F1 interviews and application form

Hi guys. Please find below a draft of a section on how to apply the GMC principles of "good medical practice" to the F1 application forms and interviews. Any improvements/suggestions would be very welcome.

Thanks
Raj

General Medical Council: Good Medical Practice

The GMC has published guidelines for doctors to guide them as to what is considered good medical practice and these are set out below. These are important for medical students applying for F1 jobs because markers may use them as a template for evaluating your application forms.

1. Good clinical care
- providing a good standard of practice and care
- decisions about access to medical care
- treatment in emergencies

2. Maintaining good medical practice
- keeping up to date
- maintaining your performance

3. Teaching and training, appraising and assessing
- making assessments and providing references
- teaching and training

4. Relationships with patients
- obtaining consent
- respecting confidentiality
- maintaining trust
- good communication
- ending professional relationships with patients
- dealing with problems in professional practice
- conduct or performance of colleagues
- complaints and formal inquiries
- indemnity insurance

5. Working with colleagues
- treating colleagues fairly
- working in teams
- leading teams
- arranging cover
- taking up appointments
- sharing information with colleagues
- delegation and referral

6. Probity
- providing information about your services
- writing reports, giving evidence and signing documents
- research
- financial and commercial dealings
- conflicts of interest
- financial interests in hospitals, nursing homes and other medical organisations


7. Health
- if your health may put patients at risk



Relevance for Medical Students

1. Good clinical care

This essentially means passing all of your medical exams and being competent in your clinical attachments. Although this section is hard to demonstrate on your application form, you should still try to gain as much clinical experience as possible.
If you have an interview then you may be asked about clinical decision making e.g. when to call for help when a House Officer.

2. Maintaining good medical practice

Lots of evidence-based medicine! If you can get involved with the writing of an evidence-based protocol for your hospital then great but this opportunity will not be available for all. However every single medical student MUST get involved in audits; try to do one that you can present to a hospital department.
Try to stay up to date with major developments by browsing the health pages in any broadsheet. Looking at review articles in journals (e.g. Lancet) gives you a good overview of topics and normally gives you evidence behind interventions. The Cochrane Library has a collection of systematic reviews that are diverse; other resources include the Bandolier website and the Clinical Evidence books produced by the BMJ. By keeping up to date you can impress in interviews and demonstrate your love of all things medicine!

3. Teaching and training, appraising and assessing

This is a big one for medical students. As you progress through your medical career you will be EXPECTED to be involved in the teaching and training of your juniors; therefore, you should be able to demonstrate on your F1 application form that you have teaching experience. This can take a variety of forms; help out in clinical skills sessions, offer to give lectures to earlier students, give clinical teaching in hospital. You could also offer tutorial sessions to a group of first or second years. This is not just stuff to do so that you can put it on your application form but can be a really useful experience that will stand you in good stead throughout your career.

4. Relationships with patients

Gain as much as clinical experience and patient interaction as possible whilst at medical school; you may be asked at interview to talk about a patient encounter that challenged your communication skills. Practice, practice, practice your communication skills! This doesn’t just have to be in hospital but can be demonstrated by any work that involves you talking to others e.g. explaining things to the general public (e.g. basic life support).

5. Working with colleagues

Teamwork is a key skill that all hospitals will EXPECT you to have demonstrated on your application form. Involvement in sports teams are good examples. Others include being involved in drama productions, producing a student paper, being on a committee of any kind.
Leadership skills are essential for any doctor because even as an F1 doctor you will have to lead the day-to-day running of the ward. Try to get into positions on committees to get a better perspective of what your skills as a leader are and how much you need to practice.
At interview you may be asked to describe a situation in which your leadership skills were tested and how you adapted to or overcame the situation.

6. Probity

This is hard to demonstrate as a medical student.

7. Health

Stay healthy folks!

These are the benchmarks that the GMC expect all doctors to achieve. It makes sense that at medical school you should gain practice at these. It also makes sense that people who mark your F1 application forms will use these criteria as a guide. And so it should make perfect sense to bear in mind the criteria when filling out your application form and preparing for your interview!

Good luck!