[MMI prompt] Doctor's note

You are a family physician. One of your patients, Mark, did not attend one of his classes and missed an important exam. He told you that his teacher would like a doctor's note explaining his absence from class; otherwise, he will receive zero, and all hell will break loose. He wants to you write a note for him, indicating that he was not feeling well enough to write the exam. Not able to find any physical symptoms, explain how you would deal with this.

Some follow up questions:

1. What if Mark told you that he wasn't really sick, but he really really needed your note?


2. What if Mark was your son? What must you consider in this case?

[MMI prompt] Acting stations

A special type of MMI stations is acting. I personally like this type of stations because I think they are fun and creatively challenging. However, these are also the hardest to practice; you really do need actors to act out the scenarios, otherwise you can only imagine what happens and how you will respond.

A very important thing to note is that the prompt may not give you all the information on the scenario. Here's an example:

Your friend Jason hasn't come to class for a few days. Being a hardworking premed student, he very seldom skips classes. You know that he is applying to medical school in the past several weeks. You called his house and he said you can visit him. You decided to pay him a visit after your classes.

Enter the room and talk to Jason.

And in the room, you may find Jason all depressed, drunk, and if you ask the right questions, he may tell you that he is suicidal.

Unlike the "dilemma-type" questions, which is designed to reveal your problem solving and reasoning skills, the acting stations are here to test your ability to respond to physical and verbal queues, to communicate under stressful situations, etc. Namely, your empathy skills.

And the best way to practice, is to find a few friends or family, and try out a few different scenarios. Or better yet, watch out for real situations in which your friends or family need a listening ear. For those of you who volunteer at a counselling service, or stay up late into the night with a friend who just broke up, grab your chance to shine. :)

[MMI prompt] driving a friend

Prelude

I'm sure if you have googled "practice mmi" or anything to that effect, you would have come across a very good set of 10 practice questions, with a variety of categories. If you haven't already, practice with these first. This set of questions are prepared by people who created the whole MMI business, and few things other than doing a real MMI can give you a better pictures than this.

Having said that, it'll be quite easy to finish all of these questions and still feel under-prepared. That's why I'll post some questions that I've come up with (in no shape or form are these from my real MMI for obvious reasons), as something you could think about as you prepare.

Driving a friend

You have been in a new relationship for 5 months, and you just got into medical school. As the saying goes, many relationships are ended in med school because of the stress, and lack of time, and the excitement of meeting hundreds of new, young,  intelligent soon-to-be doctors. You suspect that your partner is slightly worried about your attending medical school.

One evening, you have to attend a social event that your partner cannot go to. One of your colleagues from out of province asks you for a ride to the party, as he/she does not know how to get there. You feel slightly uncomfortable but at the same time obligated to help as a local and a friend.

How would you approach this situation?