interviews
Interviews are generally the final piece in the puzzle of your medical school apps. It's generally a do or die situation- after you get to interview, everything else- your grades, your test scores, your personal statement aren't looked at. It all comes down to how you present yourself at interview! But don't let that intimidate you! Interviewers are generally just looking for a person who meets all the stipulated GMC criteria and would potentially make a valuable addition to their student body.
Calls to interview start coming out as soon as late October and interviews generally take place anywhere from December to February.
MMI vs Panel Interview
MMI-This is the interview format that’s used at most medical schools at the moment in the UK. It involves 7-12 question stations each lasting under 10 minutes assessing numerous skills such as communication, reasoning, level of preparation, ability to function under pressure, problem solving and commitment to medicine.
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Panel- How a panel interview is conducted varies from university to university but they tend to focus less on the time-pressured atmosphere of an MMI, although there’s no need to prepare any differently.
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To learn more about the various topics that you should definitely peruse before your interview, check out our pdf!
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Top Tips
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Be well prepared to answer why you decided to come to the UK instead of studying in your home country
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Introspection is key! Several commonly asked questions- such as suitability to medicine, coping with stress and difficult times, rejection etc. requires a good level of self-awareness.
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Rather than having the answers to each question memorized, which may make them sound in-genuine and robotic, have the key ideas for each area down and have the ability and confidence to frame answers on the spot.
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Common Mistakes to Avoid!
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Sounding too rehearsed and inauthentic
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Not fleshing out your answers enough
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Giving cliched answers - Obviously, we all want to help people on the surface but medical schools want to know that you have carefully considered the grueling nature of the profession you’re signing up for and this should be reflected in your answers.
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Don’t ramble - It’s easy to go off on a tangent but whilst you're speaking, if you’re finding yourself running out of things to say, learn to recognize that during your speech and gauge the interviewers body language and end your answer by circling back to the topic.
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Not taking the time to understand what the interviewer is trying to ask