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Birmingham Medicine Interviews
For 2021 entry, 1122 applicants interviewed at Birmingham Medical School and 800 offers were made (71%)
2023 Birmingham Medicine Interviews
Format
The MMI is in-person with 6 or 7 stations for domestic applicants. It is held online for international applicants with 2 stations. 6 minutes per station, plus 2 minutes of prep time.
Dates
Interview invitations are sent to students between December 2022 & January 2023. The interviews are held after the new year, during the months of January and February 2023.
Questions
The MMI stations are varied including critical thinking, data interpretation, ethical scenarios, motivation for medicine, a role in healthcare, a roleplay in society and calculation.
What Interview Questions to Expect
- Critical thinking
- Motivation
- Ethics
- Data Interpretation
- Calculation
- Role play in an healthcare setting
- Role play in a Social Setting
For this type of interview question, you are given a healthcare topic and asked to identify the relevant issues in this topic. You are expected to think of appropriate causes of action giving rational arguments and attempting to solve any challenges.
You are asked to discuss specific aspects of your work experience and your reflections. Your reflections and what insights you gained either from your own work experience or from observation of healthcare professionals counts more than what the experience is.
You are provided with a scenario relating to potential challenges faced by staff working in healthcare. Demonstrate your understanding of the personal qualities important for coping in a demanding career and provide an assessment of your capabilities in dealing with challenge.
You are provided with clinically relevant information and asked to interpret this and draw conclusions appropriate to the scenario. Thinking about how you might communicate information to a patient or their carer in an accurate but accessible manner is important.
This is a computer test with no interviewer present. You undertake simple mathematical calculations with data that has clinical relevance. The mathematical skills are at GCSE standard. You need to recognise which pieces of data and what approach is required to get the correct answer.
You engage with a professional role-player and are expected to interact with themr as if the situation is real. The role player will assume a specified role. They are testing your skills in establishing an effective rapport whilst dealing effectively with the challenges presented to you.
Show your comfort and confidence meeting a new person and having a short conversation covering issues of substance, as well as giving appropriate advice relevant to the scenario. You will interact with a university student. How it runs depends on you responses to the student prompts.
Birmingham's Scoring System
Birmingham's scoring system includes your performance at interview and your UCAT SJT score. Academic merit is not included. The weighting of all the MMI stations and the SJT are the same. Birmingham haven't released the exact scores they give, however, we do know that if you have scored Band 1 in your SJT, you will receive the maximum score. Band 2 will receive 2/3 of the maximum score, Band 3 will receive 1/3 and Band 4 is a score of 0.
Each MMI station (except for calculation) will have a minimum performance threshold which will be set below the average score. If you do not meet the minimum threshold you will not receive an offer.
How to answer "Why do you want to study Medicine at Birmingham University?" in an interview
To give a concise and comprehensive answer to this question at your interview, there are three essential elements your answer needs to have :
1. Specific knowledge about the school, programme, place
2. Why the elements you mentioned are attractive to you
3. Evidence that you have made an effort to research the school and programme
Point 2 and 3 above are essential to deliver a strong answer that is personal to you. In this section, we will help you brainstorm point 1 to help you get started in preparing your answer.
What is unique about the course at Birmingham?
The Birmingham course is taught using an integrated teaching style including prosection. Clinical exposure starts in year one through a fortnightly GP placement. Clinical years begin from years 3-5 with students gaining experience in several specialities including Cardiology, Respiratory, Gastroenterology, Paediatrics and many more! You will have the opportunity to undertake an elective in year 4 and an assistantship, to adopt the role of a junior doctor, in year 5.
What is unique about Birmingham and its Medical School?
Birmingham Medical school was founded in 1825 and has a great reputation. It is home to the largest MEDSOC community with over 3,000 members. Therefore, there are lots of opportunities to get involved in a variety of societies and sporting activities. The Medical School is linked to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital the regional trauma and burns centre with the largest single-floor critical care unit in the world and home to the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine.
Why else would people choose Birmingham Medical School?
Birmingham is the second-largest city in the UK with a diverse population of over 1.1 million. It is home to the Bullring shopping centre and Grand Central train station. The city was home to the 2022 Commonwealth Games and attracts millions of people every year for the German Christmas Markets, Hippodrome, world-class museums, Birmingham canals, Michelin-star restaurants, Edgbaston Cricket Ground and many more. It also has a large student population with over 15 universities.
Birmingham Interview Experiences
Our Top Birmingham Interview Tips
Birmingham Interview Tip #1
Practice healthcare and non-healthcare Role plays
Birmingham has two role play stations. One assesses your ability to interact within a healthcare setting whilst the other assess your ability to interact within a social setting. As 2 out of the 6/7 stations you will face at Birmingham is a role play station, it is important you are confident in these situations. Practice the two different types of role play scenarios with your friends, teachers or theMSAG making sure to get feedback on your communication and rapport building skills.
Birmingham Interview Tip #2
Review drug dosage calculations & unit conversions
Birmingham is one of the few medical schools that includes a calculation station as part of their MMI. However, the calculations involve GCSE standard Maths. So, brush up on your GCSE Maths notes and practice performing healthcare-related calculations such as drug calculations under timed conditions before your interview.
Zahra Olateju is a 5th Year Medical Student at University of Birmingham. Intercalated in Global Health BMedSci (First Class).