You will hopefully get called for interviews soon. Many of you will have interviews at all 4 of your UCAS choice medical schools. Pre COVID most medical schools were running MMI (multiple mini interview) interviews in a circuit format in person at the medical school itself.

Many, if not all, medical schools are moving to online interviews due to the coronavirus pandemic and the need to protect the health of students and examiners. Some are retaining the MMI format and others moving to traditional panel interviews or some kind of hybrid of the two. Your interview may be shorter and have less stations and again you usually will only have one chance per medical school. Whilst a shorter interview might appear initially good news you may no longer have the opportunity to catch up if you perform badly at a question, so your preparation this year is critical.

We look at 5 reasons why students perform poorly in interviews and how you can learn from others mistakes in the past.

Lack of knowledge and understanding of the topic being assessed

This one is straight forward. You simply have inadequate knowledge to be able to answer the question. This is like coming to an exam without revising the topic (or missing the topic without knowing). This can happen in hot topic stations and perhaps those on medical leadership and team working frameworks. Whilst it is impossible to be able to predict every hot topic, some topics such as abortion and euthanasia never seem to go out of date. Your interviewer may be sympathetic and give you some hints if you get stuck, but this will be at the expense of critical marks.

Lack of knowledge of the medical school and its teaching methods

You must know the website of the medical school inside out – anything on there is fair game at an interview. Some have detailed descriptions of the course structure and use words and phrases that you might not be otherwise familiar with – such as ‘spiral curriculum’ for example. You need to know the teaching methods (for example problem-based learning), the pros and cons of the methods use in the medical school and how you will be able to adapt to this method of learning coming from A-level.

Superficial answers with no depth or explanation of your thought process

Whilst the initial question not initially appear to be complex, you must explain the reasons for your answers clearly to the examiners. Explain why you have come to a decision and always present any counter arguments. This tends to occur when students have not had any medical school interview training. You will likely still gain some marks for a superficial answer, or the examiner may prompt you for your reasons – but they may not do. You cannot afford to lose marks this way.

Lack of ability to communicate with people and to show empathy

You will still have role play stations, likely with professional actors, even though the interview is online. They will not be over dramatic (for example they are unlikely to shout at you at high volume like you see in some training videos) but they will be firm and push you. They are likely to use phrases with confidence such as ‘you have made a mistake and what are you going to do about it?’. You have to respond in a reasonable and proportional manner and perhaps apologise and show remorse for your mistakes. Think of running over a cat and having to see the owner, or having a friend break down on you because they have received some bad news. This skill can definitely be taught but also needs practice, which several candidates fail to do.

Lack of confidence and clarity in your answers

Accent is not a problem here. This means you do not structure your answer resulting in the examiner not being able to follow you. Some students are reticent, rather shy and quiet in nature – this needs to be overcome (unless it is for a medical reason in which case your teacher needs to mention this in the reference). Also do not beat about the bush – answer the question clearly and concisely – you do not have the time. For several questions, for example those that have an ethical element, there are established structures and frameworks that you can use to formulate and present your answers to the examiners clearly and confidently. Again, this is a skill that can be taught and practiced.

There and many other reasons why students perform poorly in interviews, but I have listed some of the common ones. As I have mentioned knowledge and skills can be learned and refined with practice.

Come to our Medical School Interview Course and we will equip you with the knowledge and skills you need to get high marks in your medical (or dental) school interview at your choice of medical school(s). Practice your communication skills and get expert feedback from medical school tutors. Learn from your mistakes and observe how other students perform.

The photos below are from our previous courses, some pre COVID.