Practice Interview Question Thread

[Crow]

If I was to go a rural placement, what would I do to make the best of it? I see this question often in interviews, but I honestly have no clue what they are expecting or what I would even do (I guess go out to get a feel for the community/culture stuff like that, which everyone would do anyway). Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

What do you think the benefits of being in a rural community are, and what do you think are advantages of being in a rural vs metro hospital/practice from a student perspective? What steps could you take to maximise those advantages during your period on a placement?

What do you think are the challenges and downsides of being in a rural community? What steps could you take to mitigate those challenges?

 

[Jamie2232]

Quentin, a 48 year old surveyor has come in to find out the results of a blood test for early stage blood cancer. He also has a continuing history of depression. Before revealing the information, you find out that he in fact does have leukemia, though it is treatable. However, you fear that by hearing the diagnosis, Quentin’s depression may be exacerbated due to the new information, which has a high likelihood of causing him to have suicidal ideation and attempts or even harm to others.

For this situation do you try and see if he can handle it giving him a 'warning shot' of the bad news, if he can't handle it then just don't tell him?

 

[RainRainGoAway]

Hi there, For this question:

You are the new principal at a remote school in the Northern Territory. Your school has very limited funding, but one of the major initiatives that have been put in place is the provision of a breakfast program for local children. Many Aboriginal children attend this program, and for the some, this may be the only meal the get for the day. Unfortunately your school does not have very many library books, and those that you do have are over 20 years old and rotting. One member of the school council has proposed scrapping the breakfast program in favour of buying new books as "All the kids can benefit, not just those black kids".


Is it okay to mention that the other staff member's comment is slightly inappropriate, or stray away from this sort of thing?

 

[teardrop]

hellooo, i also have a question about rurality but i don't really understand what it's asking about. what would be the model answer? what should medical applicants know already about public vs private health?
the question comes from an MMI Interview preparation package:

There is a disparity in rural/remote health and metropolitan health. If someone is sick - private or public health? What should they do?

 

[AnubisHorus&Ra]

Hi there, For this question:

You are the new principal at a remote school in the Northern Territory. Your school has very limited funding, but one of the major initiatives that have been put in place is the provision of a breakfast program for local children. Many Aboriginal children attend this program, and for the some, this may be the only meal the get for the day. Unfortunately your school does not have very many library books, and those that you do have are over 20 years old and rotting. One member of the school council has proposed scrapping the breakfast program in favour of buying new books as "All the kids can benefit, not just those black kids".


Is it okay to mention that the other staff member's comment is slightly inappropriate, or stray away from this sort of thing?

Personally, if I were to answer this question, that would definitely be something to bring up. It is a highly inappropriate comment to make, but it's equally important to make note that you would not tell that to him in a public setting, but a private setting and that you give them the benefit of the doubt before pressing the issue further.

On top of this, seeking pros and cons of both sides, for instance, ensuring that children are fed and health is arguably more important procuring library books. This program would benefit children but promoting their health and providing some energy to focus on their studies. On the other hand, more library books would benefit everyone and allow children to explore more subjects etc (you get the point).

The last part of my answer would encompass how to maintain both, perhaps fund-raising could be done to purchase second handbooks or going to book drives etc.

I would recommend a questions structure like this:

1. The most pressing issue (ethical concerns in this case, inappropriate comment and how you would handle them)
2. Pros and cons of the existing issue
3. What you would do or recommendations.

This isn't a perfect structure by any stretch, but it is a good starting point.

 

[RainRainGoAway]

Personally, if I were to answer this question, that would definitely be something to bring up. It is a highly inappropriate comment to make, but it's equally important to make note that you would not tell that to him in a public setting, but a private setting and that you give them the benefit of the doubt before pressing the issue further.

On top of this, seeking pros and cons of both sides, for instance, ensuring that children are fed and health is arguably more important procuring library books. This program would benefit children but promoting their health and providing some energy to focus on their studies. On the other hand, more library books would benefit everyone and allow children to explore more subjects etc (you get the point).

The last part of my answer would encompass how to maintain both, perhaps fund-raising could be done to purchase second handbooks or going to book drives etc.

I would recommend a questions structure like this:

1. The most pressing issue (ethical concerns in this case, inappropriate comment and how you would handle them)
2. Pros and cons of the existing issue
3. What you would do or recommendations.

This isn't a perfect structure by any stretch, but it is a good starting point.

Thankyou so much!

 

[sogeking123]

Anyone looking to practice for upcoming GEMSAS interviews? I am looking to form a study group. DM me please!

 

[AnubisHorus&Ra]

Quentin, a 48 year old surveyor has come in to find out the results of a blood test for early stage blood cancer. He also has a continuing history of depression. Before revealing the information, you find out that he in fact does have leukemia, though it is treatable. However, you fear that by hearing the diagnosis, Quentin’s depression may be exacerbated due to the new information, which has a high likelihood of causing him to have suicidal ideation and attempts or even harm to others.

For this situation do you try and see if he can handle it giving him a 'warning shot' of the bad news, if he can't handle it then just don't tell him?

I know this questions is quite old, but I do think theres benefit in answering even if an answer is no longer required.

There are several buzzwords that interviewers seem to like, the easiest one to integrate into an interview is directly quoting the 4 pillars of medicine.

Beneficence and nonmaleficence: You duty as a medical professional entails providing the best possible options for treatment and doing no harm to the patient. You have ID'ed the issue (the cancer). It is treatable. Understand that the depression is a very real issue, but medically, the best thing you can do for your patient is inform them of the benefits of early intervention. This is also a very good part to talk about communication and empathy and the link between them amd their importance in medicine. Communicating this without either may present as an answer e.g. Dismissive "We've just found a small problem that you can get fixed early" or the other end of the spectrum, panic-inducing "We've ID'ed cancer in the bloodwork, you need to start chemo right now." Present a third gold standard answer; emphasise on communicating with empathy and communication, "We have the results of your bloodwork, it shows a treatable type of cancer at the early stages that is very much treatable if we start sooner rather than later. We can run through the treatment options now or a little later. If you need a minute to process, let me know."

Autonomy: This is very, very, very important and basically the key point of the question. Just like a suspect has the right to remain silent even if it may affect them negatively, a patient has the right to refuse treatment that can benefit them for any variety of reasons. However, in saying that, you as the health professional are responsible for ensuring that the patient has all the available options presented to them even if some of them are the poorer choice becuase there are numerous things that can affect medical decisions e.g. cost, location (can the pt get to the treating location), treating doctor, time (does the pt have capacity to take time off), occupation (can the pt afford to undergo treatment if it will affect their job e.g. knee surgery for a builder), mental health etc etc.

Justice: I don't know the relevant law, but knowing that a patient has cancer and not telling them definitely steps into the realm of withholding information. A patient has the right to access their own health information, and as a health professional, you cannot make the decision to withhold that information from them irresepective of your personal feelings.

Finally, in regard to the mental health, recommend referring to a psychologist and following up. Ensure support network e.g. family or friends is stable or can be established. ID potential contributing factors to depression during history collection and seek consent to refer to a social worker.

 

[Jellycube123]

Hey guys
Current 3rd year monash med student here - If anyone is interested in getting feedback on their MMI answers/ discussing scenarios, I'm forming a study group chat for Monash uni, text me (0452583138) with your Facebook name and profile pic!!

 

[applepie456]

Is there a certain basic pattern that guides a good answer? Should one constantly have key pointers in the back of their mind to direct their answer and cover all their bases?

yes if someone has an answer to this please @ me in the reply

 

[applepie456]

Hey guys just wondering if I was to post a scenario and my response to it, would you be able to provide me with some feedback? I want to gauge where I'm at and how I can improve

 

[AnubisHorus&Ra]

Hey guys just wondering if I was to post a scenario and my response to it, would you be able to provide me with some feedback? I want to gauge where I'm at and how I can improve

Can do. To answer your above question, yes. There is a format and pattern that helps guide a good answer. Honestly, i've already answered that question above. The standard format is as follows:

1. Acknowledging the issue presented in the question to demonstrate that you understand the problem (ethical concerns e.g. a team member not pulling their slack)
2. Identifying both sides of the issue to prove you can see things from multiple points of view and not just your own (1. They may literally just be a lazy slacker and need to be handled as such or 2. They may have other things going on in their life e.g. they are under too much academic stress)
3. Acknowledging the ethical dilema and (always) allowing benefit of the doubt - essentially to denote yourself as a moral, upstanding person.
4. Recommendations to prove you can problem solve (How would you solve the issue - nonsense like "If they had a legitamate issue with completing the coursework, I'd approach the participant in a private, non-confrontational manner and see if there was any way I could assist. I would furthermore encourage them to seek support from the school councellor and approach the lecturer to let them know about the issue and consider special considerations to help ease the pressure. I personally would tell the lecturer becuase it's not my place to tell, but I would highly encourage it. However, if they confided in me that they simply didn't want to do it, I would discuss the matter with him in private and develop strategies to encourage him to complete the task e.g. having a group session or forming a study group. I would check in with him regularly to ensure that he remained on track. If he continued to be unco-operative, then I would discuss it with the lecturer as it is unfair on my other team mates and I to need to pick up the slack etc. etc. ") you know...the usual.

Honestly, the interviewers know and understand that most of what the interviewees say is complete and utter nonsense (to quote my interviewing professor, "I've never heard so much bullshit in my life"), but the ability to spout that nonsense with confidence, excellent recommendations, eloquence and fantastic non-verbals is usually what sets the average and the excellent apart.

 

[applepie456]

Scenario: An exchange student who is living with you comes home from high school one day, badly bruised. When you ask the student what happened, they say one of the students at school has been bullying them for quite a while, culminating in being punched today. What would you do?

***This response has been transcribed into text after being spoken aloud***

My main concern in this situation is the wellbeing of the exchange student, both physically and mentally. Visibly, I can see that he has a large bruise on his face, so the first thing I will make sure to do is check if he is still in pain. Are there any other wounded areas that I cannot currently see? Does he need medical treatment? In such a case that he does, I would offer to drive him to a nearby hospital or ring 000 if needed. The next thing I would do is check how he is doing mentally. Having been a victim to bullying and physical violence, it's understandable that he may be feeling distressed and distraught in the situation. I would try talking with him, asking him questions such as if he's okay, if he would be willing to explain to me what led up to the punch and how long this has been going for. If the exchange student doesn't want to talk or I find that he's in any way uncomfortable in the situation, then I would have to respect this and restrict myself from delving further. I would encourage him to speak to a therapist or someone he feels comfortable around about this situation as keeping it bottled and not speaking up about this could damage his mental health further. The next thing to look into is how do we prevent this from happening in the future. He's told me that this bullying has been going on for a while now so it does seem that this is an ongoing issue. Bullying in any context, especially when it comes to physical violence, is completely unacceptable. So, I would encourage the exchange student report this situation to an appropriate staff member at the school, whether that be the school principal or a teacher. I would again offer to go with him, or if he does not want to appear in-person at the school I could offer to speak on his behalf or arrange a text/phone call to report the situation.

Hey guys, if anyone has the time to provide any feedback/criticism that would be awesome. Please feel free to be brutally honest, I'm trying to determine the level I am at currently.

Edit: just reading back over it now, I feel like I could add something about notifying the students parents about what has happened.

 

[AnubisHorus&Ra]

1.It's good that you've acknowledge that he may require immediate treatment. This is definitely a key element. The second thing I would have touched on is whether the student is in current imminent danger. Is the bully actively chasing him home? If there is danger, call authorities and seek more information about the lead up to the situation.
2. I would follow up with a statement about how an exchange student lacks support in such situation becuase they literally don't have a strong support networks of friends and family around them in such situations (becuase they're in a foreign country). (This is directed to the interviewers. This demonstrates empathy and out of the box thinking).
This would mean that it is even more important that you/I provide the support required. (Ability to understand the situation)
3. You'd ask him privately if was comfortable with disclosing the incident to the foreign exchange supervisor. (Consent)
I would offer to go with them to the teacher and then see if we can additionally get the day off to 1. seek medical treatment, 2. avoid the bullies and 3. provide mental support. (understanding multiple POVs)
4. If he declines out of fear, I'd let him know we can ask for the day off while the staff handled the issue etc. as above. (Consent and autonomy)
The foreign exchange teacher can then speak to higher authorities about how to handle the situation and notify his parents as per his duty of care. (being able to make up stakeholders is convenient in situations like these. I think it might be too much to jump straight for the principal, so I've opted for a directly related teacher and shoved the responsibility onto them)

Then I'd go onto more long term solutions like seeking psychological support etc. etc.

You're right in that the format that I've recommended wouldn't work in this scenario becuase it's a scenario quesiton rather than an ethical dilema question. My apologies.

Overall, your answer is very solid. You have a lot of good ideas. Usually you'd start an answer off with an opening statement outlining the situation, "If an exchange student staying with me came home with bruises..." Not everyone does this, but sometimes the interviewers themselves actually forget the scenario too, so it can be helpful for calming your nerves and prompting the interviewers to recall the prompt.

In your answers, it also important to sprinkle in statements that prove you can see things from mulitple POVs and think outside the box and give more context to the interviewers (you have done this a bit) e.g. directing a statement at the interviewers acknowledging that an exchange student is not going to have good supports becuase they don't have their familiar friends or family around, so that falls on you. It should blend seamlessly into the rest of hte answer.

I haven't exactly outlined a stella answer, just based on about 5 minutes of thought about how I would structure it. When you answered, you jumpe straight from short term recommendations to long term and then back to short term. (From seeking medical atten. to seeking mental health and then back to going to a teacher). Like ideas need to be linked together succinctly. So things you'd do immediately, seek medical attention and telling authorities need to be lumped together and providing medical support would come after that. Otherwise the ideas get messy and it's not a cohesive answer. So go from beginning to end with the short term, and then follow up with long term.

This is just personal opinion though. My strong points were ethical dilemas and personal questions, not scenarios.
Someone else please chip in.

 

[applepie456]

1.It's good that you've acknowledge that he may require immediate treatment. This is definitely a key element. The second thing I would have touched on is whether the student is in current imminent danger. Is the bully actively chasing him home? If there is danger, call authorities and seek more information about the lead up to the situation.
2. I would follow up with a statement about how an exchange student lacks support in such situation becuase they literally don't have a strong support networks of friends and family around them in such situations (becuase they're in a foreign country). (This is directed to the interviewers. This demonstrates empathy and out of the box thinking).
This would mean that it is even more important that you/I provide the support required. (Ability to understand the situation)
3. You'd ask him privately if was comfortable with disclosing the incident to the foreign exchange supervisor. (Consent)
I would offer to go with them to the teacher and then see if we can additionally get the day off to 1. seek medical treatment, 2. avoid the bullies and 3. provide mental support. (understanding multiple POVs)
4. If he declines out of fear, I'd let him know we can ask for the day off while the staff handled the issue etc. as above. (Consent and autonomy)
The foreign exchange teacher can then speak to higher authorities about how to handle the situation and notify his parents as per his duty of care. (being able to make up stakeholders is convenient in situations like these. I think it might be too much to jump straight for the principal, so I've opted for a directly related teacher and shoved the responsibility onto them)

Then I'd go onto more long term solutions like seeking psychological support etc. etc.

You're right in that the format that I've recommended wouldn't work in this scenario becuase it's a scenario quesiton rather than an ethical dilema question. My apologies.

Overall, your answer is very solid. You have a lot of good ideas. Usually you'd start an answer off with an opening statement outlining the situation, "If an exchange student staying with me came home with bruises..." Not everyone does this, but sometimes the interviewers themselves actually forget the scenario too, so it can be helpful for calming your nerves and prompting the interviewers to recall the prompt.

In your answers, it also important to sprinkle in statements that prove you can see things from mulitple POVs and think outside the box and give more context to the interviewers (you have done this a bit) e.g. directing a statement at the interviewers acknowledging that an exchange student is not going to have good supports becuase they don't have their familiar friends or family around, so that falls on you. It should blend seamlessly into the rest of hte answer.

I haven't exactly outlined a stella answer, just based on about 5 minutes of thought about how I would structure it. When you answered, you jumpe straight from short term recommendations to long term and then back to short term. (From seeking medical atten. to seeking mental health and then back to going to a teacher). Like ideas need to be linked together succinctly. So things you'd do immediately, seek medical attention and telling authorities need to be lumped together and providing medical support would come after that. Otherwise the ideas get messy and it's not a cohesive answer. So go from beginning to end with the short term, and then follow up with long term.

This is just personal opinion though. My strong points were ethical dilemas and personal questions, not scenarios.
Someone else please chip in.

View attachment 5766

Thank you so much! Definitely some points there that I will consider and try to implement in future responses.

Just wondering, would you guys mind if I keep posting sample responses of mine such as these in the forum? Obviously there's no expectation for you guys to keep providing feedback. If you don't have to the time to, I totally understand.

 

[AnubisHorus&Ra]

Of course. That's what the forum is for. It just may not be as quick of a response as you want. Just remember that it's not as if we're capable of spitting out everything we've written off the top of our heads. Being a forum, we've had a couple of minutes to sit, think and formulate a response that ticks a number of boxes, so the standard will be different to on-the-spot responses. I personally, routinely forget the question that I'm answering as I'm answering it during job interviews (and even my admission interview -_-).

 

[applepie456]

Of course. That's what the forum is for. It just may not be as quick of a response as you want. Just remember that it's not as if we're capable of spitting out everything we've written off the top of our heads. Being a forum, we've had a couple of minutes to sit, think and formulate a response that ticks a number of boxes, so the standard will be different to on-the-spot responses. I personally, routinely forget the question that I'm answering as I'm answering it during job interviews (and even my admission interview -_-).

Okay yeah gotchu

 

[applepie456]

Scenario: A young boy comes in having broken his front tooth from falling over. Whilst examining, you notice he has a large suspicious bruise on his face and his mum won't let him talk to you directly - what do you do?

*spoken*

In this situation, I am a medical student and a young boy has just come in with a broken tooth. I notice that there is a suspicious bruise on his face and his mum is not letting me talk to him directly. My main concerns here are one, the wellbeing of this young boy, and two, if there are any underlying issues going with this mother and the treatment of her son. From my suspicions, it seems like this might be a case of child abuse, which if true is a significant issue that needs to be dealt with. But in the meantime, I cannot jump to this conclusion and so must gather more information because making any decisions. The first thing I would do is check if the boy is in any immediate pain. Does his front tooth still hurt? Is the bruise giving him any current pain? If he is, then I would quickly notify other medical staff and get him the necessary support that he requires due to my lack of qualifications as a medical student. I would then try to communicate with the mother and the young boy, firstly asking why his mum doesn’t want me to talk to him directly. Maybe she reveals that she doesn’t want him talking to prevent any further damage to his tooth, which is an understandable response for a mother simply looking out for her child. I would follow with other questions and try to observe how they responds. I’d ask if they could tell me what has happened and what caused his broken tooth. On one hand, I might find that the boy out of his own volition tells me about the situation and what has happened. If he seems confident and comfortable and the mother is showing no signs of suspicion, then I can dismiss this as a case of child abuse. On the other hand, if I find that the opposite happens where the mother is kind of stepping in to talk over the boy and the boy shows signs of uneasiness or uncomfortableness in his body language, then this would raise my suspicions and I would have to investigate further. I would attempt to separate the mother from her child to try question this the boy on his own. I’d firstly ask the mother to leave the room, then if this doesn’t work requesting another staff member to help. If the mother is still not willing to leave his son, then we would have to look at alternative plans. For instance, I could check past records on this child to determine if these injuries have occurred in the past. I might find that yes, on multiple occasions, this boy has showed up to the hospital with suspicious bruises like the one today. If I can gather enough evidence, where it becomes quite clear that yes this is a case of child abuse, then I would need to escalate the situation and deal with it in the appropriate manner. I would notify a senior staff member in the hospital about the situation. Then, if further intervention is required I would pass this information and the situation onto police if necessary for them to take further action.

Not too sure about this one. What can you as a doctor actually do in a situation like this?

 

[AnubisHorus&Ra]

Scenario: A young boy comes in having broken his front tooth from falling over. Whilst examining, you notice he has a large suspicious bruise on his face and his mum won't let him talk to you directly - what do you do?

*spoken*

In this situation, I am a medical student and a young boy has just come in with a broken tooth. I notice that there is a suspicious bruise on his face and his mum is not letting me talk to him directly. My main concerns here are one, the wellbeing of this young boy, and two, if there are any underlying issues going with this mother and the treatment of her son. From my suspicions, it seems like this might be a case of child abuse, which if true is a significant issue that needs to be dealt with. But in the meantime, I cannot jump to this conclusion and so must gather more information because making any decisions. The first thing I would do is check if the boy is in any immediate pain. Does his front tooth still hurt? Is the bruise giving him any current pain? If he is, then I would quickly notify other medical staff and get him the necessary support that he requires due to my lack of qualifications as a medical student. I would then try to communicate with the mother and the young boy, firstly asking why his mum doesn’t want me to talk to him directly. Maybe she reveals that she doesn’t want him talking to prevent any further damage to his tooth, which is an understandable response for a mother simply looking out for her child. I would follow with other questions and try to observe how they responds. I’d ask if they could tell me what has happened and what caused his broken tooth. On one hand, I might find that the boy out of his own volition tells me about the situation and what has happened. If he seems confident and comfortable and the mother is showing no signs of suspicion, then I can dismiss this as a case of child abuse. On the other hand, if I find that the opposite happens where the mother is kind of stepping in to talk over the boy and the boy shows signs of uneasiness or uncomfortableness in his body language, then this would raise my suspicions and I would have to investigate further. I would attempt to separate the mother from her child to try question this the boy on his own. I’d firstly ask the mother to leave the room, then if this doesn’t work requesting another staff member to help. If the mother is still not willing to leave his son, then we would have to look at alternative plans. For instance, I could check past records on this child to determine if these injuries have occurred in the past. I might find that yes, on multiple occasions, this boy has showed up to the hospital with suspicious bruises like the one today. If I can gather enough evidence, where it becomes quite clear that yes this is a case of child abuse, then I would need to escalate the situation and deal with it in the appropriate manner. I would notify a senior staff member in the hospital about the situation. Then, if further intervention is required I would pass this information and the situation onto police if necessary for them to take further action.

Not too sure about this one. What can you as a doctor actually do in a situation like this?

I think this one might be a dentistry-centric questio. it seems strange to take a child to hospital for a broken tooth.
You've hit most of the relevant points, but here are some extra to consider:

- Like you said, check for injuries first, provide first aid, acknowledge that medically he'll be fine, but, you'll need to page the dentist (if available) to double check to 1. buy more time for information gathering, 2. prevent mum from leaving the premises, 3 develop an appropriate treatment plan and 4. identify if there are any injuries in the mouth that can't be seen externally e.g. oral trauma [maintaining scope of practice, situational awareness]

-I'd recommend incorporating key terms like 'Duty of care'. As a medical professional, it's your duty of care to gather information and alert authorities if you notice sighs of abuse. [Understanding boundaries]

- Emphasise that instead of asking a direct question "where did you get that bruise", that incite an angry response even if the mother was innocent (it assumes bad parenting), you'd ask an open ended question 'did you take a tumble at school today?' to the child and then note the raction. If mum becomes defensive and interjects agrresively or child's body language becomes suspicious, then you've got a problem. [Clear communication and empathy?]

- You'd separate mother and child discreetly as best you can (to protect the child from potential harm) potentially by asking an assistant to run through post-treatment information at the front desk or by asking mum to step out of the room [problem solving]

- You'd utilise child-appropraite manner (getting down to their level, smiling etc) to ask the child what happened and gather information [communication]

- Checking past records was a very, very good point to make. I hadn't considered this.

- I'm not sure about this step, but I'd judge the mother's bearing, see how she's presenting. I'd ask the assistant to discreetly call security and keep mum and child occupied, but separate until security arrives. Once security arrives, I'd ask security to accompany the child. Only once I know the child is safe do I talk to mum directly and ask her about her home life, living situation (are they living on the streets?), where the bruise came from and then informing her that child services may need to be involved if i feel there is danger to the child. [ensuring safety of stakeholders - key point]

- I'd ask the mum whether she is in a dangerous home life situation. (The mum might also be a victim - This must absolutely be acknowledged). We can get them both assistance if both are in a dangeorus situation. If mum declines or can't satisfactorily justify the situation, then security would stay with the child and the situation would be referred to the social worker, child services and your immediate supervisor for further investigation. An MDT meeting will likely need to be held to determine if police intervention is required. [Multiple POVs]


Closing statement: Acknowledge you have a duty to try to protect your patients (and their families), your staff and yourself and by resolving the situation this way, you'd alerted the relevant authorities and minimised the potential threat.

Hope that helps,

Amber

 

[MrMD]

Hi, I am just starting out MMI practice and have noo idea how this sounds. I would like to know how I should fix my responses. Some scenarios feel unusual or unnatural to just randomly discuss a personal experience. How do I know when to bring up one in an appropriate open-ended question? And is it effective to always signpost my responses or does too much make it robotic? Anyways here's an example of an MMI and my response (Pardon any typos or grammatical errors):

Dr Olive looks after a group of elderly patients of a certain ethnicity at an elderly home. He gives them injections of vitamin C to treat their arthritis because he believes that patients expect injections from doctors. He doesn’t prescribe them the medications that are normally given to patients with arthritis because he believes them to be unsafe for the elderly.

a. What do you think of this?

b. What are the issues?

c. How would you feel if you were his patient?

d. What would you say to Dr Olive about his treatment?

a)
I think that Dr Olive is incorrectly treating his patients by not taking into account their competency to make important decisions regarding their treatment. Although Dr Olive may be working independently out of their own heart, he is not taking into consideration the responsibility of a medical professional to ensure they cooperate with the patient about their treatment plans and decisions. Furthermore, the doctor may be doing more harm than benefit to the patient if he is avoiding certain treatments due to uneducated assumptions.

b)
I noticed two main issues in this scenario.
First of all, there is the issue regarding the doctor's censorship of patient autonomy. The doctor is not fulfilling their task of assuring the patient is in charge of the important decisions that they can make regarding their treatment. By individually assessing the patient's treatment the doctor is not giving way to allowing the patient to make competent decisions and provide effective or useful responses that could possibly change the treatment plan. This prevents the patient from making important decisions, such as the 'yes or no' which may have adverse effects on the patient's health due to the lack of response.

Furthermore, the doctor is making assumptions about their treatment not only preventing the patient from participating in the decision. The doctor is assuming the patient is unfit to undergo or utilise certain treatments based upon their observation. This is a great risk to the patient's health, and the assumptions the doctor takes into account should be considered regarding empirical evidence or patient history that implies and reinforces the assumption and so does not risk the possibility of causing further harm to the patient and ensuring that the most benevolent and harm-minimising decision is made for them.

c)
If I was his patient I would have mixed feelings depending on my knowledge. If I was aware that he was making assumptions and withholding certain treatments without consulting with me I would feel more uneasy and paranoid and be unsure that following his doctor was the most wise decision. Personally, I feel a third issue would be raised in my scenario as it means that the doctor-patient trust in me would be broken as a result because I usually would like to be completely aware of the treatments and procedures that I am to undergo, and would like to be clearly informed of any changes or possible alternatives that may/should take place. If I wasn't aware of the current issues that are at state, then I would be left to simply trust the doctor and hope for the best. Although the doctor-patient is maintained, the fact that I do not know indicates that any possible alternative that may have been better would be inaccessible.

d)
From the perspective of another medical professional, I would say to him that he is making incautious and hasty decisions regarding his patient's treatment because he is not providing information to the patients about the changes he is making to the treatment plans, and further making assumptions that alter the treatment plans. The lack of knowledge of the patients indicates that they may feel disregarded or treated as incompetent and so breaks trust with the patient. I would advise Dr. Olive to ensure that every change major or minor and every decision that is made regarding the patient's treatment is discussed with them so as to prevent any further damage and issues as a result of miscommunication. Furthermore, I would make sure that Dr. Olive does not continue to make decisions based merely on observation but rather takes into account external evidence that provides a strong backing for his decisions.

I would appreciate any feedback in regards to my response and as to how I can improve, as well as answers to the questions above.