Semantic Answer Master
Understanding the Structure
The basic approach is similar to Rule of 3, in that you tell them what you are about to tell them (as topic titles), then bring out the details under those topics, and then remind them what you have told them. However, in this structure, you are going to divide the answer into two halves. It’s useful for questions where 3 is a stretch and also for questions where you want to present 2 points of view, especially where a panel may be divided.
Applying the Structure
For a worked example: How can we be reassured you will be a safe doctor for us?
Let me tell you about some of the things I do to remain as safe as possible and then some of the evidence that I am a safe doctor.
So, in terms of things I do, now bring out the salient points you want to cover e.g. audit, log book review, M&M meetings, CPD, feedback etc
Then, in terms of evidence I am safe, now bring out low complication rates, bits of feedback from colleagues or patients, training reviews etc
So, in summary, I engage in many practices designed to keep me as safe as possible and the evidence to date suggests I am safe and instill confidence in colleagues.
Explore Different Question Types
Question Bank
The question bank is a vitally important resource, kept up-to-date and with questions marked up in terms of both frequency and best answer strategy, all neatly organsied by Category. You can search it and filter it, as well as print it. However, if you are not there already, it is best examined in depth in its very own section where you have more functionality.
| QUESTION | COMMON? | ANSWER TYPE | MODEL ANSWER? | CATEGORY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What types of teaching do you like? What do you find the most difficult and why? | Moderate | 2 Part | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| Tell us about something that was going wrong that required you to use leadership skills to solve it? | Moderate | Example | EX Leadership & Management | |
| Give an example of a situation where you showed leadership | Moderate | Example | EX Leadership & Management | |
| Tell us about an audit you are proud of and why? | Moderate | Example | EX Quality, Safety & Improvement | |
| Tell us about an incident you have been directly involved in? | Moderate | Example | EX Quality, Safety & Improvement | |
| Give us an example of where you have used feedback to develop your teaching | Moderate | Example | EX Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| Tell us about a team you were involved in that illustrates you as a team member | Moderate | Example | EX Teamwork & Interpersonal | |
| Tell us about a typical/ your last MDT. What was your role and how did you go about it? | Moderate | Example | EX Teamwork & Interpersonal | |
| Tell me about a time when you had a communication problem? | Moderate | Example | EX Teamwork & Interpersonal | |
| Tell me about an occasion where you were in disagreement with either a patient or their relatives | Moderate | Example | EX Values & Behaviours | |
| What makes good communication? Tell me about a time recently when you think your communication was good. What did you do? | Moderate | Example | EX Teamwork & Interpersonal | |
| What would your friends say is your worst characteristic? | Moderate | Negative Focus | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Tell me about the gaps in your CV? | Moderate | Negative Focus | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Tell me about the gaps in your training? | Moderate | Negative Focus | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What are the gaps in your training and knowledge? How will you fill these gaps? | Moderate | Negative Focus | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Tell us how you have used feedback to develop your teaching? | Moderate | Negative Focus | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| Tell me about negative feedback you have had about your teaching? | Moderate | Negative Focus | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| Do you think NHS doctors should be allowed to do private practice? | Moderate | Opinion | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How do you keep up-to-date? | Moderate | Opinion | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Is it okay for consultants to ask for help? | Moderate | Opinion | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Do you think the present training system produces better doctors than the old? | Moderate | Opinion | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| What is the difference between a good and a brilliant teacher? How do I know which you are? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| If you put together a strong business case but the Trust/managers rejected it, how would you handle that? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| How can we continue to have the right nursing/midwife complement when there aren’t enough nurses? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| How should we adapt or cope with insufficient nurses? (also version for juniors, consultants etc) | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| How would you create better, more coordinated working between X services and Y service? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| How might a Trust such as ours change over the coming years? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| What do you want to achieve in your first year as a consultant? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| How would you develop our service? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| What are the key aspects of the hospital’s strategic plan which relate to your discipline? How would you deliver this? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| How would go about setting up a new service offering this specialty? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| What do you think are the crucial steps in writing a robust business case? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| What will you do in your SPA time? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Other | |
| How would you manage sickness and absence? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Other | |
| What skills do you bring to our service that other consultants do not have? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Other | |
| How can we (or how will you contribute to) improve the research output of our Trust/department in an era of financial scarcity? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Tell us about yourself? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Describe your clinical training? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How sure are you that you will get your CCT and why? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How will you complement the other members of the team? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Highlight an area of your CV (training) that you wish to bring to our attention? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What would you do differently if you had your training again? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What do you have to offer St. Elsewhere’s? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What would you bring to the job? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What will be the personal challenges in this role? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What do you think will be the key challenges of this post? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How would you describe yourself? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How would your patients describe you? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What would your patients say about you? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How do you know you would you fit in? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What makes you angry and how do you deal with that? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How do you know you are successful? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What do you do when someone disagrees with your decision? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What difference will you make to St Elsewhere? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How would you describe your personality? What would others say? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What will you do as a consultant when you encounter a situation you have not encountered before? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How would you tackle our growing waiting list? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Quality, Safety & Improvement | |
| If you were asked to engage in a cost-improvement project where you had concerns about its impact on quality or safety, how would you seek to resolve this? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Quality, Safety & Improvement | |
| How should a hospital like ours go about improving the care for x? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Quality, Safety & Improvement | |
| How have you developed your teaching skills? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| How would you improve educations supervision in this department? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| Which of the training courses which you have attended taught you the most? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| Why don’t you start by taking us through your CV? | Moderate | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Tell us about something you have led that helps us understand you as a leader | Common | Example | EX Leadership & Management | |
| Tell us about something you have led. How did you go about it? | Common | Example | EX Leadership & Management | |
| Tell us about an emergency situation or crisis you have faced? (also under safety) | Common | Example | EX Leadership & Management | |
| Tell us about the most difficult clinical situation you have faced? | Common | Example | EX Other | |
| Tell us what you believe your top strengths are then give us an example of using them? | Common | Example | EX Other | |
| Tell us about a project you have led and what you learned? | Common | Example | EX Projects & Change | |
| Tell us about a piece of change you have led. What happened and what were the difficulties? | Common | Example | EX Projects & Change | |
| Take us through a piece of quality improvement you are proud of - what was it and how did you go about it? | Common | Example | EX Quality, Safety & Improvement | |
| Tell us about a QI or audit project - what was it and how did you go about it? | Common | Example | EX Quality, Safety & Improvement | |
| Tell us about a mistake you have made. What happened and how did you handle it? | Common | Example | EX Quality, Safety & Improvement | |
| Tell us about an emergency situation or crisis you have faced? (also under leadership) | Common | Example | EX Quality, Safety & Improvement | |
| Tell us about a teaching experience that you feel made a real difference? | Common | Example | EX Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| How would we recognise what kind of team member you will be? | Common | Example | EX Teamwork & Interpersonal | |
| Describe for us examples of your teamwork | Common | Example | EX Teamwork & Interpersonal | |
| Tell us about a time when you fell out with or had a difference of opinion with a colleague. How did you handle it? | Common | Example | EX Teamwork & Interpersonal | |
| Tell us about a difficult communication scenario you have been directly involved in | Common | Example | EX Teamwork & Interpersonal | |
| If I asked your colleagues to describe you in 3 words, what would they choose and give examples | Common | Example | EX Teamwork & Interpersonal | |
| Tell me about a situation when you failed to communicate effectively. What did you learn? | Common | Example | EX Teamwork & Interpersonal | |
| Tell us about X value or behaviour and illustrate it with an example from your experience | Common | Example | EX Values & Behaviours | |
| Pick one of our values and give an example that illustrates your approach to this | Common | Example | EX Values & Behaviours | |
| Tell me about a time when you had to make a difficult clinical decision | Common | Example | EX Values & Behaviours | |
| Tell me about a time when you had to counsel a patient about x | Common | Example | EX Values & Behaviours | |
| Tell me about a time when you had to break bad news | Common | Example | EX Values & Behaviours | |
| Tell us about the last time you had to break bad news to a patient. What happened? | Common | Example | EX Values & Behaviours | |
| What was the most difficult clinical situation you have had to face? | Common | Example | EX Quality, Safety & Improvement | |
| What do you think is your weakest area? (listen carefully to whether this is a clinical skills question or more general) | Common | Negative Focus | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What do you think are essential skills for being a consultant? How does your CV demonstrate you have them? | Common | Opinion | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Tell me about your teaching experience? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| What is the difference between a poor and a good teacher? How do I know which you are? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| How would you develop/improve the registrar teaching programme? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| Where do you see this service in 5 years’ time and why? (Impact of changing NHS question, integration etc) | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| What do you think will be the greatest challenges facing our service over the coming 3-5 years? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| How will you contribute to an improved patient experience? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| Where do you see yourself in 3 (5, 10) years’ time? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| What will be the key challenges for the service over the next 5 years and how would you address them? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| What do you think will be the key challenges for this Trust over the next 3 (5, 10) years? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| What is the most difficult clinical aspect of this job? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Other | |
| What will be the hardest clinical aspect to deal with as a consultant? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Other | |
| We are interviewing a number of strong candidates for this post. Why you? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What do you see as your key strengths? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Why here? (Job and Town) | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Where do you see yourself in 5 years’ time and why? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| If we appointed you, how would life be different as a consultant from today? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What are your research aspirations? (even for NHS posts without research) | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| If your friends had to describe you in three words, what would they choose? (often accompanied by asking for examples/why) | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| If your colleagues had to describe you in three words, what would they choose? (often accompanied by asking for examples/why) | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What added value do you bring? (key word here is ‘added’) | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How do you know you are ready to be a consultant? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What qualities do you need to be a consultant? How do you know that you have got them? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What are you most proud of on your CV and why? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What do you think are essential skills for a consultant in speciality x? How does your CV demonstrate you have them? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Why do you want this job? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What attracted you to this post? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What do you think the key challenges will be for you as you make the transition from junior doctor to consultant? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How would your colleagues describe you? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What are your weaknesses and what do you do to address these? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Medicine is stressful. How do you deal with it? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How do you cope with stress? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How can we be assured you are a safe doctor? | Common | 2 Part | SEM Quality, Safety & Improvement | |
| What are your ideas for improving efficiency or flow? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Quality, Safety & Improvement | |
| What are your ideas for quality improvement? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Quality, Safety & Improvement | |
| How will you contribute towards improving training? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| How will you boost staff/ junior morale? (think from all staff though, not just juniors) | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| How would you organise postgraduate teaching in this service? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| How would you ensure trainees get a great training experience? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| How would you ensure trainees get exposure to the right procedures or cases? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| How would you ensure we had high quality junior doctors? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| How do you deal with a poorly performing colleague? | Common | Rule of 3 | SEM Teamwork & Interpersonal | |
| What would be the advantages and disadvantage of increasing medical students in our hospital? What would you do? | Rare | 2 Part | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| What are the pros and cons of problem-based learning? | Rare | 2 Part | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| Take us through a piece of service improvement or development you have led? | Rare | Example | EX Quality, Safety & Improvement | |
| Tell us about an example where you dealt with a patient but felt you did not do very well. What lessons did you learn and how did you change your practice? | Rare | Example | EX Quality, Safety & Improvement | |
| Tell us about a teaching experience that started going badly. What happened and how did you deal with it? | Rare | Example | EX Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| Tell us about a teaching experience which went wrong for you as the teacher? What did you learn? | Rare | Example | EX Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| Give me examples of problem-based learning you have undertaken and the outcomes? | Rare | Example | EX Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| What do you find the most difficult to teach? | Rare | Example | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| Describe an occasion when you have had to assimilate a range of different information in order to produce a tangible argument | Rare | Example | EX Teamwork & Interpersonal | |
| Tell me about your worst day in medicine | Rare | Example | EX Values & Behaviours | |
| Is it important to control your emotions at work? Tell me more. Tell me about a situation when you felt emotional | Rare | Example | EX Values & Behaviours | |
| Is it ok to say sorry? Tell me about the last time you had to say sorry to a patient. What did you do? | Rare | Example | EX Values & Behaviours | |
| Tell us about the most challenging situation you had to deal with when trying to develop and improve services. | Rare | Example | EX Leadership & Management | |
| Tell us about a time when you received negative feedback on your teaching. How did you respond to it? | Rare | Example | EX Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| Why was your CCT date delayed? | Rare | Negative Focus | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| If we give you this job, what come back to haunt us? | Rare | Negative Focus | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Is it right to raid training budgets when hospitals are over spent? | Rare | Opinion | EX Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| If you were appointed consultant here, what is the first thing you would change? | Rare | Opinion | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| Do you think it is good for consultants to move? | Rare | Opinion | SEM Other | |
| Do you think consultant jobs should be for life? | Rare | Opinion | SEM Other | |
| Do you think interviews are a good way for appointing consultants? | Rare | Opinion | SEM Other | |
| Was the old fashioned way of trial by sherry a good way of appointing consultants? | Rare | Opinion | SEM Other | |
| Do you think a sub-consultant/ junior consultant grade is a good idea? | Rare | Opinion | SEM Other | |
| What is your view on the sub-consultant grade? | Rare | Opinion | SEM Other | |
| Do you think all doctors should do locum consultant work before becoming a consultant? | Rare | Opinion | SEM Other | |
| Do you think Consultants should have SPAs (Supporting Professional Activities)? | Rare | Opinion | SEM Other | |
| Is 1PA (anything up to 2.5PAs) enough for supporting professional activity? | Rare | Opinion | SEM Other | |
| Is it right for hospitals to market their services? | Rare | Opinion | SEM Other | |
| Do you think revalidation is practical? | Rare | Opinion | SEM Other | |
| What is your view on competency-based assessments for consultants? | Rare | Opinion | SEM Other | |
| Do you think a CV is helpful in short listing candidates? | Rare | Opinion | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Do you think a standard application form is a good way to short list candidates? | Rare | Opinion | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Should CPD be for the benefit of the doctor or the hospital? | Rare | Opinion | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Should all medical students do research? | Rare | Opinion | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| Should all trainees do research? | Rare | Opinion | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| Do you think external training is necessary for doctors or can it be all learned on the job? | Rare | Opinion | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| Do you think as a busy DGH we should be educating medical students or should we leave it to the teaching hospitals? | Rare | Opinion | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| Do you think DGH’s should teach medical students? Why? | Rare | Opinion | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| Which are more important, good communication skills or good clinical skills? | Rare | Opinion | SEM Teamwork & Interpersonal | |
| How would you use the internet to set up a teaching programme? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| What is the difference between teaching and training? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| What would you like to be doing in 3 (5, 10) years’ time? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| What would you change about this service in this hospital? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| Where would you like to see this service in 5 (10, 15) years’ time? What role would you play in that development? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| What do you think will be the key challenges for healthcare over the next 3 (5, 10) years? If you were in my shoes (usually CEO or MD) what would you be doing about it? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| What would you do to change/improve this service if you became consultant? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| What are the risks that you can see in the service you plan to set up? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| What do you think about communication in the health service? What would you do differently? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM NHS, Change & Business | |
| How should we appoint consultants? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Other | |
| What would be the best way of finding out if you were the best colleague for us? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Other | |
| How will you market yourself as a new consultant? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Other | |
| What are your views on revalidation? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Other | |
| What do you think is the difference between lack of fitness to practice and underperforming? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Other | |
| What do you think the role of NCAS is? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Other | |
| Why do we need consultants? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Other | |
| What will you do if you do not get this job? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| If we gave you this job, what would you do whilst waiting to join? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Summarise your qualities and attributes in (5) sentences? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What have you done that has made you qualified for a job in a tertiary centre? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Have you had enough training to become a consultant? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Do you think the duration of training you have had is sufficient? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Briefly reassure me that you have the correct training and experience for this post? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Can you highlight how you have developed your CV since you obtained your CCT? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| You have written in your CV about various types of x that you have seen and managed. Can you tell me how will you manage x? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Is there anything we should know about you that is not on your CV? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Getting a consultant post is like getting married. What do you bring to the marriage? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What have you learned from working at a tertiary/specialist centre? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What does this post offer you? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Why do you want to relocate to X? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What would be the first thing you would do if you became a consultant in this hospital? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What has made you the person you are? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How do you know that patients like you? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How do you know that patients think you do a good job? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How will you ensure that your patients like your services? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What do nurses say about you, both good and bad? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What do you want from a colleague? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What drives you personally? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How do you know your colleagues trust you? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How can we know we can trust you? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How do you respond to criticism? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What do you do when someone gets angry with you? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How do you deal with colleagues who do not agree with your point of view? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What will you bring to this hospital? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What experiences outside medicine contribute to the type of consultant you will be? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How do you behave in meetings? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| Is work life balance important? How do you keep balance in your life? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| What is most important to you outside work? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| It is important for this hospital to know its staff lead healthy, balanced lives. How can you reassure me? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How do you identify your deficiencies or areas of development? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How do we know if your operative skills are any good? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| How will you contribute clinically to the department? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Personal, Strengths & Weaknesses | |
| A colleague appears to be behaving erratically and you suspect might have been drinking. What would you do? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Quality, Safety & Improvement | |
| What are your ideas for further cost improvement in this specialty? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Quality, Safety & Improvement | |
| What do you think needs to happen to address the main concerns raised by the CQC? (in Trusts with poor CQC ratings) | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Quality, Safety & Improvement | |
| How do we know if your operative skills are any good? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Quality, Safety & Improvement | |
| How do you know you are a good teacher? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| How would you deliver postgraduate training in this department if you could start with a clean sheet? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| Tell me about your teaching of undergraduates? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| What do you think undergraduates should know about our speciality? How would you go about delivering training? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| If we could only give 5 tutorials to medical students in this speciality, what would they be on? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| How would you teach medical students? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| If you could change training in this speciality, what would you do? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| What are your views of speciality training in the independent sector? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| If you were an educational supervisor, what would you do? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| What teaching methods do you prefer? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Research, Teaching & Trainees | |
| Staff always complain about a lack of or poor communication. How would you improve it? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Teamwork & Interpersonal | |
| How do you ensure you communicate effectively with patients? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Teamwork & Interpersonal | |
| What do you think are the 3 most important aspects of communicating effectively with patients? | Rare | Rule of 3 | SEM Teamwork & Interpersonal |