Roleplay is often one of the most dreaded aspects of the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) to enter medical school in the UK. However, you don’t need to be a budding actor or actress to achieve full marks in your MMI role-play scenario.
In this handy guide, we’ll teach you everything you need to know to master the roleplay station and excel in your MMI interviews. Combine this with your knowledge of how to answer MMI prioritisation stations, MMI calculation stations, data interpretation questions and background and motivation interview questions to help smash these upcoming interviews through our mmi role play questions and answers!
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The MMI Roleplay Station: Our Top Tips Summary
Practice: Practice makes perfect! Use as many example role-play scenarios as possible to increase your familiarity with potential stations.
Empathy: Demonstrate empathy by acknowledging the actor's feelings and showing sensitivity, particularly in scenarios involving challenging news.
Introduction: Introduce yourself to both the examiner and the roleplayer and thank them both when leaving the station.
Frameworks: Organise your responses using communication frameworks such as SPIKES for breaking bad news.
Adaptability: Adjusting your communication style based on the given context and diverse roles presented in MMI scenarios.
👉🏻 Read more: How To Prepare For Your MMI Medical School Interview
MMI Roleplay: What Is The Medical Interview Roleplay Station?
Roleplay stations are employed by medical school interviewers to assess your ability to think on your feet and react to unknown scenarios, through verbal and non-verbal communication.
This reflects the everyday situations that doctors and medical professionals are faced with when dealing with patients and staff in the hospital.
Outside of the roleplay MMI station, you will be provided with the context of the roleplay that you are about to enter. You might be asked to act as a medical student, a healthcare professional, or yourself.
The brief will highlight who you are speaking to, and why you are speaking to them. The character you interact with will be played by a professional roleplay actor.
In this station, you will be expected to act through the given scenario, making appropriate choices, and communicating carefully to the actor.
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Medical Roleplay Stations: What Qualities Are Interviewers Looking For?
As discussed, roleplay interview stations are assessing your ability to:
React appropriately to unknown scenarios
Communicate clearly and effectively
Establish rapport with the roleplay actor
Demonstrate ethical decision-making
Medical school interviewers are looking to see that you engage in meaningful conversation with the roleplay actor, and can put them at ease through your interaction.
This demonstrates that you possess the necessary communication skills, which can be further developed during medical school to make you an excellent doctor.
Remember that the roleplay actor will be asked for feedback by your interview examiner once you have left the station. This means that the actor will be assessing you from the moment you enter the room to the moment you have left.
Therefore, it’s important to be polite and respectful, acknowledging and thanking both the actor, and the assessor at the end of the station.
How To Approach Roleplay Questions
When approaching MMI role-play stations, the key is to showcase your communication, empathy, and adaptability. Here are some strategies and tips for handling these scenarios effectively:
1. Understand the Scenario and your Role
Role Identification: Quickly ascertain your role (e.g., doctor, friend, team leader). This sets the tone for your interaction. Think about this position of responsibility and how that might affect the dynamic of the interaction you are about to have.
Scenario Analysis: Understand the situation's nuances. Is it a conflict resolution, bad news delivery, or a counselling session?
Framework: Once you have worked out what type of station this is, try and ascertain if you have a framework to help answer this, e.g. CLAWREF, SPIKES, WASUP etc
2. Mastering Communication Skills
Engagement: Maintain a balance between eye contact and respectful listening, showing attentiveness. These are key to good communication skills
Listening Skills: Demonstrate active listening by summarising key points and showing understanding. Some students will use summaries to help make time to think ahead.
Body Language: Use gestures appropriately to complement your verbal communication, if. you overuse gestures, think about ways that you can try and reduce this.
Be Clear: Speak distinctly and at a calm pace, ensuring your words are easily understood.
Adaptability: Adjust your communication style based on the scenario. A discussion with a colleague differs from one with a patient. This is where you may change your introduction here too.
3. Empathy
Empathy is fundamental in smashing this MMI station. Ensure you know the best lines and to be able to differentiate between empathy vs sympathy in these stations.
Warning Shot: Soften the impact of bad news with a warning shot, indicating its seriousness.
Pause: After delivering news, pause to gauge and respond to the actor's reaction.
Supportive Gestures: Offer solutions or comfort, be it through words or symbolic actions like offering help. Offer tissues to speak with friends/teachers and always offer a follow-up where you will see them again if relevant.
Empathetic Language: Use phrases that resonate with the situation, showing you understand and care. "I can see that you seem distressed by this", "I understand how hard this must be for you."
Ask Open Questions: Open questions help you to better understand the patient's thought process.
By embracing these strategies, you'll be well-equipped to handle MMI role play stations, demonstrating the essential qualities for a future in medicine: empathy, effective communication, and adaptability.
MMI Role Play Tips For Interview Questions
Navigating MMI Role Play Interview Stations Successfully
Here are some top tips for how to smash your roleplay interview stations:
Eye Contact: Maintain steady, yet comfortable eye contact with the actor to convey engagement and confidence.
Active Listening: Show attentiveness through subtle nods and occasional affirmations, ensuring you fully grasp the actor's perspective.
Body Language: Use hand gestures sparingly and purposefully to enhance your communication without overwhelming the conversation.
Pace and Clarity: Speak at a measured pace, ensuring clarity and comprehension, and giving the actor ample opportunity to express their views.
Paraphrasing: Periodically rephrase key points shared by the actor to demonstrate active listening and understanding.
Avoid Interruptions: Let the actor complete their thoughts without interruption, showing respect and patience.
Change Your Tone: Adjust your tone to suit the context. For instance, adopt a gentler tone when dealing with sensitive issues or when speaking to younger individuals.
Adapting to Different Contexts: Be adaptable in your approach, understanding that each role-play scenario demands a unique set of responses and demeanour.
Follow these tips to help you do well in these MMI scenarios and win a place at medical school.
MMI Role Play Scenarios Examples: Common Roleplay Stations At Interviews
1: Explaining Concepts To Patients
This MMI role-play station is centred around explaining a concept to a patient, friend or family member.
These concepts will be simple, and will require no medical knowledge - remember they aren’t testing how much you know, they’re testing your communication!
Example 1: Medication
You are a first-year medical student. Your dad has been suffering from back pain and was advised by the doctor to buy some ibuprofen from a supermarket. He is now asking your advice on how often he is allowed to take these.
In this scenario, you will be given the medication box, with the maximum dosage information on the back. The actor might ask you questions which require you to interpret and present the information differently.
For instance, the box might say “No more than 2 tablets in 4 hours”. The actor might ask you about how many they are allowed to take in 24 hours.
Top tip: ensure that you continue to 'chunk and check' and give explanations. Avoid long periods of talking - it can get confusing for patients.
Example 2: New Diagnosis
You are a third-year medical student on GP placement. A patient has come in asking to get some clarity on a new diagnosis that they have been given. The GP has asked you to speak to them and answer their questions.
In this scenario, the actor will present a very common medical condition, such as asthma, and ask you to explain it to them. You may be given an information sheet about the condition to aid you.
This station is a common examination station at medical school.
To excel at this station:
Introduce yourself clearly as a medical student, and explain your intentions by speaking to them.
Check the patient’s understanding at the start - what do they already know about the condition?
Present information to the patient in small, structured chunks
What is the condition?
Will they need any further testing or monitoring?
How will it be treated, and how will it affect them?
Where can they find more information or support?
Between each chunk of information, check their understanding and ask if they have any questions.
Avoid using jargon.
By the end of this station, you want the patient to feel supported and informed about their condition.
2: Explaining A Mistake Has Been Made: Duty of Candour
In this station, you may be presented with a scenario in which you have made a mistake. This could be medical or non-medical and could range from admitting to having administered the wrong medication to a patient’s relative, to having dropped a friend’s favourite vase while they were away.
This is testing your ability to communicate accountability, be transparent, and empathetic and de-escalate emotionally intense situations.
Example of Duty of Candour: Stolen Bike
You are a junior doctor, placed at a hospital nearby and experiencing car issues. Last week, your friend lent you their bicycle to get to work for the next month, until your car is fixed. Last night, at the end of your shift you discovered that someone had cut your bicycle chain, and the bike was missing. You are meeting your friend today, and wish to tell them that their bike has gone.
To excel at the candour roleplay stations, we recommend that you follow a framework such as:
WASUP
Warning Shot - “I need to speak to you about something..”
Apology - “I’m sorry.”
Situation - “Last night, I found out that the bicycle you lent me was stolen from the hospital.”
Understanding - “I know this must be frustrating for you”
Plan - “However, I’ve already reported it to the police, and they said they’d call me back today about our options.”
3: Saying No Or Speaking Up
These stations are testing your assertiveness and ethical decision-making. In these scenarios, you may be asked by a friend to do something dishonest, such as signing their name on the attendance register for them, or sending them your answers to a test.
Alternatively, this station may present you with an ethical dilemma where you witness wrongdoing, and are asked to speak up about it. This is a core principle in medicine and is known as whistleblowing.
4: Breaking Bad News
Delivering bad news is a competency you will develop throughout and following medical school, therefore it’s unlikely that in your medical school MMI interview, you will face an emotionally intense situation such as telling a relative that their family member has died.
For a comprehensive guide on how to stand out in your breaking bad news style roleplay station - check out our MMI Framework for Breaking Bad News.
Wondering how to demonstrate empathy in your medical school interviews? Look no further than our Sympathy vs Empathy Guide For Medical School Applicants.
MMI Role Play Questions & Answers To Practice
Practice Roleplay Interview Question & Scenario 1
Your 16-year-old sister, Jemma, is suffering from nasal congestion and a sore throat. She shows you the box for the tablet she has been taking to help. She’s asked for your help figuring out when she can take them again. Her first dose was 2 tablets at 8 am, followed by 1 tablet at 1 pm, and 2 tablets at 7:30 pm. You have 6 minutes to answer Jemma’s questions.
When can Jemma next take her cold and flu tablets?
How many tablets can she take at this time?
What should Jemma not take at the same time as these tablets?
How long can Jemma continue taking the tablets?
Practice Roleplay Interview Question & Scenario 2
You are a 2nd-year medical student, and have a huge project due in 2 weeks' time. You are nearly finished with your final draft of the essay, but your friend hasn’t started hers yet. She texted you last night, asking if you would write to the medical school for her, explaining that she has recently suffered a significant bereavement and requires an extension. This is not true. You have 6 minutes to discuss with your friend the decision you have made, and why.
Practice Roleplay Interview Question & Scenario 3
You are a medical student on placement who has been asked to scribe for the consultant on the ward round. When returning the notes to the trolley, you realise that you accidentally wrote the wrong patient’s notes. You have 6 minutes to disclose this error to your supervising doctor.
Practice Roleplay Interview Question & Scenario 4
Your friend recently applied for a job at the same company you work at. Unfortunately, after her interview, the team decided that she wasn’t a good fit. They have asked you to break the bad news to her. Your friend has been struggling with unemployment, and this news may be particularly disheartening for them. You have 6 minutes to explain to your friend that they were not chosen for the job.
Practice Roleplay Interview Question & Scenario 5
You learn that your two friends, Alex and Jordan, have fallen out because Alex suspects Jordan of cheating on a recent exam. Jordan is upset and feels wrongly accused, while Alex is adamant about what they saw. You are approached by both for advice and to mediate the situation.
Practice Roleplay Interview Question & Scenario 6
You are part of a team creating a public health campaign at the university. One member, Sam, has been quiet and unresponsive, missing deadlines. This has caused frustration among the team, especially with the project leader, Taylor. You decide to address the issue with Sam and find a way to involve them more effectively.
Practice Roleplay Interview Question & Scenario 7
Your friend, Riley, is struggling with their parents' recent and contentious divorce. They've been missing classes and seem withdrawn. As a close friend, you want to offer support and help them find ways to cope with the emotional turmoil.
Practice Roleplay Interview Question & Scenario 8
Your friend, Harper, has been offered a lucrative job in finance but their passion lies in art. They are torn between a secure career path and following their dream of becoming an artist. Harper seeks your perspective to make this critical decision.
Practice Roleplay Interview Question & Scenario 9
You and your roommate, Casey, have different lifestyles. Casey often stays up late and hosts friends, affecting your study schedule and sleep. You've decided it's time to discuss setting some ground rules for cohabitation harmony.
Practice Roleplay Interview Question & Scenario 10
Your friend, Morgan, has been smoking for several years and it's starting to affect their health. You're concerned and want to encourage Morgan to quit. You plan to discuss various strategies and support systems available to help them kick the habit.
20 More MMI Roleplay scenarios, questions & examples to practice
Here are 10 more roleplay interview questions for you to practice and learn:
Difficult News at School: As a school teacher, you must inform a student's parents that their child has been caught cheating on a major exam.
Roommate Dilemma: You accidentally damaged your roommate’s laptop, which contains important university assignments. Explain this to them and discuss a solution.
Sports Team Decision: As the coach of a college basketball team, you need to tell a dedicated player that they haven't been selected for the upcoming major tournament due to their recent performance.
Conflict at a Family Gathering: You are responsible for organising a large family reunion, but you realise you've unintentionally scheduled it on the same date as your cousin’s wedding. Inform your family about this oversight.
Workplace Misconduct: As a manager, you've noticed that one of your employees has been falsifying their timesheets. Address this issue with them directly.
Medical Error Disclosure: You are a nurse who discovers that a patient was given the wrong medication due to a chart mix-up. You need to inform the patient and their family.
Neighbourhood Dispute: A tree in your garden fell and damaged your neighbour's fence. Discuss with your neighbour how to resolve this situation.
Team Project Setback: As a project leader, you have to inform your team that the project deadline has been significantly moved up, requiring extra work and hours.
Volunteer Commitment Issue: You volunteered to lead a community event but have just realised it conflicts with a critical personal obligation. Inform the organising committee.
Professional Ethical Dilemma: As a financial advisor, you become aware that a colleague has been giving clients advice that benefits his investments. Confront him about this ethical breach.
Patient Comfort in Hospital: As a healthcare assistant, you notice a patient is upset about the long waiting times for treatment. Approach and comfort them, addressing their concerns.
Form Filling: You are volunteering in a library. Help this elderly man fill in the library registration form.
Handling a Sensitive Topic: A patient comes to you with concerns about their weight affecting their health. Discuss this sensitively, offering advice and support.
Breaking Bad News Gently: As a medical student on placement, you are asked to inform a patient that their recent tests have shown they have a chronic illness.
Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy: A parent is hesitant to vaccinate their child due to misinformation they’ve read online. Address their concerns and provide accurate information.
Supporting a Fellow Student: A peer in your medical school class is struggling with the coursework and feeling overwhelmed. Offer them support and practical advice.
Discussing Lifestyle Changes with a Patient: A patient needs to make significant lifestyle changes to improve their health. Discuss how they can realistically achieve these changes.
Confronting Unprofessional Behavior: You witness a fellow medical student being dismissive towards a patient’s questions. Later, you approach them to discuss the importance of patient communication and respect.
Volunteer Experience Challenge: While volunteering at a local clinic, you encounter a language barrier with a patient. Explain how you would overcome this to ensure effective communication.
Ethical Dilemma with Confidentiality: A close friend tells you in confidence that they are struggling with substance abuse. As a future medical professional, discuss how you would handle this sensitive situation.
Medical Roleplay Stations: Frequently Asked Questions
How should I approach a roleplay scenario where I need to deliver difficult news?
To approach a breaking bad news roleplay, you need to express empathy, provide clear and honest information, and offer support. Remember to maintain a compassionate tone and allow the patient to ask questions. We recommend using the SPIKES protocol to structure your answer.
How much time is given in an MMI Role Play scenario?
The amount of time allocated to each MMI station varies per University, however, candidates typically have around 6 minutes to sit the MMI role-play scenario.
What's the best way to handle a disagreement with a simulated colleague in an MMI Roleplay station?
When handling disagreement in an MMI roleplay station, always stay calm, respectful and professional. You will impress your interviewer by acknowledging their differing opinions, trying to find a common ground, and working towards a compromise.
How should I handle a role-play scenario where I witness a healthcare colleague making a mistake?
In a situation where you have seen a colleague make a mistake, and you must confront them, there are a few important principles. You should approach the colleague privately, and express your concern without suggesting blame or making an accusation. You must emphasise the importance of patient safety, and consider reporting the incident through appropriate channels if necessary.
How should I convey medical information to a patient with limited health literacy in an MMI Roleplay station?
To convey medical information to a patient, you should use plain language and avoid medical jargon. If provided in the MMI station, you should use visual aids and drawings to explain concepts. Throughout, you should check for understanding and encourage questions.
How can I address ethical dilemmas in a healthcare scenario during an MMI Roleplay?
In a roleplay scenario where there is an ethical dilemma, you should acknowledge the problem and consider different perspectives. You should weigh up and evaluate the potential consequences of each decision, with a focus on respect for autonomy, beneficence, and justice.
How should I handle a role-play situation where there is a distraught or angry patient?
You should always remain calm and composed in a simulated scenario with a distraught or angry patient. Demonstrate to the patient that you are actively listening, and validate their emotions to help de-escalate the situation.
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