Interview Question Time!

[Usagi]

[MENTION=8866]Dr Worm[/MENTION] Thanks, I'll definitely have a look at those hypotheticals you are talking about! I found this type of question extremely hard, probably because it is so ambiguous.. But I get what you mean that "arguing for any single person" is possible. You even managed to do it for Tony! I felt that one was the hardest one to argue for.
And that's alright, I don't want to waste too much of your time, I might be able to find some more examples online Thank you!

 

[Havox]

[MENTION=9624]Vampires_Don't_Sparkle[/MENTION] Don't post copyrighted material on this site.

 

[Vampires_Don't_Sparkle]

But... it's not copyrighted?

 

[Havox]

But... it's not copyrighted?

It certainly is, I know EXACTLY where that question came from and its not to be posted on this forum.

 

[Vampires_Don't_Sparkle]

I went to a -insert unmentionable prep course- and they did say their questions were copyrighted and not to be taken outside of the seminar, but then they gave us a sheet of other questions to take home, which I was happy about. I suppose I thought those questions would be fine to use as practice... evidently not. >.>

In any case, would it be okay if I posted my answers with a general outline of the question (paraphrased, of course)?

 

[Havox]

No. For one thing, any mention of prep courses or discussion of their material is NOT to happen on this site but that prep course is breaching copyright by using that material.

 

[Vampires_Don't_Sparkle]

-sigh- Oh well, it was worth a try. Thanks for the replies, though!

 

[Dr Worm]

-sigh- Oh well, it was worth a try. Thanks for the replies, though!

I think feedback is important, by the way, so I'd suggest you ask someone else to take a look at it (ie not on MSO However as [MENTION=5638]Havox[/MENTION] says, we are very careful about discussion of prep courses, and about the content of interview questions. Most, if not all, of the questions in this thread have been written by MSO members, most of whom have good knowledge of the MMI process, and some of whom are carefully abiding by non-disclosure agreements they (as individuals) signed. I think the current arrangement is that possible questions for the thread (eg. if anyone feels like writing one) need to be PMed to [MENTION=814]Matt[/MENTION], not posted in the thread.

That said, the IQT threads (this one and it's predecessors) exist to provide practice Qs and feedback for MMIs, and you're welcome to practice on these.

 

[-ben123]

Hi guys, I just wanted to ask a question since I'm having my first med interview at UNCLE next week. I've been reading people's responses which they said they wrote in 5/8 minutes. In the actual interview, would you just get one question and answer for the rest of the time or are you meant to stop so they can challenge your answer? (ie for the questions that require critical thinking) I'm a bit confused. :S

 

[Matt]

Hi guys, I just wanted to ask a question since I'm having my first med interview at UNCLE next week. I've been reading people's responses which they said they wrote in 5/8 minutes. In the actual interview, would you just get one question and answer for the rest of the time or are you meant to stop so they can challenge your answer? (ie for the questions that require critical thinking) I'm a bit confused. :S

Depends on the interview station, in some you will have follow up questions or your answer might be challenged, in other there may only be one question for the entire station.

 

[-ben123]

Thanks for the reply Matt! Also, might be a stupid question but how long can we/should we pause for before answering the question without looking like your stuck but actually thinking?

 

[Matt]

Thanks for the reply Matt! Also, might be a stupid question but how long can we/should we pause for before answering the question without looking like your stuck but actually thinking?

Probably no longer than 5 seconds. A better way to approach it is as you would naturally answer a question you wanted to think about. Another way to buy time/show you're thinking/give a better constructed answer is to say stuff like e.g. "There are two issues to this problem: a and b. And then go on to talk about a and then b.

The thing is though, what works for one person doesn't for another and the best approach is the one that is natural to you. Pausing to show you're thinking isn't a bad strategy but that's only the case if you actually benefit from that pause to think, it isn't something you should aim to incorporate into your response if it's not natural for you.

 

[Havox]

Pause if you need to pause, if not then go for it.

 

[Jake.f]

*Scholarship Question*

Going to have a shot at this one, about time too seeing as my JMP interview is next Wednesday, and I'm paranoid I'll completely freeze up and go blank at scenario type questions. Feedback appreciated!

Ok, Manjarie first. She would be a good candidate because she has already commenced medical study, this was discontinued but these were due to circumstances beyond her control and not due to her struggling in the course or something like that. Because she has already started Medicine elsewhere, and because she has shown a massive effort to commence it here she would probably not be one to drop out of medicine here if she got the scholarship. The fact that she has two children and is a single parent also makes her a good candidate.

Jaydyn has shown a lot of motivation to do medicine, in that he returned to school to realise his dreams of studying medicine. It is not made clear whether or not he is extremely financially disadvantaged, however from information given later it can be assume he is dependent on centrelink payments. His high level of motivation for medicine and adequate marks shows he has the potential to succeed, however I would rank him lower than Manjarie. Also, he has the potential to drop out if he finds medicine too challenging, as his dream is medical research there is the possibility that he may begin medicine, and then find himself being more suited to a Medical Science like degree to focus on the science and not on the clinical side of things.

Chris obviously has a fair bit of outside influence to push her into medicine. The fact that she obtained sufficient marks after such a disadvantaged schooling shows the level of motivation she has for medicine. The fact that she has "helped out" her father suggests that she knows what she is getting into and is unlikely to drop out. She may find medicine really tough due to a lack of classroom experience. Her father is a doctor, and it could be argued that some form of financial support may arise from him. Because of her insanely disadvantaged education and very rural background, she would likely be an excellent candidate for the rural bonded scholarship, and hence this would make me less likely to award her the equity scholarship.

Tony has not had the disadvantaged education experienced by some of the other candidates. It is stated that he gets sporadic financial support from his parents, which means that the scholarship for him would not be a necessity. He would be unlikely to drop out due to his family situation and his sister, as well as the fact he acts as a carer on occasion. This would probably be one of the major factors pushing him to study medicine. The fact that he has a goal also shows his motivation. However, I would probably not award him the scholarship as it is stated that he has lived independently and probably works, and that fact he receives assistance from his parents.

So to conclude, I would award the scholarship to Manjarie. She has already begun medical studies and took a step backwards in her education when arriving in Australia to recommence her medical studies, which shows how she is truly motivated to study medicine and would be very unlikely to drop out. The fact that she has a goal in her medical studies is also evidence of her true desire to study medicine. She is a single parent with two young children, and this means that she would be experiencing a lot of financial disadvantage in attempting to study medicine, and in looking after her children and completing her studies she would probably find it hard to work to support herself and her family. Hence I believe she is the best candidate for this equity scholarship, and I would award it to her.

 

[Jake.f]

In regards to Matt's Question: "You have been accepted into medical school and one of your early clinical placements is with a surgical team. Your supervisor, a senior surgeon, likes to make jokes about the race, religion, sexual orientation, of the more junior members of the team. Occasionally he makes more serious but also discriminatory statements about the intelligence of Aboriginal people and how he believes the influx of Muslim immigrants is eroding Australian values. You know in your cohort there are Aboriginal students accepted through a separate entry scheme and international students from Malaysia who were the hijab. What, if anything, would you do in this situation?"

This situation is a complex one. Regardless of your fellow students his comments are discriminatory and unfounded, as well as racist. Diversity is something which should always be valued in any group of people. It is stated that he is your supervisor, which means that voicing your concerns to him directly would be sort of an unwise decision to make. I think that in the initial instance, I would ignore any comments he makes and make it obvious that I did not wish to participate in his banter in the slightest, and instead just continue to focus on the job at hand and not acknowledge these comments. A shocked/dirty look wouldn't go astray here either. I'm unsure how these sorts of things works, but seeing as I am on placement the first thing I would do, after establishing that this was a continued and frequent occurrence, would be to voice my concerns with whoever coordinates placements at the university. I'm not sure what the solution would be, but I would make a request to change supervisors or to find an alternative placement as I would not be comfortable working under such conditions. Also I'm not sure how it works, but if talking to the coordinator of the placements didn't work I would then seek out the next person in the medical school hierarchy, possibly the course coordinator. At this point of a solution wasn't reached, such as the surgeon being reprimanded or me being placed elsewhere or with another supervisor, I think the next thing I would do would be an anonymous complaint to whoever is in charge of the surgeon himself. Hopefully a resolution would be reached by now.

Actually now I think of it, comments like these over a continued period of time would really get to me quite a bit. I probably would end up making a comment to the surgeon, something along the lines of "I do not appreciate your comments, may we please focus on the job/surgery at hand?". I would still follow the aforementioned route, or first seeking out the placement coordinator etc.


So is this answer any good?

 

[Dr Worm]

[MENTION=8139]Jake.f[/MENTION] Your replies looks pretty good, although I'll have anouther look later (I'm a bit tired). But it would be nitpicking, if anything, they're good answers.

(I may edit later for further feedback, but for now, I think you're set).

 

[Emmmmma]

[MENTION=8866]Dr Worm[/MENTION] - thanks for your scholarship Q... similar to BigRedSky I answered the question verbally, so I'll just type the general jist of what I said (I'm still flat out studying for exams right now! Should not be on here!!).

Basically, I felt that Jaydyn stood out as someone who has come from a background that, from my perspective, isn't always viewed as the typical med candidate. He seems to have gone against all odds, even begun a different career in construction, yet fought for his education (in more recent years) and showed persistence against possible financial / social factors that pulled him out of school in the first place. I think this kind of dedication will easily carry Jaydyn through a med degree.

Manjarie was my second choice, as she potentially had good time management and drive, as suggested by her current familial / volunteer / study situation. But political refugee status does not necessarily make her financially disadvantaged - it's likely, but not always the case. She is older and has possibly had more time to save up and support herself... but this is all just assumption. Ultimately I think that she's demonstrated the ability to survive adversity, and I don't feel a med degree is going to be all that unbearable for her - I think she'll cope without the money.

Chris and Tony both have difficult situations, but they already have some obvious levels of support which are stated in the application. Familial support is not something that Manjarie or Jaydyn are described as having at all (which doesn't mean they don't have it, but it's less likely...).

I feel that the nature of this scholarship requires more information in general on the current financial status of all applicants to truly make it an "equity" scholarship, but based solely on the provided info, Jaydyn was my decision.

 

[motivate123]

Are we supposed to be judgmental in the scenarios above? I know as a doctor you should not judge your patient because you don't know their background, circumstances.

 

[Dr Worm]

[MENTION=8929]motivate123[/MENTION]: well, now. That depends. You will sometimes get MMI questions which require you to make a judgement. The trick is to make the right one . I imagine the same holds tru for actual doctoring . On (I think the preceeding page), I wrote about the scholarship question: I (intentially) didn't provide much information, so you're forced to make assumptions. People have assumed different things, but they're all fair and supported by reasoning. If you - say - assumed some student was gonna drop out because of some stereotype you hold, that might not be such a good assumption. Does that answer your question? If not, you can read over the prev answers (but I personally think this isn't ideal if you're planning to answer them; I reckon, answer first,m then read over) or maybe you can ask a more specific question?

[MENTION=12393]Emmmmma[/MENTION]: Way to go!!!! It's in regular English and everything! (I'm so proud). Your reasoning was valid, you were succinct, and you made a good argument. You were particularly subtle in your interpretation of the meaning/consequences of the students backgrounds, and I think that would come across well in an interview. You didn't directly adress the issue of who is most likley to persist, but you did seem to have considered it: I wouldn't consider it an important ommission in this case 1) cos you have exams atm and 2) because it looks as if you've considered it in formulating your answer: if this was an actual MMI, I think the interviewer might either consider the matter addressed, or prompt you to directly consider it. If there was a gold star smiley option, you'd get it.

 

[Season]

Remember in any ethical/workforce dilemma a good way to approach the situation is to identify the relevant issues at play and see how they conflict.
So when thinking about how to structure your answer start with. The issues are xx, xx, xx, xx. Then I feel like I woul do this, but this conflicts with this that and so forth. Doing it this way helps you pull apart the scenario/question more.

Really at the end of the day, they are not really looking for an answer to the scenario, they're at how you are approaching the scenario.