For medicine, the admissions procedure at Aberdeen involves the detailed assessment and scoring of a range of aspects of an application, including academic attainment/predictions (30%), UCAT (20%), and then subsequent interview performance (50%).
For dentistry, if you have been invited to an interview, offer decisions are based on your interview performance only.
Applications are ranked against all the others received for that year's entry and those who score sufficiently well achieve an interview.
Interviews are conducted between December and March using a modified Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format.
Interview format for 2024 entry:
- MSc Physican Associate Studies - in person, Suttie Centre, Foresterhill - 3 & 5 October 2023
- Dentistry (BDS) - in person, Dental School, Foresterhill - wc 4th December 2023
- Medicine (MBChB) - in person, Suttie Centre, Foresterhill - wc 18 December 2023
- Gateway2Medicine - in person, Suttie Centre, Foresterhill - TBC April 2024
What is an MMI?
Candidates rotate around a number of different question stations each in turn. At each station, two selector will explore one question area/domain for 5 minutes and score the candidate's performance against pre-determined criteria. Communication and interpersonal skills are also scored at each station. The MMI experience will last approximately 1 hour for each candidate.
Invitation to Interview
Candidates will be invited for interview by email and provided with details allowing them to book the most convenient slot available. Emails will be ent to the email address detailed on the UCAS form, and it is the responsibility of candidates to check their spam folders regularly during this time period. Alternative interview slots will not be arranged for missed emails.
Should candidates have any specific requirements in relation to the MMI please let us know at the time of confirming your intention to attend. If you have an unexpected additional requirement (e.g. following an injury) then please let us know as soon as possible. If specific requirements are agreed but there is insufficient time to institute appropriate requirements prior to the MMI then the interview may be rescheduled. Please note that there will be no additional dates available to the dates that are published therefore, candidates should make every effort to attend on the allocated time as we cannot guarantee that we will be able to reschedule.
For those who are having online interviews advice on preparing for online interviews can be found at the Medical Schools Council website.
Preparing for Interview
You may find the following information useful to help you understand what selectors look for in a good candidate and how you might prepare for interview. For more information on the process of the day, please visit here.
What types of questions will be asked?
The number of stations depends on the course. Details of the numbers and interview domains can be found here - https://www.abdn.ac.uk/smmsn/undergraduate/medicine/coming-to-interview.php
Many example questions that will be covered in the MMI stations are available in the public domain. Candidates may find it a useful exercise to practice with some questions and it is vital to consider your own responses that are based upon your own thoughts and experiences, rather than quoting existing text and the opinion of others. Remember we want to see you, who you are and the type of doctor you want to and will be.
There are many ways that selectors may explore the domains that form part of an MMI.
Candidates may be asked to:
- Discuss their preparation for entry to medicine/G2M/dentistry e.g.
- Research into undergraduate curricula and postgraduate training
- Research then understanding of the implications of a medical/dental career
- Experience of caring or other environments
- Consider a new situation and discuss their thoughts or suggest a solution to solve a problem
- Outline any learning points from previous experiences
- Reflect upon their own and others' skills and abilities
- Consider their potential contribution to the care of others
Candidates should be aware that we don’t just assess you answers but also your approach and ability to reflect upon and discuss diverse aspects of the problem may be under scrutiny.
Given that the pre-interview scoring system selects candidates who appear to have sufficient academic potential, the interview is not intended to
- Test academic knowledge
Are all candidates asked the same questions?
All candidates will be tested on the same domains. However, the actual questions candidates are not necessarily exactly the same questions.
How will answers be scored?
The student will be scored in several areas these include:
- Ability to express ideas freely and coherently
- How well they use their existing knowledge to formulate answers to unknown areas
- Their ability to follow a reasoned argument and to formulate an opinion
- The degree to which they are prepared for questions
- Their ability to discuss different aspects (advantages & disadvantages) of a problem / situation
- The degree of motivation, commitment, reflection and sensitivity demonstrated
Each station will also independently score communication and interpersonal skills.
How can candidates ensure that they answer questions well?
The more research undertaken into a healthcare career using many resources, the better the student will be prepared to answer questions confidently and to interpret the unexpected.
Be prepared to talk about yourself, your experiences and examples where you have demonstrated your abilities.
Undertaking interview practice with different 'interviewers' will help build confidence in their ability to perform in unfamiliar circumstances, as will frequently practising answering different interview questions.
MMI Examples
Below we have provided you with an example of what you might expect to find at a station and one candidate’s answers.
The candidate will be asked 2 questions about teamwork within the 5 minute station.