University of Cincinnati Interview Invites

[RasenShuriken]

I was in for an interview on 12/12 along with about 40 others, and they said they were still evaluating a previous group (12/3) in the Adcom and would not be to our group until the 2nd or 3rd week of January (holiday break). Point being, there are about 100 people who have interviewed and not been reviewed, with about 140 or 150 of acceptances given out (this all according to an admissions dean who stressed how open they are with their information). He said they usually get up to 230/240 pre-May 15. So, there may not be a ton of spots, but if you give them a call they may give you an unusually straight answer about your chances. Regardless, they usually take 50-75 from their waitlist, though they cannot guarantee any number. These numbers may not be fully accurate as I was focusing on trying to stay awake during the presentation, but they should be ballpark.

So, I guess the rest of the interviews from this point on are going to be for 100 or so spots, not including the waitlist? I'm just surprised they were that direct with their numbers and process. If only our government was this transparent....

Thanks for the info MightyDucksMan, I'll be sure to post what I hear from the presentation come this January. Best of luck with your admissions!

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[Pedsbro]

When you all get your acceptances (and for those that already have one), I started a Class of 2013 thread for us in the Allopathic Class Threads forum.

 

[batman1983]

I don’t buy that argument that you cant prepare for the MMI. As for the MMI, it is essentially a bunch of ethical and moral questions. I think you can prepare for it by spending a couple hrs studying topics that are incorporated ethical and moral questions, as well as practicing how you would structure and present your answers to case based questions.

In my opinion, I thought the MMI format was very similar to the case based interviews that are done at consulting firms like McKinsey and Bain. Essentially, you are given a problem and required to answer it, as well as be able to defend your answer to the interviewer’s successive questioning. I believe having gone through those interview processes made me very prepared for the MMI.

 

[Pedsbro]

I don't buy that argument that you cant prepare for the MMI. As for the MMI, it is essentially a bunch of ethical and moral questions. I think you can prepare for it by spending a couple hrs studying topics that are incorporated ethical and moral questions, as well as practicing how you would structure and present your answers to case based questions.

In my opinion, I thought the MMI format was very similar to the case based interviews that are done at consulting firms like McKinsey and Bain. Essentially, you are given a problem and required to answer it, as well as be able to defend your answer to the interviewer's successive questioning. I believe having gone through those interview processes made me very prepared for the MMI.

First of all, congrats on your acceptance batman. Maybe you had a different set of questions than I did, but there was not a single question that I thought I could've prepared for by reading up on a bunch of issues. They don't expect you to...the adcom director even says so when he gives you the mini-tutorial on it right before the MMI starts. People, don't waste your time...just relax, and rely on your instincts. Believe me, this form of interviewing will not reward significant preparation in that way. The only prep would be generic interviewing skills, like eye contact and whatnot, and also looking up the MMI links that are given to you so that you have an idea of what it's about and what it's looking for. If you read those and see the theory behind it, you should see that studying papers on ethics and morals won't do much good. You don't have much time to go off on some article you read about some ethical issue...they will cut you off and get you back to their specific question. Just my opinion based on my set of questions...maybe your questions/scenarios will be significantly different than mine. Good luck


Edit: Just curious....under your MDapps, the #1 "Con" that you listed for MMI pros/cons says "No way to prepare" Change of heart?

 

[causalinference]

I don't buy that argument that you cant prepare for the MMI. As for the MMI, it is essentially a bunch of ethical and moral questions. I think you can prepare for it by spending a couple hrs studying topics that are incorporated ethical and moral questions, as well as practicing how you would structure and present your answers to case based questions.

In my opinion, I thought the MMI format was very similar to the case based interviews that are done at consulting firms like McKinsey and Bain. Essentially, you are given a problem and required to answer it, as well as be able to defend your answer to the interviewer's successive questioning. I believe having gone through those interview processes made me very prepared for the MMI.

Hey man! Judging by your MDApps profile, I remember talking to you after our MMI at Cincinnati. I was the guy from Cleveland. I'm glad to see that you got accepted. I was one of the unlucky ones who didn't hear back on 12/15, so I have to wait until after the holidays.

In any case, I completely agree with you about the MMI. The notion that the MMI cannot be prepared for is simply untrue. The focus of almost every station is ethics. Before the interview, one should spend several hours reading about the key points of medical ethics. You should remember the key terms (e.g., patient confidentiality, informed consent, etc.). Demonstrating familiarity with the subject-matter will help you. I was able to elicit positive reactions from the interviewers on multiple occasions based on my use of terminology. You don't have to be an expert on the issues, but you should be familiar with them.

 

[Pedsbro]

Hey man! Judging by your MDApps profile, I remember talking to you after our MMI at Cincinnati. I was the guy from Cleveland. I'm glad to see that you got accepted. I was one of the unlucky ones who didn't hear back on 12/15, so I have to wait until after the holidays.

In any case, I completely agree with you about the MMI. The notion that the MMI cannot be prepared for is simply untrue. The focus of almost every station is ethics. Before the interview, one should spend several hours reading about the key points of medical ethics. You should remember the key terms (e.g., patient confidentiality, informed consent, etc.). Demonstrating familiarity with the subject-matter will help you. I was able to elicit positive reactions from the interviewers on multiple occasions based on my use of terminology. You don't have to be an expert on the issues, but you should be familiar with them.

Wow, you and batman's group must've had a completely different set of questions than I did. Medical ethics was not a big topic in most of my MMI scenarios...makes sense they would use different scenarios on subsequent interview days I suppose. I can say though that I did not prep one bit (other than looking at the MMI links as I mentioned), and things ended up just fine.

At any rate, if it will help build your confidence and thus help you relax, read all the ethical and moral articles you want...

 

[causalinference]

Wow, you and batman's group must've had a completely different set of questions than I did. Medical ethics was not a big topic in most of my MMI scenarios...makes sense they would use different scenarios on subsequent interview days I suppose. I can say though that I did not prep one bit (other than looking at the MMI links as I mentioned), and things ended up just fine.

Yeah, I just felt that many of the scenarios were designed to raise very specific issues in medical ethics. The scenarios didn't force you in any particular direction, but there was usually an obvious path of discussion, IMO.

But when it comes down to it, the only thing that you have to do is talk for eight minutes in a logical and coherent manner. You can make whatever argument you want, but you have to be able to explain yourself. In most cases, I just found it easier to fill the 8 minutes having spent a few hours the night before reading about issues in medical ethics.

The easiest stations are the ones where the interviewer asks lots of follow-up questions because it keeps the discussion going.

 

[Pedsbro]

Yeah, I just felt that many of the scenarios were designed to raise very specific issues in medical ethics. The scenarios didn't force you in any particular direction, but there was usually a clear path of discussion, IMO.

But when it comes down to it, the only thing you have to do is talk for 8 minutes in a logical and coherent manner. You can make whatever argument you want, but you have to be able to explain yourself. In most cases, I just found it easier to fill the 8 minutes having spent a few hours the night before reading about issues in medical ethics.

The easiest stations are the ones where the interviewer asks lots of follow-up questions because it keeps the discussion going.

agreed.

 

[efitzpat]

I don't know what you guys could've read to help you prepare. With the exception of one question, I didn't think any had a "right" answer that could've been found in any reading (Feel free to PM me if you already interviewed and want to know what that question was). They told us that each question was designed to test a certain value/moral in the applicant, and therefore could be answered based on the moral fiber of the person and not by studying up on issues.

 

[batman1983]

Edit: Just curious....under your MDapps, the #1 "Con" that you listed for MMI pros/cons says "No way to prepare" Change of heart?

Thx for the congrats, and I agree that the questions probably vary based on date. What I meant by "no way to prepare" was that there was no need to memorize or have canned answers ready to predetermined questions like "why medicine", "name your strengths and weaknesses", "what would you do if you didnt get into med school", and etc.
Instead, I believe ppl should focus on their presentation skills(in terms of structuring their arguments and presenting it clearly) as well as reading up on moral and ethical issues in medicine such as patient autonomy. While the questions are so open ended such that there is no right or wrong answer, I believe that by brushing up on some of the ethical and moral medical issues, an applicant can have a better chance of succeeding in the MMI.

Hey man! Judging by your MDApps profile, I remember talking to you after our MMI at Cincinnati. I was the guy from Cleveland. I'm glad to see that you got accepted. I was one of the unlucky ones who didn't hear back on 12/15, so I have to wait until after the holidays.

Yeh, I remember talking with you. Hope all is well and hopefully you will an acceptance coming from UC soon. How is the progress going with other schools? Anyways, best of luck.

 

[Pedsbro]

I don't know what you guys could've read to help you prepare. With the exception of one question, I didn't think any had a "right" answer that could've been found in any reading (Feel free to PM me if you already interviewed and want to know what that question was). They told us that each question was designed to test a certain value/moral in the applicant, and therefore could be answered based on the moral fiber of the person and not by studying up on issues.

Yeah, that's how I understood it to be after reading up on MMI. They may have had scenarios where it may have helped them, I don't know, but no preparation of any kind would've helped me on mine and there really is no right answer as long as you can defend your opinion/argument.

 

[dingyibvs]

Yeah, I just felt that many of the scenarios were designed to raise very specific issues in medical ethics. The scenarios didn't force you in any particular direction, but there was usually an obvious path of discussion, IMO.

But when it comes down to it, the only thing that you have to do is talk for eight minutes in a logical and coherent manner. You can make whatever argument you want, but you have to be able to explain yourself. In most cases, I just found it easier to fill the 8 minutes having spent a few hours the night before reading about issues in medical ethics.

The easiest stations are the ones where the interviewer asks lots of follow-up questions because it keeps the discussion going.

I repeated my questions to a friend of mine who is a MS2, he told me that there are actually specific guidelines for the situations I described and that it was taught in an ethics class in med school. I think there definitely are ways to prepare for the MMI as the ethical questions they asked, at least in my case, were very commonplace.

 

[suizyme09]

This whole idea of Specific guidelines for medical situations and knowing the background of these topics is really not important for the MMI. I had a couple specifically medical related questions and a couple everyday situations. The evaluators arent all doctors which is important because some of them have NO prior medical knowledge outside common sense. Some are students, some are community members, some are faculty from all over the college. They are basing their evaluations on how well you hold a discussion and think about a situation on-the-fly. The questions require no prior knowledge of proper procedures and medical terminology. It seems to be that they want to know what would YOU do based on your analysis of the situation (and you're given plenty of time to decide this in the hallway before hand...seriously I was just twiddling my thumbs and singing in my head half the time) not just what you think is the accepted way of following things in the medical field. I agree with Pedsbro that the best preparation you can have is a relaxed clear mind so you can hold an honest discussion with your interviewer assuming neither of you has any prior medical knowledge.

Good luck all!!

 

[RasenShuriken]

Thanks for all the help from everyone. I just wanted to post an update of my impressions on the cincy interview.

To 'pay it forward', I just want to give anyone else w/ an interview there some advice. Everyone says its impossible to prepare for, but I just think it requires more effort. If you're willing to put in the time to really educate yourself, you'll feel a lot more comfortable with the MMI structure. To prepare, I did googlesearches on the MMI, to find out more about its structure and find more sample questions, and also to find out what they look for in the interview. If you have access to journals from your universities, I'd highly suggest looking these up.

Here are the ones I looked at (dont laugh at my citations):
- An admissions OSCE: the multiple mini-interview. Medical Education, 2004. K Eva, J Rosenfeld
- Discerning quality: using the multiple mini-interview in student selection for the Australian National University Medical School. Medical Education, 2007. S Harris, C. Owen

*also somewhere on the web is a link to the "Manual for the Interviewers" for an undergrad medical program at McMaster that uses the MMI format


Also, I'd suggest educating yourself on current\predominant medical ethical issues. A good resource is "Severed Trust" by George Lundberg. In fact, its a great book that everyone should read who is considering medicine as a profession. Its an eye-opener that really displays medicine under the light of the brutal truth.

Otherwise, just know yourself, and as everyone else says...relax! Nobody wants to listen to a jitterbug.

 

[strawberry84]

did anyone stay at the kingsgate marriott on campus for the interview? if so how long does it take to walk to the interview from there?

thanks!

 

[ygree001]

I'm OOS and just got invited for an interview on March 4. Does that mean it is for a spot on the waitlist? Is there significant movement from the list? If there is, does any movement happen before May 15th?
Thanks.

 

[Pedsbro]

did anyone stay at the kingsgate marriott on campus for the interview? if so how long does it take to walk to the interview from there?

thanks!

The Kingsgate is on the medical campus..it takes about 2 mins to walk to where you need to go.

 

[DrJD]

I'm OOS and just got invited for an interview on March 4. Does that mean it is for a spot on the waitlist? Is there significant movement from the list? If there is, does any movement happen before May 15th?
Thanks.

They said that they still have plenty of spots in the class because of the new interview system. So now, you aren't interviewing for waitlist spots... As to movement, they said it varies every year. Good luck!

 

[ygree001]

They said that they still have plenty of spots in the class because of the new interview system. So now, you aren't interviewing for waitlist spots... As to movement, they said it varies every year. Good luck!

Thanks

 

[pietachok]

I got an interview invitation to cincinnati and it asks you a few questions to fill out on that link sent with the email invite...
One of them was to explain any W (withdrawals) from courses or anything lower than 'B' grades...would you explain B- grades in this section or only a C grade?

I have several B-'s b/c that's what my postbacc program curved around...can't really discuss it all in 500 characters. :-/ And I don't want to sound like I am making excuses for TOO much.

 

[bjb305]

I got an interview invitation to cincinnati and it asks you a few questions to fill out on that link sent with the email invite...
One of them was to explain any W (withdrawals) from courses or anything lower than 'B' grades...would you explain B- grades in this section or only a C grade?

I have several B-'s b/c that's what my postbacc program curved around...can't really discuss it all in 500 characters. :-/ And I don't want to sound like I am making excuses for TOO much.

interesting question.. i would think explaining a B- may be unnecessary but i'm not sure.. for me i had a few C's and several B-... i only explained the C's