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Dundee Medicine Interview Questions
This article was updated in December 2023 with the latest information, and we will continue to regularly update it!
Ranked first in the Complete University Guide ranking for Medicine, Dundee’s five-year programme has a spiral curriculum that enables students to build knowledge year-on-year.
In this guide we provide an expert insight into past Dundee MMI stations, the Dundee interview day and tips for converting your Dundee interview into an offer!
How Is Dundee Interviewing for 2024 Entry?
Dundee University normally uses an MMI style interview to assess candidates. In 2023/24 cycle will be in MMI format for in-person interviews in December 2023, and will be online panel interviews in January 2024, via Blackboard Collaborate. For 2024 entry, face-to-face interviews will involve moving from one station to another and meeting a different interviewer at each station and will be held in the medical school at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee.
For remote interviews, we use a platform called Blackboard Collaborate in 2023-24 cycle for virtual interviews.
Both interview formats will be comprised of five stations assessed by a fixed panel of existing students and staff from their School of Medicine. Each station will be 6 minutes long preceded by a 1 minute reading time.
The interview stations will be framed within clinical and/or medical contexts with a primary aim to assess critical thinking and communication skills.
What are the Dundee Medicine interview dates?
For 2024 entry, Dundee will most likely send out interview invitations between November 2023 and January 2024 giving students 2-3 weeks’ notice.
What are the common topics covered at the Dundee Medicine Interview?
- Critical thinking
- Flexible thinking
- Communication skills
- Teamwork
- Work experience
Stations will be set in a clinical or medical context, however, no medical knowledge will be required to navigate them.
What were the admission and interview statistics for Dundee’s Medicine course?
Unfortunately, the latest data has not yet been released. However, in 2019-20, Dundee received 943 applications to their undergraduate course. They interviewed 476 of these applicants, ultimately sending out 231 offers. This means that 1 in 1.9 interviewed candidates were offered a place on their programme!
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List of Recent Dundee Medicine Interview topics
| Theme | Dundee Example Questions |
|---|---|
| Academic Skills | Knowledge of reliability measures in research Knowledge of hypothesis’ and carrying out scientific research Factors that impact clinical research |
| Work Experience | General work experience questions Questions based on personal statement Transferrable skills as noted in personal statement |
| Communication & Role-Play | Communicating with those with learning difficulties Managing conflict Prioritization |
| Motivation for Medicine | Motivation to pursue a career in Medicine Realities and challenges of a career in modern Medicine |
| GP-Patient Interaction Station | Summarise video Assess interactions |
If you would like to practice for the Dundee Medicine Interview, have a go at the following questions:
- What is the system in place for organ donation in Scotland?
- Why is confidentiality important? (You can also check out our interview video on confidentiality here)
- A fellow medical student has been involved in a drunken altercation overnight and turns up to a lecture hungover the next day. Decide the best course of action.
- Instruct a child on how to build a lego model
- What are the most pressing issues for the NHS today, other than Coronavirus?
A Dundee Medical Student’s Perspective
Name 3 Reasons why you picked Dundee
- Early clinical exposure – There are clinical placements from the first year of medicine. All tutorials and lectures take place in the hospital so immediately you feel integrated into the healthcare setting. You are assigned a patient from the start who you meet with to discuss aspects of their medical care which is a great experience and a good opportunity to interact with patients. There are also many opportunities to observe ward rounds and carry out clerkings. You take part in clinical skills right from the beginning which helps you to quickly become comfortable speaking to patients, taking histories and carrying out examinations.
- Patient interaction and communication skills integrated into teaching – clinical skills teaching often involves simulated patients; volunteers who are scripted patients that participate in teaching. This is very beneficial in that practicing on these patients helps to build confidence and communication skills. This makes the experiences of going and speaking to real patients on the wards so much more comfortable.
- Student life – Dundee is a campus university; this creates a very close-knit feel, especially within the medical school. There are many medic events which make you feel so welcome and there are so many exciting events you can choose to be involved in. It is particularly nice coming to university knowing that there are so many ways to immerse yourself in university life and meet lots of people on your course.
What makes Dundee unique to other medical schools?
Dundee is unique in its close-knit campus feel. There is a sense of community and support within the medical school which is comforting, especially which uni gets stressful. It is also one of the few medical schools that still have dissection. This is an interesting, hands-on way to learn anatomy that allows you to visualize and understand the human body. It is also an incredibly clinical medical school right from day one and I have personally found this extremely beneficial for my clinical skills development.
Insider Guide: Dundee Medicine Interview Day
How will the Dundee Interview day work?
For 2023-24, Cycle will be in MMI format for in-person interviews in December 2023, and will be online interviews in January 2024 via Blackboard Collaborate. Candidates will be emailed a link to access their interview; this will not require any pre-registration. As with all interviews, a photo ID check will be conducted after which the panel MMI will begin. It is expected to last at least an hour.
Does the Dundee Interview require any pre-reading?
The Dundee interview sets its stations in a clinical context but has assured candidates that no prior medical knowledge will be required to answer the questions. However, reading up on medical ethics and the latest media topics in Medicine will help further ameliorate your answers.
Will I be assessed by a panel or individual assessors?
For 2023-24, Dundee will be hosting a panel style interview comprised of 5 stations, similar to a MMI. The defining difference is that students will be assessed by the same panel throughout. This panel will be consist of current students and staff from their medical school.
How did you receive instructions for each station in the Dundee interview? What tips would you give for making the most of the reading time?
At Dundee, your stations are preceded by 1 minute of reading time. During this time, you will be given instructions that will allude to the content and context of the upcoming station. Your station itself lasts for 6 minutes and applicants will often be lauded for pausing to think before they speak. This means that there is no need to rush or panic!
During your reading time, it is vital to question the motivation behind the question and structure your answer in a way that plays to this. For example, work experience questions are often assessed to ensure that applicants have a realistic and holistic view of the career and have picked up skills that will help them combat the challenges. Consequently, use your reading time to think through the various points you would like to make in reflecting on your work experience to showcase a thorough understanding of the career and how your skill-set ties into it.
What are the Dundee University MMI examiners like?
On the whole, the examiners are very friendly; they only want the best for you. If you are going off-track, need a little hand or have questions, they typically will happily help you and point you in the right direction. If there are examiners who seem a little cold, do not worry as they will probably be doing this deliberately to see how you react to the challenge.
Do the Dundee Medicine interviewers ask a lot of follow up questions?
There were not many specific questions listed on the instructions. Be aware that they tend to have multiple follow up questions based on your initial answers. Be concise and to the point for the best result.
How long is the actual Dundee University Interview?
For the online interviews, Dundee has stated that you ought to plan for your interview lasting approximately an hour.
What are the personality questions like? Do they want you to give examples in your University of Dundee medicine interview?
The personality questions are mostly brought up in the personal statement stations, so this would obviously vary from candidate to candidate. Giving examples would be advised, as they can help strengthen your argument and also show you have given thought into how you are as an individual, also demonstrating that you have the ability to reflect (which is extremely important to have as a future medic).
The STARR method is a commonly used tool by medics to assess situations and reflect thoroughly and can be useful for these types of stations.
Do the University of Dundee interviewers expect you to know about recent NHS topics?
Whilst it isn’t explicitly mentioned to be aware of current topics in Medical media, candidates may be questioned on current interests in Medicine, which might link to recent advancements in medical technology, therapeutics or social health. This is to assess passion and dedication towards Medicine as a career, and to test communication skills.
What are the Data Interpretation stations like at the Dundee medicine interview?
The data interpretation stations do not require any medical knowledge. Their main goal is to assess one’s ability to interpret, communicate and formulate ideas from a data set. One of the key assessment tools here is judging how the candidate explains complex information in simpler terms, as expected by doctor’s when giving diagnoses or teaching juniors.
At your Dundee interview, what are the work experience questions like?
These questions are usually tailored to the work experience you have mentioned in your Personal Statement. They will typically ask follow up questions if they want you to expand on your point or if you express an opinion. Primarily, they’re looking for adequate reflection as well as a realistic understanding of a career in the NHS.
The university is aware of the difficulties in gaining work experience due to the pandemic and consequently, these questions may be reframed to allow students to discuss pseudo-medicine work experiences, such as volunteering or other caring roles.
What are unique things you can mention for ‘Why Dundee’?
Thiel Cadavers in Dissection: Dundee uses cadavers that have been embalmed using the Thiel method which preserves maximum authenticity of the tissues in terms of structure, color etc. This makes for richer and more accurate anatomical learning.
Spiral systems-based curriculum: Dundee has a strong focus on re-visiting key concepts to ensure thorough understanding and active learning. This is a particularly strong point to mention if applicants can tie it back to their individual learning needs and styles.
State-of-the-art Clinical Skills Centre (CSC): Dundee boasts a purpose built simulation facility to expose students to real-life ward, consultation and emergency scenarios. This breeds confidence and again, is particularly useful to mention in the context of individual learning needs.
When answering “Why Dundee”, it’s key to mention your attraction to the university at large, the medical school and its teaching hospitals as well as the city. For best results, personalize your answer as much as possible. For example, if you’re interested in learning more about gene sequencing, its worth tying this into Dundee’s work in precision medicine. Or perhaps you have a hobby that the university is quite successful at?
How long does it take for you to hear back after the University of Dundee medicine interview?
A minority of applicants will receive early offers but for most students, decisions will be communicated following the interview period. Final decisions will be made by the end of March. If you are rejected, you will probably hear earlier on in February. Please do not be demoralized if you are rejected early, as this may be subject to change, with many people being offered places a few months later due to movement in the reserve list.
Top Tips for Dundee Medicine Interview
- Definitely read your personal statement inside out – prepare to be asked why you wrote what you did, what skills you have learnt from what you did and try and link your personal statement qualities to everyday life in Medicine (e.g: being captain of a sports team means you may have effective leadership skills which is required to work as a team in Medicine).
- Make sure you are very sharp on your communication skills – Dundee are very communications-based. They offer clinical opportunities from day one, so they want to see whether you can communicate effectively. This can be as simple as trying to describe what a shape looks like in lay-man’s terms. An easy way to practise this is looking at simple objects in a room and ask yourself, “how can I describe this to a toddler?”
- Practise speaking out loud – it sounds very silly, but even speaking to yourself in the mirror can give you practice and improve your confidence as well as communication skills. It can be very hard to constantly talk about how amazing you are, but you are doing it in order to sell yourself and convince the interviewers why you want to be here. It gets easier the more and more you practise saying it out loud. You should also record yourself practicing online and watch it back to hone non-verbal skills, such as appropriate eye-contact, due to the virtual nature of the interviews for 2023-24.
- Ensure you have done some research about the Dundee course itself – what do they have to offer that other universities don’t? Do they have something in particular that appeals you? Do you like their teaching style? Even if it isn’t your top choice, make sure you have a few points up your sleeve as to why you want to go to Dundee.
- Lastly, be yourself – it is very easy to panic and make up things to please the interview, but this will get you nowhere. There is no right or wrong answer, so just be yourself and answer what you believe in. Expect to be a little worn out after the interview as there are so many stations, and a lot of these may be tricky because they want to see how you cope with unfamiliar knowledge and information.
- Dundee do MMI interviews so I would definitely say my number 1 tip is to try to relax and be yourself- as cliché as it sounds! A lot of the stations are based around your interpersonal and communication skills so try not to overthink the content itself, it is all about your approach and how you articulate your thoughts and this comes out best when you are relaxed!
- Know your personal statement. You will be asked about what you have written about yourself and it is important to know how to talk about it and structure answers around it. Being able to talk about yourself can be tricky because a lot of the time in life we focus on finding out about others and avoid talking too much about ourselves, so it almost feels unnatural! But interviewers want to find out about you and why you would be a good fit for the university and the course so know how to speak about this.
- Find out about the university you are applying for and have reasons ready about why you have chosen it. You don’t want to seem like you haven’t researched the university and have applied randomly. Showing a genuine interest can go a long way! You could be asked why you have chosen Dundee in particular and there are a lot of unique things about the university that you could say. Also be prepared for the question ‘Why Medicine?’ and try and think about why you honestly want to do medicine rather than focusing on what you think they want you to say- this will help you to sounds less cliché and more genuine.
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Frequently Asked Question
→What is the Dundee Medicine interview process like?
Dundee University normally uses an MMI style interview to assess candidates. In 2023/24 cycle will be in MMI format for in-person interviews in December 2023, and will be online panel interviews in January 2024, via Blackboard Collaborate. Both interview formats will be comprised of five stations assessed by a fixed panel of existing students and staff from their School of Medicine. Each station will be 6 minutes long preceded by a 1 minute reading time.The interview may consist of a combination of traditional interview questions, as well as more scenario-based questions that test a candidate’s critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
→What types of questions are asked during the Dundee Medicine interview?
The types of questions asked during the Dundee Medicine interview can vary, but they generally fall into two categories: traditional interview questions and scenario-based questions. Traditional interview questions may include questions about a candidate’s motivation for studying medicine, their previous work or volunteering experience, and their academic background. Scenario-based questions may ask candidates to describe how they would respond to a particular medical situation or ethical dilemma.
→How can I prepare for the Dundee Medicine interview?
To prepare for the Dundee Medicine interview, it is important to familiarise yourself with the format of the interview and the types of questions that may be asked. You should also review your application and be prepared to discuss your relevant experiences and qualifications. Practising with mock interviews can also be helpful in building your confidence and improving your performance.
→What qualities are Dundee Medicine interviewers looking for in a candidate?
Dundee Medicine interviewers are looking for candidates who demonstrate strong communication skills, empathy, and a commitment to the field of medicine. They also look for candidates who are able to think critically and problem-solve effectively, and who demonstrate a strong sense of ethics and professionalism.
→What should I wear to the Dundee Medicine interview?
It is recommended that candidates dress in business or business-casual attire for the Dundee Medicine interview. This can help to convey a sense of professionalism and respect for the interview process.
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