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Brighton and Sussex University Medicine Interview Questions
This article was updated in December 2023 with the latest information, and we will continue to regularly update it!
Brighton and Sussex Medical School is a joint incentive of (surprise, surprise) the University of Brighton and the University of Sussex. With their forces combined, Brighton and Sussex universities can offer an innovative, clinically-focused 5-year medicine course that has one of the highest student satisfaction rates in the entire United Kingdom!
For statistics and general information click here: Brighton Medical School.
In this guide we provide an expert insight into past University of Brighton and Sussex MMI stations, the BSMS interview day and tips for converting your BSMS Interview into an offer!
How Is Brighton and Sussex Interviewing for 2024 Entry?
For 2024 entry, Brighton and Sussex Medical School will be holding MMI-style interviews virtually over Zoom.
Candidates are briefed at the start before their individual interview begins. There will be five discussions taking place in separate breakout rooms, each lasting around nine minutes. A break is usually given in between each station, before joining the next breakout room. The full circuit typically lasts around an hour.
This MMI format is similar for international applicants.
When were the Brighton Medicine Interviews held?
Interviews will be held in January for home students and February for international students. For the latest updates refer to the BSMS interview website.
What are the common topics covered at Brighton Medicine Interviews?
The medical school suggests reading the core values and attributes document and work experience guidelines published by the Medical Schools Council for preparation for the interview.
They also recommend that during your interview you:
- Reflect on work experience
- Refer to skills and values documents
How many people interviewed at Brighton?
In 202/22, Brighton and Sussex Medical School interviewed 744 students.
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How many interviewed applicants received an offer from Brighton?
For 2022 entry,
- Home Students: For 2022 entry, 495 UK students were interviewed, and out of those 297 (60%) have received an offer to study medicine at Brighton and Sussex.
- International Students: For 2022 entry, out of 80 international students interviewed, 23 (29%) have been given an offer.
To learn more about the Brighton and Sussex Medicine course in general, have a look at their official page: Brighton and Sussex Medicine.
At Medic Mind we’ve helped many students secure offers from Brighton and other medical schools. If you’re applying to Brighton, we can do a high quality 1-1 mock with you with an Brighton tutor and realistic stations uniquely for Brighton.
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List of Recent Brighton and Sussex Medicine MMI Stations
| Theme | Brighton and Sussex Example Questions |
|---|---|
| Motivation for Medicine | Why medicine at Brighton and Sussex? |
| Work Experience | How did patient exposure affect you? What did you learn during your work experience? |
| Communication & Role-Play | Role plays with real patients discussing their patient care. |
| Personality & Skills | How would you manage a Public Health Campaign? If you could improve the NHS how would you do so? |
| Medical Ethics and NHS Hot Topics | Euthanasia Terminal Illnesses Why is Public Health important? State the NHS values and what they mean |
| Personal Statement | Are personal statements a good indicator if someone will be a good medical student? |
| Brighton & Hove area | Common diseases / problems specific to the area and ways to target them |
If you wish to practice Brighton and Sussex Medicine Interview mocks, here are some sample questions:
- How could you improve the NHS?
- What is the biggest problem of the NHS?
- How would you deal with problems such as overpopulation?
- What problems would you see daily as a GP working in Brighton?
- What medical issues are prominent in the Brighton and hove area and how would you resolve them?
- Speak to this patient who has been injured during an accident and lost a limb. Discuss how this has affected them and how the medical care they were given has impacted them?
- What are the NHS values and why are they important?
- Discuss the topic of euthanaisia, is it allowed in the UK and other areas of the world?
To prepare for your Brighton and Sussex MMI interview, you may wish to check out our guide to approaching MMI role plays
A Brighton & Sussex Medical Student’s Perspective
Name 3 Reasons why you picked BSMS
- Holistic Student Body
BSMS really put emphasis throughout the application process on wanting individuals who were ‘well rounded’ which really appealed to me as my work in the charity sector for 2 years was valued by them because it showed I was able to communicate with people from different backgrounds and understood some of the socio-cultural and economic barriers to health that a lot of people experience. - Location
Medicine is a long degree and it was important to me to be somewhere I could see myself living for 5 years – something which I think is often overlooked when people apply. But something which should definitely be considered. I love being by the sea, and the surrounding area is a lot of green space and open areas which is absolutely beautiful. Brighton is a beautiful town and - Course Structure
I liked the way the course was structured, BSMS have full body dissections for the first two years and have early exposure into clinical areas alongside the lecture-heavy first two years. plus they have a spiral curriculum which means you cover the same topics repeatedly over the course, each time getting more and more detail, building on your knowledge each time which works better with how I learn, and consolidates the information in a much better way.
What makes BSMS unique to other medical schools?
I really love the atmosphere at BSMS. Whilst I hear from a lot of other medical schools that they feel stressed by the competitive atmosphere, I haven’t really felt that at BSMS. We are all trying to be better clinicians, but BSMS goes about it in a different way – I remember in the first week, we had a talk about what to get out of our time at medical school. And the overriding consensus was that whilst we should aim to be good clinicians and pass exams, that it was equally important to enjoy ourselves and expect to fail at some point. This wasn’t said to shock or scare us, but it was to reassure us that this is normal and we should use it as a learning moment and let it make us better clinicians. This is something which really stuck with me, after having pushed myself so hard throughout academics to get the best possible grade, to the point of being burnt out. Now, I make sure I prioritise fun and I try to punish myself less if I fall short of my own expectations. Maybe not so surprisingly, I’ve found it to make me a much better student and my grades and feedback from mentors have reflected this.
Insider Guide: University of Brighton and Sussex Medicine Interview Day
How did the University of Brighton and Sussex MMI Interview day work?
All candidates for that day arrived at the medical school building on the Sussex campus the same time. You then had to register that you were there, show your GCSE certificates and sign a form. After which, you were then told which group you were in (there are 3 per day).
If you were in the first group you had your Brighton MMI immediately and then a welcome tour, if you were in the second group you would have your interview after a tour of campus, if you were in the third group you would have your interview after the tour and some waiting around. The initial welcome talk gave details of the course at BSMS, the interview process, the offer process and other information about the day.
The virtual MMI follows a similar format over Zoom. There will be 5 discussions in separate breakout rooms lasting for 9 minutes. Once being admitted to the Zoom meeting, there will be a briefing before you enter the first discussion. In the first breakout room your ID will be checked to confirm your identity then the stations will begin and you’ll circuit through all 5 stations.
What did you have to bring for the University of Brighton and Sussex Medicine Interview?
The university asked all candidates to bring their GCSE certificates and a form of ID
What was the setting for the University of Brighton and Sussex MMI Circuit?
The Brighton medicine interview was in one small room. There was a central table which had water and glasses on it. There were then 5 different stations set up around the periphery of the room which were separated by a screen. You started off around the central table and assigned a starting station – you then worked clockwise around the table until it was complete. There were only 4 other students in the room.
How did you receive information for each University of Brighton and Sussex MMI station?
There was a card on the screen in front of each station and you were given about 2 minutes reading time. I recommend focussing on reading the card, as it is easy to be distracted, and then start planning what you are going to say.Try to also preempt what the examiner might ask you based on the theme of the station, think of any statistics or knowledge you may know which you can mention in the station.
What were the University of Brighton and Sussex MMI examiners like?
Some Brighton medical interviewers were very friendly but some showed very little expression and were quite angled away from you in terms of body language.
Did the University of Brighton and Sussex MMI interviewers ask a lot of follow up questions?
There were a lot of follow-up questions that weren’t included in the instructions but were all based around the stem question though.
How is the University of Brighton and Sussex MMI Interview scored?
The Brighton Medicine MMI will assess the discussion as either: Excellent, Good, Average or Inadequate plus a mark out of 10. The combined score will be out of 50. Candidates who scored 44 or above in 2019/20 received an offer on the day.
What do you advise for the day? (Accommodation, Travelling)
Wear comfortable clothes which also make you feel smart and remember to bring your GCSE certificates and ID. I also brought flashcards I had written which contained stats and interesting facts about current affairs and the NHS core values; I looked over these during downtime between different things.
I would recommend bringing snacks and a bottle of water – there was quite a lot of waiting around as I was the last group of the day and because the high adrenaline you definitely get hungry. There is a café in the medical school building which you can buy food and drink from though.
How long did it take you to hear back after your Brighton Medicine and Sussex Interview?
I heard back on the day of my Brighton Medical Interview, however most people hear back between January and April.
Top Tips for University of Brighton and Sussex Medicine MMI Interview
1. Go over and be confident in discussing NHS core values. By doing this, you will show the interviewees that you have a good understanding of the NHS and are serious about becoming a doctor. You can find information about the NHS values and detail about them using the following website: NHS Values and Detail.
2. Research about common medical issues in the Brighton and Hove area. There are some medical issues which are quite common in this area and you are likely to get asked about this so it’s wise for you to research about the population in the area and what medical issues are prominent there.
3. Read quickly outside the station and try to retain as much of it as you can. You do not want to enter the station and forget what it is about.
4. Keep up to date with the BMJ and other current medical issues in the NHS. Practice discussing and debating them with friends or family as preparation for your Medicine MMI. We have a great page here for NHS Hot Topics
5. Refresh any experiences you have undertaken as part of your application, such as your work experience and volunteering. These are some things which you can mention in almost every station, and by reflecting and mentioning what you have seen/ taken part in during these experiences you will highlight to the interviewers that you can reflect – a skill which is very useful to doctors.
6. Be familiar with the MMI format – BSMS use MMI interviews so make sure you’re familiar with this style. This is a series of around 5-6 interview stations with 5 minutes at each station. Each station will have a theme to the questions they ask you, some may only ask one or two questions, others may ask more but don’t be put-off either way; interviewers tend to slightly change their approach depending on what answers you give – generally they will try to help you to do the best you can! Practice with friends and family or opt for a tutor to practice mock MMIs but familiarity will breed confidence when it comes to answering a variety of questions in short time frames.
7. Reflect on your achievements – BSMS has a strong focus on personalities and skill-sets. It is quite common to be asked to provide evidence of a particular skill, say, leadership for example. Make sure you have a few good examples up your sleeves. It really shows if it’s something you’ve only just thought of and whilst that’s not necessarily bad, the first thing you think of might not be the best example of your skills. Preemptively reflect on all your achievements, academic or otherwise, and pick out key skills you developed whilst partaking in them. Moreover, reflect on why they’re relevant to Medicine to further bolster your answer.
8. Don’t script or over-rehearse – I know you’ve probably heard this before, but there is such a thing as being over-prepared and it comes across in interviews as slightly-robotic or monotonous, which is definitely not the vibe you want to give. Practice free-styling answers via Zoom whilst you record yourself as watching yourself back can be invaluable in terms of picking up on little things to improve your overall manner.
Covid – 2024 Changes
Is the University of Brighton Medicine Interview different this year?
Brighton University will be holding MMI interviews online, via Zoom.
Where can I find more information about the changes?
Full details of the changes can be found here 2024 entry interviews
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Frequently Asked Question
→What is the Brighton and Sussex University Medicine Interview?
The Brighton and Sussex University Medicine Interview is an important part of the application process for students who are applying to study Medicine at the University of Brighton and the University of Sussex. It is designed to assess the skills and attributes of potential medical students, and to ensure that they are a good fit for the programme.
→How should I prepare for the Brighton and Sussex University Medicine Interview?
To prepare for the Brighton and Sussex University Medicine Interview, it is recommended that you research the medical profession, including current issues in healthcare. You should also think about your own motivations and commitment to the course, and practise your communication and teamwork skills. It may also be helpful to practise answering common interview questions and to do mock interviews with friends or family members.
→What are the Brighton and Sussex University Medicine Interview questions?
The Brighton and Sussex University Medicine Interview questions will vary, but typically they will cover a range of topics, including why you want to study Medicine, your understanding of the medical profession, your motivation and commitment to the course, your knowledge of current issues in healthcare, and your ability to work in a team and communicate effectively.
→What are the qualities that the Brighton and Sussex University Medicine Interview looks for in a potential student?
The Brighton and Sussex University Medicine Interview looks for a range of qualities in potential students, including a strong motivation to study Medicine, a commitment to the profession, an ability to work in a team, good communication skills, and an understanding of the challenges facing the medical profession.
→What should I wear to the Brighton and Sussex University Medicine Interview?
It is recommended that you dress smartly and professionally for the Brighton and Sussex University Medicine Interview. This may include a suit or formal attire.
→What happens if I am successful in the Brighton and Sussex University Medicine Interview?
If you are successful in the Brighton and Sussex University Medicine Interview, you may be offered a place on the Medicine programme at the University of Brighton or the University of Sussex, subject to meeting any other admission requirements.
→What is the acceptance rate for Brighton and Sussex Medical School?
The acceptance rate for the Brighton and Sussex Medical School is not publicly available. However, it is a highly competitive medical school, and admission is based on a range of factors, including academic achievement, personal statement, work experience, and the results of the interview process. The school typically receives a large number of applications each year, and only a limited number of places are available. It is recommended that applicants present a strong application and prepare thoroughly for the interview process to increase their chances of being accepted.
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