Dundee divides their stations into two distinctive types.
Those which pose a question, situation or dilemma and are designed to examine the candidate’s values, critical thinking and ability to think on your feet. There are no correct answers and require no medical knowledge, even though they may be framed within a clinical context. While it is essential that you consider these questions and develop a range of points that you would make, try not to memorise a pre-planned answer, as this likely to look obvious and count against you for this station. Examples of these types of stations are:
Personal Statement/General Station
- What volunteer work have you done?
- What work experience have you done and what did you learn from it?
- Tell me about a time where you worked well in a team situation.
- What are your strengths?
- What are your weaknesses?
Motivation and Insight into Medicine
- Why Dundee and/or why Medicine?
- Why do you want to be a doctor rather than a nurse?
- What would you do if you didn’t get into medical school?
- The NHS principles/function etc.
- Recent medical advances
- The General Medical Council structure and function.
- Professionalism and medicine as a career
- What qualities are most important in a doctor?
- How long does will it take you to become a GP/surgeon/oncologist?
- Have you read any medical articles of interest recently?
Ethical Dilemmas – These stations pose a problem that often has no clear right or wrong answer. Ensure that you can back up any decisions or opinions that you have with evidence. Examples of these types of scenarios include:
- What are your views on euthanasia, abortion, cloning etc.
- What is your view on organ donation (opt in/opt out/any other systems that you are aware of)?
The other stations are interactive and will require you to work with a trained actor or complete a task along with a helper. These are often:
Communication Stations – BlackStone Tutors “7 Stages of MMI Communication Stations” has useful tips on successfully managing this type of station.
Teamwork stations – These may include teaching an actor to perform a specific task or describing to the interviewer how to complete a specific task. BlackStone Tutors article on “MMI Teamwork Stations: Key Tips and Common Pitfalls” are useful when managing these types of stations.
Role play Station – This may involve interactions with a trained actor, or medical school student as well as an observer. For effective ways to navigate this type of station review BlackStone Tutors “6 Stages of MMI Role Play” as well as the MMI Question Bank for a range of role play stations to practice.