How to Succeed at the Medical Interview

By Chris Smith and Darryl Meeking

How to Succeed at the Medical Interview provides candidates with a competitive edge. It reduces the likelihood of unexpected questions or situations and helps improve confidence before and during the medical interview.

This new second edition includes updated content on changes to the structure of healthcare and how this affects both the application and interview process. It details the types of questions that will be asked at medical interviews and also provides improved guidance for overseas doctors and healthcare professionals and for those seeking to practice abroad.

How to Succeed at the Medical Interview is the ideal guide for Foundation Programme trainees, Specialist Registrars and General Practitioner trainees. It is also valuable for healthcare professionals facing competitive medical interviews at any stage of their career.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wiley
• Release date: Feb 13, 2013
• ISBN: 9781118393826

Chris Smith

Dr Chris Smith is a Fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge as well as a microbiologist working at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. Dave Ansell is the Naked Scientists' Kitchen Science specialist who now works full time promoting the public understanding of science.

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This edition first published 2013, © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

First edition published 2008.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Smith, Chris, 1976-

How to succeed at the medical interview / Chris Smith, Darryl Meeking.– 2nd ed.

p. ; cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-118-39383-3 (pbk.)

I. Meeking, Darryl. II. Title.

[DNLM: 1. Interviews as Topic– Great Britain. 2. Job Application– Great Britain.

3. Physicians— Great Britain. W 21]

610.69– dc23

Cover design by Meaden Creative.

Foreword

There have been significant changes in the way doctors are selected for medical posts and medical training programmes. This very popular and helpful book by Smith and Meeking has been updated to take into account these changes and there is no doubt that reading it will help maximize your chances of success at both the shortlisting stage and at the selection process/interview.

The factors that are required for applicants to be successful at interview remain constant and the strength of this book is that it encourages you to focus on the traits that distinguish successful from unsuccessful candidates.

Smith and Meeking place emphasis on thorough preparation, which is undoubtedly the key to success at interview. Detailed preparation before an interview or selection process not only maximizes a candidate's ability to show knowledge but also heightens confidence to help project a safe, thoughtful and professional demeanour.

This book provides you with more than 150 common interview questions and a systematic approach to tackling them. It also provides important information about the do's and don'ts of interview appearance, presentation and technique. It also describes in detail the various selection processes used to distinguish candidates and how best to approach and tackle them.

I would highly recommend this second edition to doctors who are undertaking interviews and selection processes to further their careers.

Professor Michael Cummings, MD FRCP

Consultant Physician, Diabetes and Endocrinology, Programme Director,

Wessex Deanery (Diabetes and Endocrinology), Diabetes Lead,

Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Comprehensive Local Research Network;

Academic Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Portsmouth NHS Trust,

Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth,

Hampshire, United Kingdom

Preface

We decided to update How to Succeed at the Medical Interview 4 years after its original publication. Although the structure of the book remains the same, it has undergone extensive revisions to reflect recent changes in interview formats and National Health Service (NHS) structure.

Further change is inevitable; however, the fundamental principles to achieve success in medical interviews remain unchanged, with effective preparation being the key to a successful outcome.

We hope you enjoy reading the book and wish you all the very best in your medical career!

Chris Smith

Darryl Meeking

September 2012

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to our friends and colleagues who have helped us and shared their interview experiences with us, in particular Penny Wilson, John-Paul Smith, Adam Kirk, Helen Pedgrift, Howard Smith and Sarah Gorman.

We would especially like to thank Paul Bennett, Tom Walton, Eveleigh Nicholson, Sameer Trikha, Ha-Neul Seo, Luisa Pettigrew, Colin Sumpter and Ross Boyce for reviewing the text and for their incredibly helpful comments.

Finally, our thanks go to our friends and families for all of their support.

Introduction

In the UK, doctors generally prepare poorly for the medical interview. Surprisingly, little or no thought is given to preparation, yet a successful medical career is entirely dependent on results at interview.

Doctors often invest many months, thousands of pounds and vast amounts of energy into stressful medical examinations that carry with them no guarantee of a chosen career path. Much less effort is spent in preparing for the medical interview, although the failure rate for the most competitive interviews is far higher than that of postgraduate exams.

The interview is a highly competitive process that may favour certain personality types, but the key to success lies in thorough preparation.

An interviewer's perspective

I have interviewed many hundreds of doctors, all differing in personality and competency and with a variety of strengths and weaknesses. Following selection, I have worked with many of these doctors and I have discovered the interview process to be, at best, variable in its ability to detect and appoint the best individuals.

Do not be deceived into thinking that the best doctors succeed at interview and the worst fail. I have seen nervous, weak and uncertain doctors shine immeasurably in the face of a barrage of hostile questioning at interview. Conversely, I have seen warm, confident and knowledgeable doctors disintegrate into quivering wrecks when asked a straightforward question by a polite, smiling interviewer.

I have witnessed some individuals at every training grade from Medical student to Consultant, and have interviewed them at different stages during their career.

I have seen one hopelessly unprepared doctor perform dismally at interview, giving the impression to the panel that she was strange, distant and cold. Following a feedback telephone conversation an hour later that same doctor emerged as warm, engaging and confident. One year later, she was successful at interview for the same training programme after a more thorough programme of preparation.

I have therefore become convinced that it is good preparation, and not a person's ability or personality, that is the key to success at the medical interview.

Doctors are likely to undergo several interviews of different types during their career. To our knowledge, this is the first book produced that will enable you to prepare thoroughly for most, if not all, forms of medical interview. This book is aimed primarily at postgraduate interviews, although there are elements that may be of use to those preparing for Medical School entrance interviews.

What is an interview?

Important note!

For the purpose of this book, the term ‘Interview’ is used to encompass any form of selection for a post where you are being assessed in person. Over the years, newer models for selecting candidates have emerged, complementing or even replacing the traditional structured interview. For instance, you may be invited to attend an assessment day, or another rebranded form of selection, but for simplicity we will use the term ‘Interview’ throughout this book.

How to use this book?

We will stress repeatedly that preparation is the key to success in the medical interview. With this in mind, it is essential that you discover the format of the selection process you will be undertaking so that you can use this book as effective preparation.

Chapter 1 describes the different types of medical interview.

Chapter 2 gives the important information about how to prepare for your interview.

Chapter 3 helps you to optimise your performance at all types of interview.

Chapter 4 provides you with information about questions that are commonly asked at interview and how to answer them.

Chapter 5 gives you information about knowledge-based questions that are currently asked at interview.

Chapter 6 provides you with likely questions that test your generic skills and how you should answer them.

Chapter 7 aims to help you prepare for the competency-based assessments and tasks now frequently used as part of the interview process.

Although the theme of interview questions may be similar for interviews at all levels, some questions are more likely to be asked at some grades and types of medical interview than for others. You should focus your attention on those aspects most relevant for your career stage and career choice. We endeavour to highlight these differences wherever possible.

Good luck!

Chapter 1

The medical interview

Introduction

The aims of this chapter are to give an overview of the application process prior to the interview, the aims of the medical interview and the different types of medical interview. The chapter also discusses the make-up and role of the different members of the interview panel, the types of questions asked at the medical interview and how candidates are selected.

The application process

Although the main focus of this book is on the interview stage, it is important to cover the process that precedes the interview. This will vary according to the post for which you are applying.

The Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) process led to the development of Foundation (F1 and F2), Core Training (CT, CT1 and CT2) and Specialist Training (ST) programmes for each specialty (ST1, ST2, ST3, etc.). For the majority of Foundation posts, candidates are matched and interviews are not carried out. However, for Foundation posts that remain vacant, a shortlisting and interview process is still used to select candidates.

For those who are applying for ST, the shortlisting is mostly undertaken by Deanery-based selection panels. For General Practice (GP) and some other specialty training programmes, there is a national selection process. You are advised to check the MMC website for updated information that relates to your chosen specialty (www.mmc.nhs.uk).

Structured application forms may be preferred as the basis for shortlisting and interviewing candidates rather than the traditional curriculum vitae (CV). However, there are many situations in which CVs are likely to be requested. The most likely posts that CVs will be required for are:

vacant Foundation posts

trust doctor or locum posts

senior medical posts.

For GP training, there are three stages that candidates need to undergo in order to get selected.

Stage 1: an electronic application form, the purpose of which is to check the eligibility of the candidate.

Stage 2: national ‘Clinical Problem-solving’ and ‘Situational Judgement’ tests.

Stage 3: a written exercise and three simulation exercises carried out by individual deaneries.

Full details of the GP application and