Description
Book SynopsisA complete guide to preparing for your CST and ST1/ST3
Surgical training is highly competitive and requires preparation, dedication and an understanding of the principles of selection.
Your application will be evaluated across a range of competences according to objective criteria, with selection based primarily on your:
- surgical portfolio – evidence of relevant experience and achievements to date, which is used to demonstrate your suitability for a role
- surgical interview – a range of ‘stations’ designed to assess specific areas of the selection criteria
This book is a practical guide to help you build an impressive portfolio and deliver a quality performance at interview. It offers key advice on these two areas of assessment, as follows:
The surgical portfolio:
- Advice on where to start and how to maximise the benefit you gain from each opportunity.
- Each portfolio domain is discussed in turn, explaining the context and rationale and providing a guide to maximising your performance in each area.
- Example opportunities are provided for you to pursue to help to adapt your experience to the specific assessment criteria.
The surgical interview:
- Understand the rationale behind the questioning to help you tailor your answers to maximise scoring.
- Answer templates with key guidance to help you provide effective answers based on your portfolio experiences.
- Guidance on contemporary surgical topics to help you with discussion and debate.
Trade ReviewA well written comprehensive guide for effective preparation for surgical interviews
‘This book provided a fantastic wealth of informatation and structure for answering interview questions.
The portfolio section provided an idea of areas for maximising points. However it is the interview section of this book that excels in providing structure and examples for answering open questions and common interview type questions aimed at both ST1/3 level. Additionally the clinical questions section covers a range of surgical emergencies which are useful for core interview practice. The knowelege based section of this book also covered the common statistical and research type questions in a good level of detail which inevitably crop up at interviews.
I have read both the classic squares interview book (Medical Interviews: A comprehensive guide to CT, ST & Registrar Interview Skills) and this book, and feel this book offered a much better well rounded preparation for a surgical interview.' Amazon reviewer
Table of ContentsPreface
Acknowledgements
How to use this book Section 1: Introduction Ch 1: A career in surgery
1.1: Direct clinical care
1.2: Supporting professional activities
1.3: Additional NHS responsibilities
Ch 2: Training outline and requirements for progression
2.1: Training structure
2.2: Requirements for progression
Section 2: The surgical portfolio
Ch 3: Portfolio presentation and structure
3.1: Table of contents
3.2: Structure
Ch 4: Portfolio maintenance and the surgical logbook
4.1: General principles
4.2: Evidence required
4.3: Surgical logbook
Ch 5: Creating good opportunities and maximising yield
5.1: Creating good opportunities
5.2: Maximising yield
Ch 6: Portfolio domains
6.1: Using this chapter
6.2: Research
6.3: Teaching and education
6.4: Quality improvement and clinical audit
6.5: Leadership and management
6.6: Academic achievement and higher degrees
6.7: Commitment to specialty
Section 3: The surgical interview
Ch 7: General interview advice
7.1: Preparation
7.2: Interview day
Ch 8: Understanding the question
8.1: Closed questions about professional qualities
8.2: Open questions
8.3: Ethics and professionalism
8.4: Clinical scenarios
8.5: Specific knowledge
Ch 9: Characteristics assessed at interview – ‘buzzwords’
Ch 10: Professional qualities
10.1: How to answer questions about professional qualities
10.2: Research
10.3: Teaching and education
10.4: Quality improvement and clinical audit
10.5: Leadership and management
10.6: Communication
10.7: Teamwork
10.8: Working under pressure
10.9: Probity
10.10: Empathy and compassion
Ch 11: Open questions
11.1: How to answer open questions
11.2: Why surgery?
11.3: Why this specialty?
11.4: Why this region’s programme?
11.5: Tell me about yourself
11.6: What are your weaknesses?
Ch 12: Ethics and professionalism
12.1: How to answer ethics and professionalism questions
12.2: Common themes
12.3: Practice questions
Ch 13: Clinical scenarios
13.1: Purpose of this chapter
13.2: How to answer clinical questions
13.3: General surgery
13.4: Trauma and orthopaedic surgery
13.5: Vascular and cardiothoracic surgery
13.6: Neurosurgery
13.7: Plastic surgery
13.8: Urology
13.9: Ear, nose and throat surgery
13.10: Perioperative care
13.11: Advanced trauma life support (ATLS)
13.12: Managing a theatre list
Ch 14: Knowledge-based interview stations
14.1: Apprenticeship
14.2: Leadership
14.3: Scholarship
