With UMAT results coming out soon I am keen to get a head start on preparing for MMI. What should I do to make sure I am ready?
Congratulations on surviving UMAT!!
I think it is important that you understand how the MMI actually works. My colleague @m.bekhit does a really great job of breaking down the format and what the actual MMI consists of in a past question here.
But in terms of actual tips and tricks, I have a couple to share here:
- Role Play, Role Play Role Play!
Getting practice in with a real-life human being is one of the best forms (if not the best) form of preparation for the MMI. You can find a wealth of practice questions across the internet which focus on commonly asked questions during the MMI. From here ask your friends, flatmates or whoever is around to sit down with you and run through some of these questions under timed conditions. You may think you have a perfect answer in your head, but practicing with a live person is massively helpful in terms of making you reflect on your response and even the process of reaching your conclusion.
- Develop a strategy for role-playing stations.
Although you can’t predict the exact role-playing scenarios you’ll face, you can still fine- tune your communication skills and develop general approaches to use during role-playing scenarios by thinking through some potential situations you may face.
For example, if you’re given the task of speaking to someone about a problem they’re confronting, you first need to consider how you’d begin the conversation. After that, what questions would you ask to gather information about the situation? How would you convey empathy for the person’s situation or react if he became angry or upset? How would you suggest solutions or next steps to take in resolving the problem?
Running through a few scenarios helps you understand the challenges you may confront during these stations and how to best overcome them.
The most important thing to remember is a good performance during an MMI requires skills and characteristics developed over the long term, this type of interview is generally more difficult to prepare for than a standard-format interview. However, by familiarizing yourself with this format and thinking about how you’d handle different station types you may encounter, you’ll feel more comfortable when the buzzer sounds and the first round begins.