Semi-structured interview

Two interviewers drawn from academic staff, medical practitioners and community representatives

Joint Medical Program Assessment with 2 parts:

1. Personal Qualities Assessment (PQA)
2. Multiple Skills Assessment (MSA)

PQA: online test which includes questions, grouped into 4 sections

MSA: 8 x 8min rotating stations

PQA assesses a range of personal qualities that are considered to be important for the study and practice of medicine. The first section measures cognitive skills and the rest measure particular personality and attitudinal traits relevant to health professional practice.

MSA requires applicant to discuss various scenarios and undertake activities with the assessor. It assesses the following:

• Capacity to thrive within the Joint Medical Program learning environment
• Ability to make everyday and important decisions affecting yourself and others, often without certainty about the outcome
• Interpersonal and communication skills
• Degree of personal desire and driving force to be a doctor

10 x 8min stations in Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format with 2mins between each station

Each question is asked by a separate interviewer in each separate station

Types of stations may include:

• Role-playing
• Provided with a stimulus (e.g. video or written information) and asked questions
• Provided with no stimulus and asked questions to assess stress management
• Scenario-based questions to assess time management, organisation and ability to prioritise
• Ethical dilemma

No interview

2 hours (registration, interview, feedback session)

5 x 7min stations in Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format with 2mins between each station

Interviewers are volunteers recruited from the following:

• Academic, clinical academic and staff of Sydney Medical School
• Graduates from Medicine
• Wider community

Where possible, the interviewers will include 2 or 3 people of each gender

• Good communication skills
• A sense of caring, empathy and sensitivity
• Ability to make effective decisions
• Ability to contribute as a member of a team
• Appreciation of the place of medicine in the wider context of healing
• Sense of vocation, motivation and commitment within the context of medicine

10 x 8min stations in Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format with 2.5mins between each station and 1 additional rest station

Each station assessed by a different interviewer, recruited from:

• The university
• The medical and allied health professions
• The general public

Each interview station consists of a series of scenarios, questions and related discussion focusing on:

• Communication skills
• Empathy and compassion
• Resilience and coping skills
• Decision making & problem solving ability
• Teamwork
• Honesty
• Reflection/self appraisal
• Leadership
• Ethical standards and values
• Insight and understanding

Types of questions may include:

• Personal (motivation to study medicine and why at Notre Dame)
• Current health issues in Australia
• Teamwork
• Scenario-based questions
• Provided with a stimulus (e.g. photograph) and asked questions to assess sensitivity to others and insight into issues
• Role-playing
• Discuss a quotation

Semi-structured interview

Interviewers are recruited from the following groups:

• Academic
• Clinician
• Community member

Interview questions likely to assess knowledge on current rural and medical issues, as well as tropical medicine. Other topics assessed:

• Communication skills
• Critical analytic skills
• Advocacy and ethics reasoning
• Empathic reasoning
• Teamwork and collaboration skills
• Knowledge about tropical medicine
• Motivation to do medicine 

8 stations in Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format

Interviewers are doctors and community members from both medical and non-medical backgrounds

• Communication skills
• Ethics
• General suitability to medicine
• Knowledge & critical thinking
• Leadership, initiative

No interview

8 x 5min stations in Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format with 7mins between each station

Assessors are recruited from the following groups:

• Academic staff of Griffith university
• Clinicians
• Senior year medical students
• Community member

High stakes assessment of the candidate’s personal and professional attributes, designed to test skills such as:

• Communication
• Reasoning
• Problem solving
• Values and commitment

8 x 10min stations in Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format with 2mins between each station

• Motivation
• Communication skills
• Critical thinking
• Ethical reasoning
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Advocacy

8 x 5min stations in Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format with 1min between each station

Stations could be practical tasks, answering questions, commenting on short films, or explaining thinking. Topics assessed include:

• Cultural sensitivity
• Maturity
• Motivation
• Attitude to collaboration
• Reliability
• Ability to empathise and provide support
• Decision making
• Communication skills

• Communication skills
• Commitment to rural and regional practice
• Evidence-based practice
• Self-directed learning
• Teamwork
• Motivation for a career in medicine
• A commitment to social justice
• Professionalism
• Effective use of resources

6 x 6min stations in Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format

MMI covers a wide range of topics and scenarios

2 x 15min sessions with 5mins between each

Applicant interviewed in each session by up to 2 interviewers, who are volunteers recruited from the following:

• Academic, clinical academic and professional staff of university
• Graduates from medical degree
• Wider community

Assesses skills and qualities considered important for undertaking the degree and for use in future professional practice:

• Motivation
• Communication skills
• Critical thinking/problem solving
• Compatibility with degree
• Demonstration of attention to detail and professional behaviour

Semi-structured interview with time at the end to discuss experiences or achievements that are deemed relevant

Common set of scenario and questions for all applicants

Assesses qualities considered important for success in medical school and medical practice:

• Quality of motivation
• Learning style and team skills
• Communication skills
• Pro-social attitude
• Personal management and self-evaluation skills
• Approach to decision-making

Assesses how well applicants can demonstrate how they communicate, critically appraise information and think about issues important to the medical profession. It measures abilities such as:

• Communication skills
• Professionalism
• Critical thinking
• Ethical decision-making

8 x 10min stations in Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format

At each station, 2mins given for preparation and 8mins for responding

5 stations will consist of sets of questions based on preamble/scenario presented in 2 minutes preparation time

1 station is for Explaining Skill Exercise (school-leavers) or Graduate Presentation Exercise (graduate applicants)

2 stations may include rest and/or preparation stations

The list of criteria for interview has been consolidated into 9 topics, 3 of which are constant across years:

• Communication skills
• Explaining skills (school-leavers) or graduate presentation exercise (graduate applicants)
• Motivation/commitment to a career in medicine

The remaining 4 criteria will be selected each year from the following 6:

• Awareness of social diversity
• Provision of assistance
• Self-awareness
• Trust and trustworthiness
• Values and ethics
• Working with others