Comprehensive Guide on NHS / HSE Interview Questions
First of all, congratulations on securing an interview. In today’s saturated job market, this is a very daunting task. Your CV has been shortlisted after a thorough review. Now you have to start preparing for your interview. But how? This is very confusing if you are preparing for the first interview. In this post I have listed the most common questions that you can/should prepare for your interview. Click on the 🔗 icon to view details.
Questions can be divided into two general categories:
- Clinical Questions (General & Speciality Specific)
- Non-Clinical Questions
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Clinical Questions
Most interviews for junior doctor posts cover general clinical scenarios and also some speciality specific questions. The questions cover the following aspects:
- Differential diagnosis
- Investigation that you will order
- Treatment plan
- Senior involvment
- Follow-up
The questions mentioned below should be prepared by everyone, regardless of their post and speciality.
- ABCDE Assessment of Acutely Unwell Patient
- Shortness of breath
- Acute Asthma
- COPD
- Pulmonary Embolism
- Pneumonia
- Cardiac Arrest
- Acute Coronary Syndrome / Chest Pain
- Angina
- Tachycardia / Bradycardia
- Acute Upper GI Bleeding
- Stroke / TIA
- Meningitis
- Headache
- Diabetic Ketoacidosis
- Thryoid Disorders
- Paracetamol Overdose
- Differential Diagnosis of Pain (RIF, RUQ, LIF etc.)
- Acute Pancreatitis / Appendicitis
- Open / Closed fractures
Non-Clinical Questions
These questions are more difficult to prepare and most candidates give stock ready made answers.
1. Personal & Background Questions
- Walk us through your CV / Tell me about yourself (🔗)
- Briefly explain your clinical experience relevant to this speciality
- Why do you want to join this post/speciality?
- Why did you choose to apply to this NHS Trust?
- Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
- What are your main strengths?
- What is your main weakness?
2. Interpersonal Skills Questions
Teamwork (🔗)
- Give an example where you worked as part of an MDT
- What are the qualities of a good team player?
- How do you manage working with colleagues who have different opinions or approach than you?
- What values or qualities would you add to our team?
- Describe a time at work where you supported a colleague who was in need.
- How would you describe your communication skills?
- Describe a situation where you used your communication skills to deal with a situation.
Leadership Skills
- Can you describe a time when you had to take the lead in a clinical setting?
- What makes you a good leader? What are the qualities of a good leader?
- Tell us about a time when you had to motivate others in a team. How did you do it, and what was the outcome?
Management
- How do you handle situations where you have multiple patients and tasks that need immediate attention?
- Can you give an example when you had to manage your time effectively during a busy shift?
- You’re part of a team that’s facing conflict between two team members, which is affecting the workflow. How would you handle this?
3. Academic Questions
Teaching (🔗)
- Tell us about your teaching experience
- Which methods/styles of teaching do you use?
- What interests you in teaching /Why do you want to join a teaching fellow job?
- How would you describe your capabilities to work as a teacher?
- What are the qualities of a good teacher
- Give an example where you had to improvise your technique in order to accomodate a student
- How would you organize a teaching session in the department?
- Which feedback methods do you use?
- Describe any feedback that you have received for your teaching
- How did you use the feedback to improve your teaching?
Research (🔗)
- Tell us about your research experience
- What do you know about clinical trials, and its phases?
- Is research important in your field, and why?
- What are the principles of research, what do you understand by them?
- Define informed consent (with/without capacity)
- How do you critically analyze a paper?
- GMC Good Clinical Practice Course
- National Institute of Health & Care Research (NIHR) Course
Clinical Audit (🔗)
- What is a clinical audit. What are the steps of audit?
- Example of a clinical audit that you undertook
- What is the difference between audit and research?
- Why are audits important in the medical setting?
- Can you describe what is clinical governance and its pillars?
- What experience do you have of clinical governance?
4. Dilemma / Difficult Situation Scenarios
Difficult Situations
- How do you handle work place conflicts?
- Taking an informed consent from a patient in vulnerable situation
- Patient is refusing to get admitted after paracetamol overdose
- A colleague asks you tell them about your patient who is their father/mother
- Imagine you're leading a team during a busy shift and two patients simultaneously require urgent attention. How do you manage the situation?
Problem Colleagues
- Your consultant has arrived drunk in the operation theatre
- What to do if the consultant asks you to keep it quiet and do not report the problem?
- Your colleague has been coming late everyday for the last 7 days, how would you approach this?
- The registrar is managing a patient against the hopsital guidelines. What do you do?
- How would you handle inappropriate/sexual remarks or harrassements in the workplace?
5. Miscellanous Questions
Clinical Mistake (🔗)
- Tell us about a mistake that you have made while on duty
- How did you learn from a mistake that you made
- How do you reflect upon a mistake that you made
Stress & Burnout (🔗)
- How do you recognise that you are stressed?
- How do you handle stress?
- How would you handle a stressful situation, explain with an example?
- How do you organise your workload?
Evidence Based Medicine (🔗)
- What do you understand by “Evidence Based Medicine’?
- How do you use EBM in your daily practice?