Queen Mary University of London Medicine Interview Questions

Question 1

When were the first two cases of coronavirus in the UK confirmed?

Answer 1

31/1/2020

Question 2

How did COVID-19 reach the UK?

Answer 2

Due to unrestricted travel pre-lockdown. Third of tranmission lineages came from Spain, 29% from France and 14% from Italy.

(du Plessis et al., 2020)

Question 3

What is a lateral flow test for COVID-19?

Answer 3

Involves taking a swab from the nose or throat of an asymptomatic individual then placing sample in an extraction tube with liquid.

Drops of solution are placed on a paper cartridge with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies

Question 4

Pros of lateral flow test

Answer 4

Rapid testing

Question 5

Cons of lateral flow test

Answer 5

Low sensitivity

When performed best (by lab scientists) the sensitivity is 79%

Liverpool community testing pilot using Innova Lateral Flow test showed that up to half of COVID-19 cases were missed

Question 6

Confirmed global cases of COVID-19 as of 17th January 2021

Answer 6

93 million

Question 7

Observations regarding UK statistics

Answer 7

At around March 2020, deaths outnumbered confirmed cases

Initial lockdown resulted in a dramatic reduction in deaths and cases

Restrictions started relaxing at around June 2020

Cases started exponentially increasing after September 2020

This is following the opening of more shops and establishments as well as as schemes

Such a scheme was “Eat Out to Help Out” in the month of August

Question 8

When was the first Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine given?

Answer 8

8th December 2020

Question 9

Total NHS vaccinations given for COVID-19 by 10th January

Answer 9

Almost 2 million

Question 10

First 3 priority groups for COVID-19 vaccinations

Answer 10

1) residents in a care home for older adults and their carers
2) all those 80 years of age and over and frontline health and social care workers
3) all those 75 years of age and over

Question 11

Second 3 priority group for COVID-19 vaccinations

Answer 11

4) all those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals
5) all those 65 years of age and over
6) all individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality

Question 12

Third 3 priority group for COVID-19 vaccinations

Answer 12

7) all those 60 years of age and over
8) all those 55 years of age and over
9) all those 50 years of age and over

Question 13

What groups of people could the second phase of vaccinations include?

Answer 13

First responders
Military
Judicial staff
Teachers
Transport workers
Public servants

Question 14

Symptoms of COVID-19

Answer 14

New onset of cough and fever
Headache
Loss of smell
Nasal obstruction
Lethargy
Myalgia
Rhinorrhoea
Taste dysfunction
Sore throat
Diarrhoea
Vomiting
Confusion

Question 15

Vaccines available right now

Answer 15

Pfizer/BioNTech:
mRNA (spike protein) vaccine
starts immune response

AstraZeneca:
uses chimpanzee adenovirus as a vector
not on surface of vector but expressed at high levels when the vector enters the target cells

Question 16

When was the first lock down?

Answer 16

23rd March 2020

Question 17

When was the second lock down?

Answer 17

5th November 2020 to 2 December 2020

Question 18

When was the third lock down?

Answer 18

6th January 2021

Question 19

When did the COVID-19 death toll exceeded 1000?

Answer 19

6th January 2021

First time since April 2020

Question 20

Why Do You Want to Go to Medical School?

Answer 20

• Academic interest in human physiology, pathology etc.
• Wanting to help people and alleviate pain
  ➥example: taking up a job in the home care sector
  ➥example: volunteering (Red Cross, ISoc food
  drive)
• Opportunity to gain knowledge from many disciplines (i.e. pharmacology, epidemiology, biochemistry, psychology) and be able to apply it to solve problems

Question 21

What Aspects Of The Working Life Of A Doctor Appeal To You?

Answer 21

The ability to make a difference in people’s lives
Being able to work in a MDT and learn new perspectives everyday
Problems-solving - analogy to jigsaw puzzle, putting together all aspects of the patient to find the best treatment for them

Question 22

What Aspects Of The Working Life Of A Doctor Don’t Appeal To You?

Answer 22

High pressure job - although through training and seeking advice from fellow staff this pressure may ease
Death of patients - could go to bereavement and realise that death is an inevitable part of working in the medical field
Huge commitment - however, I am ready to take this commitment on board

Question 23

How can non-scientific activities help with being a good doctor? Give examples

Answer 23

Going to the gym, prior to the second and third lockdown I was going regularly. Now I have started jogging on the weekends and after work

As I have to schedule my running sessions in between university, work and study sessions, this really helps with managing my time efficiently. It’s also a great way to destress and keep a good mental as well as physical state.

This is an activity that I would like to keep during my medical studies as catharsis.

Exercise can also be used for therapeutic or rehabilitation in patients.

Question 24

Where have you shown accepting responsibility?

Answer 24

S: Service user called the office phone to say that she was unable to breathe
T: Called the son to call 999, also called 999 from my end as well to explain what was going on.
A
R
R

Question 25

When was the first 2 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Italy?

Answer 25

30/1/20

Question 26

By what point did every municipality in Italy have cases of COVID-19?

Answer 26

3/3/20

Question 27

Who was the first country to stop all direct flights to China?

Answer 27

Italy - 29/2/20

Question 28

What was the consequence of Northern Italy’s lockdown from 7/3/20 and national lockdown from 9/3/20?

Answer 28

• Many people moved back to their native towns
• Restrictions imposed on people travelling by bus and train
• Suspension of family visits in prisons resulted in riots and prison escapes

Question 29

Do you think the lockdown was effective?

Answer 29

Some studies (e.g. Meunier, 2020) have shown that lockdowns in Europe did not affect the R number at all

There was a decay trend in growth rates even before the lockdown

Question 30

What is the R number?

Answer 30

Reproduction number (R) is the average number of secondary infections produced by a single infected person.

Question 31

What were the issues with how the UK government handled the COVID-19 pandemic?

Answer 31

A YouGov poll showed that three million adults had gone hungry in the first three weeks of lockdown, with 1.5 million going an entire day without eating

Doctors were told to wash and reuse PPE if stocks were running low

Johnson said we had moved past the peak of the disease on April 30th - we had reached a higher peak in cases by 9th January and deaths by the 21st of January

The UK death toll became the highest in Europe on May 5th.

The Dominic Cummings scandal undermined public trust in the government (London to Durham - shortly after March lockdown)

In December 2020, 57% of people said they didn’t trust the government to stop the spread of COVID-19 according to KCL and Ipsos Mori

70,000 households in UK made homeless during pandemic despite government pledge hat ‘no one should lose their home as a result of the coronavirus’

Question 32

What are the good points on how the UK government handled the COVID-19 pandemic?

Answer 32

The daily briefings that communicated directly to the public

The first country to approve COVID-19 vaccines

The economic support offered by the government

The launch of the biggest vaccination programme in the history of the NHS

Question 33

Four pillars of medical ethics

Answer 33

Beneficence (doing good)

Non-maleficence (to do no harm)

Autonomy (giving the patient the freedom to choose freely, where they are able)

Justice (ensuring fairness)

Question 34

What is consequentialism?

Answer 34

An ethical ideology that states the morality of an action is dependent purely on its consequences.

A simpler way to phrase this would be that the “ends justify the means”.

Question 35

What is utilitarianism?

Answer 35

Says that the best action is that one that brings about the best increase in utility (benefit).

Utility is generally considered on a broad scale, often taking into consideration wider society and not just the patient in question.

Question 36

What is deontology?

Answer 36

Says that the morality of an action is based on whether you followed the rules, rather than what the consequence of following them was.

Question 37

4 questions to consider for JUSTICE

Answer 37

Is this action legal?

Does this action unfairly contradict someone’s human rights?

Does this action prioritise one group over another?

If it does prioritise one group over another, can that prioritisation be justified in terms of overall net benefit to society or does it agree with moral conventions?

Question 38

How did the pandemic affect Italy’s healthcare system?

Answer 38

Elective surgeries cancelled

Semi-elective procedures postponed

Operating rooms turned into makeshift ICUs

Question 39

What was Exercise Cygnus?

Answer 39

An exercise in 2016 stimulating a influenza pandemic to identify strengths and weaknesses within the United Kingdom health system and emergency response chain by putting it under significant strain.

Question 40

What did Exercise Cygnus show?

Answer 40

The pandemic would cause the country’s health system to collapse from a lack of resources

Chief Medical Officer at the time stated that a lack of medical ventilators and the logistics of disposal of dead bodies were serious issues

Question 41

Why Barts?

Answer 41

• PBL sessions - 6-8 students getting together to solve a clinical scenario problem
  Help develop teamwork, communication

*Regular patient contact from Year 1 helps developing competence in communicating with patients (esp with clerking)

Question 42

Course structure of Barts

Answer 42

• System based learning in phase 1 (Year 1 and 2) - jigsaw puzzle to make up a holistic view of the human body and how illness can affect it
• Phase 2 (Year 3 and 4) sees students undergo teaching weeks, assessment and introduction to clinical medicine via placements
• In phase 3 (Year 5 ) students will be placed in hospitals and firms that they will be based in for their FY1 training. In this period they will shadow current FY1 doctors.

Question 43

What can you contribute to this university?

Answer 43

As I have mentioned in my application, I have undertaken volunteering opportunities such as Red Cross and a Food Drive and I hope to continue doing so in Barts.

As I would be a graduate when I start, I could also use my experience to help out fellow students and perhaps participate in mentoring or welfare roles as well

Question 44

What is QALY?

Answer 44

Quality-adjusted life year is a measure of disease burden, including both the quality and the quantity of life lived.

It is used to assess the value of medical interventions.

One QALY equates to one year in perfect health. QALY scores range from 1 (perfect health) to 0 (dead).

Question 45

How can justice relate to the Bart’s interview article?

Answer 45

Prioritising people who are more likely to survive unfairly disadvantages those who would be more severely affected by COVID-19 (e.g. the elderly or those with co-morbidities)

But you could also argue that by prioritising these groups first, you are able to free up resources for the more vulnerable and for other services.

Question 46

How do you cope with stress?

Answer 46

As mentioned in my personal statement, I had gone to the gym to destress. But as they have been closed, I have focused more on other forms of exercise such as Pilates.

I have also recently started the Couch to 5K programme which gradually trains you into running continuously for 30 minutes.

Question 47

What qualities do you have that makes you a good team leader?

Answer 47

TAKING INITIATIVE - In online sessions, I tend to be the first one to give an answer or my opinion, particular in Culture and Mental Health lectures.

RESILIENT - an example of this would be me having to find cover carers for multiple visits due to heavy traffic on the weekend (2 weeks ago). Also had to communicate to clients and/or their NOK about the anticipated delays to the calls.

DECISION MAKING - determining which care packages to take on (depending on amount of calls, whether equipment such as hoists are needed, availability of carers in the area)

OPEN TO CRITICISM - ???

Question 48

How do you cope with technology (in relation to self-directed learning and PBL)?

Answer 48

Taking full advantage of resources put out on our student portal such as worksheets, lectures etc.

Also looking elsewhere and using online textbooks/YouTube videos/educational websites when applicable.

Finding a quiet place in order to focus on SDL and consulting with friends when I’m stuck

Question 49

What are the disadvantages of being a medical student?

Answer 49

Heavy workload, you have to allocate so much of your time in order to study and revise what you have learnt in lectures/PBL sessions/placement/etc.

Lots of exams to take, can become quite stressful.

Could potentially affect social life as you would have to spend lots of time studying and being in placement as well.

Question 50

How do you succeed as a medical student?

Answer 50

Keeping on top of my assignments.

Using resources available to me to the fullest.

Asking for help from fellow classmates or professors/lecturers/tutors.

Learning to destress at the end of the day and remembering that there are always resources available if I find studying medicine overwhelming (e.g. student union, counselling, etc.)

Question 51

Has anyone tried to put you off medicine?

Answer 51

Friends and family have highlighted the long hours of medicine and the less savoury aspects of it (particularly to do with bodily fluids and certain medical conditions)

News articles discussing junior doctor strikes (from proposed reduction of supplements for on call shifts)

Question 52

How would I deal with death as a doctor?

Answer 52

Talking to someone you trust after a loss, such as a family member or fellow doctor who could help them see the situation objectively.

Making contact with the patient’s family

Reflection using Gibb’s cycle (Description, Feeling, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion, Action Plan)

Question 53

How would you feel regarding the violence etc, when doing emergency medicine?

Answer 53

I think at first it would be quite difficult to face however, the reality of working in healthcare is to treat

Question 54

How would you put someone off doing medicine?

Answer 54

I would mention that it is a huge responsibility, you have immense pressure and mistakes (i.e. during surgery) can cost lives.

It is also quite stressful and does involve working unsociable hours. The stress from the pressure, the job and from sleep deprivation can affect you mentally and physically.

Question 55

How would you cope with all the bad aspects of doing medicine?

Answer 55

Talk about your experiences with an impartial person (e.g. another doctor, supervisor) who could give you advice on how to cope with difficult situations.

Debriefing with fellow students and colleagues.

Keeping a portfolio full of reflections that you have done after a particular event. (e.g. ePortolios)

Question 56

How would you want your patients to perceive you?

Answer 56

COMPETENT: applying learnt knowledge and skills in order to treat patients

GOOD LISTENER: listening to what the patient wants and keeping consultations/discussions patient-centred, giving information the patient wants

RESPECTFUL: by being transparent and honest with patients if anything goes wrong

Question 57

NHS structure (as of 2012)

Answer 57

Department for Health - gov body

Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs) turning into Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) - responsible for long term planning of services

Clinical Commissioning Groups - each group decides which services and treatments are available in their hospitals and choose how secondary care is provided

NHS England - oversees healthcare

Primary, secondary and tertiary care

NICE - evaluates the most up-to-date evidence behind treatments and details what the best approaches are

CQC - inspects the safety and quality of care in hospitals, general practices, care homes, ambulance services and walk-in centres, then delivers a publicly available evaluation.

Health Education England - overseeing body for the lifelong training and education of the NHS workforce