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MMI stands for Multiple Mini Interviews. This type of interview requires you to complete a series of short assessments, in which you will answer a variety of questions and demonstrate a variety of skills.
The interview is broken down into multiple different stations – usually somewhere between 4 and 10 stations, depending on the university. Each station typically lasts 10 minutes or less.
You will face a different interviewer at each station. They won’t know how you performed at previous stations, meaning you will have multiple chances to impress throughout the MMI.
Due to Covid restrictions, many Dental Schools used online interviews during the pandemic. Some will continue to hold MMIs online for 2023 entry.
Please check your chosen university’s website, or contact them, for the most up-to-date information.
Each Dental School will assess candidates through different criteria. You might find details about this on your chosen university’s website, or they might indicate what skills and attributes they are looking for once you’ve received your invitation to interview.
Some common Dentistry MMI interview questions include:
Motivation
Understanding of Dentistry
Work experience
Knowledge of the Dental School
Personal Qualities
Dental Ethics
It’s very likely that you will be tested on your understanding of dental ethics during your MMI interview.
As such, it’s important that you understand the General Dental Council’s standards for dentists and the four pillars of ethics for healthcare professionals: beneficence, non-maleficence, patient autonomy and justice.
You could be presented with a hypothetical scenario where there isn’t necessarily a right or wrong answer. You just need to give a response that is clearly thought through, weighs up different sides and demonstrates your understanding of ethics.
Dentistry Hot Topics
As an aspiring dentist, you’re expected to have some knowledge of current issues in the world of Dentistry. In your interview, you might be asked if you’ve been reading anything about Dentistry recently (such as news or research), or you might be given a particular hot topic to discuss.
Example questions include:
Roleplay
In a roleplay station, you will be given a scenario and asked to interact with an actor. You could be told that you are a dentist and the actor is playing the role of e.g. a reluctant/phobic patient, a child patient, a patient who is objecting to an aspect of their treatment, or a colleague who is doing something wrong.
The roleplay scenario isn’t always Dentistry-related. You might be told that you are talking to someone like a friend or neighbour, and you need to break bad news or tell them that you made a mistake.
The aim of this station is to test attributes such as your communication skills and capacity for empathy.
Manual Dexterity
Manual dexterity involves being able to use your hands/fingers to complete tasks with a high level of precision. If you don’t already have a hobby that requires manual dexterity, it might be worth starting one to practise this skill.
Examples could include: sewing or knitting, model making, playing a musical instrument, painting, or cake decorating.
In your MMI, you might face a practical station designed to assess your manual dexterity skills. Or you might be asked to tell interviewers about your manual dexterity skills and how you have made an effort to develop them.
MMIs are about showing the interviewers what you’re capable of doing, rather than just telling them. It’s a chance for you to demonstrate that you don’t just have the academic achievements needed to study Dentistry, but also the right sort of attitude and way of thinking.
See our MMI guide for more tips.
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