The Interview

The virtual Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) is a series of 8-10 interview stations or encounters that last approximately 10 minutes and are centered on a "scenario". These scenarios are designed to address the following areas: empathy, initiative and resilience, communication and problem-solving skills, teamwork, insight and integrity and cultural competence. The MMI will not test "specific knowledge" in the field of medicine.  It will instead evaluate your thought process and ability to think on your feet. There is no "correct" or "incorrect" answer to the scenarios.

The Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) process has been in place at a number of medical schools throughout the United States and data shows that the MMI is more reliable than a traditional interview. The increased reliability has been validated due to the standard scenarios and by using multiple "raters" rather than one or two interviewers to assess a candidate. The MMI theoretically removes inherent biases. With the MMI, if an applicant does poorly at one station, they have an opportunity to do well on the remaining interview stations.

The MMI will consist of Five Ethical Stations, Two Traditional Interviews, Team Stations (visited twice), and one Video Station.

You will watch a video as opposed to reading a written prompt and respond to the video in this station.

The "raters" are individuals who will be hosting you at the individual stations. With the MMI process, they are referred to as "raters" rather than "interviewers."

The raters are members of the School of Medicine Admissions Committee which includes administrators, faculty, staff and students and have been trained specifically for the MMI process at Duke. The raters will only be identifiable by first name, so will remain anonymous to you.

Raters at the MMIs will be blinded to your application prior to meeting you

The strongest advice is to understand the basic structure, time limit, number of stations, and read carefully any prompts directed to you. Reviewing a list of "practice" questions is not helpful because the MMI does not use the same questions as you experience during a traditional interview. As with any other human interaction, practice is helpful because it might identify nervous habits and also help you feel more comfortable and relaxed. Logging in on time and conducting yourself in a professional and courteous manner is always recommended as you will be evaluated not only during the scenarios themselves but throughout the interview process as you interact with your fellow interviewees as well as members of the Duke community.

Although 8-10 stations may at first glance seem like a long day, the time goes by very quickly and for applicants who have experienced this process, the feedback has indicated that they were actually surprised at how quickly time passes.

Applicants will be required to join various online events on the Sunday evening before their interview including a welcome, virtual tours of campus and Durham, 3rd year research opportunities along with breakout sessions to learn more about Duke and the community. On the day of the interview, applicants will check in with the Admissions Team at 12:55pm, before beginning the Virtual MMI sessions. Following the MMI, there will be a short closing session with a member of Duke Administration. On the interview day, applicants will be required to be in virtual attendance between 12:55pm EST until approximately 3:45pm EST. 

MMI interviews will be conducted virtually for the 2024-25 application cycle

Virtual interviews will be held over a video conferencing platform. If you are invited to interview you will be provided with information outlining how the virtual MMI will take place, instructions for using the platform, and the meeting links necessary for interviews.

If you are invited to interview, you will require some form of device that connects to the internet with a camera and microphone functionality, and reliable internet connection.