When asked when he discovered the MMI, Jack Rosenfeld, PhD, Co-Founder and Chief Operations Officer replied, “I didn’t hear about the MMI, I was one of the co- creators!” That response deserved more than a passing sentence in an article about the History of the MMI. Below is the personal memory and insight of Jack Rosenfeld, one of the founding fathers of the MMI we know and trust today. 

Jack: “In the late 1990s, McMaster University graduates were performing poorly on the medical licensing exam. At the time selection was by a 3 person panel interview and our students were not performing well.The admission committee, wanting to solve the problem, asked the evaluation committee on which I served to look into the situation and offer solutions. At this point in my career I was running the OSCE. OSCE stands for “Observed Structured Clinical Examination.” OSCEs are very helpful in medical education because they allow a student to practice and demonstrate clinical skills in a standardized medical scenario. ‘

The OSCE has the same structure as the MMI but the stations are medical. At a meeting of the evaluation committee it was suggested that we consider using  the OSCE for admission.  The idea was originally dismissed on the basis of cost and at the time, dropped. 

During this time I was still thinking about how the OSCE could be used for admission. The timing couldn’t have been better. The weekend of evaluations was fast approaching. I took the time to calculate the time and cost factor of using the OSCE structure and came to the conclusion that the cost was in favour of the MMI and I sent my analysis to the committee for review. The chair of that committee, Professor Geoff Norman responded “By crikey, I like it” and the MMI was on its way. 

The concept and idea gained traction quickly. The Evaluation Committee had the expertise to ensure the scientific and scholarship criteria were met at the highest standards.  The necessary University committees made it a priority and gave us freedom to plan and run trials.  These succeeded because there was a first class team that ran the OSCE’s for many years. That made getting the first studies  up and running streamlined, in this case just a single phone call got the planning and logistics rolling ”

Thank you to Jack for sharing his memories and insights into the beginnings of the MMI. 

To find out more about the history of the MMI visit: https://www.prospecthrmmi.com/the-story-behind-prospecthr-mmi