Just so you guys know, as this will help while you’re practicing and simulating the interview at home/school, the MMI at UMKC for this year is:[ul]
[]11 carefully structured interview stations, with a short break approximately half way through the interview process.
[]The focus of the MMI is on the non-cognitive factors identified as important to consider in admissions
[]Each interview station is designed to assess a specific characteristic, trait or competency
[]All interviews are conducted blind, as interviewers will not have access to any information provided by the applicant in the application process (so in layman’s terms – they will have no access to your grades, your GPA, your class rank, your ACT/SAT score, anything you may have typed into the online applications).[/ul]
The structure of the MMI:[ul]
[]You will have two minutes to review a scenario or question, followed by six minutes of questions and discussion regarding the particular scenario or question. The six minute interview will be conducted one-on-one with a School of Medicine or UMKC faculty or staff member, a current student, a healthcare professional or a member of the greater Kansas City community.
[]School of Medicine staff will keep time for the interviews and signify both the beginning and the end of the interview.[/ul]
@Roentgen You are awesome
Ha, thanks! While I would love to take the credit, it’s all directly quoted (except what I added to explain) from the student portal information on the MMI. You asked a really good question, because some of the other MMI material on the Internet says it is usually 8-10 stations with each station being 8-10 minutes (see that fitness facility keypad prompt scenario which was 8 minutes), which can be quite a long time to talk solely on one topic/prompt. Six minutes is probably a good medium number, and allows them to fit in 1 more station which just gives another snapshot of you.
Based on what I have read in terms of the overall academic medicine literature on medical school admissions, the MMI interview system has been found to actually be MORE reliable, valid, and fair to medical school applicants overall (where you have many more interviewers and can thus start over from scratch at the start of each station) when compared to the traditional interview system, in which you only got, at max, 2 interviewers (and thus it can seem a lot more “make or break”). So take it as a positive working in your favor.
Hey guys, I hope interview preparations are going well. So I’ve read that some schools allow candidates to have a notepad to organize their thoughts during the MMI, while others do not. Does anyone know if UMKC does/doesn’t allow the use of one? I haven’t seen any specific information on this.
@farehahasan, that’s a good question. Based on what I’ve read about how the MMI is conducted, you are usually given a clipboard and a pen/pencil so you can take any notes (if you want to) during the 2 minute preparation period, reading the prompt/question, before entering the room where you can bring it in with you:
http://www.mentalgamecoach.com/articles/AcingTheMMI.html
“Applicants are given a clipboard with paper and pencil, so they can make notes during the two minutes they have outside.”
http://umanitoba.ca/student/employment/webshops/Multiple-Mini-Interview/
Click on Medicine: “clipboard, one piece of paper”
https://www.reddit.com/r/premed/comments/2b66yj/current_medical_student_giving_away_free_mmi/
“You’ll also be given a clipboard with paper and pencil, so you’ll be able to make notes during the 2 minutes you have outside.”
That being said, hopefully @OmniaMed will be better able to tell us if they give you a clipboard and writing utensil of some kind based on how it was last year.
@Roentgen Thanks! Super helpful, as always.
Just FYI that third link above is a Reddit . com link. Must be one of those websites CC doesn’t like and stars it out.
The committee may changes things this year, but last year we could have nothing, nada. You need to thin bring your brain and think, it is that easy.
Sad but last year when I interviewed one kid from Texas and several from Kansas did not know it was a MMI and they each prepared for a standard interview. They did not get accepted. But, it sure looks bad when one does not read their email from UMKC telling them about the interview and the Toledo. Would you want such a person to be your doctor, one who does not read directions? So relax, you read the directions and you are prepared, it is a very easy interview. Do not make it complicated, just realx and THINK. Talk, express your views, that is what I mean by thinking.
As soon as you park, you will see people dressed up walking from the parking garage, and yep, they are fellow interviewees. Dont worry, remember, your competition is only based on residency, so do not try to figure out who will beat you. I tried, and I was right about one interviewee, he was a MO resident, and his dad was there, dad was a pediatrician who graduated years before from the UMKC 6 yr BA/MD program and the interviewee went to a private school and well, I figured he was no competition for me but I sensed he would be accepterd, and yep, he was accepted. Nice person too, I have sat with him in several classes,
You will meet at the Student Union, and there will be a UMKC folderr just for you when you register. It will have your schedule, and assign you to a group. Then there will be an introduction and general over view of the program in the auditorium. Parents will ask questions as will students. You will then leave your parents and depending upon your group assigned, you will take the Toledo or start interviewing.
You will also have your picture taken on the top floor, you will end up standing in line for 45 minutes to do that.
CALCULATOR! Someonel always forgets to bring a calculator. - do NOT be that person! They do not furnish calculators. You can buy one in the bookstore, but preferably bring your calculator. You can solve the problems in your head, but it will slow you up and you may run out of time, so bring your calculator.
WHAT TO DO? Unless you are from KC, the night before you should drive to the parking garage, drive into it, see which entrance you will take and find the walkway to the Student Union. Look at the building on the right of the walkway as you face the Student Union, that is the dorm where you will be staying. Relax and tell yourself, “I will be living here in August.” Then go back to yuor hotel and relax, you will do great!
@OmniaMed, thank you so very much for your contribution and clarification!!! So I guess applicants this year should practice without having a clipboard and pen in hand when simulating the 2 minute reading of the prompt. If they happen to add on allowing a clipboard + pen/pencil this year (like it’s actually supposed to be), it will just be an added bonus.
I would just add to what you said when it comes to calculators, that it CAN NOT be a programmable/graphing calculator, according to the documentation they have sent regarding the Toledo Chemistry Exam: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19158596/#Comment_19158596. I realize all of you guys are probably taking AP Calculus AB or BC right now, where you are using graphing calculators all the time). Just go to your local office supply store and spend the 5 measly dollars for a regular calculator, if you don’t have one at home. I honestly don’t think they’ll rip your graphing calculator from your hands, but why take the risk? Like @OmniaMed mentioned, don’t be the person who clearly didn’t read all the documentation the school sent you. The school is very big on the concept of “professionalism” (it’s a huge hot buzzword used in medical education these days), and one component of that is following directions properly when you receive them.
@Roentgen As usual,you are right on!
I do not know, it is mere speculation, but I think the reason the Committee does not want interviewees to write things down is to keep the integrity/confidentiality of the questions. Because you are not asked about yoorself, it is imperative that the questions remain secret, otherwise the next interview date would have students throwing off the results and destroying the validity of the interview process.
PS your “lunch” will not give you any energy, so if you are wise, bring something in the car, and go get it at lunch break (besides the walk will be good for your nerves).
PS On my interview day, an interiewee got there 90 minutes late, the parents could not find whre to park or where the Student Union was located. Not good, do not let that happen to you, go to the garage, see the route you will be taking, adjust your timing for rush hour traffic, etc, and walm to the student union, make it feel like “home.” This step sounds dumb, but I cannot stress enough how important it is for many reasons!
And yes, @Roentgen is 100% correct, UMKC Med School is very big on professionalism! Showing that you do not read directions would be a major “turn off.” During the interview process remember that - follow directions! Do not be the person who does not do as requested in the directions! And, as silly as it sounds, there will be several when you interview who will not follow directions. So remember, think, it is that easy, and you will do well, Be too quick and miss directions and you will hurt yourself. Relax, and think, and you will get a t shirt saying you are in the Class of 2022. And that is cool, way cool.
GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!
@OmniaMed Thanks for the clarification! There would probably be some issues with candidates leaking information, and I suppose doctors won’t always have the time/resources to plan things out in print. The emphasis on quick thinking is certainly valid.
@farehahasan, You got it EXACTLY!
More important, open thinking like that and using “suppose” shows you are not saying you are certain, but rather shows you were making an educated judgement! That to the Committee is a “turn on!”
See @farehahasan,you are already showing your thinking talents, you should do well in your interview!!
Good luck @farehahasan, and everyone in your interview.
PS While you wait, after your interview, you will hear some people trrash our MD program. Well, it is not perfect and yes there are issues, like how expensive it is; however, in the class of 2021, we finished our first semester in Dec 2015, and now in Jan we are all back except for 4 students. That is very good so far, and it tells alot about the program. Becoming a MD in 6 years is great, if you really want to be an MD, I can think of no place better! Remember that when people trash our program.
@OmniaMed, good point about the concern of leaking certain stations to the next day’s applicants, hence probably why the no clipboard and pen thing although not 100% sure on the exact reason. It’s part of the MMI, that there are TONS of prompts already available at their disposal and requires absolutely no setup. The whole point of standardization is that “knowing” the station in advance doesn’t necessarily give you an edge because it’s not the “right” answer that gets you all the points you can get. So it wouldn’t surprise me at all if they change the stations from 1 day to the next since they have so many available to them.
That being said, I do have to ask people, PLEASE PLEASE do not post any exact or verbatim UMKC BA/MD interview prompts/stations here in this thread right after you interview. The last thing I would want is for this thread to be possibly closed down by the higher ups here at College Confidential (especially since our number of thread views surpasses all other threads since the beginning of this forum – Yay for us!).
@OmniaMed, you said that 4 have left after this first semester of Year 1, how many total students were in the incoming Year 1 matriculating class?
@Roentgen We started with 119 but they later added a student two weeks into the program, so 120.
And thank you @Roentgen re interview prompts.
I have gotten private messages asking me for specifics, and I have to follow my written promise of confidentiality, I cannot give special promts ever… However, I do give general points and advice in private, just not the actual prompts!. It is frankly wrong, unethical to give specific prompts. So everyone, please follow @Roentgen 's advice, he is a MD, he knows about ethics and responsibilities!
@OmniaMed, ah, ok, so that number is what our matriculating number was starting out in Year 1 - 120 students. Good to know. 4 people already leaving the program after only just the first semester is kind of high, but I think these days, the calculus as to whether the investment to becoming a fully board-certified physician is worth it, has a much more complicated answer than it used to be, as well as much more information available out there due to the news cycle focus on our healthcare system.
I do think with this information, people are much more likely to make very informed decisions, and thus press that button to leave. This is assuming that those 4 aren’t just deciding to go the traditional route to med school or enter another great healthcare profession. It is MUCH better to find this out very early in the program, rather than later.
There are a lot of good reputable blogs and news articles I recommend that people read, not just regarding medicine, but about the medical student experience that just wasn’t available to me back when I matriculated.
Yes, but there are many factors why the 4 left. One slept through the mid-term and got a zero, the prof refused to excuse it just because the student stayed up late cramming and then slept through the 11:00 am exam. Since it was a required course, and a zero is much worse then even an F at 55%, the student decided to withdrawal because due to other grades, there was mathematically no way the kid could get 2.7 by the end of the first year.
Another student decided she prefers to do something else, both her parents are MDs and her brother is in med school at St Louis, She wants to do acting/dance and left.
Those two really do not reflect on this program negatively, the students just did not crave, did not desire with their inner core to be a MD. I know from experience, med studies are tough! And those Boards, I am reading First Aid this evening, and I set time aside for every Saturday.for First Aid for my Step 1 test. To become a MD is hard work and to anyone and everyone who is considering this program I say, no I shout, “If you do not crave, if you do not burn inside to become a MD, then pick something else.” The only way one can keep up all the work and the memorization and learing is if they want from thiei hearts to become MDs. If not, they will eventually wise up and drop out. That is what happens at UMKC, the med school gives people, high school grads, to become MDs, and alas many do not really crave it.
@Roentgen you craved it, you spent a fortune, you studied, you learned, and now you slave at residency - clearly you have that fire inside! That is what all you interviewees need, otherwise you will end up dropping out.
@OmniaMed, no I completely understand!! Sorry, I wasn’t trying to blame the school in those specific particular instances. I was more referring in generality. I’m just saying that at the Year 1 level (you’re still, for all intents and purposes, a college freshman - both in terms of coursework difficulty, federal financial aid, and maturity), there is going to be a LOT more flux – mainly because the overall financial investment, time investment, and risk is still quite very low (or at least lower) vs. say later when those investments are MUCH bigger. And one’s own family finances will also hugely factor into that as well. For all of us, it was the very first time we were away from our parents, living and driving in new surroundings/new city, living in a dorm w/roommates, have to take care of all the things that our parents used to do for us, etc. That being said, overall, it is very rare, for a lot of people to drop out in Year 1 solely due to academic trouble just because the coursework is very much doable. Year 1 was one of our most fun years in the program (I would have loved to experience that for all 6 years!)
I’m only speaking for my time, but the majority of people didn’t leave when things were going good, they left when things started going bad, or started to snowball and then get REALLY bad. Depending on when that exactly happens, it can result in pushing thru it, extending, or dropping out. So while the inner craving and desire might have definitely still been there, it was more of being jolted to confront a stark reality type of situation. Very few in my class (the truly smart ones, in my honest opinion) had the introspective capability to see beforehand (while things were going very well) that doing the BA/MD program in particular, wasn’t going to be worth it. Most of us when we’re doing well, we don’t tend to question it much - that’s just being human.
Trust me, that “craving” you speak of will wax and wane quite a bit for you during the 6 years (or maybe you’ll be the lucky one for which it will stay constant forever!), depending on what part of the curriculum you are currently experiencing. And it’s definitely common for everyone in this program at some point or another to have feelings of whether or not one should leave the combined program entirely, whether becoming a physician is still the right path, or feelings of inadequacy (more than a lot of people in the program would like to admit). And that includes me!
I knew some people who hated classroom lecture work, but loved the more clinical part/exposure, and I knew those who loved the classroom lecture work and doing very well on exams, and assumed (wrongly) that they would just automatically like clinical work by default, and ended up hating their rotations (especially certain required clerkships in Year 5 — I’m looking at you OB-Gyn and General Surgery) or not doing as well in them. And then there are those who fit in all over the spectrum.
As @blugrn6 mentioned quite well, there will be those who absolutely love every moment and every thing about the 6 year program, there will be those who absolutely hate being in this program but still complete it, and there are those who at some points are more ¯_(ツ)_/¯about it all. It’s a very HUGE personal growth experience in this program, more than many initially realize. I do love your positive attitude and perspective so far so I really hope that for you it is self-sustaining and reaps huge dividends for you!
Only 16 days away guys!
Thank you doctor for your kind words and good advice.
I, as well as the many readers of this thread value your advice and help, but then you are a doctor, and that is your inner nature, namely to help others!
@ watang
Yes, time flies, and soon you will all be waiting for April 1
REMEMBER THIS - from 1,200 to 1,000 APPLIED AND YOU MADE IT TO THE INTERVIEW! Wow, congratulations everyone, each of you is special or you would not ne invited to interview - remember that and best of luck!