University of Manitoba Medicine Interview Questions

Ethical Dilemmas – These stations have no clear right or wrong answer. Instead, the applicant’s ability to consider a wide range of issues and opinions relevant to the scenario is being assessed. It is imperative to have a good understanding of the ‘Two Sorts, Two Sides of Ethical Scenarios’ in order to succeed in these stations. Recent ethical dilemmas have included the following:

• If a student was accepted into medical school and then it was discovered that he/she contracted a fatal disease and only had one week to live. Should they be allowed to attend medical school? What would you do if you had the power over this decision?
• The Royal College of Physicians have said that doctors who don’t want to perform abortions should refer the women to other physicians. Do you think this is fair?
• How would you address cheating?
• What is your opinion on people adopting children from Tsunami ravaged countries?
• Are you entitled to health care if you breed poisonous snakes?
• In your opinion, who should get medication which is in limited supply during an epidemic?
• Should you accept an applicant into medical school with a degenerative disease? What about if they got into medical school and developed the same degenerative disease?

Communication Stations – The essential skills required to help candidates manage stations aimed at examining communication can be reviewed on the BlackStone Tutors 7 Stages of MMI Communication Stations. Questions at these stations may include:

• A 60-year old man has lived in the north for all his life and has never visited a big city. He has diabetes, kidney failure and comes to Winnipeg for treatment. What do you do as his doctor besides putting him on a dialysis machine?  
• You are a 68-year-old alcoholic walking away from the funeral of your wife, who you cheated on and abused; your children want nothing to do with you- what are you thinking?
• You’re a 50-year-old diabetic woman who is functionally impaired and just out of insulin. How do you feel?
• How would you explain to a little girl why the sky is blue?
• Describe how you would feel if you had drunk heavily through pregnancy and were then informed that your son had FAS.

 
Personal Statement/General Questions – these stations delve into areas of the candidate’s application, requiring them to reflect on them in depth. Questions may include:

• Tell me about yourself.
• Tell me about your volunteering activities.
• What TV do you watch?
• If I handed you an envelope full of money, what would you do for fun?
• Give me an example of how you have dealt with a past conflict.
• Should Canada be sending troops overseas?
• How would you contribute to our class?
• If you could have anyone over for dinner, alive or dead, who would it be?
• If you had a free weekend what would you do?
• Should government MPs be allowed to cross the floor?
• Tell me about your learning methodologies.
• What have you failed at?
• How do you define success/failure? Give examples.
• Tell me about a volunteer situation that you found rewarding?
• What do you like about Manitoba compared to the province you live in now
• If we met your friends on the street, what would they say are some of your greatest strengths/your greatest weaknesses?
• How do you feel about affirmative action in the United States?
• Describe a situation where you were under pressure.
• What do you think about Canada’s position in the war?
• What would your friends say they dislike about you most
• Who do you think is/was the greatest Canadian out of “X or Y”?
• What is the most important thing you have learned from your mother?
• What question didn’t you want to hear?
• Do you think the University of Manitoba scheme for admittance is fair?

 
Motivation and Insight into Medicine – these stations have a broad scope, requiring the candidate to be familiar with both the national healthcare system and issues affecting the medical community. The candidate’s reasons for pursuing a career in medicine will also be discussed at these stations. Questions may include:

• Who is the greatest medically-related Canadian (from 3 options)?
• What do you expect to be challenging in medical school?
• Why do you want to be a doctor?
• What are your thoughts on the fact that senior citizens take up more than 70% of the monies available for drugs in Canada? What can we do to alleviate this?
• If you could only pursue one profession, would you be a physician or a researcher?
• Under what circumstances would you work in a rural area?
• What are the effects of poverty on health?
• How will you feel if you go to medical school and you are only an average student?
• Why do you think socialist health-care in Europe is more successful than it is here?
• What solutions do you propose for “fixing” Medicare in Canada?
• A 4th-year medical student thinks they won’t be graduating this year. What sort of their personal beliefs could be causing this?
• Do SARS and HIV worry you about pursuing medicine?
• What is your opinion on the private versus public Canadian Health Care System?
• Additional questions with model answers can be found in the MMI Question Bank