Messly
HomeAboutBlogContact UsFor RecruitersLogin
Login
Community LoginTalent Login
LoginRegister
November 2020
December 18, 2018

How to prepare for your Core Surgical Interview

The Basics:

  • Interview dates: 14th-25thJanuary 2019
  • Location: London Events Centre, Russell Square, London

Last year the competition ratio for UK Core Surgical Training jobs was 3.3:1. This means that for every 3.3 applicants, 1 was successfully appointed to a CST post.

In 2019 the CT1 recruitment interviews will be held in London in January over 10 days where between 1100 and 1500 applicants will be interviewed. Those that are successful will get one of 500-600 available CST jobs. How highly you score during your interview will also determine whether you get your first choice job or not.

The interview format is 3 stations (each of 10 minutes) with a few minutes in between each one. These stations are divided into:

  • Clinical – two clinical scenarios to test your surgical knowledge.
  • Portfolio – a look through your CV and portfolio of achievements and an opportunity to validate self-assessment questions asked during the application.
  • Management – give a short presentation that you prepare before the day and then a management scenario with questions.

Before your interview:

Preparation is everything! The interview has a format much closer to that of an exam than any ‘traditional’ job interview and therefore those that revise and practice their answers to the common interview questions/scenarios will score the highest on the day. Don’t underestimate how much time this preparation takes. You need to start a good few months in advance and allocate regular time to going through past questions and practicing the delivery of your answers.

Find a buddy to prepare with. This can be someone at work or a friend from outside of work but ideally someone else who is sitting the same interview. Practice quizzing each other on your surgical knowledge and role playing some of the common interview scenarios that come up year after year. For examples of previous interview questions visit https://coresurgicalprep.com/question-bank-free/

On interview day:

Interview slots over the 10 days are issued on a first come first serve basis and once you have a time slot booked you will be told when to turn up on the day. As with any interview there will be lots of nervous candidates and seemingly intimidating interviewers but the whole process has always been run very well. There is a wait of about an hour while your documents are checked and portfolios are taken off to be looked through. Candidates are then called into groups and taken to different corridors of the conference centre. You start sat outside of a room with station instructions on the door and then work your way round the circuit with bells and whistles to signal when to move onto the next station.

After the interview:

At some point during the application process the list of jobs available in each deanery will be confirmed. This is often not until after the interviews have been held. You rank the jobs in your desired order and then wait for your scores and job allocations to be released. This almost always happens later than the advertised date and so prepare yourself for a stressful wait. After jobs have been allocated, those that have been successful will be contacted by the deanery they have jobs in and you can look forward to life as a Core Surgical Trainee!

For more information on competition ratios, the interview scoring system and for access to an extensive online question bank of previous interview scenarios and questions with top scoring answers head on over to https://coresurgicalprep.com/

‍

Tagged:
No items found.

Find locum work on your terms

The best locum agencies together in one place, competing to find you the best locum shifts. Managed for free through your Messly account.

GET STARTED
Messly
view All Posts
SIMILAR Posts
Applications
Swap Policies for UK Foundation Schools 2019
Applications
Building a Portfolio for Psychiatry ST4 Applications
Applications
Internal Medicine Training from 2019
Applications
How to prepare for your Core Surgical Interview
POSTS BY TaGS
AHPRA
Australia
Doctor
ED
F3
Featured
Foundation Training
ICU
Lifestyle
Locum
MCNZ
Medical Training
New Zealand
Podcast
Trainee Doctor
Year Abroad
Subscribe
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
STAY CONNECTED

Join over 2,000 junior doctors planning their FY3 on Facebook

JOIN  FACEBOOK GROUP
Stay Connected
More Posts

You Might Also Like

Applications
Swap Policies for UK Foundation Schools 2019
Apr 5, 2019
 by 
Messly
Applications
Building a Portfolio for Psychiatry ST4 Applications
Apr 3, 2019
 by 
Messly
Applications
Internal Medicine Training from 2019
Mar 7, 2019
 by 
Messly
Applications
How to prepare for your Core Surgical Interview
Dec 18, 2018
 by 
Messly
Applications
GP Training - Where should you apply?
Nov 13, 2018
 by 
Messly
Applications
Core Surgical Training - Where should you apply?
Nov 13, 2018
 by 
Messly
Messly

Messly
126 New Kings Road
London
SW6 4LZ

Navigation
HomeAbout UsHow It WorksBlogFor RecruitersContact Us
Products
LocumeBookLogin to Messly
Other
Terms of UsePrivacy PolicyChangelogProtected Page404 Page
Heading
© 2019 Berdroot Developments Limited
Made with ❤️ in London