You find out that some fellow students have a paper with all of the upcoming exam answers the day before the exam. How do you handle this situation?
During an MMI interview, you can fully expect questions and scenarios that gauge your professionalism and ethical values as a medical student and a future physician in practice. Academic dishonesty has always been an issue in medical schools, and given the rise in technologies and available data, programs are taking all steps necessary to ensure honesty among their students.
Veterinary school admission teams use the multiple mini interview process to fully evaluate all aspects of the candidates they consider for admission to their program. The interviewer you will speak with during this session will propose the same scenario to every candidate, so you want to give a memorable answer. Try to go above and beyond and discuss the future ramifications of students that never get caught cheating during medical school.
"It would be hard to personally confront all of the students at once. So I would try to get concrete evidence and follow protocols to ensure this was reported to the appropriate faculty member immediately. I would focus on ensuring the integrity of the exam the following day as the faculty member would likely need to change it. I love that your program has an honor code that all medical students are expected to abide by during their time in the program. Everyone gives their oath for honesty and professionalism for the next four years, and I would be honored to sign this here. In this situation, I see it as doing all of the students a huge favor. Students who get away with dishonesty during medical school are more prone to cutting corners once they get into residency training, fellowship training, and even into practice. This could ultimately put a patient's life at risk, and it just isn't worth it."
First and foremost, be honest and walk the interviewer through how you would approach the situation. Medical schools don't tolerate cheating and dishonesty of any kind. Most programs have an academic dishonesty policy on their website, so it would be a good idea to familiarize yourself with the institution's policy before your interview so you can reference it. The key to your answer here is that you have the professionalism to confront your student colleague and the ethical values to ensure the professor is notified as soon as possible.
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