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Interview of international applicants

Selection of applicants for interview

International applicants who meet the minimum GPA requirement and the minimum GAMSAT or MCAT cut-off are invited for interview.

Applicants who are not offered an interview will have their applications forwarded, via the Graduate Medical Admissions Centre at ACER, to their second preference school, where they will be considered for offer of an interview.

Interview details

Invitations to interview will be sent via email from mid July 2009. Rejection letters will be sent via email in August 2009. Applicants selected for interview are required to log in to a website to register for their interview schedule. When they make an online booking, applicants are required to select their Clinical School preferences.

Correspondence will be sent via email ONLY. Some email messages/attachments may not be accepted or may be flagged as spam by some email providers (e.g. Hotmail or Yahoo). Applicants are advised not to provide a Hotmail or Yahoo or similar address for the purposes of admission and are responsible for any delays caused by the above problem. Neither the University of Sydney nor ACER will be held responsible for unread email communication.

International applicant interviews will be conducted in conjunction with the Faculty of Dentistry in 2009. The interviews will be conducted in Vancouver from 19 to 21 August (dates yet to be confirmed), in Singapore on 4 September (date yet to be confirmed) and in Sydney from 28 September to 2 October at the University of Sydney main campus. Applicants who have applied to both Medicine and Dentistry will be required to attend one interview only.

Because the interviews involve many other people, applicants must attend on the date and time specified. Applicants are required to travel, at their own expense, to Sydney or Vancouver or Singapore in order to attend an interview as part of the selection process.

Applicants selected for interview receive a letter of invitation which must be presented on arrival, together with a valid passport or current photo-bearing driver’s licence for identification purposes. The invitation letter will include details of the interview time and location, as well as other information about the interview. Staff and student representatives will be in attendance at the interview venue to act as guides.

The interview process is designed to assess suitability based on qualities agreed to by the Medical School to be important for success in the Medical Program.

Those qualities rated as desirable by the Medical School will include:

  • good communication skills
  • a sense of caring, empathy and sensitivity
  • an ability to make effective decisions
  • an ability to contribute as a member of a team
  • an appreciation of the place of medicine in the wider context of healing
  • a sense of vocation, motivation and commitment within the context of medicine

Interview panels will not be provided with any information (including GAMSAT/MCAT and GPA scores) about applicants.

No references, resumes, portfolios or similar documents are to be submitted with applications or brought to the interview.

The instructions given to interviewers and a sample question are available for download.

Please click here to view a presentation on the MMI and an MMI demonstration. The MMI question shown in the demonstration is the same as the sample question above.

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The interview process

The Multiple Mini-Interview aims to broadly sample the candidate's competencies in order to gain a more accurate picture of the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses. This is done by having several brief interviews with different interviewers.

The MMI will last 81 minutes and will consist of 9 different stations. At each station the applicant will have 7 minutes to discuss a scenario or question with a single interviewer. There will be 2 minutes at the end of each station for examiners to complete marking sheets and for the applicants to prepare for the next station.

The interviewers

All interviewers are volunteers who will have completed a training program either by written instructions or face-to-face training sessions. They are recruited from the following groups:

  • Academic, clinical academic, and staff of Sydney Medical School and the Faculty of Dentistry
  • Senior students and graduates from the Medical Program and the Bachelor of Dentistry program
  • Persons drawn from the wider community

The interviewers will consist of 4 or 5 of each gender, and include at least 50% academic, clinical academic, and staff of Sydney Medical School and the Faculty of Dentistry.

All interviewers are required to sign a copy of the Confidentiality Agreement.

Quality assurance and evaluation

The interview process is subjected annually to detailed evaluation in which the interview and the reliability of rating is reviewed. Applicants are asked to complete a one-page summary after the interview, in the form of responses to a questionnaire, which is utilised by the Admissions Committee solely to review and evaluate the interview process. These questionnaires are confidential and are reviewed only by the Admissions Committee.

In some interviews, a silent, trained observer may be present to provide written comment to the Admissions Committee regarding the process and conduct of the interview. All observers have undergone full interviewer training. Observers take no part in the interview or rating of applicants.

All interviewers and any observers are asked to complete a questionnaire on aspects of each interview, and these are reviewed in confidence only by the Admissions Committee.

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Appeals

An applicant who believes that his or her performance at interview has been compromised by serious illness or misadventure may appeal in writing, providing supporting documentation, within two working days of the interview. An Admissions Appeals Committee established by the Medical School for this purpose shall determine if any further action is required and its decision will be final.