Multiple Mini-interviews for Medical Students’ Admissions: Students and Faculty Perceptions on Acceptability and Feasibility

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of the multiple mini interviews for selecting medical students for admission in a medical institution. Methods: The current cross-sectional descriptive study is a 12-item questionnaire-based survey with a four-point Likert scale to record the anonymous responses of the candidate students’ and the interviewer faculty perceptions. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data quantitatively with IBM SPSS Version 25. The study evaluated the acceptability and feasibility of the utility of multiple mini-interviews (MMIs) as an assessment tool for the medical students’ selection in the admission process at Avicenna Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan. Results: A total of 438 candidate students and 42 interviewer/assessor faculty members participated in the study. Most of the candidate students (92.2%) of candidates and 97.6% of interviewer faculty regarded MMIs better than the traditional interviews for the selection of medical students. Further, 99.4% of candidate students and 97.6% of interviewer faculty were satisfied with the MMI process’s general arrangements. Finally, a hundred percent interviewer faculty and 96.8% of candidate students perceived MMIs as a feasible assessment tool for the admission process of the medical institutions. Conclusion: The overall positive responses of the candidate students and the interviewer faculty for the acceptability and feasibility of the MMI process as an assessment tool in the admission process to select medical students provide evidence for future research on the use of MMIs. In addition, other medical institutions can adapt or modify the MMI process per the available finances and resources within their local settings. Keywords: Multiple mini-interviews, Medical college admission process, acceptability, feasibility.