Developing and piloting the multiple mini-interview in pre-registration student midwife selection in a UK setting

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Healthcare Professional Selection
• Midwifery Training

Background:

• The multiple mini-interview (MMI) is established as a reliable selection tool for medical and nursing students.
• Limited evidence exists on the application and evaluation of MMIs for student midwife selection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and pilot a multiple mini-interview (MMI) assessment tool for pre-registration student midwife selection within the UK.
• To evaluate the reliability of the developed MMI in assessing key attributes relevant to midwifery practice.

Main Methods:

• MMI scenarios were developed using DeVellis' framework for questionnaire development.
• A pilot study involved pre-registration midwifery students participating in 'mock' MMI circuits.
• An eight-station MMI model was piloted to assess generic and station-specific attributes.

Main Results:

• The MMI assessed generic attributes like communication skills and specific attributes such as compassion, integrity, and teamwork.
• Participant responses were rated on a 7-point scale.
• Excellent internal consistency was demonstrated, with Cronbach's alpha scores ranging from 0.91 to 0.97.

Conclusions:

• The systematic development and piloting of the MMI model yielded highly reliable results.
• The MMI technique is a dependable alternative to traditional personal interviews for selecting student midwives.
• Findings support the MMI's utility in informing selection decisions for pre-registration midwifery programs.