CASPer Test & Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) Seem to be Highly Coachable, New BeMo^® Study Suggests

CASPer and MMI Are Highly Coachable, Study Suggests

Arguably, the most challenging parts of the admissions process for many applicants are the dreaded situational judgement tests: CASPer and the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI interview). 

Applicants are generally not provided with detailed instructions on how to prepare in advance by official admissions and test administrators. In fact, a handful of official sources claim that it is not possible to prepare in advance for such tests. They go as far as claiming that such tests are "immune to test preparation" and encourage applicants to "be yourself". 

We have already highlighted the myths about such claims in a previous study on the effectiveness of BeMo CASPer review and MMI review programs. In this previous study, we found that, on average, students’ MMI and CASPer practice scores increased by 23-27% with BeMo preparation programs. Based on these findings, we advise future applicants to aspire to be their "best self" as part of their life-long journey of becoming future practicing professionals. We argue that situational judgement tests are coachable just like any other tests. Remember, these tests evaluate learned behaviors, which means they can be taught and improved over time, as our studies prove.

In our latest study highlighted here, we expanded the number of subjects and updated the methodologies to provide further formal proof that CASPer, MMI, and interview skills are highly coachable, and applicants can significantly improve their practice scores with appropriate preparation.

New Study Highlights

• Overall interview practice scores increased 40.3% on average.
• Applicants’ overall interview practice scores improved significantly by 17 percentage points from a baseline of 54.9% to 71.8% after 6 preparatory sessions.
• MMI practice scores increased 42.3% on average.
• Applicants’ MMI practice scores improved significantly by 19 percentage points from a baseline of 54.8% to 73.7% after 6 preparatory sessions.
• CASPer practice scores increased 34.6% after 3 sessions on average with BeMo preparation programs, and 40.4% after 6 sessions.
• Applicants’ CASPer practice scores improved significantly by 14-19 percentage points going from a baseline average of 50.4% before preparation to 64.2% and 69.8% after 3 or 6 preparatory BeMo sessions, respectively.

Interview Study Methodology

• 351 applicants with an upcoming interview in any format, including traditional one-on-one, panel, MMI, etc., were selected randomly to participate in the BeMo study from the total pool of applicants enrolled in BeMo’s Interview Prep Program.
• The students’ baseline performance was determined by conducting a realistic mock interview using BeMo’s interview prep program protocols followed by expert feedback and numeric scoring similar to the system used by interviewers.
• BeMo’s experts coached the applicants by identifying areas of improvement and retesting using additional independent mock interviews.
• Each applicant received 6 mock interviews followed by expert feedback.
• Neither the study participants nor BeMo interview experts were aware of the study in progress to avoid inadvertent bias. 

MMI Study Methodology

• The scores of all 134 applicants preparing specifically for MMI were isolated from the overall interview study described above.
• The students' baseline performance was determined by conducting a realistic mock interview (MMI SIM™) using BeMo's MMI Prep program protocols followed by expert feedback and numeric scoring similar to the scoring system designed by the official MMI administrators. 
• BeMo's experts coached the applicants by identifying areas of improvement and retesting using additional independent mock interviews.
• Each applicant received 6 mock interviews followed by expert feedback. 
• Neither the study participants nor BeMo interview experts were aware of the study in progress to avoid inadvertent bias. 

CASPer Study Methodology

223 applicants with an upcoming CASPer test were selected randomly to participate in the BeMo study from the total pool of applicants enrolled in BeMo's CASPer Prep program. The students' baseline performance was determined by conducting a realistic mock CASPer test (CASPer SIM™)(Super Intelligent Mentorship™) using BeMo's CASPer test tips program protocols followed by expert feedback and numeric scoring similar to the scoring system designed by the official CASPer test administrators, based on publicly available information.

• BeMo's experts coached the applicants by identifying areas of improvement and retesting using additional independent mock CASPer practice tests.
• Each applicant was evaluated after 3 or 6 CASPer practice tests followed by expert feedback.
• Neither the study participants nor BeMo interview experts were aware of the study in progress to avoid inadvertent bias. 

Significant Impact on Scores

Applicants’ Practice Scores Increased 34.6-42.3%

The figure above highlights the percentage of improvement in applicants’ practice scores after 3 CASPer sessions, 6 interview sessions (all formats), or 6 MMI sessions. All practice scores of applicants improved significantly with the use of BeMo preparation programs, with CASPer practice scores increasing by 34.6%, interview practice scores increasing by 40.6%, and MMI practice scores increasing by 42.3%.

BeMo CASPer Prep Significantly Improves Applicants' Overall Practice Scores

Specifically, as indicated in the figure above, practice CASPer scores increased significantly by 14 percentage points going from a baseline average of 50.4% before preparation (SIM 1) to 64.2% after 3 preparatory sessions (SIM 3) and to 69.8%, after 6 preparatory sessions with BeMo. 

BeMo Interview and MMI Prep Significantly Improve Applicants' Overall Practice Scores

Similarly, applicants’ overall interview practice scores improved significantly by 17 percentage points from a baseline of 54.9% to 71.8% after 6 preparatory sessions, while those who did MMI prep specifically saw an increase of 19 percentage points from a baseline of 54.8% to 73.7% after the same number of sessions.

These new study results reinforce the conclusion that the skills needed to succeed on the CASPer test and the MMI as well as other interview formats are highly coachable, meaning that applicants can drastically increase their practice performance, and by extrapolation perhaps their actual performance, with appropriate preparation and feedback such as those provided by BeMo.

This should not be surprising, since all human behavior is learned behavior, and CASPer and interview skills are no exception. Unfortunately, performance evaluations that draw on such learned behaviors often give advantage to those from certain cultures and socioeconomic groups because they have been trained to behave in the “appropriate” way through immersion in their social environment. Therefore, by coaching applicants on these skills, BeMo aims to reduce the social bias observed in the admissions process in medical schools and other professional programs, given that admissions preparation has been proven not to correlate with the observed bias (see here & here).

To learn more about BeMo's Interview Prep programs, click here.

To learn more about BeMo MMI Prep programs, click here. 

To learn more about BeMo's CASPer Prep programs, click here.

To your success,

Your friends at BeMo

BeMo Academic Consulting