Standard professional school interviews

Standard interview format is when candidates are asked a series of questions in front of one or more admission panelists. The main portion of the interview consists of the interviewer asking you questions to try to determine your fit. Generally, you have an opportunity to ask any questions that you may have at the end of the interview.

Professional school interviews overview

Interviews are part of the process of gaining admission to some graduate/professional programs (e.g., health-related professions, business, and, occasionally graduate school and faculties of education). Interviews occur after the application deadline. The fact that you have been invited for a graduate/ professional school interview shows that you have met the preliminary requirements.

Interviews are either standard/panel style (i.e., candidates are asked a series of questions) or a multiple-mini interview (MMI) format (i.e., candidates move through a series of stations). Some programs conduct MMIs followed by standard interviews.

To deliver a well-executed answer, use a framework to provide structure to your answer:

• Opening: lay out structure of answer and introduce points you will discuss
• Analysis and discussion: this is the main component of your answer
• Summary: provide a brief summary, even if just one sentence to reinforce your message and to alert the interviewer that you have completed your answer

How to prepare

Anticipating possible questions helps you to prepare points to include in your answers. Think about why a question is being asked. What does the interviewer really want to know? Review your application, résumé, and past experiences to see how they fit with the appropriate competencies necessary for your field/profession. Colleges and other regulatory bodies associated with your profession will have information on the essential skills and competencies required. In addition to the profession specific competencies, for most health professions, an understanding of the CanMEDS competencies is recommended. Try creating a similar chart demonstrating your experiences/skills/competencies with specific examples:

Research your specific program and institution to know how you fit with the mission and curriculum, and also what you can bring to the school. Practise all of your answers out loud to hear where you stumble and pause, and to be comfortable with your examples.

MMI professional school interviews overview

The MMI is used for many health-related admission interviews (e.g., medicine, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, pharmacy). It is believed that the MMI is a better way to decrease the bias of interviewers and judge future performance by assessing soft skills (e.g., communication, collaboration, interpersonal, ethical-decision making, empathy, compassion, integrity, etc.). The MMI is similar to an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) used by health-related programs.

MMI format

Each candidate rotates through a series of stations, usually solo, but at some stations there will be another candidate or an actor. Each room has an interviewer and/or an observer.

You may be required to interact with others in person or theoretically through your answer. By considering others, it can reduce the likelihood of biased answers. Display your ability to communicate and empathize with others as this will demonstrate to evaluators your ability to interact with clients in a professional/ personable manner.

At each station candidates have two minutes to read the question/scenario/stem outside of the interview room. Sometimes the length of the question can add stress to the situation. A bell or buzzer indicates when the candidate can move into the interview room. The question is also available in the interview room for reference. After the candidate has finished answering the question the interviewer may ask probing questions.

Each program/school handles MMI interviews differently. These differences may include:

• Number of stations (usually between 6 and 12)
• Length of time provided to answer question in interview room (typically 6-8 minutes)
• Whether candidate can take notes outside/inside the interview room (rarely allowed)
• Whether candidate can take longer than 2 minutes to review the question prior to entering the interview room, which then reduces the amount of time to answer in the interview room
• Whether there is a 1-minute warning to wrap-up answer

2-minute prep time

The 2-minute preparation time outside the station is an important component to MMI performance. This time allows candidates to read the question, strategize, and mentally prepare. The questions can be purposely long, brief or obscure to see how a candidate will handle the situation. Use the 2 minutes to identify the type of station and the key points to cover. For each station type, the expectations will be different, and knowing what they are will help candidates structure their response. However, do not be thrown off if the situation in the room is different than expected. For example, the question might state that you will interact with a male colleague and when you enter the room, the person is a female. Review the models below to help you identify a strategy to use when you enter the room. Some stations provide extra information that may or may not be valuable. Try to narrow down the prompt to the question being asked and identify missing information. One tip is to focus less on numbers and statistics, as they are often supplementary information that help to contextualize the situation, but may not be relevant to the answer.

1. Read and understand important components of the question/scenario/stem
2. Identify the type of question
3. Organize your answer using the appropriate model
4. Knock on the door, enter the room, smile, shake hands, introduce yourself and stay calm

Sample MMI questions/scenarios/stems

More detailed information on MMI questions, scenarios, and stems are presented in subsequent pages:

• Acting/role play stations
• Critical thinking stations
• Collaboration stations
• Debate stations
• Delivering bad news stations
• Ethical scenarios stations
• Pilots stations
• Rest stations
• Standard stations
• Understanding of profession/health care knowledge stations
• Video clip(s) stations

Acting/role play stations

An applicant interacts with an actor, and there is an observer in the room.

For example, “You are roommates with Alex. She hasn’t done her share of dishes in the last month and leaves her belongings all over the apartment. Her room is starting to smell from the leftover food/dishes she leaves out. Enter the room and discuss this situation with her.”

• Only interact with the actor (observer is only there to watch)
• Do not direct questions or comments to observer
• If it seems appropriate, touch actor on shoulder, but nowhere else (could offer a handshake)
• There might be props in the room (e.g., a box of tissues or something that would be appropriate to use in the scenario)
• Often actors are told not to provide too much information until the applicant asks the right questions
• There is often a central conflict or reason for the interaction, and there can be an underlying issue or motivator to uncover through interaction with the actor
• Ask open questions to make the actor feel comfortable enough to share information. Examples include:
  • How can I help?
  • Why are you upset?
  • Why did you come to see me?
  • Why are you crying?
  • How are you feeling?
• Closed questions can be used to get specific information (usually limited to a very short response). Examples include:
  • Is there anything you want to talk about?
  • When did that happen?
  • Has this happened before?
  • Should I call someone to be with you?

Critical thinking stations

There is no right or wrong answer when you are answering a critical thinking question. Many of these questions contain an ethical component, and the idea is to minimize the negative outcome for anyone involved in the ethical dilemma presented to you. Be consistent in your response even if the interviewer tries to sway your opinion by adding new information partway through your answer. On the other hand, if the new information has a great impact one way or the other, clearly state your justification for changing your opinion. For health-related admission interviews, answers should always be patient-focused. Health care is about objectivity, best health care, and best outcomes from a medical standpoint, not what a person can contribute to society.

Identify the issues in the question, make sure you understand exactly what is being asked, and address the issue(s) raised. Endeavour to provide unbiased and neutral solutions. Rather than start with the outcome you best subscribe to, lead the interviewer to the conclusion with your evidence-based reasoning. Wherever possible, try to back up your claims with proof (e.g., items in the news, journal articles, and other research from valid and verifiable sources).

Choose three to four of these perspectives and evaluate the situation. Avoid having your argument seem one sided. Ensure that you are evaluating both pros and cons for the different PESTLE perspectives. In addition, know regulations and your own ethical considerations — what is the scope of your authority and extent of your obligation?

If you are unprepared to answer the question, ask the interviewer to clarify the question and/or to provide some probing or leading questions. If that is not possible, attempt to address the part(s) of the question for which you have some knowledge. Responses to ethical questions can be fairly long. Towards the end of your response, use phrases such as “in conclusion” or “in summary” or “as a final recommendation” or “given the above, I believe” to indicate that you are concluding your response.

For example, “In some countries there is presumed consent for organ donation (it is assumed that you wish to donate your viable organs unless you opt out). Canada has the opposite system where you must sign up to be an organ donor. Do you think we should have presumed consent in Canada? Discuss this issue with the interviewer.”

Critical thinking format

When possible, show empathy and compassion when working through the PESTLE model (or another model of choice):

1. Summarize the question in your own words
2. Identify missing information (state what you don’t know or that you need to gather more information), assumptions that you need to make, and/or key issues
3. State your framework to list the options you will consider: (e.g., “I will look at this situation from an economic, social and ethical perspective”). It is also possible to look at it from each person’s perspective (e.g., student, faculty, society).
   
   

   With the PESTLE model: Focus on three to four perspectives and have pros/cons for each.

   In most cases pros/cons should be patient-centered, student-centered, client-centered, etc. Also show who else will be affected by the situation, don’t just focus on the people listed in the situation (if the situation is about a child think about how it will affect their parent(s), siblings, teachers, school, educational system, etc.).

   P: Political pros/cons: government interventions/taxes/policies can influence health & education

   E: Economic pros/cons: save/spend time and money

   S: Social pros/cons: cultural aspects, health consciousness, population growth, age distribution, career attributes

   T: Technological pros/cons: R&D activity, automation, changes and innovation

   L: Legal pros/cons: legal implications

   E: Ethical pros/cons: ethical dilemmas OR Environmental pros/cons: weather, climate change, tourism, farming

4. Synthesize and incorporate information from another source (personal perspective, something you read online or learned in a course)
5. Initiative (action you might take e.g., education, prevention, contact others to gather more information, look beyond the people involved in this situation)
6. Summarize: provide an assessment on how one side outweighs the other and your view of a feasible option
7. Make sure the question is answered

Other models for critical thinking and ethical decision making:

Other models to address ethical questions are ABCDE of Medical Ethics (Levine, 1994) and CARVE (Gampel):

ABCDE

• Autonomy
• Beneficence (what can be done for the patient)
• Confidentiality
• Do no harm
• Equality (justice)

CARVE

• Consequences
• Autonomy
• Rights
• Values
• Equality

Collaboration stations

Two candidates work together to complete a task, and one or two observers are present. One applicant will deliver instructions/explain (generally referred to as the leader) and the other applicant (generally referred to as the follower) will complete a task (e.g., puzzle building, drawing). The process is repeated at another station and the roles are reversed. You may or not be with the same candidate. Typically, you are placed back to back with your partner so you cannot see each other.

A common scenario is: “Guide your partner to complete this puzzle. At the end of the station you will be given time to provide feedback to each other”.

• The goal is not to complete the task: it is about communication and teamwork
• Greet the other candidate (e.g., introduce self, ask how day is going, etc.)
• Describe the task: help your partner understand the task; show leadership skills by initiating the collaboration with your partner
• Strategize with your partner: plan how to complete the task together (e.g., how you will communicate, length of time spent on each step, how to provide feedback, what materials does your partner have in front of them, do they like to draw. This is an important step, one that is often missed!)
• Highlight potential difficulties: discuss difficulties/problems (complexity of task, time limitations)
• Give step-by-step directions: break the task down and give simple instructions at each step (make sure other applicant and observer understand what you are doing and why); don’t provide too many directions at once, and ask partner to check-in and repeat back steps
• When asked to provide feedback to each other; discuss any difficulties you faced only after you have given positive feedback to your partner
• When in the follower role, if the leader does not strategize with you, politely recommend that you strategize together before proceeding further with the station

Debate stations

Generally there are two candidates at this station and two observers. Each candidate is presented with a side to argue. Typically, after three to five minutes of discussion, you will need to verbally evaluate yourself and the other candidate.

For example, “Candidate 1 believes that the Olympics are a waste of money; candidate 2 disagrees. Defend your position to the other candidate.”

• This station assesses how you interact with others (especially someone who does not share your opinion); although structured and logical arguments are good, the purpose is less about “winning” the debate and more about showing that you can think critically about what is being presented, and respectfully interact well with the other candidate
• A stronger argument will be based on evidence instead of opinion only; try to refer to sources where relevant (such as a book, class, article, news item)
• The PESTLE model could be used to explore the pros and/or cons from a political, economic, social, technological, legal, and ethical perspective, if relevant
• If you would have preferred to argue the other side, use this to your advantage; prepare counterarguments based on what you would have stated for the other side
• Avoid attacking the other candidate; focus on the issue
• When evaluating the debate, you can be more critical of yourself; provide positive feedback to the other candidate first, and focus on what would have worked better (instead of “you should have done …”); how you deliver the feedback is important

Delivering bad news stations

When you enter a health-related profession, generally you will be taught how to deliver bad news to a patient. While it is not expected that you know how to do this in your admissions interview, often you will be asked about this to get a sense of your empathy and compassion. For example, “How would you tell a 65-year-old woman she has cancer?” Sometimes this scenario is used with an MMI acting/role play station. A tip for delivering bad news is to keep your facial expressions neutral. As a health care professional, you want to be careful about displaying emotion when delivering bad news. This format is taught in medical school and may be helpful:

Ethical scenario stations

Sometimes candidates are asked how they would react to a scenario that involves an ethical component such as witnessing cheating/stealing, or other unethical behaviours. How you respond/react to these situations indicates how you will act in your profession.

ACT and INTERACT:

Consider both your ethical actions and the interpersonal situation.

1. Think about the situation/person/people involved: how do you approach them? Would you listen and/or offer support? Show empathy and use your communication and interpersonal skills, but make sure to take action
2. You must act — ensure the “right” thing is done (cannot diffuse responsibility when you have observed or heard something that is wrong)

For example, “You see your coworker carrying work equipment to their personal car. How do you handle the situation?”

• Don’t assume anything about the situation — they may have permission to borrow it; approach them and find out what is going on; if they are doing something wrong, explain to them why, and discuss next steps; communicate with them using your strong communication and interpersonal skills (e.g./ empathy/compassion/tact/diplomacy etc.)
• Encourage them to return the equipment/turn themselves in; go with them for support; if they won’t return the equipment or let anyone know about the situation, then you would need to take action — it is your responsibility because you saw it happen; it is not necessary to put yourself in harm’s way, but you should report what you saw to an authority figure/association

Pilot stations

These stations are used to test future MMI stations, although they will not be identified as such.

Rest stations

In this type of station, candidates are allowed to rest and sometimes offered water or can talk to a current student.

Students have said that the break station throws them off during the actual MMI. Do not take the time to rehash all of the previous stations, or work yourself up over what questions could be next. Take a break from talking if that is what you need and try to breathe and relax. If there is a current student at the rest station to speak to, be polite and interact with them. Use the conversation to help calm your nerves/get your mind off of waiting.

Standard stations

Sometimes, even MMI interviews have one or two stations that ask standard/panel interview questions. Please read the Standard professional school interviews questions and recommended models for more information. Common standard questions for health professions generally include: “Why do you want to be a _________?” “Tell me about a time when you did __________”. “What do you know about the profession?”

Understanding of profession/health care
knowledge stations

In many stations it is important to demonstrate your knowledge of the current trends, policies, challenges, and changing roles of health care practitioners. Keep up to date with the governing body for your future profession, and make sure to watch/read the news as much as possible to be aware of current events. Some of these questions can include sensitive topics like physician-assisted suicide, stem cell research, abortion, aboriginal and alternative medicine, access to care in rural populations, as well as school specific teaching methods or curriculum

For example, “What is the biggest challenge currently facing the profession of _________?” or “If the Prime Minister of Canada asked you to recommend one change to our health care system that would make the biggest impact, what would you recommend?”

1. State the issue and why it is an issue (“What are you basing your recommendations on?” “What type of research have you done about the Canadian Healthcare system?”)
2. Include ideas/initiatives to improve the issue (“What initiative would you take to address this situation?” “How do you think you can help to make this change?”)
3. Discuss actions and implications — costs and benefits (“What implications do you think this suggestion will have on health care costs?” “What benefits and challenges are there with social and environmental concerns?”)
4. End with a summary statement

Video clip(s) stations

In this station, candidates review a short video and then write answers to (generally) standard ethical, situational, and behaviour-based questions.

Evaluation of MMIs

Applicants are ranked at each station by the interviewer or observer. Interviewers do not discuss their rankings with other interviewers, so you are independently rated by each interviewer which eliminates bias.

The evaluation criterion varies each year. The interviewer is provided with a list of criteria that the school is looking for in a candidate. Depending on the school you might be given marks for: demeanor, maturity, intellect, compassion, overall impression, communication, English fluency, ability to organize, integrity in ethics, critical-thinking skills, soft skills identified in the question, incorporating personal examples. You will be rewarded for being methodical and articulate. Interviewers want to see how you process information. You can read McMaster’s Manual for Interviewers online to see an example evaluation form.

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

MMI References

Gampel, E. H. A Framework for Moral Reasoning. Retrieved from http://www.csuchico.edu/~egampel/students/solving2.htm

Levine, D. (1994). Physician-patient Communication in the Urban Clinical Setting. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2359272/pdf/bullnyacadmed01039-0058.pdf

Orfano, F. (2011). Components of a PESTLE Analysis. Retrieved from http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/articles/51754.html

Sandrick, K. (1998). Codified principles enhance physician/patient communication. Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons, 83(11), 13-17.

General professional school interview tips

The purpose of an interview

The interview is an exchange of information between you and the interviewer(s). It is used to help assess interest in, and suitability (i.e., competencies) for the program of study, and fit for the field/profession. To make this assessment, the interview committee will endeavour to obtain information about your skills, values (personal ethics), personality, and interests. Interviewers may be interested in your integrity (personal and professional accountability), maturity, compassion, sincerity, honesty, originality, curiosity, intelligence, confidence, motivation, leadership skills, communication skills, ability to relate to others, cultural and social interests, work and volunteer experiences, knowledge of relevant issues and events, and, in some cases, your ability to withstand the emotional/physical demands of the profession.

First impressions

Succeeding in an interview may depend on your professional appearance and the interviewer’s first impression of you. If the first impression is not positive, it will be difficult to change the interviewer’s mind during the rest of the interview.

Arrive early, dressed in attire appropriate for the type of admissions interview you are attending. For health and business-related interviews dress conservatively and keep fashion accessories to a minimum. Avoid wearing strong scents (or any at all) because many people have environmental allergies. Ensure your cell phone is turned off.

Greet each person with respect and professionalism. When you shake hands, make eye contact and smile. Handshakes should be firm but not aggressive; try to match the grip of the interviewer. Standard North American practice is to shake hands at the beginning and end of an interview. However, if you are not comfortable with this practice tell the interviewer that you prefer not to shake hands and why. It is good etiquette to wait to sit down until the interviewer invites you to do so.

Don’t worry about being a little nervous during the interview; being nervous is normal and expected. Remember, the interviewer wants you to have the right qualifications and interest in the profession. Many interviewers will begin the interview with some “small talk” to help you relax. This may seem irrelevant to the program, but you are still being evaluated; be sure to demonstrate a positive attitude.

Preparing for the interview

Tricky situations

Awkward situations may occur during an interview, and it is up to you to be prepared to confidently handle whatever happens. To increase your confidence and preparation for an interview, practise. Check for quality of information in your answers and the positive, non-verbal reinforcement of your words. By practising responses out loud, you can hear your answers and assess their effectiveness. But don’t practise so much that you lose your spontaneity and your answers sound rehearsed.

The key to tricky situations is to remember that barriers to admission can often be overcome by focusing on the positive. Circumstances that you may find problematic are:

Verbal and non-verbal communication

Smile when appropriate during the interview. Be enthusiastic and responsive. As you talk about your past and present activities, your passion and energy can be communicated both through your words and your body language (e.g., an excited tone of voice, leaning forward, nodding your head in agreement). Maintaining eye contact is important; failure to do so may imply a lack of confidence or, worse, cause the interviewer to question your truthfulness.

Sit comfortably, without slouching. Don’t put anything on your lap or in your hands if it will restrict your natural body movement or if you may be tempted to play with it. Keep your clipboard, note pad, briefcase, or portfolio on the floor beside your chair for easy retrieval.

Respond to questions specifically and concisely but give sufficient details to enable the interviewer to evaluate your credentials. Interviewers become frustrated when they have to listen to long, rambling answers. Think before you speak. It is quite acceptable to pause before talking in order to organize your thoughts. Avoid verbal fillers such as “um,” “ah,” “you know,” or regularly repeating the question to provide thinking time.

Use professional language. Avoid slang. Speak clearly. Watch the interviewer for clues on how the interview is progressing. Is the interviewer’s face or body language telling you that your answers are too long, not detailed enough, too boring? If in doubt, ask the interviewer if more or fewer details are needed.

Prepare in advance to talk about any topic that you feel uncomfortable about. If there is something that you don’t want an interviewer to inquire about, it will likely be raised during the interview. Practise your answer out loud often enough to feel confident, and to decrease your emotions surrounding the answer (e.g., “Tell me about your most painful experience”). Maintain poise and self-control. Consider a difficult issue as a learning opportunity that has made you a better person.

Interview formats

Interview evaluation worksheet

Save this list to record how you perform during interviews and to document your progress.

• School/program/location/date/time
• Interviewer(s)/title/contact information
• Based on my performance, would I accept me into the program? Why or why not?
• Was I courteous and professional with everyone I came in contact with?
• What did I do to make a solid first impression?
• What did I do to outwardly convey interest, confidence and enthusiasm? (e.g., maintain eye contact, vary voice tone)
• Overall, what impression did I make? Did I talk too much? Too little? Was I too tense? Passive? Aggressive?
• What points did I make that seemed to interest/impress the interviewer(s)?
• How did I present my qualifications to emphasize how my skills are related to the field/profession, providing appropriate examples as evidence?
• How did I explain my professional goals, interests and desires?
• Did I pass up opportunities to further demonstrate how my work, volunteer, academic and other experiences could benefit the field/profession?
• How did I demonstrate knowledge about the program, institution, and field?
• Do I have enough information to make a knowledgeable decision about accepting an offer? If not, what more do I need to consider and find out?
• Overall, what do I feel I excelled at during the interview?
• What questions did I have trouble answering?
• What else can I do to better prepare for future interviews?

Professional school interviews websites and resources

• PSI MMI Framework (PDF)

Standard professional school interviews

Standard interview format is when candidates are asked a series of questions in front of one or more admission panelists. The main portion of the interview consists of the interviewer asking you questions to try to determine your fit. Generally, you have an opportunity to ask any questions that you may have at the end of the interview.