Dubai: The Mohammad Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU) on Monday announced that it has concluded assessing 200 prospective medical students for its College of Medicine using a holistic and innovative tools.

Using a Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs) format, the university selected the first batch of 50 medical students for its Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) 2016-2022 programme.

The innovative student selection tool was conducted in association with the university’s academic partner, Queen’s University Belfast, one of UK’s leading research intensive universities.

MMI works by requiring medical students to complete a circuit of 15 different scoring stations of five minutes each. At each station, assessors evaluate students’ soft skills such as maturity, communication, critical thinking, problem solving, ethical decision-making, empathy and cultural sensitivity, among other non-cognitive skills.

The university used this approach instead of the traditional one-on-one interviews.

“Our objective is to assure the society that MBRU is selecting the right students based on both academic and non-academic attributes to train doctors of the future,” said Dr Amer Ahmad Sharif, CEO, Education Sector, Dubai Healthcare City Authority.

The students represented 23 nationalities, with the majority being Emiratis.

One of the women medical students described her experience as “great and enjoyable”. She said: “It was my first time going through such an approach. It’s a very good way to evaluate students by assessing their personality besides their marks.”

Dr Alawi Al Shaikh Ali, Dean of the College of Medicine, stressed the importance of MMI as part of the admission process.

“The role of a doctor goes beyond medical knowledge and technical abilities. A doctor must be able to communicate effectively and demonstrate empathy towards patients and their families as well as make ethically-sound decisions. The MMIs are designed to explore these crucial personal attributes in aspiring medical students,” Dr Al Shaikh Ali said.

MBRU’s partnership with Queen’s University Belfast includes quality assurance in the provision of advice and guidance on student selection and admission, among other areas.

For more information, visit the website www.mbruniversity.ac.ae.