Medical school admissions are tough. When you have finally submitted all your documents, you couldn’t really take a sigh of relief as you are anticipating your interview invitation.
Now, much to your surprise, the invitation has been delivered to your doorstep! However, the anxiety returns soon after your quick celebration. You are clueless about how to prepare, how to stand out from other applicants, and how to secure a spot to enter your dream school.
We understand how nerve-wracking it is, hence our annual flagship event, Getting Into Medical School (GIMS) is here to lend you a helping hand, to enable you convincingly prove that you are a great fit to secure the admission deals!
GIMS 2023 was held virtually by MMI Young Medics, from 2nd June 2023 to 4th June 2023 with the activity highlights as listed below.
Day 1 (2nd June)
Keynote Speech:
It is our pleasure to invite Dr. Hong Wei-Han, Senior Lecturer at University Malaya and Member of the Admissions Committee for University Malaya MBBS Programme on board with us as the keynote speaker in GIMS 2023. In her speech titled “Navigating through Medical School Admissions”, Dr. Hong gave insights into the qualities an examiner is looking for in applicants. A Question and Answer session had also been carried out at the end of this segment, in which Dr. Hong addressed participants’ queries regarding admission pathways and selection criteria.
Medical Student Forum:
We are delighted to have four medical students from both government and private institutions as our student speakers in GIMS 2023. They were Ethan Hooi Yi Hen from University Malaya, Danesh Rao A/L Prakash Rao from National University of Malaysia, Justin Kok Shao Loong from Universiti Putra Malaysia and Krisada Ooi Shen Yang from International Medical University. In the forum titled “How to Ace Your Medical School Interviews”, the student speakers took turns sharing their personal experiences and methods of preparing for the medical interviews. During the Question and Answer session, each speaker cleared the doubts regarding the interview format and process of their universities respectively.
Day 2 and 3 (3-4 June)
Mentorship Programme
The mentorship programme was designated to connect participants with medical students, providing them with a unique opportunity to gain firsthand experience and ask questions they might not be able to in a large forum. Participants had been pooled with the medical students currently studying at their desired universities, with approximately 5 mentees (participants) and 1 mentor (medical student) in a group. The session was conducted before Mock MMI Session, serving as a preparation phase for the participants to get used to the settings of medical school interviews. Every participant was given a chance to answer questions during the short interviews held in this session. We are beyond grateful to have mentors who selflessly shared their personalised tips and suggestions related to their interviews and medical schools.
Mock MMI Session:
The most anticipated activity of GIMS 2023, the Mock MMI Session took place after the Mentorship Programme, where the medical students interviewed every participant in medical school interview settings. Participants had undergone a series of 5 stations, each station with 1 interview question and lasted a total of 18 minutes. After answering the question displayed on screen, interviewers (medical students) provided constructive feedback directly and filled in scoring sheets for the participants’ future reference. We believe participants gained more confidence and improved their communication skills to attend the actual interviews after this one-and-a-half-hour session.
Post Event
Post-event Mentorship Programme
Participants have indicated their interest in joining this optional programme during registration. Interested participants will be provided with continuous guidance from the same mentor as the event day. This programme started from the end of a participant’s interview session until they have entered their universities. The objective is to provide participants with the maximum assistance and support they could get out of GIMS 2023. We sincerely hope that with the opportunity to obtain guidance from the mentors, the chances of participants getting into medical school will increase significantly.
Pre-Meds Collab
In this optional programme, interested participants will be grouped based on their desired universities. The aim of the programme is to allow participants to network with each other within their respective groups. Since the mentors might not always be available, participants are now given an opportunity to share sample questions and answering techniques with each other, besides practise conducting the interview together.
Conclusion:
GIMS 2023 was undeniably a great success with positive feedback from the participants! Once again, we would like to extend our esteemed guest speakers, dedicated medical volunteers, hardworking committees, and enthusiastic participants, as their unwavering contributions played an integral role in the event's resounding success. At MMIYM, we extend our heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to every participant as they embark on their medical interview journeys. We sincerely hope that GIMS 2023 serves as a significant stepping stone towards accomplishing their aspirations of getting into medical school.
