General tips for MMIs

• Formulate ideas outside the interview room
• Have cues for self before entering room (e.g., talk slowly, don’t fidget, etc.)
• Knock on door when entering as it shows how you will interact with future patients
• Shake hands with interviewers if offered, actors if appropriate, but not observers
• Introduce self, smile, provide a positive first impression
• First impressions: dress, eye contact, voice modulation, body language, content (be positive) are important
• Wait to be asked to be seated
• Be gender neutral if possible if a gender is not assigned to the person in the scenario, as choosing a gender term (he/she) may indicate that you generalize based on the situation
• Have framework in mind before speaking and then provide outline to interviewer
• Build a bank of experiences that can be used in your interview and that are applicable to a variety of questions
• The order in which you deliver content shows priorities
• Empathy/compassion are very important to display when appropriate; convey empathy with voice tone, body language, eye contact, facial expressions
• Reread question during interview to ensure you have answered all parts of the question and to allow yourself time to think /refocus; however, make sure to tell the interviewer what you are doing (e.g., “I am just going to reread the question to ensure I have covered all aspects”)
• Take direction from probing questions; however, for ethical questions do not change your answer, be consistent. Probing questions asked by the interviewer can be generic or a follow-up question to information provided by the candidate. Sometimes there are no probing questions, so be prepared for silence
• Provide summary at end of each answer
• Use the CanMeds framework of essential physical competencies: medical expert, professional, communicator, scholar, collaborator, manager, health advocate
• Have general knowledge of health care system, prevention, pitfalls of health care system
• Approach each station with optimism; if you feel you answered poorly at one station, you can recover and do well at the next
• Be prepared for little feedback; interviewers are told to be impartial and not to provide verbal or non-verbal feedback (e.g., nodding, smiling)
• Ignore distraction in halls while waiting to go into the interview room
• Thank the interviewer at the end; put chair back into same position as you found it
• Do not ask questions about the program/field as there is not enough time to do so