Rethinking the Admissions Interview: Piloting Multiple Mini-Interviews in a Graduate Psychology Program

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Health Professions Education
• Admissions Assessment

Background:

• Traditional interviews in health professions admissions have questionable reliability and validity for assessing non-academic characteristics.
• Multiple mini-interviews (MMI) are increasingly adopted by health professions programs as a more robust assessment tool.
• Clinical psychology doctoral programs have lagged in adopting MMI for admissions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the development and implementation of MMI in a doctoral clinical psychology program's admissions process.
• To examine the feasibility and acceptability of MMI within this specific academic context.
• To identify factors influencing candidate satisfaction and dissatisfaction with the MMI process.

Main Methods:

• Development and implementation of a MMI process for doctoral clinical psychology admissions.
• Mixed-method survey administered to 120 candidates participating in admissions days.
• Analysis of survey data to assess feasibility, acceptability, and satisfaction.

Main Results:

• The MMI process was successfully developed and implemented.
• Candidate feasibility and acceptability were assessed through mixed-method survey data.
• Factors associated with candidate satisfaction and dissatisfaction were identified and discussed.

Conclusions:

• MMI is a feasible and acceptable method for assessing non-academic characteristics in clinical psychology doctoral admissions.
• The findings provide a foundation for refining MMI in psychology programs and applying it to other graduate programs.
• MMI can enhance the admissions process for graduate psychology programs seeking to improve candidate assessment.