The Cal Poly CSM Advising Center is holding a mock MMI (multiple mini interviews) event on Friday, January 31st.
Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI’s) are gaining in popularity among medical, dental, pharmacy and other graduate school admissions and are being used to assess a candidate’s readiness to begin graduate school & enter into the healthcare profession. An MMI typically consist of 8-10 timed stations through which applicants rotate. At each station, an applicant is presented with a question, scenario or task. This type of interviewing is a very different format from the traditional 1:1 interview format and so it is important to become familiar with the structure and expectations of an MMI so you will be prepared for your actual interview day. We realize this may seem a bit intimidating, but rest assured that our goal is simply to provide you with this “practice” so you can gain some confidence going into an actual MMI interview.
Our mock MMI will consist of 6 stations and end with a "written reflection" station for a total of 7 rotations. Each station will consist of prompt that will be posted outside of an office door. When directed, you will have 2 minutes to read the prompt and then enter into the individual office. An evaluator will be inside the office to listen to you as you respond to your prompt or to observe you in carrying out a task as directed by the prompt. Each station will be timed (approximately 8 minutes) and you will be directed when to stop and move from one station to the next. The last station (station #7) is a self reflection station to allow you time to evaluate your own experience. In the last 30 minutes you will rotate back around to the 6 stations for 5 minutes each to receive constructive feedback on how well you responded to the station prompts and recommendations for how to improve your overall performance.
Types of stations that may be used include:
- Ethical dilemmas or questions about policy or social issues. The instructions describe a situation and then ask the candidate to discuss the ethical or other issues involved. The interviewer may follow up with questions designed to probe the applicant’s response.
- Interactions with an actor. At these stations, the applicant is provided with a scenario involving an individual who is played by an actor. The applicant may need to give the individual bad news, confront the person about a problem or gather information. An observer present in the room will rate the applicant based on his or her interaction with the actor.
- Standard interview questions. An MMI may include one or more stations with traditional interview questions such as “Describe an obstacle that you have overcome” or "Why should we accept you?"
- A task requiring teamwork. Since the ability to work as part of a team is essential to medicine, some stations involve two applicants working together to complete a task.
Benefits to participating include:
- Understand the basic structure and types of questions asked in MMI's
- Practice with interviewing under a time limit and going through a series of stations without breaks
- Receive 1:1 personalized written and oral feedback on how you performed and recommendations for improving your performance
This event is FREE and will take place on Friday, January 31 from 9:30 am-11:30 am and 12:30- 2:30pm. You must be available for one of the entire time slots.
Sign ups are limited. Students will be prioritized based on their class standing and when they signed up. Sign up soon to be sure you can take advantage of this opportunity!
Please note: We recommend that you go through this experience in your junior or senior year only.
This mock MMI event is offered quarterly. You may repeat this experience twice.
For more information, please contact Kristi Weddige at kweddige@calpoly.edu
This question requires a valid number format.