MMIs

Many people get terribly nervous (understandably) when attending interviews, traditional interviews are often 20 or so minutes long and you find yourself answering questions from a small panel of 2 or 3.

This week I was fortunate enough to attend an informal question and answer session with the Dean of Medicine at Bristol University. During this session he brought up the possibility of the use of MMIs (Multiple Mini Interviews) in the selection process at Bristol University instead of traditional interview. I had not heard of these before and he also said that some universities already use MMIs in their selection process.

As the name suggests instead of one long interview you would have several "mini" interviews (somewhere between 6-10) moving from station to station to answer a question, describe your experiences or solve a problem for example. MMIs originated in Canadian medical schools and the idea behind their use it that they give a better representation of each candidate. For example if one station goes badly or you feel you didn't "click" with the interviewer you can compose yourself and improve on the next station. A collective decision is then made at the end of it all.

The point he stressed most was the importance of formal interview practice in order to prepare you for the "real thing" if you are lucky enough to get one! He understood that it is hard to come by but he said to practice in whatever way you can, it doesn't have to be a medic asking the questions and its most effective when the interviewer is someone you don't know very well, if at all.