A complete guide to preparing for your CST and ST1/ST3
Surgical training is highly competitive and requires preparation, dedication and an understanding of the principles of selection.
Your application will be evaluated across a range of competences according to objective criteria, with selection based primarily on your:
- surgical portfolio – evidence of relevant experience and achievements to date, which is used to demonstrate your suitability for a role
- surgical interview – a range of ‘stations’ designed to assess specific areas of the selection criteria
This book is a practical guide to help you build an impressive portfolio and deliver a quality performance at interview. It offers key advice on these two areas of assessment, as follows:
The surgical portfolio:
- Advice on where to start and how to maximise the benefit you gain from each opportunity.
- Each portfolio domain is discussed in turn, explaining the context and rationale and providing a guide to maximising your performance in each area.
- Example opportunities are provided for you to pursue to help to adapt your experience to the specific assessment criteria.
The surgical interview:
- Understand the rationale behind the questioning to help you tailor your answers to maximise scoring.
- Answer templates with key guidance to help you provide effective answers based on your portfolio experiences.
- Guidance on contemporary surgical topics to help you with discussion and debate.
