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Advice & Insight From MMI Interview Specialists
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You are a second year medical student preparing for your end of year examinations. One week before your examinations, you have a Molecules, Cells and Diseases (MCD) coursework due. One of your friends has just emailed you a selection of coursework, completed by students in prior years for the same project. Explain your actions in this scenario.
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This appears to be a relatively straightforward case, with almost all candidates recognising that it would be inappropriate to utilise the coursework provided, however there is a stark difference between the approach taken by those passing and those excelling in this station:
Average Candidate Response:
​Excellent Candidate Response:
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Review the graph enclosed and explain your findings:
Content modified from www.diabetesdaily.com
Average Candidate Response
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Excellent candidates will use the ‘BlackStone Tutors Six Point Approach for MMI Data Analysis’Â
‘This is a graph comparing mealtime blood sugars in a diabetic and non-diabetic individual. On the ‘x’ axis is the time in hours with blood sugars represented on the ‘y’ axis. The time ‘0’ is likely to signify the commencement of mealtime. The graph shows that at baseline, diabetic individuals, represented by the red line have higher blood sugars than non-diabetic individuals, who are represented by the blue line. Additionally, in response to food, diabetic individuals demonstrate a greater rise in blood sugar compared to non-diabetic individuals with peaks of 215 and 140 respectively. Thereafter the normalisation of blood sugars in non-diabetic individuals takes a maximum of two hours to return to baseline, compared to almost six hours in diabetic individuals.
The higher baseline blood sugar and slower return to normal levels in diabetics can be explained by an absolute deficiency of insulin in Type 1 Diabetics and a relative insensitivity to insulin in Type 2 Diabetics. With insulin’s important role in lowering blood sugars through transport of sugars into storage organs and conversion of glucose to glycogen, an absolute or relative lack of insulin will result in generally higher blood sugars.
There are no anomalies demonstrated, and the data is from a reputable source (Diabetes Daily), however it would be beneficial to note the units used to measure blood sugars on the ‘y’ axis.’
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You are a medical student in a GP surgery, shadowing one of the GP partners, who is also your supervisor. Your next patient is Mrs Collins, a 30 year old secretary who your supervisor states is a ‘typical hypochondriac…always coming in with new concerns, with no real medical problems’. Your GP supervisor advises you that placebo medications (sugar pills) are the best treatment for these patients, and ‘always do the trick’.
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Outline the main issues raised.
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Average Candidate Response​
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There are two sides to consider:
​On the other hand, it may be argued:
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You are asked to assist the nursing staff in giving medication to a patient weighing 70kg. The recommended medication dose is 1mg/kg. A syringe is prepared containing 280mg in 2ml. What volume of the solution in the syringe do you need to administer?
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​​1mg/kg
70kg = 70mgÂ
(70mg = total dose of medical that needs to be given)
70/280 = 0.25
​(ie. 25% of the 2ml syringe needs to be administered)
0.25 x 2 = 0.5ml
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You are a third year medical student on a medical rotation, Your consultant requests your advice on deciding whether to utilise a liver transplant for a 65 year old retired solicitor or a 20 year old Hepatitis B positive intravenous drug user. How would you decide who to give the transplant to?
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Average Candidate Response:
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