MMI practice scenarios: ethics and professionalism

These are original practice scenarios. They are not real stations, no university is named, and none is recalled from any real interview. Each university sets its own criteria, so use these for thinking practice, not as a prediction of what you will be asked. The frameworks are our own suggestions for organising your thinking, not official marking guides from any university.

ExamExplained is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any university or the UCAT ANZ Consortium. We are run alongside a tutoring business (see /about); the universities' own pages always come first.

These scenarios use Australian professional settings. If you are applying to a New Zealand school, also read the Medical Council of New Zealand's guidance and the university's own published MMI material.

A useful anchor is that good practice puts patient care first and expects doctors to be honest, ethical and trustworthy. The Medical Board of Australia's code of conduct is a background read on professional expectations. You do not need to quote it. You do need to show you would act that way. There is rarely one right answer, but there are sensible limits: patient safety, honesty, confidentiality, consent and escalation to a supervisor.

Scenario 1: The missing result

Prompt

You are a student on a placement at a community clinic. A nurse mentions quietly that a test result for a patient was never passed on, and the patient left last week believing everything was normal. The nurse asks you not to make a fuss because the clinic is already under pressure. You have not seen the result yourself.

What the station is probing

Whether you can balance honesty and patient safety against loyalty to a team and your own limited role.

A framework to think it through

• Clarify the facts: what is the result, who has seen it, and is there any clinical urgency?
• Identify who is affected: the patient, the nurse, the clinic and you.
• Recognise your role: a student should not contact the patient or interpret the result alone.
• Escalate to the supervising clinician promptly and factually, without blaming anyone.
• Support the clinic to follow its own process for incident reporting and disclosure.
• Reflect: what system change would stop this recurring?

Strong points to reach

• Patient safety outweighs avoiding awkwardness, so staying silent is not an option.
• Speaking up can be done respectfully and with the nurse, not around them.
• The patient has a right to honest information, delivered by the right person.

Common traps

• Taking matters into your own hands and ringing the patient.
• Assuming the nurse is right that it is not worth raising.

Scenario 2: The curious neighbour

Prompt

You volunteer at a hospital and recognise a patient as the father of a close friend. Later, your friend messages you asking, "Is Dad alright? Nobody will tell us anything." You know a little from overhearing a ward conversation.

What the station is probing

Your understanding of confidentiality and how to stay kind without breaching it.

A framework to think it through

• Separate what you know, how you learned it and whether you were ever meant to hold it.
• Identify the values in tension: compassion for a friend against the patient's privacy.
• Consider who is entitled to information and whether the patient has agreed to share it.
• Decide what you can say: warmth, and a pointer to the people who can help.
• Think about whether you should tell a supervisor that you know the patient.

Strong points to reach

• Confidentiality belongs to the patient, and a good motive does not change that.
• You can acknowledge the worry and suggest your friend ask the ward staff or the patient directly.
• Declaring a personal connection protects everyone.

Common traps

• Giving a "small hint" because the information seems harmless.
• Sounding cold and forgetting the friendship.

Scenario 3: The parent and the teenager

Prompt

A 15-year-old attends a clinic alone and asks a doctor for advice about a health concern. They ask that their parents not be told. The parent then phones the clinic and asks what the visit was about. You are observing as a student and the doctor asks what you would consider.

What the station is probing

How you think about consent, maturity, confidentiality and the limits of both.

A framework to think it through

• Ask what the young person understands and whether they can weigh the choice themselves.
• Identify stakeholders: the young person, the parent, the doctor and any wider safety concern.
• Consider options: encourage the young person to involve their family, share nothing yet, or share if safety is at risk.
• Remember the limits: confidentiality is not absolute when someone is at serious risk of harm.
• Act: be honest with the parent that you cannot discuss a patient's care without permission, and escalate to the doctor.

Strong points to reach

• A young person's capacity to decide depends on understanding, not only age.
• Encouraging, not forcing, family involvement usually serves the young person best.
• Safety concerns change what is appropriate to share and with whom.

Common traps

• Treating the answer as a simple rule such as "always tell parents" or "never tell parents".
• Giving the parent an answer yourself as a student.

Scenario 4: The sponsored dinner

Prompt

A company that makes a medication offers a group of students a free dinner and a talk at a restaurant. The invitation says the talk is "educational" and that you are welcome to bring friends. A classmate says everyone goes and it is harmless.

What the station is probing

Your awareness of conflicts of interest and subtle influence.

A framework to think it through

• Define the conflict: a benefit that could, even unconsciously, shape later choices.
• Ask what the company gains and what the students gain.
• Consider the options: decline, check the school's policy first, or seek the same learning elsewhere.
• Weigh how it would look to patients and the public, as well as what you personally think.
• Decide, justify, and say how you would respond to the classmate.

Strong points to reach

• Influence can be real even when no one intends it, so transparency matters.
• Free education from independent sources is usually available.
• Professional bodies set firm limits on gifts and hospitality from companies that sell medicines or devices, and students are expected to hold to the same standard and to check their school's policy before accepting.
• Seeking advice from a teacher or the institution's policy is reasonable.

Common traps

• Claiming you would never be influenced by anything.
• Lecturing your classmate rather than explaining calmly.

Scenario 5: A friend on the shortlist

Prompt

You help run a student club that offers a small number of paid tutoring jobs. There are five roles and several applicants. One applicant is your close friend, who is good but did not score the highest on the club's own criteria. Another member says, "Just give it to your mate."

What the station is probing

Fairness, bias and how you manage a personal interest in a decision.

A framework to think it through

• State the criteria the club publicly uses and check they were applied consistently.
• Recognise your conflict and consider stepping back from that decision.
• Identify who is affected: all applicants, your friend, and the club's reputation.
• Consider options: declare the conflict and let others decide, or use a blind scoring process.
• Explain your decision to your friend honestly and kindly.

Strong points to reach

• Fairness means the same process for everyone, not only the outcome.
• Declaring a conflict is a strength, not an admission of weakness.
• Friendship can survive an honest explanation.

Common traps

• Saying "I would be fair" without describing how.
• Changing criteria after the fact to suit one person.

Scenario 6: Just this once

Prompt

You are a first-aid volunteer at a sports day. A parent asks you to look at their child's swollen wrist. Another volunteer suggests you could "just give them one of the painkillers from the kit and send them home." Neither of you is qualified to assess the injury fully.

What the station is probing

Whether you recognise your scope of practice and the importance of seeking help.

A framework to think it through

• Clarify what you are trained and authorised to do in this role.
• Assess urgency within your training: is there deformity, severe pain or numbness?
• Consider who can help: a qualified first-aider, paramedic or the nearest medical service.
• Act: give basic, appropriate first aid, and advise assessment by a doctor.
• Reflect: how would you handle similar requests next time?

Strong points to reach

• Working within your training protects the child and you.
• Medications are not yours to give unless your role clearly permits it.
• Recommending proper assessment is helpful, not unhelpful.

Common traps

• Wanting so strongly to help that you overstep your skills.
• Refusing to help at all and leaving the family without direction.

Scenario 7: The shortcut on the ward

Prompt

During a placement, you notice a senior colleague skip a hand-hygiene step before examining a patient. It happens again later that day. The colleague is well liked, and you are worried about being seen as a troublemaker.

What the station is probing

Your willingness to speak up respectfully about a safety issue, even with someone senior.

A framework to think it through

• Be sure what you saw, and consider whether there is an innocent explanation.
• Identify the risk: patient safety and the culture of the team.
• Consider options: a quiet, respectful word, raising it with your supervisor, or using a formal channel.
• Choose the least adversarial step that still addresses safety, and be ready to escalate if it continues.
• Reflect on how you would feel being on the receiving end.

Strong points to reach

• Speaking up is a professional duty, and it can be done with humility.
• Using curious wording such as "I noticed..." keeps the door open.
• Escalation is reasonable if the behaviour continues or harm is possible.

Common traps

• Staying silent because of hierarchy.
• Accusing the colleague in front of the patient.

Scenario 8: The wrong label

Prompt

You are helping in a pathology laboratory over summer. You realise you wrote the wrong date on a sample label an hour ago. The sample has not been tested yet, and you are fairly sure nobody has noticed. Correcting it means admitting the error to a busy supervisor.

What the station is probing

How you respond to a small mistake: honesty, accountability and learning.

A framework to think it through

• Establish exactly what the error is and whether it has already caused any effect.
• Consider the stakeholders: the patient whose sample it is, the lab and you.
• Decide: tell your supervisor now, plainly, and follow the lab's correction process.
• Offer a simple fix and ask what to do differently.
• Reflect on what made it easy to slip, such as rushing or fatigue.

Strong points to reach

• Small errors reported early prevent bigger ones later.
• Honesty about mistakes builds trust and usually costs less than hiding them.
• Learning from the mistake matters as much as correcting it.

Common traps

• Quietly fixing it and telling no one.
• Over-apologising so much that the facts are lost.

Scenario 9: The ward selfie

Prompt

A friend who is also a student posts a photo online from a hospital placement, smiling in front of a whiteboard. The board is partly visible and shows several patient initials and bed numbers. The post has been up for a few hours and has many likes.

What the station is probing

Your understanding of privacy, social media and how to address a peer's lapse.

A framework to think it through

• Identify the risk: can any patient be identified, even indirectly?
• Think about who is affected: the patients, your friend, the hospital and the profession.
• Decide the first steps: talk to your friend privately and ask them to take the photo down now.
• Involve your placement supervisor, or follow the placement's privacy-incident process, promptly, because patient information is already public.
• Reflect on your own social media habits.

Strong points to reach

• Identifiable information can come from small details, not only names.
• A private, kind conversation with your friend is reasonable, but it is not the whole response: patient information is already public, so tell your supervisor or follow the placement's process promptly.
• Professional standards apply online as well as in person.

Common traps

• Ignoring it because "it is just a photo".
• Publicly shaming your friend in the comments.

Scenario 10: The thank-you gift

Prompt

You are a student on a long placement with a patient who has been in care for months. On her last day, the patient presses a small gift into your hand, a handmade scarf. A nearby staff member smiles and says, "Take it, it would hurt her feelings." You are not sure what the rules are.

What the station is probing

How you balance kindness and cultural sensitivity against professional boundaries.

A framework to think it through

• Clarify the facts: the value of the gift, the patient's intention and your placement's guidance.
• Consider the competing values: respect for the patient's gesture against professional boundaries.
• Consider options: accept graciously, accept on behalf of the team, politely decline, or check first.
• Seek guidance from your supervisor or the relevant policy.
• Act and explain: respond warmly so the patient feels valued.

Strong points to reach

• A small token of thanks is different from a large gift or a request for favours.
• Being gracious matters, and so does transparency with your team.
• Policies differ, so asking is better than guessing.

Common traps

• Refusing coldly and offending the patient.
• Treating all gifts as the same, whatever their size or the circumstances.

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