guidance breaks down in granular detail exactly the qualities that you need to study Medicine in the UK.
It is mapped to align with the GMC’s Good Medical Practice document, as well as the core values in the NHS Constitution, and is therefore representative of exactly what you will be asked at interview. MMI interview questions or an MMI question bank should be used to bulk out your preparation, but core knowledge from the MSC and GMC will give you a good foundation to work with.
The second tip is to research the university - this is arguably one of the most important ways that you can differentiate yourself from other applicants. You must research the course thoroughly, and formulate answers on why it appeals to you. Try to think beyond the basics of ‘early patient contact’ etc, which almost all schools will offer, and dig a little deeper into their website.
Additionally, look into the university itself. What do the university, and the city that it is in, pride itself on? You would do well to consider the attributes or experiences that you have and what these could bring to the university.
The third tip is to stay on top of your experiences and learnings. When preparing for medical school interviews, you will undertake a huge amount of work experience and shadowing, whilst also working on varied attributes and skills. It’s therefore essential to keep on top of this learning, and formulate these experiences into cohesive thoughts – and eventually into answers at interview.
Excellent MMI Tutors - like BlackStone Tutors, who in particular encourage students to journal and reflect - will point to this as being a vital way of organising and improving confidence in turn. A notebook should contain useful reflections, articles and links, thus becoming a personal guide to acing the medical school interview.
MMI Interview Tips on Interview Day
The first tip is to always ask yourself why you are being asked to tackle a station. Consider how it relates to Medicine, or to your ability within it. Interviewers will be looking for particular skills and abilities, and it’s therefore vital to recognise this and focus on the correct domain for the question.
The second tip is to always provide a structured answer. Of course, scenarios will change, but the structure of a strong answer for a question type (e.g. prioritisation tasks) will remain the same. BlackStone Tutors, for example, provide students with specific approaches and techniques during their Medicine interview course.
The third tip is to always read the station guidance. You will be given some time to do this before each station, and you must make use of this time. If you aren’t clear going in, then try to clarify immediately. Answering without clarity will result in time being wasted, and you failing to pick up marks as a result.
Equally, if you are suddenly unclear on information in the middle of the station, it is more appropriate to ask the examiner for clarification or permission to re-read the guidance, than to provide inaccurate information based on your assumptions.
The final tip is to always consider your role and thus your limitations. Stations are as much testing your professionalism and common sense approaches as they are your knowledge or motivation. A Medicine interview tutor will always stress the importance of considering your role - in particular, whether you should involve a more senior figure.
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