Written by Ashitha Abdul
KCL has an MMI interview format so I first prepared by finding out the type of stations commonly used. From researching, I learned that it normally consists of stations such as describe a picture, describe graphs and charts, ethical scenarios and Personal Statement type stations eg. ‘what would make you suitable for a career in Medicine?’
KCL has 6 MMI stations and they were roughly around six minutes long. There was also a break of one minute in between stations. Unlike some other medical school MMI’s, the break is not intended for pre-reading a scenario. Therefore, I found it useful to take that time to collect my thoughts and forget about the previous station. It is important to enter the new station with a clear head.
It is useful to prepare for the interview by brushing up on any basic maths skills related to interpreting data from graphs or charts. The mathematical skills in the interview are not too difficult. However, common errors occur when converting between units such as micrograms and grams. It is also important to research about the pillars of medical ethics, Gillock’s competence and Fraser guidelines. Having a good understanding of these are very useful in ethical scenarios. Some of the ethical scenarios at KCL are similar to SJT scenarios in the UCAT. Therefore, I found that looking through some UCAT SJT scenarios was also helpful.
Read the KCL course prospectus on their website to be prepared for a question on ‘Why KCL?’ KCL has amazing research and is proud of its research legacy. For my interview I looked at some of the current research I found interesting and explored these further. Pick one or two professors that are researching topics you’re interested in so you can bring it up in the interview. Name dropping specific articles shows you have done your research on KCL.
Practising the delivery of your answers is very important. The way you structure your answers is often the difference between a good and a bad interview. Practising with friends is beneficial to both of you as you can learn from each other. Personally, this is what I did and found it very useful. Take it in turns to be the interviewer and interviewee. The more you practice speaking out loud and forming a well-structured answer, the more coherent it is. This will definitely help to maximise the number of marks you score.
On the day of the interview, it is important to have your virtual setup ready way in advanced of the actual interview taking place. Whilst you wait for your interview, try to do something that will calm you down and prevent you from getting too nervous. Feeling nervous is normal and you are not alone. In my interview, one of my stations definitely did not go so well. I made sure to not let it throw me and instead focus on the next station during my one minute break.
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