Abstract:

Introduction:
For many prospective doctors the first time they are faced with interviews is at application for medical school. These skills are not routinely taught at school level and unless students have access to specific tutoring they can be under prepared. Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust hosts a free virtual event to address this. It is aimed at students applying to medical school and open to all.

Objective:
The primary aim is to demonstrate a meaningful improvement in the knowledge and confidence of students regarding multiple mini-interviews (MMI) and medical school expectations.

Methodology:
Teaching was delivered virtually. The session included lectures, pre-recorded mock interview, panel discussion and Q&A session. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected in the forms of a pre and post teaching survey using MS Forms. Likert scales were used for questions wherever possible, with a 5-point scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The pre survey had to be completed to access the teaching. 26 questions were analysed in the pre teaching survey and 24 in the post teaching survey. Qualitative data was analysed by 1 individual using inductive content coding specific to each of the 2 qualitative questions.

Results and Discussion:
1546 students who completed the pre survey and 452 who completed the post teaching survey opted for their data to be allowed to be used for research (from 2195 pre survey and 606 post teaching survey). 58% of participants went to a state nonselective school. 93% of students were in year 12/13 at the time of teaching. 41% of students strongly agreed that they were confident in their understanding of the medical school application process after the teaching session (up 15%). 92% of students after the session agreed/strongly agreed to the statement “I am confident in my understanding of the MMI” (up 43%). Pre survey data suggests that students from non-selective state schools felt less confident in their understanding of MMI compared to their peers prior to the session. Post session 60% of students agreed/strongly agreed that they “feel prepared to undertake MMI” (up 35%).
8 codes were identified in response to “how has this webinar supported your application to medical school?”, with 653 specific phrases identified. The most common of these was the “MMI” code which detailed a positive comment about learning more about MMIs (312 responses). These commonly were about gaining an improved “understanding”, “confidence” and “insight”.
10 codes were identified in response to “do you have any suggestions or feedback for what you would like to see for future online events?”, with 479 specific phrases identified. The most common of these was the “no” code, which detailed no suggestions or a positive comment (184 responses). The second most common code was “interaction”, detailing a request for increased student interaction in the session (58 responses). Only 7 students reported IT issues.
74% of students found the webinar helpful for their application and 76% would recommend it to others.

Conclusion:
Clear benefits to the MMI teaching session were noted in both students' knowledge and confidence in approaching an MMI. Students also developed greater understanding of what to expect from medical school and felt they were more likely to be successful with their application after the session. Further iterations of this teaching should try an incorporate more interactive elements where possible.

Keywords:

Secondary education, interview, virtual, medical school.