MMI questions for Australian medical schools: 2027 practice question bank.

Every station on this page is original m.i ready practice material. Our team wrote them for practice. They are not official university questions. They were not taken from any past interview, exam or "leaked" list. Universities ask applicants to keep MMI content private, and we respect that.

The notes on each group describe what assessors typically look for, in public, general terms. They are not any university's official marking criteria. Each university publishes the qualities it assesses on its own admissions page.

Most groups work for interviews in Australia and the UK. Group 5 and some prompts use Australian examples. If you are applying in the UK, see the note below each group list and the UK hub.

New to MMIs? Start with What is an MMI?

• Pick one station. Use the "pick by situation" lists below if you are not sure where to start.
• Set a timer. Station length differs by university and by year. Check your invitation email and the university's own page, then set the MMI timer to match.
• Answer out loud. Record yourself on your phone if you can.
• Watch it back. Did you answer the actual question? Was it clear? Did you show you care about the people involved? The What is an MMI? guide has more on reviewing your own practice.
• Check, don't copy. Use the notes as a checklist after you answer. The weak and stronger excerpts show the difference in reasoning. They are not scripts. Assessors can usually tell when an answer has been learned by heart.
• Get feedback. Practicing with a person who will be honest with you is the fastest way to improve.

Interview in 6 weeks or more. Work through every group, one a day. Start with these five to find your weakest area:

• Motivation, question 4 (testing whether medicine is right for you)
• Ethics, question 1 (a 16-year-old and confidentiality)
• Teamwork, question 2 (a time you were wrong)
• Communication, question 1 (the expired car registration)
• Data and prioritisation, question 2 (the clinic calculation)

Interview next week. Mix station types so nothing surprises you:

• Motivation, question 1 (a moment that changed your view of medicine)
• Ethics, question 5 (memory loss and living alone)
• Communication, question 2 (the out-of-stock medicine)
• Personal qualities, question 1 (a time you failed)
• Data and prioritisation, question 3 (netball tournament morning)

Recorded interview. Practice speaking to a camera with a short, fixed time:

• Motivation, question 2 (why a doctor and not another health role)
• Personal qualities, question 2 (how you know you are stressed)
• Current issues, question 5 (telehealth)
• Picture and quote prompts, question 2 ("A diagnosis is a word")
• Teamwork, question 4 (liked or respected)

Panel interview. Practice longer answers and follow-up questions:

• Motivation, question 3 (a junior doctor's week)
• Motivation, question 5 (the length of specialist training)
• Personal qualities, question 3 (a weakness your friend would name)
• Personal qualities, question 4 (changing your mind)
• Health system, question 2 (rural access to doctors)

Tests whether your reasons for medicine are real, personal and based on what doctors actually do.

These questions test whether you have a realistic and personal reason for choosing medicine. Assessors want to see that you understand what doctors actually do, including the hard parts, and that you have taken real steps to find out whether the job suits you. A strong answer uses your own experiences, not general statements that anyone could make.

1. Tell us about a moment when you watched a health worker do something that changed how you think about medicine. What did you learn, and how will it shape the kind of doctor you want to be?
2. Many people want to help others. Why have you chosen to do that as a doctor rather than as a nurse, paramedic, pharmacist or social worker?
3. What do you think a typical week looks like for a junior doctor in an Australian public hospital? Which part do you expect to find hardest?
4. Describe one thing you have done to test whether medicine is right for you. What surprised you?
5. Training to become a specialist in Australia takes many years after medical school. How have you thought about that, and what will keep you going?

What a strong answer to question 1 covers:

• A specific, real moment, described briefly and clearly (who, where, what happened), while keeping any patient details private.
• What the health worker did that stood out, such as how they spoke to a frightened patient or worked with the team, not only their technical skill.
• What you learned about medicine from it, including something you hadn't expected.
• How it has changed your own thinking or actions since then.
• A link to the kind of doctor you want to become, without overstating or claiming more than you saw.

Weak vs stronger: question 2

Why the second one works better: the weaker answer ranks one profession above another and could be said by anyone. The stronger one comes from something the applicant saw, shows they understand how the roles differ, and respects the other health worker. Use your own experience, not this one.

Tests whether you can see every side of a hard situation and reach a fair, caring decision you can explain.

Ethics stations present a situation with no perfect answer. Assessors are not looking for a "correct" decision. They want to see you identify the key issues, consider the people involved and their points of view, think about options and consequences, and reach a sensible, caring decision you can explain. Ideas such as confidentiality, consent, honesty, respect for a person's own choices, avoiding harm and fairness often come up. The Medical Board of Australia's code of conduct, Good medical practice, is a helpful background read.

1. A 16-year-old comes alone to a GP in a small country town asking for help with anxiety. She asks that her parents, who know the GP socially, not be told. What should the GP consider?
2. A patient tells you he has stopped taking his blood pressure tablets and is using a supplement he bought online instead. He asks you not to write this in his notes. How do you respond?
3. A regional hospital can afford either a new scanner or two extra mental health nurses this year, but not both. The hospital board asks for community input. What would you consider?
4. You notice a fellow medical student has posted photos from a hospital ward on social media. No patient faces are shown. Is there a problem, and what would you do?
5. An elderly woman with early memory loss wants to keep living alone on her farm. Her son wants her to move into aged care. How should her doctor approach this?

What a strong answer to question 1 covers:

• Confidentiality matters, especially for young people, who may avoid care altogether if they fear their parents will be told.
• Whether this young person is mature enough to understand and make decisions about her own care, and how the GP would assess that.
• The limits of confidentiality, for example if there were a serious risk of harm to her or someone else, and being honest with her about those limits.
• The extra privacy pressures of a small town, and practical ways to protect her privacy.
• Gently exploring whether there is a trusted adult she would like involved, and making sure she knows where else to get support.

Worked answer: question 1

Why the second one works better: the weaker answer jumps to a rule and misses the biggest risk, that she stops seeking care. The stronger one puts her wellbeing first, thinks about her ability to make her own decisions, and is honest about the limits of privacy. This matches the general points in the Medical Board of Australia's code: treating patient information as confidential (section 4.4.1), putting the young person's interests and wellbeing first (4.6.1), and considering young people's capacity for decision-making and consent (4.6.2).

Common slips:

• Giving a verdict in the first sentence, then defending it.
• Talking about the parents more than about the patient.
• Forgetting the small-town setting, which is in the question for a reason.
• Ending without any support for her, such as a follow-up visit or other services.

Follow-up questions to practice:

• What would change if she told you she had thought about harming herself?
• Her mother rings the clinic and asks why her daughter was there. What should the receptionist say?

This is general guidance based on the public Medical Board of Australia code. It is not legal advice. Rules about young people and consent can differ by state.

Tests how you work with others, handle disagreement and speak up, with honesty about your own part.

Doctors work in teams every day, with nurses, allied health staff, administrators, patients and families. These questions test whether you can work well with others, handle disagreement calmly, speak up when something matters and support people who are struggling. Assessors look for self-awareness and real examples, not a story where you were the hero.

1. You are organising a charity fundraiser with four other volunteers. Two days before the event, two of them have a public falling-out in the group chat and one threatens to quit. What do you do?
2. Tell us about a time you were wrong while working in a team. How did you find out, and what did you do?
3. A nurse questions a senior doctor's decision in front of a patient. How should the team handle this, both in the moment and afterwards?
4. In a team, is it more important to be liked or to be respected? Use an example from your own life.
5. You are the youngest member of a sports club committee. You believe a new decision will make it harder for players from low-income families to take part. How do you raise this?

What a strong answer to question 1 covers:

• Staying calm and moving the conversation out of the group chat, so no one is embarrassed in public.
• Speaking with each person privately to understand their side before judging.
• Keeping the focus on the shared goal (the event and the cause) rather than on who is right.
• A practical plan to make sure the event still runs, such as sharing out tasks or asking for extra help.
• Following up after the event to repair the relationship, and what you would learn for next time.

Worked answer: question 1

Why the second one works better: the weaker answer adds a third public message to a public argument and treats a volunteer as easy to replace. The stronger one calms things down in private, tries to understand the cause, protects the event and thinks about the relationship afterwards.

Common slips:

• Taking a side before hearing both people.
• Solving everything yourself, as the hero of the story.
• Forgetting the deadline, which is in the question for a reason.

Follow-up questions to practice:

• After talking to both, it is clear one of them was in the wrong. What now?
• The volunteer who quits has the only key to the hall. What do you do?

Tests whether you can listen, explain clearly and stay kind when someone is upset.

In these stations you speak with an actor, or explain something to the assessor. They test whether you can listen, show empathy, explain things clearly and handle emotion. The scenarios are often everyday situations rather than medical ones. How you treat the person matters as much as what you say.

1. Role-play: Your housemate has asked to borrow your car to drive to a job interview this morning. You agreed last week, but you have just discovered the car's registration expired yesterday. Tell them.
2. Role-play: You work as a pharmacy assistant. A customer is upset because their regular medicine is out of stock, and they leave for a week of camping tomorrow.
3. Explain to a 9-year-old why they need to stay overnight in hospital after having their broken arm set.
4. Role-play: Your younger cousin has just found out they did not get the ATAR they needed for their first-choice course. They call you, very upset.
5. Without using your hands, give the assessor clear directions from your front door to the nearest bus stop or train station.

What a strong answer to question 1 covers:

• Starting kindly, checking how they are feeling about the interview, and giving a gentle warning that you have some bad news.
• Telling them clearly and early that the car cannot be driven legally, and why.
• Recognising their stress and frustration, and apologising for the late notice without making excuses.
• Working on solutions together, such as a ride, public transport, a rideshare or another car.
• Checking they feel okay and have a plan before the conversation ends.

Weak vs stronger: question 1

Why the second one works better: both give the news early, which is good. The weaker one then leaves the problem with the housemate. The stronger one gives a short warning first, owns the mistake, shows it understands how stressful the timing is, and moves straight to solving it together. In a role-play, the actor's reaction will tell you what to do next, so keep listening.

Tests whether you understand how care works in Australia and why some groups get less of it.

Australian medical schools want future doctors who understand the communities they will serve. These questions test your knowledge of how health care works in Australia and why some groups have worse health or less access to care. Key topics include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and Closing the Gap, rural and remote health, Medicare, and aged care. You don't need statistics, but you should understand the main issues and talk about them respectfully.

1. On average, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people live shorter lives than other Australians. Why do you think this gap exists, and what role can a doctor play in closing it?
2. People living in rural and remote Australia often find it harder to see a doctor. Why might this be, and what could help?
3. Medicare is meant to help Australians get affordable health care. What do you see as its strengths and its gaps?
4. Australia's population is getting older. What challenges does this create for hospitals, GPs and aged care, and how might doctors respond?
5. Should someone who lives 500 km from the nearest specialist have the same access to that specialist as someone in a capital city? How could the system make this fairer?

What a strong answer to question 1 covers:

• The gap has deep causes, including the effects of colonisation, racism, and differences in income, housing, education and access to care, not just individual choices.
• Awareness that governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations have a national agreement, Closing the Gap, with a target to close the life expectancy gap by 2031.
• The importance of culturally safe care, where patients feel respected and listened to.
• The role of Aboriginal community-controlled health services and of working in partnership with communities rather than making decisions for them.
• What you can do as an individual doctor: listen, learn, reflect on your own assumptions and advocate for better access.

Worked answer: question 2

Why the second one works better: the weaker answer gives one cause and one fix, and talks about rural life in a dismissive way. The stronger one names more than one barrier, uses one fact from a public source, offers several realistic ideas and involves the community. You don't need statistics, but one accurate point helps.

Common slips:

• Listing numbers without explaining what they mean for patients.
• Treating telehealth as the whole answer.
• Talking about rural communities as a problem rather than as people.

Follow-up questions to practice:

• Would you work in a rural town? Why, or why not?
• What are the limits of telehealth for someone without reliable internet?

Applying in the UK? This group uses Australian examples. For UK interviews, practice the same skills with the NHS instead: waiting lists, GP access, and health differences between areas.

Tests whether you follow health news and can give a balanced, patient-first opinion.

These questions test whether you follow what is happening in health care and can give a balanced, thoughtful opinion. Assessors want you to see more than one side, consider patients first and avoid extreme views. Current topics in Australia include artificial intelligence in health care, the medical workforce and doctor wellbeing, vaccination, telehealth, and changes to who can prescribe medicines.

1. Many Australian GPs now use AI "scribe" tools that listen to a consultation and write the notes. What are the benefits and risks, and what should patients be told?
2. Some parents feel unsure about childhood vaccines. Why might that be, and how should a doctor talk with them?
3. Doctor wellbeing is one of the priorities in Australia's national medical workforce strategy. Whose responsibility is it to look after doctors' wellbeing?
4. Should pharmacists be allowed to prescribe some medicines without a visit to a doctor? Discuss the benefits and risks.
5. Telehealth is now a common way to see a doctor. When is a video or phone appointment a good choice, and when is it not?

What a strong answer to question 1 covers:

• Benefits: less time on typing, more eye contact and attention for the patient, and possibly less burnout for doctors.
• Risks: mistakes or missing details in the notes, privacy and data security, and whether patient information is used to train the software.
• The doctor stays responsible for the accuracy of the record. Ahpra's guidance on AI says practitioners remain responsible for the care they give, whatever technology they use.
• Patients should be told when an AI tool is being used and asked for consent, with a real option to say no.
• A balanced conclusion: AI can help if it is used carefully, checked by the doctor and does not replace the human relationship.

Tests self-awareness, honesty about mistakes and how you cope under pressure.

Medicine is demanding, and universities want to know you can cope with pressure, learn from mistakes and look after yourself. These questions test self-awareness, honesty, maturity and the ability to grow. The best answers are specific and honest, including about things that went wrong.

1. Tell us about a time you failed at something that mattered to you. What did you do next?
2. How do you know when you are stressed, and what do you do about it?
3. If we asked your closest friend to name one of your weaknesses, what would they say? What are you doing about it?
4. Tell us about a time you changed your mind after hearing someone else's point of view.
5. What is something you do outside school, university or work that has taught you a skill a doctor needs?

What a strong answer to question 1 covers:

• A real failure that mattered to you, not a disguised success such as "I worked too hard".
• Honest ownership of your part in what went wrong, without blaming others.
• How you felt, and how you managed those feelings in a healthy way.
• What you changed afterwards, with evidence that the change worked.
• A short link to why this matters for a doctor, who will also make mistakes and need to learn from them.

Weak vs stronger: question 1

Why the second one works better: the weaker answer avoids the question and turns it into a success. The stronger one is a real failure with honest ownership, a feeling, a specific change and proof the change lasted. Assessors are not marking how big the failure was. They want to see what you learned.

Tests how you read something open-ended and link it back to patients and doctors.

Some stations show you a picture, a short video or a quotation and ask what you think. These test how you interpret something open-ended, link it to health care and express your own views clearly. There is no single right reading. Describe what you see, offer more than one possible meaning and bring it back to patients and doctors. The prompts below are described in words, and the quotations were written for this page.

1. Picture: An empty chair in a clinic waiting room, next to a sign that reads "Next available appointment: 6 weeks". What does this image say to you about health care?
2. Quote: "A diagnosis is a word; a patient is a story." What do you think this means, and do you agree?
3. Picture: A cartoon of a doctor typing at a computer, with the patient sitting behind the doctor, facing the doctor's back. Discuss.
4. Video: A 30-second clip of a busy emergency department. Staff rush past while a cleaner stops to help an elderly woman pick up her dropped glasses. What stands out to you?
5. Quote: "Being kind is not the same as being nice." Do you agree? Use an example from your own life.

What a strong answer to question 1 covers:

• A short description of what you can see before jumping to meaning.
• More than one reading, for example long waits for care, an empty chair as someone who gave up waiting, or shortages of doctors in some areas.
• The patient's point of view: what a 6-week wait might mean for someone who is worried, unwell or living far away.
• A link to real issues in Australia, such as access to GPs and specialists in rural areas.
• A brief personal reflection on what doctors and health services could do about it.

Tests whether you can read numbers calmly, show your working and put safety first when everything is urgent.

Some MMIs include a table, a graph, a simple calculation or a list of tasks to put in order. These stations are not maths tests. Assessors typically want to see you describe what the data shows before explaining it, say what you don't know, show your working out loud, and explain the reasons for your choices. All the data below is made up for practice.

1. Data: A table shows the average wait for a non-urgent GP appointment in four made-up towns, two coastal and two inland, from 2024 to 2026. Describe the main trends, suggest two possible reasons for them, and say what extra information you would want before deciding what to do.
2. Calculation: A small clinic has three GPs. Each sees 28 patients a day, 4 days a week. One GP is going part-time, to 2 days a week. How many fewer appointments will the clinic have each week, and what could it do about it?
3. Prioritisation: You captain a junior netball team on tournament morning. The umpire has not arrived. A player says she feels faint. A parent is arguing with the organiser. The team sheet is due in 10 minutes. The uniforms are still in your car. In what order do you deal with these, and why?
4. Role-play: You supervise a café shift. A regular customer has come to collect the birthday cake she ordered for her daughter. A new staff member gave it to another customer by mistake. Tell her.
5. Ethics: You are a medical student on placement. The family of a patient you spent a lot of time with offers you an expensive watch to say thank you. What do you do?

Data for question 1 (constructed for practice; these towns and numbers are made up):

Average wait for a non-urgent GP appointment.

What a strong answer to question 1 covers:

• Describing before explaining: the coastal towns stay fairly steady, Kerrin Downs doubles over three years, and Wattle Flat improves in 2026.
• Two possible reasons, offered as possibilities, for example a GP leaving Kerrin Downs, or a new clinic or telehealth service opening in Wattle Flat.
• Saying what the table can't tell you: population size, number of GPs, whether "average" hides very long waits, and how the data was collected.
• What a long wait might mean for patients, such as people going to the emergency department instead.

What a strong answer to question 3 covers:

• The player who feels faint comes first, because her safety matters more than anything else on the list. Sit her down and get a first-aid officer or a trusted adult.
• Asking for help with the rest: a parent or teammate can fetch the uniforms, and the organiser is responsible for finding an umpire.
• The team sheet has a hard deadline, so it is done next, or handed to someone you trust.
• The arguing parent is not yours to fix. You might ask another adult to help calm things down.
• Explaining the reasons for your order is worth more than the exact order.

What a strong answer to question 4 covers:

• Telling her clearly and early, with a short warning first, and a sincere apology on behalf of the café.
• Not blaming the new staff member in front of her.
• Recognising what the cake means: it is her daughter's birthday, not just an order.
• Offering real options: a replacement as fast as possible, something else for today, a refund. Check what she would prefer.
• Making sure it does not happen again, and following up.

What a strong answer to question 5 covers:

• Thanking the family warmly. The gift shows how much the care meant to them.
• Recognising the problem with an expensive gift: it could look like payment, could change how a patient is treated, or could make others feel they must give gifts too.
• Politely declining the watch, and suggesting another way to say thank you, such as a card for the ward team.
• Telling your supervisor and following the university's and health service's policy on gifts.
• The Medical Board of Australia's code asks doctors not to encourage patients to give gifts that benefit them (section 10.13.2). As a student, you are learning those standards now.

Weak vs stronger: question 2

Why the second one works better: the weaker answer gets the sum wrong (112 is what they would lose if the GP left completely) and jumps to one fix. The stronger one shows its working out loud, so a slip would be easy to spot, puts the number in context, then thinks about patients before suggesting several options.

Each university page has one original practice station with notes on what a strong answer covers, set in that university's format. The examples stay on the university pages. Here is what each one is about.

Australia

• Flinders University: a parent who cannot afford sports club fees
• Griffith University: a group project member who has stopped replying
• Macquarie University: a family who asks a student, not the doctor, for news
• Monash University: a parent's concern about a junior netball coach
• University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle: a patient who asks a student not to record a diagnosis
• University of Notre Dame Australia, Sydney: an upset man after a four-hour wait in emergency
• University of Melbourne: a video of an older man struggling in a pharmacy queue
• University of Queensland: a teammate who feels dizzy before a final

UK

• Queen Mary (Barts and The London): a sixth-form group member who misses meetings
• University of Cambridge: why a liver cell is so different from a nerve cell
• University of Edinburgh: a struggling friend who asks you to keep it secret
• Imperial College London: a table of missed outpatient appointments
• King's College London: online forms for GP appointments
• University of Manchester: a ban on fast-food adverts near schools
• University of Oxford: a new cancer blood test and false positives
• University College London: a presentation group member who misses meetings

All of them are original m.i ready practice material, not official university questions.