Medicine Pathway

So my name is Professor Alan Sandford. I'm a specialist medical leader, a specialist medical administrator and my role is to medically lead the creation of a Regional Medical Pathway in the Central QLD and in the Wide Bay areas in conjunction with Central QLD University and University of QLD.

MMIs give us, in terms of the RMP program, the opportunity to assess whether or not the candidate may be suited to do medicine and whether or not they have an understanding and a connection to what it's all about.

So it's a selection process where we're assessing their, to some degree their aptitude, but it's more a natural understanding of what it might be to be a doctor and what their motivations and passion may be for doing medicine.

So they’re towards the end of the year in November/December is when we hold the interviews and each MMI multiple mini interview is a 7 minute timeslot where we present a scenario or the question and then they talk to that question.

So the MMI process is a fairly formal process and initially, it may seem a little scary. It's not scary really. There's two  interviewers that ask a question or we have a scenario that we describe to them and then we hope that the student then just responds naturally.

The first thing I definitely did was go onto the UQ website, see what information they had about them is because the UQ and CQU MMIs are the same.

I watched a lot of the UQ videos on their website and then I did some of my own practise with my parents.

I also went on to YouTube and, you know, typed up ‘practise MMI questions’ and then a whole bunch of different things popped up there where, you know, there was a junior doctor doing practise MMIs with an interviewer and they just also just explained how you should answer those questions the best you can.

My mum actually asked me those questions that I answered them and then wrote them all out on like a Word document, just to get into my head what I needed to say.

Your parents are probably your biggest help, I reckon. Preparing for MMIs 'cause they want what's best for you, so, they'll ask the hardest questions.

So on the day of the MMI, like prior, like say half an hour before, I was doing a lot of breathing exercises because I was getting my nerves, I was getting scared, but I think that's totally normal. It's a really big day and something very important so I just went online, did some meditation exercises to calm myself down and have a clear head throughout the interview

Before I went in, I just relaxed myself, you know, stayed calm, had a drink of water, went to the toilet, then I was all good.

I think the most important thing is to be yourself and answer the questions the way you would want to answer it rather than the way you think it should be answered.

There is no right or wrong answer to the MMIs. People think that they might have to have a particular right answer, there is no right answer.

It's about being natural and answering those questions. So, if at the end of the particular MMI you think, oh, I didn't answer that very well, I wouldn't be worried, because there is no right or wrong.

It's about your ability to be natural and to be genuine about what it is that you're describing and to describe your real experience.

My first station I felt really nervous and scared in, but then it definitely gets a lot better from there.

During the MMI I would suggest having maybe a glass of water or a bottle of water next to you. Just so that you're able to calm your nerves throughout. You can have a bad station or two, but don't let that get to you, because every station is different and there's a new opportunity to better yourself as every station comes because you have different interviewers.

Be yourself and don't let a bad station get to you.