How I Aced My University of Birmingham Interview

Birmingham uses MMI interviews, which meant I needed to think flexibly between the different stations! This is how I did it:

I Researched MMI Stations

Getting to grips with the types of stations the Birmingham MMI would consist of was a very important part of the interview preparation process for me.

I took some time scanning the University of Birmingham website, which gave me some great insight into the types of MMI stations I would face. For example, I found out that the interview would include a personal and ethical challenges station, a role play station and calculation station. With this information, I was able to adapt my preparation and focus my revision.

I Prepared For Strict Timings

MMIs tend to have stricter timings than traditional interviews, which I was conscious of when preparing for my Birmingham interview.

After doing some research, I found that for each MMI station I’d have two minutes to prepare after the discussion topic had been revealed. I would then have six minutes to answer the question.

Knowing this helped guide my revision by making sure I prepared answers that were roughly six minutes long. I was conscious of having answers that were too short since it would be a wasted opportunity to showcase my knowledge to interviewers. Equally, an overly long answer would have risked running out of time and leaving a sentence incomplete.

I Did A Lot Of Pre-Reading

From my experience, I found that pre-reading was very important for my Birmingham interview.

The two most useful forms of pre-reading included reading about medical hot topics in the news as well as notes made from my work experience. I was able to refer back to these to illustrate points in my interview answers, such as qualities I possessed that I thought would make me a good Doctor.

I Focused On The Present

It’s absolutely normal to feel nervous on the day of your interview, I definitely was! However, it is important to not let your nerves force you to overthink answers you give.

I made a conscious effort to try and forget about a station if I felt it didn’t go particularly well, and treat the next station as a clean slate. The MMI is definitely challenging, and whilst reflection is important, there is plenty of time after the interview for that.

I Practiced A Lot

I found that practising how you deliver your answers is really important. I practised regularly and would record myself to see where I could improve.

It was also useful to try and explain ideas to family members and friends, to see whether they could understand my reasoning for answers. I found that better answers were usually the ones that were easier to understand and had a clear structure.

The more practice I did, the easier I found it to create coherent answers in preparation for the interview day.