Warwick Medicine Interview Tips

Warwick Medical School Graduate Programme

Every year, around 450 prospective medical students are selected to attend for interview at Warwick Medical School. This represents a great achievement plus, with nearly 200 of these individuals being made an offer post-interview, a Warwick interview represents many candidates’ best opportunity for gaining a place on a graduate Medicine course.

Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs)

Interviews at Warwick are conducted in the MMI format. Prospective medical students tend to have a love-hate relationship with the MMI process. Many feel they are unable to fully sell themselves when they are assessed by so many different selectors in such short periods of time. However, some prefer this aspect of the MMI as it allows applicants to move onto each station with a fresh start if the previous station has gone poorly. It is important to bear this in mind during the interview, as it is crucial to develop rapport with the selectors each time you enter a new station. Each set of selectors has no idea how you have performed in the other stations. As there can be several selectors at each station, candidates are often assessed by more than six staff members at Warwick interviews. These staff have a range of backgrounds, from healthcare professionals to actors to academics, and will be able to give a more thorough assessment than a smaller panel interview. Once the interviews are complete, scores for each station are combined and the applicants with the highest score will receive offers.

MMI Question Bank

MMI Interview Course

On the Day

On arriving and registering on your interview date you will wait in a holding area before being taken to the interview area. Candidates work through six stations for around two hours. There will be time to read instructions for each station before entering each room, giving candidates an opportunity to briefly relax and prepare for the next station. These stations can test various skills, although Warwick suggests these topics are a good starting place for preparation:

• Team working
• Insight
• Resilience
• Communication
• Empathy
• Probity
• Respect and dignity

Station Examples & How to Prepare
Preparing for the MMI is very similar to preparing for a standard panel interview. As Warwick University have provided a list of examinable topics, it is key to gear your revision around these topics.

Examples of previous stations include speaking to a current Warwick medical school student. This station may assess your knowledge about the medical school and explore your inspirations for applying to Warwick. Medical schools are very keen on prospective applicants having thoroughly researched their programmes in order to know it is the right fit for them. Graduate medical school places are few and far between and it is crucial that they are given to the right individuals. To tackle this scenario, read the course website and think about why Warwick is the best fit for you. What would you want to ask a student who is studying there today?

An example of a communication station could involve the prospective applicant playing the role of a GP conducting a consultation with a partially deaf patient. This would require the applicant to think of ways to effectively communicate with this individual whilst also preserving their dignity. These methods could include ensuring you speak to the patient whilst looking at them, allowing them to lip read.

As always, it is important to think well about why you have decided to apply to medical school. With the hours of work experience required by Warwick, you can think of some examples from your extensive work experience and combine this with any personal reasons for a more thorough answer.

For other stations, it is crucial to think about examples of team working and being able to display examples of empathetic behaviour.

Some stations may require candidates to have an awareness of newsworthy medical ethical dilemmas. Examples of this in the past include the Charlie Gard case. It is important for candidates to perhaps not have too forceful an opinion for either side of ethical debates, but to present a balanced argument for both sides in order to show that you have considered all points of view.

In the run-up to your interview, it is very important to practise mock interviews. Try asking friends or family to act as selectors!

To attempt a range of past MMI questions used in Warwick MMI Interviews (as well as their model answers) subscribe to the Online MMI Question Bank.

With the right preparation and a calm attitude, the interview can be an enjoyable and rewarding experience.

Warwick Medicine Interview Tips

Further Reading....