UK General Surgery ST3 application process


Prepare for the interview like you would prepare for the MRCS. At least 4-6 weeks preparation or more.
Be focused – they give you information well in advance of what the stations will consist of.

Turn up on time and smart. First impressions count in time pressured stations.

Venue: London Deanery, Stewart House, Montague Street, London

No of stations: Five Stations, Assessing 8 domains

Length at each station: 10-20 minutes each

The candidates are marked within three broad tiers. They are within 5 years of graduation, 5-7 years and >7 years. The requirements for the different tiers vary quite significantly.


What are the stations?

Listed below are some of the sample stations at the general and vascular surgery ST3 interviews.


1 ) Portfolio station – Take the interviewers to and sell them your strong points. Think critically of the weak points in your portfolio and be prepared to defend yourself. If you have done a presentation, poster or paper with other authors they will want to know exactly what you contributed. This stations is a tick box exercise

USEFUL TIP Use the advice on the applicant guide on organising portfolio and order the content as per this guide. Try and find out the requirements for each tier to secure maximum points.

2 ) Clinical Scenario / Clinical Management – similar to MRCS. Be systematic and safe. Sound like a registrar. Highlight how you prioritise and delegate in a safe, effective and responsible manner especially in the clinical management scenario.

3) Team Work, Leadership / Academic (ABSTRACT) station – Get used to reading papers on your own and in a journal club/with colleagues. Then find holes in the method. Practice will make this easy. Read stats. Try Medical and Health Science Statistics made Easy by Harris and Taylor. If you understand and can talk confidently about every term in this thin A5 book then you will score highly. The team work / leadership station is about ethical, managerial, organisational, legal issues. Learn about never events, incident reporting, chain of command etc.

4) Professional Communication Skills station – Telephone conversation with a consultant after an oncall or clinic. Prioritisation and summarisation is key.

5 ) Practical Skill + Teaching Station / Patient Communication Skills Station – Practical skills will be from open / lap skills from Intercollegiate Basic Surgical Skills Course. Look through this DVD. Also it is important to teach the skill not just perform. Patient communication station is a new station introduced in 2015 instead of audit station. The latter is no longer a separate entity. A scenario similar to MRCS communication skills in breaking bad news, handling difficult communications with a role player.

For more information on sample questions may encounter on each of the stations please click here.

The interviews almost always run late. So be patient. However, turn up early for registration as there may be queues.

You no longer need to bring your completed references on the day. They will be obtained electronically via ORIEL.

Also bring originals of your MRCS certificate (yes that's right, even if it is nicely hung on your wall) and copies and originals of everything else that the London Deanery who run the interview process have requested (including copies of ATLS). The list of these relevant documents can be downloaded from their website.