Loading…
A four-part structure for 'Why medicine?' and 'Why this school?' that moves you beyond 'I want to help people' by grounding motivation in specific experience, showing a realistic understanding of the job, and linking it to who you are.
4 steps · used in 4 questions
The standard structure for 'Tell me about a time when…' questions. Set the scene briefly, focus most of your time on what you personally did, give the outcome, then add the step most candidates forget — what you learned and how it will shape you as a doctor.
5 steps · used in 9 questions
A calm four-step approach for any graph, table or study you are handed. Read it accurately before interpreting it, put numbers on the trend, suggest explanations, then show scientific maturity by naming the limitations.
4 steps · used in 4 questions
A structure for opinion and current-affairs questions ('Should…?', 'Is it ever right to…?'). It shows you can see more than one side, weigh evidence and still commit to a view — the core of professional judgement.
5 steps · used in 12 questions
For unfamiliar science problems, estimation questions and tutorial-style interviews. The interviewer cares far more about how you reason than whether you reach the 'right' answer, so make every step audible and welcome hints.
5 steps · used in 13 questions
Four principles — autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice — that give you a shared vocabulary for weighing up any ethical scenario. They are lenses, not a checklist: the skill is spotting where they pull against each other and explaining which should carry more weight here, and why.
5 steps · used in 8 questions
A five-step route through any ethical scenario: Identify the dilemma, apply Principles, consider Stakeholders, lay out Options, then Justify a decision. It turns a sprawling scenario into a calm, structured answer that sounds like a doctor thinking, not a student panicking.
5 steps · used in 7 questions
A simple three-question reflective model (associated with Rolfe and colleagues) that turns an experience into learning. Describe briefly what happened, analyse why it mattered, and say what you will do differently. Medical schools value it because reflection is a lifelong professional requirement.
3 steps · used in 7 questions
A six-stage cycle (Gibbs, 1988): Description, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion, Action plan. Longer than What/So what/Now what, it is especially good for mistakes and emotionally significant events because it makes you name feelings and judge what went well and badly.
6 steps · used in 5 questions
A six-step protocol (Baile and colleagues, 2000) for delivering difficult news: Setting, Perception, Invitation, Knowledge, Emotions (with Empathy), Strategy and Summary. In MMI role-plays the 'bad news' is usually non-clinical — a lost item, a cancelled event, a pet — but the skills are the same.
6 steps · used in 2 questions
Three questions at the heart of patient-centred consultations: what does the person think is going on (Ideas), what are they worried about (Concerns), and what do they hope will happen (Expectations)? Exploring ICE turns a stand-off into shared decision-making.
5 steps · used in 10 questions
A method for explaining anything — a condition, a procedure, a task — to someone without your background: find out what they know, give one small chunk in plain language, check understanding, then build. Analogies and 'teach-back' do the heavy lifting.
5 steps · used in 8 questions
A calm sequence for someone who is angry or upset. Anger usually sits on top of fear, feeling ignored or powerlessness, so the first job is to let them be heard. Only then can you explain, and together agree what happens next.
5 steps · used in 4 questions