Let's pretend I've never cooked a cheeseburger before. Walk me through how to successfully prepare and cook it to perfection.
Communication skills and the ability to provide direction when educating patients are vital skills for PA students. During the MMI process, your interviewers might throw an off-the-wall scenario like this at you to gauge your ability to think on your feet and communicate clearly.
During your PA school multiple mini interview process, you will have a minute or two to read the question/scenario and another six to eight minutes to respond in a room with your interviewer. This allows you the time to give clear instructions and further education on why things are being done the way that they are, so be sure to take advantage of showing off your ability to provide excellent direction and education.
Using your preferred method, walk through how to prepare and cook your cheeseburgers. Your interviewer won't be tasked with judging or critiquing your methods, so don't fret over whether you will use an outdoor grill or do it on your stovetop. Instead, focus on the process and ensure that you are very clear in what you are explaining in this hypothetical scenario. Be sure that you ask clarifying questions and explain things along the way.
"The first step would be ensuring that my ground beef is properly thawed and that I have the cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onions needed to craft the perfect cheeseburger. Once the ingredients were prepared, my next step would be to light the charcoal in my grill and give it enough time to ignite and burn down to the simmer needed to slowly cook the meat to a medium rare. I prefer to use match light charcoal for easy lighting. Once lit, I take my pound of ground beef and quarter it for four patties. I roll it up in a ball and then flatten it between two sheets of saran wrap. Why the saran wrap, you ask? It keeps my hands clean and prevents the meat from breaking apart. Once the patties are formed, I prefer to season them with a bit of salt, pepper, and a good amount of garlic salt. The relatively light amount of seasonings allows the flavor of the beef to come out. By this time, the charcoal should be just about ready, and if so, I add the patties to the grill around the outer edges of the charcoal. Then place the lid on the grill and ensure both vents are open. It's also important to have a clean plate, your cheese, and a good grill spatula ready. Knowing when to flip the burgers comes down to a bit of experience, and I like to start checking the top uncooked side of the burger after about four minutes. If you can see that starting to darken, it is time to flip them and cook them for an equal amount of time. You'll know when the burgers are ready when you see no red juices coming to the top of the meat. I don't like to slice a corner open because you lose a lot of flavor that way. When done, I slide the patties to the edge of the grill off the direct heat, place the cheese on top and replace the lid. Depending on the thickness of the cheese, it can melt quickly so keep a close watch. Once the cheese melts down the sides, I remove them. From there, each individual can create their burger with toppings, condiments, and bun of their choice as we all have different preferences."
