Interview Flashcards
Tell me about yourself
Education
Clinical experience
Academic interests
Personal
Why have you applied for this role?
Enjoy working in ED and small teams
Skills - ATLS
Career goals
Infectious diseases
Talk about a good example of teamwork.
Orkney transfer patient
Colleague received the call
Gathered team
Delegated roles
Senior input
Cardiac arrest
Roles
Adapting
Closed-loop communication
Talk about a good example of leadership.
QI project
Collected data
Identified area for improvement
Identified conflict
Addressed conflict
Introduced new idea for change
Positive feedback
Leadership is 1) Inclusivity 2) Communication/understanding human factors 3) Creative problem-solving
What is clinical governance and how do you contribute?
7 pillars of clinical governance
Involve audit, education/training, patient involvement, risk management
Involvement in audit e.g. driving advice in ICU
What is your biggest achievement?
Coming to Japan for the DTM&H:
- Academically learning a lot alongside international colleagues
- Opened doors for me in terms of career prospects and working abroad in ethical ways
- Moving to Japan by myself
What is your greatest strength?
Adaptable I am to working in new teams
I’ve consciously sought experience in different environments to challenge myself
I make an effort to get to know the people I work with
Stands out in my feedback
What is your biggest weakness?
One thing I’d like to improve is the depth of my clinical knowledge.
Good basics but want to keep up to date and continue learning.
Reflected on this during my recent appraisal and decided to sit MRCP Part 1 in September.
Talk about a QI project you have been involved in
Led a QI project on an orthopaedic ward
Looked at how we use a structured response to deterioration
Evidence-based tool was only used 40% of the time
Collected qualitative data on the system
Identified conflict / human factors issue
Suggested change / compromise to resolve conflict
Improved the rates of completion
Treatment escalation planning was considered in nearly all ward patients NEWS >5
Presented at Scottish Foundation Academic Showcase
Where do you see yourself in 5 and 10 years time?
5 years: completing ACCS training
Take some time out to pursue pre-hospital interest (NZ/Aus retrieval)
10 years: ICU / EM consultant with Global Health / Clinical ethics interest
How does this role fit in with your career plans?
Short - ACCS training
Long-term - Pre-hospital/ICU specialty training
How would you spend your 20% development time?
Ultrasound:
- Enjoyment (procedural skills)
- Aligns with my interest in prehospital medicine and global health
- Vital skills in resource-poor settings (trauma adjunct, diagnostic tool)
- Ultrasound is part of the EM curriculum
- Would stand out on a training application
How do you avoid burnout and stress?
- Recognising burnout - taking breaks, eating, sleeping
- Reflective practice (learning from situations helps me not to dwell on mistakes)
- Enjoying life outside of medicine - swimming, spending time with friends and family
What are the current challenges facing EM?
Burnout and staff retention
Patient flow - bed shortages
Mental health
Talk about a time you experienced conflict at work? What did you learn from it?
Mental health patient in Orkney
Learning points:
1. Speaking up about safety concerns
2. MDT approach improves patient outcomes
3. Consider local services (or lack of) influences your role
Tell us about your interest and experience in Emergency Medicine?
Interest:
1. Fast paced environment
2. Strong focus on teamwork
3. High volume of patients
Experience:
1. Taster week
2. DGH & tertiary centres
3. Rural emergency medicine
Tell us about a time you learned from something going wrong at work?
Prescribing error
Performed duty of candour
Submitted Datix
Appreciation of Datix system
Implemented positive change
What are some of the specific challenges you anticipate facing working in an inner London borough ED?
- Language barriers
- Rare presentations e.g. tropical diseases / infectious disease associated with poor living conditions
- Burnout and stress
Walk us through a complex trauma case you managed and the outcome?
Young patient involved in an RTC
Presented with c-spine immobilised
Put out trauma call, allocated roles as team lead
Ensured hands off handover
Patient was stable
Introduced myself
Closed-loop communication throughout A–>E
Clinically cleared c-spine using Canadian c-spine rules
Discussed with radiology: CXR (appropriate use of imaging)
Learning points:
- Clear communication
- Clinical frameworks
- Understanding resources
Talk about a patient you saw in the emergency department that changed your practice.
- Elderly patient presenting with 11 hour history of chest pain
- Identified subtle STE and discussed with cardiology
- Accepted patient to consider PCI
- Discussed this with the patient who told me she was having more chest pain
- Cardiac arrest
- DNAR discussion
- I was shocked but glad that we were able to respect her wishes
- Prioritise early treatment escalation discussions in ED
What are some of the barriers to US skill implementation in the acute setting?
- User skill (availability)
- Human factors (CPC)
Which areas of emergency medicine research are you currently interested in?
Tell us about your teaching experience
Honorary clinical fellow
Formal vs informal teaching
Simulation
Why is quality improvement important in the emergency department?
QI important in all settings
Improvements
Pathway focused
Human factors - e.g. structured response
Homerton
