
Getting into General Practice:
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Advice for GP Selection interview
I applied for GP back in November 2016.
In regards to the selection process interviews.I found them to be fair and straightforward.It was not a question and answer interview where you had to talk about yourself or why you wanted to do GP training.Rather it consisted of various stations which were focusing on your communication skills.
My interview was at RCGP LONDON Euston and it was set up like osce stations and very organised.
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Information of what it entails: https://gprecruitment.hee.nhs.uk/Portals/8/Documents/National/GP%20ST1%20Applicant%20Guidance%202019.pdf
Snippets from the document to be aware of :
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The competences that are assessed at Selection Centre are:
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Communication Skills,
Empathy & Sensitivity,
Conceptual Thinking & Problem Solving,
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Professional Integrity.
Please refer to the
GP ST1 Person Specification
for more information about these.
There will be a briefing
session at the start of your Selection Centre session and an
opportunity for questions at the end of it; this is NOT a feedback session. Feedback on your
performance will be given later and will be after the offers have been made.
18.2.1 Simulation Exercis
es
These will involve simulators and 3 different situations:
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A consultation with a patient
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A consultation with a relative or carer
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A consultation with a non
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medical colleague.
Tips for the day:
We like to keep things simple.Here are four concise things we feel are important to bear in mind for your exam.
Plan your journey.If you are someone who gets lost the RCGP building is not super hard to find but if your based in London it might be worth visiting beforehand to be sure you know where it is. However over the years, the venues change, and the location you do it at will vary depending on what deanery you are applying to.
Dress code: The document above has reallt good information on the dress code as well. Dress smartly but be comfortable.Dont wear something that you are going to regret mid way through interview.Think about how you will be perceived and what message you are giving out.
Time yourself:When you are going through stations with your colleagues act like it’s the exam be serious give honest feedback and end the station once your time is up.On the day the once your time is up the station ends.If you have extra time at the end and realise you forgot something you can ask the actor provided your time has not elapsed.
Practice: Practise makes perfect some of you will be on busy rotations during this time and you might find it hard to meet in person.Skype has a useful role to be play here as you can do it everywhere and your location doesn’t matter to much
The battle of your mind:Being net its before an interview is normal but don’t let it be disabling.You have worked hard to get this far.Sleep well the night before so you are well rested. Make sure you engage in positive self talk prior to the exam picture yourself doing the exam and doing it well.Do not catastrophize and think deeply on things going wrong.Tell yourself you can do it, tell yourself you can overcome the anxiety and the nerves.Get into the role and be the kind of doctor your family members would want to see be like the brilliant doctors we do often hear them raving about.Accept that things mind not go 100 percent to plan but what happened in the station stays in the station the next actor and examiner don’t know what has happened previously so each station is a clean slate.It is really important you learn how to compartmentalise on the day.
Resources used
Join the emedica Facebook group : there are lots of people on there in the same boat as you who you are likely to be able to practice with.
The main resource I used for scenario's were the emedica online resource. I felt that these were brillant and there were very concise and gave me a good feel of what to expect in the exam.
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