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Your MMI interview will involve a variety of stations and a range of questions. The examples below will help you to prepare for your Medicine interview and learn how to answer MMI interview questions.

These MMI questions and answer guides have been put together by medics who have successfully navigated interviews at top Medical Schools. They’re included in our Mastering the Medical School Interview Guide that you will get when you join a Medical School Interview Course. It’s over 220 pages long and has everything you need to ace your interview.

Give Instructions

Station set up:

The interviewer is sitting across from you, and on the table there’s a wrapped-up box. You’re asked to instruct the interviewer on how to unwrap and open the box, without helping them or using your hands.

It isn’t straightforward, because the examiner will be using no assumed knowledge and will be doing only what you tell them, e.g. ‘lift up that flap’ and the examiner starts lifting up the wrong flap, ‘turn the box around’ and the examiner turns the box in the wrong direction.

This giving instructions station is testing your communication skills and your patience.

How to answer this MMI question:

  • First, explain the aim to the interviewer e.g. “Our aim is to open that box. I am going to give you a set of instructions on how to do so. Are you ready?”
  • The key is to be very specific with your instructions e.g. “Use your left hand to lift the left flap up and outwards to the left.”
  • The interviewer will do what you ask, but they will try to not do what is wanted in order to test you. They are role-playing and this could get quite frustrating given the time constraints. You must stay calm, be patient and smile.
  • Important aspects to convey are: changing your communication style to adapt (e.g. rewording instructions), patience and perseverance (you can’t just give up).
  • Don’t be disheartened/frustrated if you don’t get the box opened. This isn’t the main point, it’s your approach to the situation that actually matters.
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Role Play

Station set up:

An actor hands you a card, telling you that in this role play station you are a close friend of theirs. You have been house-sitting while ‘your friend’ has been on holiday and you have to explain to them that you broke their favourite ornament. When informed, the actor becomes hysterical and very angry.

This station is testing your communication skills, your ability to deliver bad news, your empathy and your willingness to admit to mistakes.

How to answer this MMI question:

  • First, make small talk to make the other person comfortable (remember that in this scenario you are friends).
  • Then prepare them for the news, by saying something like: “I’ve got something to tell you that may be quite upsetting.”
  • Tell them the bad news, making sure you are apologetic and empathise with them (the actor is going to be quite hysterical at this point, doing anything to make you feel uncomfortable).
  • It’s your job to stay calm. You should ask if there’s anything you can do to remedy the situation, e.g. offer to replace it (showing your problem-solving skills).

Prioritisation

Station set up:

You’re told that this weekend you’re going on a camping trip. In front of you is a table of random objects. You have 20 seconds to pick five objects that you deem to be of the most importance and value, and explain.

This prioritisation station is testing your ability to make time-pressured decisions and defend them. It’s also testing your ability to think practically.

How to answer this MMI question:

Go through each item, briefly explaining why you picked it.

  • What use is it?
  • What situations would it help you navigate?
  • Is it going to be a hindrance e.g. heavy to carry, or is it conveniently sized?
  • You could explain why you didn’t pick some of the other items on the table.

Ethics Knowledge

Station set up:

The interviewer asks a question: What ethical principle of medicine would you consider to be most important?

This station is simply testing your knowledge of the various ethical principles and checking that you appreciate their importance when making decisions.

How to answer this MMI question:

Don’t worry if there is not a ‘most important’ one. Just pick one, describe its meaning, and be able to justify your choice.

  • Autonomy: Allows patients to make informed decisions about their own treatment.
  • Beneficence: Doctors must do good and act in the best interest of their patients and/or society as a whole.
  • Non-maleficence: Doctors should act in ways that do not cause harm to patients.
  • Justice: Fairness across the population, only discriminating based on clinical need.
  • Confidentiality: While not strictly an ethical principle, it’s linked to several of them.

This list and the explanations are not exhaustive, so you need to beef up your explanation. You can look up the principles yourself – there’s a lot of literature to look at.

Link whatever principle you choose to your work experience by giving an example of how you saw the principle being demonstrated.

Empathy

Station set up:

You are faced with an actor playing a 65-year-old man who has just been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. He is coming to his GP for advice on how to cope with his diagnosis, as he has heard a lot of stigma over the years about dementia and its burden on both his family and the healthcare service. While talking to you, he breaks down into tears.

This station is testing your ability to empathise with patients, your knowledge of the issues associated with an ageing population, and your communication skills.

How to approach this MMI question:

  • Console the patient in an empathetic way.
  • Advise him on latest developments e.g. assistive technology.
  • Advise him to join support groups e.g. Alzheimer’s Society.
  • Reassure him that there is less stigma about dementia now than in the past.

Role play

Station set up:

You’re told that you are entering a hospital staff room prior to performing surgery with Dr ‘X’. As you enter, you see Dr X take a swig of a clear drink from a bottle, which you suspect is alcohol, and then quickly close their locker.

Over the course of the conversation, Dr X begins to forget things and slur their words.

You have five minutes to speak to Dr X.

This professional judgement station is primarily testing your ability to make value judgements regarding patient safety.

One of the big attributes being tested in this station is the ability to approach emotive situations sensitively and sympathetically.

How to approach this MMI question:

  • In this situation, you’ve found a co-worker in a potentially volatile situation. It’s important to approach the situation with humility and without judging your colleague.
  • Initially try to make the surgeon feel comfortable, and potentially make small talk about the surgery. First and foremost, they are a friend and a colleague.
  • Try to get to the bottom of what you’ve just seen. Ask questions which may prompt the surgeon to offer up information voluntarily.
  • Direct, accusative questions early in the discussion may make Dr X feel judged and could be detrimental to the relationship between you two.
  • However, if you are still worried about them, more probing questions may be necessary, e.g. “I saw you put something into your locker quickly as I entered. Do you mind if I ask, is everything alright?”
  • Despite your relationship with the surgeon, you must also consider the safety of the patient and whether it’s appropriate to let Dr X perform surgery on them.
  • Come to an appropriate compromise whereby the surgeon takes the afternoon off and offer a more private chat the next day to discuss further.
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Communication

Station set up:

On the table, there is a diagram which shows the layout of a building. The interviewer asks you to give them directions from the entrance of the building to Room A. After you have given your answer, the interviewer asks why you think you are being asked this question.

This station is testing your communication skills and ability to interpret an image.

How to approach this MMI question:

  • Take a look at the diagram. Before you begin your explanation, orientate yourself and locate your starting point and destination. Check whether there is some kind of key that could help you to interpret the image.
  • When giving the examiner directions, split your explanation of the route into steps to help make it clearer and keep yourself on track. Use words such as first, next, then, etc.
  • Although MMI questions may seem random, they are intended to test you on skills that you would need as a medical student or Doctor. The examiner may ask you why you think you are being asked a question to see whether you can identify these skills and why they are relevant to medicine.

This question is testing your ability to communicate and give a clear explanation. These skills are clearly important in medicine; for example, doctors must be able to give patients clear instructions when they prescribe them medication.

It also tests your ability to interpret an image. This skill is important in medicine as Doctors are required to interpret images such as x-rays or CTs, for example.

Confidentiality

Station set up:

An actor hands you a card which states that you are playing the role of a GP and they are a 16-year-old girl who has come to ask for information about getting tested for STIs, but is worried about her parents finding out.

This station is testing your ability to communicate and show empathy, as well as your understanding of Doctor-patient confidentiality.

How to approach this MMI question:

  • As you are playing the role of the GP, it is up to you to lead the role play. Begin by introducing yourself. Ask the patient their name and how they are, before moving on to why they are there.
  • Ask questions that you think are relevant to the scenario such as: “Are you sexually active?”, “Have you been tested for STIs before?”, “Have you had unprotected sex?”, “Have you been experiencing any symptoms?”
  • Respond appropriately any time the patient expresses a concern. As this scenario involves a young person, this could be their first time getting tested and they might be nervous about it, or they might be scared if they suspect that they have contracted an STI. It is important to demonstrate empathy and to try to reassure them.
  • When the patient mentions that they are worried about their parents finding out about them seeking advice on this subject, explain that everything you have discussed will remain confidential. You should be aware of the principle of Doctor-patient confidentiality and how it applies in a situation like this.
  • Conclude the role play by asking the patient if they have any further questions and then thanking them for their visit. This gives the actor an opportunity to prompt you if you have missed out anything important.

Data Interpretation

Station set up:

On the table, there’s a graph which shows the plasma insulin levels of several patients over the course of one day, with the times that meals were consumed indicated. The interviewer asks you to describe the graph for Patient 1. You are then asked to provide an explanation for the changes in insulin levels at different times of the day.

This station is testing your ability to interpret a graph and your scientific knowledge.

How to approach this MMI question:

  • Familiarise yourself with the graph before you give your answer. Look at the axes and the key/legend to make sure that you understand the data being presented, and also to ensure that you are looking at the data for the correct patient.
  • Describe the data for Patient 1 and point out any trends that you notice. Use the same language as you would when describing a graph for a lab report.
  • This question requires you to use some basic knowledge of human physiology, which should have been covered in your biology course (for those who take Biology). For a normal patient, this graph would usually show increases in plasma insulin following meals and you should explain why this is the case using this prior knowledge. There may be follow-up questions at a station like this to further test your scientific knowledge, or the interviewer may prompt you if you miss out something important from your explanation.
  • It is important to keep on top of content for the science courses that you take in case a question like this comes up at interview.

Communication Skills

Station set up:

An actor hands you a card which states that you are playing the role of a surgeon and they are a patient on whom you recently performed a hip replacement. You must inform them that some nerve damage occurred during surgery, which means they may not regain full use of their leg.

This station is testing your communication skills and your ability to show empathy.

How to approach this MMI question:

  • This scenario involves breaking bad news to a patient, so it is extremely important to demonstrate empathy throughout.
  • Prepare the patient for what you are about to tell them. Say something along the lines of “This may be difficult to hear, but…” so they know they are about to receive some bad news.
  • Explain the complication that occurred during surgery in terms that the patient will understand. This means avoiding medical jargon such as ‘nerve lesion’.
  • As hearing this news would be extremely difficult for any patient, be prepared for them to become emotional or angry. It is important that you respond with empathy.
  • Express your apologies and try to reassure the patient that they will receive the support they need. You may want to provide some examples of the care they would be entitled to, such as physiotherapy.
  • Ask the patient whether they have any questions for you. This is good practice and will also give the actor a chance to prompt you if you have missed out anything.
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Communication Skills

Station set up:

The interviewer tells you that you have four minutes to explain the process/purpose of vaccination to them, speaking as you would to any competent adult. When you have finished, they give you another four minutes to explain the same thing as if you were speaking to a young child who is about to be vaccinated. This time, you may use a whiteboard and marker to support your explanation if you choose.

This station is testing your communication skills.

How to approach this MMI question:

  • For this station, it is important to demonstrate good communication and to show that you understand when and how you should adapt your communication to suit different types of people.
  • When giving your first explanation, it is important to remember that you are speaking to an adult but not necessarily to someone in the medical field. You should therefore avoid medical jargon such as ‘herd immunity’.
  • You don’t have that much time to speak and are therefore not expected to give an in-depth explanation of the science behind vaccination. Simply explain how a doctor/nurse would administer an injectable vaccine, and how this is intended to protect the patient by preventing them from becoming ill with the disease that the vaccine targets.
  • When giving your second explanation, you should avoid medical jargon and also any vocabulary that a typical adult would understand but that a child might not know. This could include terms like ‘syringe’ or ‘injection’.
  • If you want to, use the whiteboard to enhance your explanation. For example, you might want to draw the syringe going into a patient’s arm and then another picture of an arm with a plaster where the needle went in. However, do not use the whiteboard just for the sake of it, and only draw to accompany the parts of the explanation where it will be effective. Remember to keep good eye contact, even if you are drawing for part of the time.

Ethics

Station set up:

Four people need a liver and they all have an equal chance of success. One has only two weeks left to live without, one is the sole carer for their father, one is a pregnant lady who would otherwise only have a couple of months with her newborn, and one has taken a large Paracetamol overdose. Assuming there was nothing to medically differentiate the patients, and considering only the ethical aspects, who would you give the liver to?

How to approach this MMI question:

  • There is no right or wrong answer to these types of ethics questions. Their purpose is to explore your thought process and how well you express yourself. A good answer will be clear and logical in your explanation of who you would prioritise in this scenario.
  • Determine a framework by which you would like to assess each of these patients in terms of priority. For example, how would you value time left to live in comparison with the number of dependents that a patient has? Each patient has an individual characteristic which makes them important in their own way, and so with what we know, how would you position these? We are given limited information in this scenario, so you may be bound by certain aspects in this regard.
  • Be clear as to why you determined your framework in the way that you did. This is probably the most important part of your answer, so spend some time exploring your justification. One tip is to consider that you are trying to maximise benefit in the decision that you choose to make, so you may want to explain how your choices meet this aim.
  • Apply this to the scenario with the four patients. Depending on the amount of time that you have, you may want to focus more on the patient who you would choose to give the liver to.
  • There are many ways to structure your answer. You may want to state the patient who you would give the liver to at the beginning, or you may want to explore how you came to your decision first. All structures are completely valid – the most important point is that you adequately justify your response.
  • Make sure you make a balanced argument. Consider the arguments both for and against individuals, and remain non-judgemental throughout.
  • Use the four pillars of medical ethics (autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice) to help create ethical arguments for and against.
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