@Roentgen Thank you so much
@Roentgen LMAO the comments on that one video are freaking hilarious
@Watang, no problem, I was actually working on finishing that post re: practicing with the MMI, which is all you guys can do at this point, when you asked that question. I believe the blood transfusions/religion issue might be in that medical ethics link from the University of Washington in the prior post in terms of just giving background information. But the blood transfusions case is a “classic” medical ethics case.
Those comments on that one particular Youtube video were very good comic relief (although some quite crudely put). Many of the comments said that she went on too long with her answer unnecessarily, but I don’t think that’s really being fair. It’s an 8 to 10 minute station and the entire point of the exercise is to relay your critical thinking on that particular topic to that interviewer. Not just give your one sentence answer and be done with it, with your arms folded and put on your “Deal With It” sunglasses. It will most likely be a discussion. Realize each station is testing some skill or attribute that a medical professional should have (doesn’t mean if you flub one up, you’re screwed, as there may be more than one station that tests the same attribute).
The interviewer won’t know what exactly you’re thinking and what your thought process is unless you actually voice it out loud and coherently. I do think (contrary to one of the above links that discourages it and seems to be the only one) that repeating the major points of the prompt out loud with the interviewer once you go in, making sure you got the prompt right and the facts correct is a good tactic. It lets you buy some time to calmly collect your thoughts and piece things together before giving an answer.
So you only have to take General Chemistry 1 at your local college if you get into the program, but do not pass the Toledo Chemistry Exam? Or do you have to take it regardless?
@slimybananas420 If you do not pass Toledo Chemistry you have to take it in the summer and that would be an additional course!!
@slimybananas420, @stdmedsch is correct, if you do not pass the Toledo Chemistry test (it’s at sophomore level Chemistry), you do have to take General Chemistry I + Chemistry I Lab and get at least get a B in both courses before being allowed to enroll in the BA/MD program (it’s called a provisional acceptance, in that the provision is completing the General Chem I + Lab before being officially accepted). Your score on the Toledo is looked at AFTER you’ve already been accepted and not before.
I would recommend having credit for at least General Chemistry I + Lab regardless for a variety of reasons, whether that is thru testing credit (AP/IB) or actually taking the class during the summer. There are some colleges based on their scheduling that allow you to complete both General Chem I & II + both labs over the summer, so especially if you’ve done AP Chemistry, you’re pretty much just rehashing the same material.
@Roentgen, TY for all these resources and links in one place, you’re a Godsend to help all of us out and answer our questions, with all of your responsibilities and taking care of your newborn son. Blessings to you.
@watang, @Roentgen, in that one video what does a gym keypad have anything to do anything with medicine? I’m not really seeing what they’re trying to test from the applicant. It seems like the MMI favors more extroverted people over more introverted people, but I might be prejudging.
One other question. I’ve read about having to attend an orientation, if you get accepted to the program, in the summer. Has anyone in the past have an idea of when these dates possibly are? I read that a student must attend 1 to go through the program? Thank you all so much
@NervousDad01, thank you! I tried to find as many helpful MMI links and Youtube videos that would be helpful to applicants, that were cohesive and understandable, good to get some good practice, and on the Youtube videos loud enough for you to hear and understand. I am sure there are many more in the interwebz, but this seems like more than enough to get a handle esp. with the number of links that were just prompts or questions. Just remember that some of the MMI stations may “feel” like they could be more traditional interview type stations, so just be aware – hence my posting of those in the Traditional Interview post. It’s still an MMI because it’s all stations (most likely different rooms, if you seet the VTC video).
Are blessings transferrable? I think I’m good at this point so I’ll transfer them to my son, if you don’t mind. Or maybe I can cash them in for some extra sleep credit hours when he wakes up crying in the middle night? Ha ha.
So the gym keypad question is more testing your ethics which can be extrapolated to medicine. One of the comments on that Youtube video mentions that this situation would be analogous to a friend asking a doctor to just write a prescription for meds that he/she wants (presumably without actually being evaluated and history, physical exam, etc. documented). Another situation would be in the hospital where some hospital personnel might want access to a very powerful medication (in Anesthesia, you’re around very powerful meds all the time some of them with high addiction potential) and a person might ask you the code to the Pyxis machine. Or a fellow resident may ask you for your username and login temporarily for the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system since they lost theirs and just need to write a note. Or a parent of a pediatric patient may ask for antibiotics for a cold that is clearly viral in origin (thus the tx is supportive care, not giving abx which can increase resistance of organisms and won’t affect disease course).
So while the issue of the keypad may seem mundane and irrelevant, it actually is relevant in terms of situations in medicine (which you haven’t been exposed to yet), but still test the same competency. Remember each station is trying to test a specific competency that is “non-cognitive” (what we all called “soft” skills in normal language): http://www.usnews.com/opinion/knowledge-bank/2015/05/01/non-cognitive-skills-are-important-but-have-a-terrible-name. Cognitive skills are things like your academics – GPA, standardized test scores → and UMKC already has those.
Remember, also that some of the the stations might not be direct interviews but MIGHT be one with a standardized patient: https://www.careercenter.illinois.edu/health%20professions/interviews (i.e. you have to break bad news, for example), remember, the person is an actor so if they get angry or start crying, it’s not real. It’s most likely testing your ability to be an empathetic person (which all doctors need to be, not just a human bank of science facts) — see Parts 5 and 6: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbMGLZgPOG1tw_B8shsq4T0iINGLkKZDd on how to deal with standardized actors.
@slimybananas420 – You can see here: http://www.umkc.edu/orientation/freshman.cfm, they should be giving the dates out later this month so check the website again. Last year, the Orientation dates were: May 2, June 13, June 19, June 26, June 27, July 18, July 24, and July 25. So they’re pretty spread out thru the summer before you would start in August, which you only have to attend one.
Hi, I like your attitude, you are thinking positive about your interview and also about being accepted! Thinking that way is important, keep it up.
To answer your question and more:
First you interview, and then comes the real hard part, namely waiting! You are told that you will hear by April 1, so you wait and wait. But, surprise, they will tell you a few days earlier via email. Or check in your application portal, it will be updated with your status.
Ok, you got an acceptance, what do you do now? You pay UMKC $100 to hold your place when you say yes. I would say yes quickly and pay the $100 immediately, you want nothing to screw up now that you are in Medical School. If you later decide to say no because Brown is giving you a full ride scholarship and medical degree acceptance, then fine, you lost $100 at UMKC. Assuming you do go to UMKC the $100 is required.
Ok, now what? ORIENTATION! Yep, you have to go to it. And I am from out of state, I had to fly to UMKC for my interview and orientation over long distances which cost a lot of money. But you must do it. WHY ORIENTATION so early and why required? The Med School is not being arbitrary or demanding - the reason is that you need to get you BA degree and you need to get it FAST! And there a thousands of other kids in undergrad studies at UMKC trying to take the same classes. And classes have size limits! So what if you have to take Anatomy and it is filled up with pre-med and pre-dental and biology majors? The answer is that you would be screwed. So the 6 year BA/MD students have to sign up for their courses early, thus you must come to orientation. PS in orientation your parents will be told that you are an adult but that the get the joy of paying all your bills. They make it clear that no one checks if you come back to the dorm at night, you may be missing for days and the school would never know. Also, and this made parents gasp, girls can get the pill at the health center and it is none of the parents’ business. You will be told that you better be prepared to work hard if you want to stay in the program.
Ok, you did orientation, what is next? Sell some blood or a kidney, you will soon have to pay tuition, and ouch that is a big bill, even if you are in state! Reality sets in very fast.
Oh, and the dorm! You have to stay at the dorm and get your food at the dorm - well pay for dorm food but you can then buy food elsewhere. The dorm was not an issue for me, but I am from out of state. One of my classmates lives in the Plaza area, two miles away and guess what, that person had to stay at the dorm. Why? The statement is to build networking ties with other med students, but I believe that it is to soak us for more money. But that is only my opinion.
Now what is next? You start school - but a few days early, And you will pay a per diem extra dorm charge for coming early, and there will be no food yet because you are early. This was cool, a time to really meet and get to know my classmates. And then to go to inDOCtrination, which is cool, you will learn the ropes and start your path to really becoming a MD!!!
So, there are lots of rules, lots of hoops you must jump through, but they have reasons for each, and just go with the flow. ENJOY, it really is GREAT to be in the BA/MD Program!
@OmniaMed
Thank you for all of the useful information. Wish me good luck. I’m in the regional pool and really want to get in.
@slimybananas420 Good luck.
What is great, is that at the interview you will meet in state and out of state, and since they are not in the regioanal pool you can wish them good luck and know if they are accepted, it has no effect on you, i. e., your competition is only the regional pool. I meet some nice people from St Louis when I interviewed and I wished them the best and was so excited when they got in.
The key is do not over-reherse for the interview. Read the black book and be yuorself, show how you think. Being “canned” or too smooth is a major turn off to the selection committee. Once you arer accepted, you can see your file and the committee’s comments. I reviewed mine prior to inDOCtrination and really learned the process and what they look for.
Again good luck, this program is incredible!
@OmniaMed, wow, that’s really cool that the Selection Council lets you see your file after you’re accepted to see the committee’s comments, so you can learn from it!
@OmniaMed, to be fair to the medical school, I think they do have a good idea of requiring that Year 1 BA/MD students stay at the dorm the first year (probably one of the very few issues that I actually agree with the medical school on), and that includes even if you are from KC. So if you decide as a KC resident to still live at home, you’ll still have to pay for room & board anyways (since they can’t force you physically to live there). Part of the problem is that UMKC is still mainly a commuter campus (meaning it’s not like your public state flagship where a majority of the undergrads live in dorms even for 4 years) and the 6 year program can get rough at times, so having a cohesive BA/MD class is very important. You wouldn’t get that level of cohesiveness by any means if everyone was allowed to live where they want to in the first semester of first year. Year 1s can be annoyingly cliquey enough as it is (as you all are still from high school), so I do think dorm living at least forces you to meet other people, get to know them (although now is around the time that dorm living kind of wears on you).
The only thing that sucks?? It’s expensive - so I agree on that. I don’t know what the prices are now, but my dad had done the calculations but at least when I was there, it would have been cheaper to rent an apartment (although you’d have other expenses that might make you break even – needing a car, maintenance of your car, paying for utilities and parking, etc.) and of course, you’re required to buy a meal plan at the university, so the the school is ensured of getting a specific amount of revenue from Year 1 med students at least on the living side. It’s ok if you don’t use up all your meal plan money though. At the end of the year, they allowed us to buy tons of stock stuff to bring it to zero, so many of us bought tons of caffeinated drinks to take to our apartments and put in the fridge, which clearly came to good use later.
I have to admit I laughed at what they apparently do at Orientation these days for BA/MD students. Someone last year I think @bladerz1, had posted the Summer Orientation presentation, which gave me a few laughs not just because of some of the blatant misinformation they were telling students, but also the always ready “scare” factor they seem to always throw in - that seems to not have changed. I understand being clear about expectations, etc. but kids are scared enough as it is entering an accelerated med program. There are some things to freak out about in med school, and some things not to freak out about, and Orientation shouldn’t be trying to add onto the latter. Oh well, all we can do on here on CC is clear up some of those misconceptions or misinformation.
How many stations does the UMKC MMI interview have?
@Watang, according to the documentation in your student portal re: the MMI, it says that candidates will rotate through 11 stations, with a short break approximately half way through the interview process.
@Roentgen Thanks!