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Medicine interviews for Queen’s University Belfast usually start in December and run until March. The interview dates for 2023 entry are 12-14 December 2022, 10-12 January 2023, 7 and 9 February 2023, and 15 March 2023.
To shortlist candidates for interview, all applications are ranked based on academic achievements. For students sitting A-Levels for the first time in Summer 2023, the top 9 GCSEs will be scored (A*/9 = 4 points, A/8/7 = 3 points, B/6 = 2 points, C/5/4 = 1 point).
The total score is then used to rank candidates to invite them for interviews.
The UCAT score is also given points, out of a maximum of 6, depending on how high the UCAT score is. As the number of applications and the scores of students varies from year to year, there is no pre-determined minimum UCAT score that is required to obtain an interview.
Visit this page for more information on the selection process at Queen’s University Belfast.
For entry into the A100 course, there are usually around 1300 applications for 236 places. Around 700 interviews are held and around 500 offers are made post-interview.
Queen’s University Belfast begins to send interview invitations on a rolling basis from December onwards.
Queen’s University Belfast uses the MMI (Multiple Mini Interviews) format for its Medicine interviews. There are usually 7 MMI stations, with 2 of these stations being role play stations.
As exceptions, for 2021 and 2022 entry, MMIs were adapted and held online. Queen’s University Belfast anticipates that interviews will be held online for 2023 entry too. The interviews will be held over Zoom.
International students should be prepared to attend an interview too.
At Queen’s University Belfast Medical School, the following topics are typically covered in Medicine interview questions:
Sample questions might include:
Know what they’re looking for
During the MMI, Queen’s states that interviewers are looking for:
Go through this list and think about the kinds of questions you might be asked, or the tasks you might be asked to complete. For example, your empathy skills (or your ability to deal with stress) might be tested in a role play, or your moral reasoning may be assessed in an ethical scenario. You can then practise based on the above topics.
Practise problem-solving
There are many different ways that problem-solving could appear in an MMI. You may need to give instructions to someone (such as how to tie shoelaces), solve a physical puzzle, or describe how you would act in a difficult situation (such as losing a friend on the tube).
There are many ways you can practise this: try giving instructions to a friend and tell them to deliberately misunderstand you – how do you tackle this problem?
Thinking in advance about how you would tackle tricky problems – and how you vocalise your thought process – will help you a lot when preparing for your Queen’s Medicine interview.
Brush up on your medical ethics
Your moral reasoning may be assessed through ethical scenarios, so make sure you know the four pillars of medical ethics: beneficence, non-maleficence, justice and autonomy.
You might be asked what you would do in a difficult situation, or a role play may bring up ethical issues, such as confidentiality or patient safety. It’s a good idea to familiarise yourself with the GMC Guidelines, and how to answer medical ethics questions in an interview.
The decision of an offer will be based on performance at interview. All candidates are ranked based on interview scores and offers are allocated to the top-ranking candidates.
In borderline candidates with the same interview score, the SJT band from the UCAT may be used to distinguish between candidates. No other factors will be considered.
Queen’s University Belfast anticipates that most offers will be made in early April 2023, once all interviews have been completed. However, a few offers may be made beforehand around early March 2023.
If more places become available on results day, those on the waiting list with the highest rankings will be offered a place.
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