Medical Mini Interviews

On Wednesday 16th November, students from both the Upper and Lower Sixth intending to go into clinical career areas, were given the opportunity to experience practice Medical Mini Interviews and a group interview.These were conducted by a range of healthcare professionals including GP’s, Consultants, Nurses, Dieticians and Occupational Therapists.

The MMIs, consisted of 6 stations led by different clinicians and tested a range of skills.Students were given a minute to read each scenario or question and five minutes to answer before moving on to the next. A particularly useful station asked students to describe the key qualities of a medical student, whilst another station required participants to explore the controversial and ethical issues associated with providing a safe test for mothers to screen their unborn child for Down's Syndrome. One of the most challenging stations involved role play, where the student took on the role of an individual who had to break bad news to a neighbour after reversing into his beloved Ferrari, which tested our communication and interpersonal skills.

Whilst half of the students took part in the MMIs, the remaining students participated in a group discussion related to the issues surrounding smoking, excessive alcohol consumption and obesity, and possible strategies that could be used to overcome these problems in future.Initially, the topic of discussion was introduced by a team of three clinicians, who asked some follow-up questions to explore our thoughts on related areas.The discussion was very useful in allowing us to appreciate one another’s views and to further understand some of the key issues currently facing the NHS.

At the end of the event we received both verbal and written feedback from each of our MMI stations, on what we had done well and what we could improve upon, in preparation for our real MMI’s. This was a brilliant way in which to reflect upon what we had learned throughout the afternoon and any recurring issues, difficult questions and basic interview tips and techniques. The team of healthcare professionals even provided a plenary session in order to answer personal questions and to explain the reasons for their choice of particular career paths.It was interesting to hear about questions which they had experienced, including ‘Why should you live when I lost a family member?’ to ‘Why have you not considered nursing?’, which in turn helped us to prepare for challenging questions which we might encounter.

Overall the afternoon was a huge success and a valuable experience which we would all recommend to aspiring doctors or healthcare professionals in years to come. We offer our sincere thanks to all those involved in the organisation and running of the event and hope that it will continue to prepare students for interviews well into the future.

Emma Wilkinson, U6D

Ifrah Kamran, U6E

Zoe Langham, U6F