💡💡🔥✅✅Interview Questions (general)

Question 1

Why do you want to do medicine?

Answer 1

1- profession that’s combined intellectual abilities and communication
2- variety of work involved, from prevention to treatment to teaching to research
3- enjoy constant learning
4- environment where there’s a strong element of teamwork

Question 2

What are the points to consider when answering the question “why medicine?”

Answer 2

1) Include personal reflection for each point e.g if you say medicine is challenging explain why (dealing with the unexpected)

2)Use work and personal experiences
-emily’s condition
-work experience
(Primary and secondary care)

Question 3

How good are your organisational skills (PTC)

Answer 3

• multitask
• anticipate needs/scenarios
• identify the right resources
• plan effectively to defines
• prioritise with regards to urgency
• delegate/use team effectively
• reprioritise to unfolding events (velindre)
• stay focussed on the task at hand

Question 4

How do you cope with stress? Causes of stress?

Answer 4

• work overload + lack of resources
• making mistakes
• unexpected Events
• dealing with difficult patients
• breaking bad news
• balance

It’s omnipresent can’t resolve all situations by hobbies

Question 5

How do you deal with stress (how to cope)

Answer 5

1) Recognise -become aware of stress
2) Recruit Info- step back to analyse
3) Resolve
- organise better
- delegate tasks to others
- breaks/turn off
- anticipate further problems
- seek advice from friends/colleagues
- healthy lifestyle, hobbies and activities
4) Reflect -get perspective

Question 6

What are your main strengths?

Answer 6

• good communication (peer mentoring)
• team player (Monday Club)
• good leader (H&W week)
• organised (H&W week)
• conscientious, hardworking, dynamic, honest
• caring/approachable

Question 7

Give 3 adjectives that’s suit you best

Answer 7

1) caring
2) hardworking
3) amiable

Question 8

What are the attributes of a good doctor?

Answer 8

• knowledgable
• keen to learn
• communicator/teacher
• team player
• organised potential leader
• caring, sensitive and amiable
• hardworking, enthusiastic, motivated and disciplined
• trustworthy, honest with integrity

Question 9

What are your weaknesses

Answer 9

1. High expectations of yourself and others

2. Can be over empathetic

Question 10

What makes you think that you can cope with the long and stressful process of studying for medicine?

Answer 10

• motivation for medicine and hard working nature
• ability to handle stress and work well under pressure
• organisation skills and ability to multitask
• ability to seek help when necessary
• ability to work in teams and sociability
• work life balance

Question 11

What are the issues affecting the NHS currently? (4)

Answer 11

1- funding issues (distributive justice etc)
2- waiting lists (GPS)
3- postcode lottery
4- bed shortages

Question 12

Define the term informed consent

Answer 12

The patient has consented to a procedure or treatment, having been given and considered all the facts that were necessary for them to make a decision in their own best interest

Question 13

What must the doctor explain so that the patient has informed consent?

Answer 13

• options for treatment or management of the condition
• the aim of the procedure including consequences and side effects
• details of procedure, it’s benefits, chances of success, common/serious risks, side effects and management of such
• consequences of providing treatment vs not providing treatment
• details of secondary interventions (if at all needed in an emergency e.g blood transplant) and consent for those
• details of who’s performing the procedure/if training is involved
• patient can change their mind
• appropriate written information e.g leaflet
• time for patient to reflect so their not pressured
• only competent patients can give consent

Question 14

What is competency?

Answer 14

Those who understand the information and are capable of making a rational decision by themselves, it’s a legal judgement.

Question 15

What is the current rules on children 16/17 giving concent

Answer 15

Are presumed to be able to give consent if competent

Question 16

What is the current rules on children giving consent if they are under 16

Answer 16

The Gillick Fraser competency states that a child under 16 can be deemed competent to give consent providing they are mature enough to understand information given to them about the procedure and it’s consequences

Question 17

What happens if a child refuses to involve the parents in their treatment?

Answer 17

The doctor will have to respect their decision as this would breach confidentiality

Question 18

When can a doctor breach confidentiality and tell a parent about their child’s medical state?

Answer 18

1- if the child is deemed to not be competent

2- of the child is in danger (involve social services/police)

Question 19

What is important to note about children in England and Wales

Answer 19

A child can give consent for a procedure if competent but can’t refuse consent for a procedure deemed in their best interest.
If not refuses decision would be made by the parents who accept, or if they refuse you would get a court order to impose the treatment (if possible)
If time is of the essence impose the treatment and justify it later in court if needed.
In Scotland children are allowed to refuse consent

Question 20

Give 3 scenarios when you can breach confidentiality

Answer 20

1)implied consent had been given by the patient
2)information required by a court/judge
3) in the public interest and to protect the patient or others
(E.g informing DVLA that a patient with epilepsy is unfit to drive)
(Notifying authorities of disease outbreak e.g measles/mumps but not HIV/aids)
(Suspected child abused emotional/physical)!

Question 21

Would you be happy to let a Jehovah’s Witness die because he refused a blood transfusion (pg 248)

Answer 21

1- patients autonomy (any patient is entitled to make their own decision, even if this defies the doctors idea of the best interests, therefore if they’ve got competency/a living will refusing a transfusion you respect their decision
2- Beneficence (make sure that their decision is made with all of the facts and understanding of the consequence of not accepting the transfusion. Is the transfusion the only option? Is there a support group for Jehovah’s Witness to talk to? You must accept their final verdict
3- Competency/Capacity (if you feel like someone’s incompetent seek advice from colleagues, get a psychiatrist in. If assessed as non competent you need to take account of their beliefs so speak to relatives.

Question 22

List arguments in favour of euthanasia and assisted suicide

Answer 22

• patients should be allowed to chose what’s best for them
• patients avoid lengthy and unnecessary suffering
• patients can die with dignity
• free up beds and other NHS resources utilised for such patients

Question 23

List some arguments against euthanasia and assisted suicide

Answer 23

• goes against religious principles, leading to relatives playing god
• may change their mind when their no longer able to express their change of position
• cases where people who were deemed a lost cause actually recovered
• difficult to verbalise specific criteria for allowing or disallowing euthanasia/assisted suicide
• if case is not clear cut relatives may face mirder charges from other relatives
• relatives may abuse the situation by allowing convenient euthanasia to suit their own needs
• pressure a patient into a situation they don’t wish

Question 24

What are arguments for vivisection?

Answer 24

• need to understand physiology and pathology using basic cellular studies, this can only be carried out on animals
• ensure that new treatments are safe for humans
• animal suffering is minimised And most don’t feel anything
• not many alternatives, only so much a computer can stimulate, necessary to test in a live environment

Question 25

Arguments against vivisection.

Answer 25

- animals are defenceless and can’t consent - depriving an animal from normal life is cruel, there’s no reason to consider that an animals life is less valuable than a humans - may not lead to results that can be used e.g arsenic is harmless to sheep - number of tests are unnecessarily repeated - although not necessarily as effective alternatives e.g computer modelling or cell cultures can be used. - recent trials ar Northwick Park hospital went drastically wrong for the first human volunteers despite the fact that the test had been carried out on animals at 500x the dose

Question 26

What rules regulate vivisection?

Answer 26

In 1998 the UK implemented a voluntary agreement where the government would no longer issue licences to test cosmetic products or ingredients on animals but this doesn’t stop testing abroad.

Question 27

What are the arguments for the sale of tobacco?

Answer 27

- people’s choice to put health at risk - sales generate revenue through heavy taxation, benefits society - lead to development of black market with uncontrollable consequences, people with tobacco linked illness would not dare to seek medical assistance for fear of being prosecuted. - tobacco farmers rely heavily on those sales to survive, crush some part of the economy - tobacco is a drug but so is alcohol and burgers to some so what differentiates it?

Question 28

Arguments against the sale of tobacco?

Answer 28

- leads to serious respiratory disease, drains NHS resources and effectively wipes out the benefit of the additional revenue gained through taxation - other people are exposed to secondary smoke, don’t have the same choice as smokers have, includes babies who may develop addiction themselves through passive exposure - may lead to addiction to stronger substances later on in life - cigarette ends litter the streets, creating unhygienic dirty environment.

Question 29

Do you think that the government is right to impose that the NHS should only allow the MMR vaccine rather than three individual vaccines

Answer 29

- 1998 link between MMR and autism - Tony Blair refused to answer whether his new born son has the MMR vaccine - link hard to prove - NHS offers MMR vaccine only and anyone who wishes to get 3 separate jabs can do so privately - since the pilot study of 12 patients in 1998, multiple studies have found no link - combined vaccine is safer and more effective for children due to decreased chance of disease spread - NHS acts in best interests, cheaper for NHS , still privately exercise right of choice

Question 30

Negative arguments of MMR jab

Answer 30

Controversy has put off a number of parents from vaccinating their children altogether ‘decreases herd immunity’ leading to re-emergence if conditions virtually eradicated with vaccination such as measles and mumps. Uptake fell to 80% in 1998 when first study was released, it increased to 84% in 2005 (95% needed for herd immunity)

Question 31

Your consultant smells of alcohol, what should you do? What broad aspects should you consider?

Answer 31

1. Patient safety (ensure he doesn’t deal with patients/leaves the ward (book taxi and send him home to ensure his safety), ensure patients already seen are reviewed by someone else, ensure ward can cope and managers are involved to produce cover if needed) 2. Reporting the matter (serious lack of judgement as he should’ve called sick. Higher authority to deal with it 3. Supporting the team and colleague (flexibl attitude that enables team to function in a problem/ personal support to colleague) 4. Communication -understanding not critical attitude, minimise embarrassment of consultant

Question 32

What would you do if a colleague asked you to prescribe them some antidepressants?

Answer 32

1. Only prescribed by GP & psychiatrists :: not be able to 2. Have a discussion (why he needs them) Reasons could include: - may not have time to go to GP (swap shifts and encourage him to discuss with senior colleague) - retailing the drugs (he would lie about this) - depressed but he’s afraid of it affecting his job (remind of GP confidentiality, better to address problem at early stage) 3. You are not the best person to address the issue, they need to be assessed and prescribed by relevant specialists. 4. Support colleague: be flexible, take on more shifts for a while etc

Question 33

What would you do if one of your fellow junior doctors is not pulling their weight in the team?

Answer 33

1. Ensure patient safety is not compromised, if so report straight away to a senior e.g consultant/clinical director. 2. If it’s not compromised then try to understand reasons for their actions; have an informal chat with them, encourage them to discuss feelings with senior colleague etc. 3. If you can’t approach them then discuss it with colleagues and see whether they can approach colleague 4. Raise the matter with senior colleague if you can’t handle the problem at the level you should 5. Colleague may be given time off/different duties/further training placing strain on team, you must be flexible.

Question 34

What are pros to consider of becoming a doctor?

Answer 34

1. Make a difference 2. Continuous learning (dynamic) 3. Rewarding to teach new generation of doctors 4. Wide range of skills at high levels 5. Respected by the public

Question 35

What are the cons of becoming a doctor?

Answer 35

1. Long antisocial hours, changing shift patterns etc 2. Too emotionally involved with patient care 3. Manage limited resources 4. Complaints/legal issues 5. Compromise on work life balance due to unsociable hours 6. Dealing with uncertainty

Question 36

What makes a good team player?

Answer 36

1. Understanding of role/aims and objectives 2. Respects others/ is supportive 3. Willing to help/ initiative 4. Flexible/adaptable (will compromise) 5. Communication 6. Reliable, takes ownership of mistakes

Question 37

Give examples where You’ve worked in a team

Answer 37

1) health and well-being committee 2) basketball 3) Monday Club

Question 38

What makes a good team?

Answer 38

Good team leader | good team members

Question 39

How do you manage your time?

Answer 39

- Plan work properly - Prioritise only order of urgency - Maintain appropriate communication to ensure that you know what is happening and that you can allow for any changes - Anticipate potential problems - Allow for the unexpected if needed - Allow time to rest Tools you’d use: Diary, list, spreadsheet, reminders

Question 40

What are your hobbies?

Answer 40

- basketball/gym - Monday Club - Peter mentoring - music/songwriting

Question 41

Name a non academic project which you were involved in.

Answer 41

Health and well being week

Question 42

How do you go about researching something you know nothing about?

Answer 42

1) talk to people who are experts in the field or have done similar research previously 2) look on the internet at specialist medical databases 3) consult journals/books/magazines

Question 43

What makes a good teacher?

Answer 43

1) knowledge 2) communication skills 3) generating interest 4) respect

Question 44

Who should a doctor teach?

Answer 44

``` Medical students Junior and senior doctors from their close team Doctors from other specialties Nurses Paramedics Healthcare workers Administration staff Patients on disease management and healthcare issues Patients!! ```

Question 45

What is the worst mistake that you have made!

Answer 45

``` Monday Club hood scenario How have I improved: Communication Apologise (honesty/integrity) Analyse and improve Speak to others with more knowledge ```

Question 46

How do you know what you don’t know?

Answer 46

- assess yourself against know criteria - get feedback from others - through experience - learning from mistakes/complaints - reflect on good experiences and how you could do better

Question 47

Studying for medicine can be stressful? What makes you think that you can cope with it?

Answer 47

- motivation for medicine + hard working nature - ability to handle stress and work under pressure - organisational skills - balance in life - social ability to work in a team

Question 48

What are the advantages of PBL?

Answer 48

- practical view of medicine - suits those with initiative - small group teaching - relies on teamwork - early exposure to real life issues/patient contact - higher gratification upon understanding a concept

Question 49

What are the arguments for people paying for their own health care?

Answer 49

- you pay national insurance anyway :: under this system you’d only pay when needed - prevent time wasting patients - introduce competition at doctors level leading to a fight for custom increasing care - encourage healthier lifestyles

Question 50

What are the arguments against paying for your own healthcare.

Answer 50

- poorest at a clear disadvantage - may put some patients off going to the doctor at all causing greater medical emergencies later - doctors refuse to treat patient unless card is present? (Ethics) - choose cheapest treatment vs most effective - relationship between patient and doctor based on money - patients may turn to alternative medicines which may negatively impact condition - encourage black market in health products

Question 51

In what ways can doctors promote good health?

Answer 51

- good example (healthy/non smoker) - encourage healthy lifestyle (excessive/controlled sexual activity) - posters/leaflets - promote support groups - recommend dietician (can prescribe gym memberships) Secondary prevention: - screening programmes (breast/cervical cancer) - immunisation campaigns - family planning/sexual health clinics