Mentoring IMT Aspirants: My Experience and Advice for Future Candidates

The past month has been incredibly busy, focused on supporting aspiring Internal Medicine Trainees (IMTs). I’ve provided unpaid personal mentorship to 24 IMT aspirants, dedicating approximately 40 hours in January and February to conducting mock interviews and guiding candidates through the process.

This experience has given me a unique perspective on the challenges and triumphs of the interview, and I’m eager to share some key takeaways for future candidates.

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I’ll attach the feedback I received from candidates, which has given me valuable insights into my mentorship. I feel grateful to have received this feedback, as it provides me with the opportunity to refine my approach and become a more effective mentor in the future.

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What did you like most about the session?

• Pointing out each and every mistakes and providing solutions how to perform better next time !
• Useful tips to remember last min, precise feedback and suggestions, help brainstorm more ideas for a better answer
• Identifying key problem areas
• .
• interactive way and simplified explaining
• I sincerely appreciate you taking time for my IMT interview mock session. Your detailed insights and constructive comments were incredibly valuable, and I’m truly grateful for your effort and support. Thanks again for your generosity with your time—I really appreciate it
• Structured and well organised
• Felt like real interview, very detailed feedback
• Similar to original interview
• Very clear structure and very helpful written feedback
• I was missing many details in my structure and Dr Faisal has pointed out ideas that could help boost my answers
• Realistic structure of interview, excellent and detailed feedback. Faisal was very approachable and knowledgeable.
• Dr. Faisal’s mock feedback for my IMT interview was incredibly valuable. He provided tailored advice to align my responses with the **IMT person specification**, focusing on teamwork, leadership, and commitment to the specialty. His critique on refining my communication style, avoiding unnecessary details, and projecting confidence was transformative. The practical tips and real-world insights he shared significantly boosted my confidence and prepared me to present myself as a strong, well-rounded candidate.
• The written feedback after the interview
• Faisal is extremely helpful and provided structured feedback
• Clear feedback
• Written feedback
• Excellent session overall
• The detailed verbal and written feedback exactly as it is done in the interviews
• Excellent feedback
• The general questions feedback
• Structured exactly like the main exam. The feedback was clear, to the point and easy to follow and helped to identify the areas to improve.

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What areas could be improved for future sessions?

• Nil
• Getting a List of most asked stations would be helpful to prep
• .
• Allowing more time on feedback would be grateful
• It’s perfect.
• N/A
• Interview preparation mentoring/course could be arranged
• Nil to add
• I was very happy with the session.
• The mock was perfect
• Nill

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Key Advice for future IMT Aspirants:

1. Fluency is Key (But Accent Isn’t): Clear and concise communication is paramount. Focus on articulating your thoughts effectively in English. Your accent is far less important than your ability to convey your message clearly and confidently.

2. Master ABCDE: A structured and systematic approach via ABCDE assessment is key to clinical scenarios.

3. Aim for Unprompted Answers: Anticipate questions and provide structured answers without excessive prompting. Demonstrate your initiative and knowledge by proactively addressing key aspects of the question without excessive prompting.

4. Identify Ethical Issues Early: In ethical scenarios, train yourself to quickly pinpoint the core ethical dilemmas at play. This demonstrates your analytical skills and ethical awareness.

5. Know the Exam Structure Inside and Out: A thorough understanding of the IMT interview structure is essential. This allows you to tailor your responses and manage your time effectively.

6. Talk about impact of your work: Avoid generic one-liners. Instead of simply stating “I did a quality improvement project during my rotation in emergency medicine,” provide specific details. For example: “I led a quality improvement project on reducing patient wait times in the emergency department. Through two PDSA cycles, we were able to successfully decrease average wait times by 15% by implementing a new triage system.” This demonstrates your understanding of the process and the impact of your work.

7. Reflect and Demonstrate Growth: Reflection is highly valued. Don’t just state your strengths and weaknesses. Explain how you utilize your strengths and, more importantly, what you are doing to address your weaknesses. Mentioning a Personal Development Plan (PDP) demonstrates your commitment to continuous improvement. Be specific! Instead of saying “I sometimes struggle with xxxxxxx,” say “I’ve identified xxxxxxx as an area for development, so I’ve joined xxxxxxxx and I’m actively seeking opportunities to xxxxxxx. My PDP includes xxxxxxxx and seeking feedback from mentors.”

8. Repetition is Your Friend: Practice, practice, practice! Rehearsing your answers, particularly for common interview questions, will significantly improve your confidence and delivery. Mock interviews are invaluable in this regard.

Tags: IMT, IMT Interview, IMT Interview Preparation