Self Assessment

Everything you need to know:

As part of the application you will be asked complete a series of self assessment questions. At the orthopaedic interview at Elland Road you will be expect to supply evidence in your portfolio (Portfolio cover sheet) for your responses. No evidence = no points.

It is essential to be transparent and honest at this stage. If you are not then you could find yourself withdrawn from the recruitment process and have your probity questioned. This is a serious matter.

In 2014 the questions where as follows, they are likely to change slightly in 2015 but be along the same lines:

Question 1: Specialty Experience

By the end of July 2015, or by completion of Core Training if this is later, how many months will you have spent in total in Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery in CT, LAT, LAS and Trust Doctor posts? Please do not include any other posts.

Responses:

10 to 29 months
30 to 47 months
48 to 59 months
60 months or more

Well there isn’t much to say about this. The sweet spot is 10-29 months, beyond this you will drop marks, but unfortunately there isn’t much that you can do to improve this now.

Question 2: Related Specialty Experience

By the end of July 2015, or by completion of Core Training if this is later, will you have spent at least 4 months in Plastic Surgery, Neurosurgery, Vascular Surgery, A&E, ITU or Acute General Surgery posts since completion of your Foundation Programme?

Responses:

I will not have spent 4-months in any of these specialties
I will have spent at least 4-months in one of these specialties
I will have spent at least 4-months in two or more of these specialties

Again there isn’t much to say here, you either have or haven’t done other specialities. If you are looking at this planning to apply next year take note that you will receive more points having done at least 4 months in at least two of these specialities. This will also reduce your chances of passing into a lower scoring category with regards to clinical experience.

Question 3: Operative Experience

At the time of application, how many wholly completed Dynamic Hip Screws for extra capsular fracture of neck of femur have you completed which have been done either STS or STU? These must be recorded in a validated logbook.

Responses:

0 to 4
5 to 10
11 or more

Access your logbook and look at the total number of STS and STU DHS you have performed. I personally find the summary on the ISCP website easier for this. Once you have done that you will need to print off your logbook for each job and have your consultant validate it by singing to confirm its correct, this can also be done online by having the consultant login and validate the operations.

Maximum points will be awarded for 11 or more DHS.

Question 4: Publications (1)

At the time of application, how many 1st author publications have you had published in any peer reviewed journals? Do not include published abstracts or case reports.

Responses:

None
1
2 or more

Again you have either published or not published. 2 or more will see maximum points. Follow the criteria as to what counts (see below everything you need to do if in doubt).

Question 5: Publications (2)

At the time of application, how many other publications have you had published in peer reviewed publications? Do not include publications counted in question 4 or any published abstracts.

Responses:

None
1
2 or more

The more papers you have the more points you get.

Question 6: Presentations

At the time of application, how many national and international presentations have you given? Do not include poster presentations.

Responses:

None
1
2 or more

You should be recognising a trend here, the more presentations the more points.

Question 7: Audits (1)

At the time of application, how many full audits have you undertaken with completion of the audit cycle?

Responses:

None
1 or more

This shows that you can see a project through to completion. If you have spent a full year at the same hospital at some point in your training (particularly CT years) and have not closed the loop then you have some explaining to do! Time for a quick re-auidt if you haven’t closed the loop to ensure you get full marks here!

Question 8: Audits (2)

Have you been engaged in 3 or more audit projects within the last 24 months?

Responses:

You should complete an audit every 4 months. They don’t have to be ground breaking but in every job you will see something that you think could be done better. Audit is your tool to make this happen.

Question 9: Higher Degrees

At the time of application, have you completed and been awarded a UK higher research degree or equivalent (i.e. after production of a research based thesis and full examination)?

Responses:

You either have one or you don’t. If you have one you will get extra points. Its likely that the higher the degree the more points you will receive. If you don’t have on don’t stress marks can be regained elsewhere.

Question 10: Leadership

Please select one statement that best describes your involvement in leadership. (With the exception of “I have had no involvement in leadership” all responses are scored equally)

Responses:

I have been engaged as the leader of a group
- Team leader of the scouts
- Tutorial or Problem Based Learning facilitator
I have been engaged as the leader of a clinical project
- An audit that leads to an improvement of patient care
- You could probably back this up with evidence as role as a team leader at a trauma call
I have been engaged in an administrative role
- Setting up and running a teaching program for medical students of FY2s.
I have been engaged as the leader of a non-medical project, expedition or activity
- President of sky-diving society
- Lead a group to raise money for a new roof on the church
- Had people follow you up a mountain
I have been involved in another form of leadership and will provide evidence in my portfolio
- Anything else you can think of
I have had no involvement in leadership
- If you need to put this then you have gone wrong somewhere. You should have done something by now even if you don’t think you have.

Leadership is coming to the forefront as the new sexy thing to ask about. As a registrar you will be expected to lead the oncall. You will lead on theatre team briefs etc. You will be asked to talk about your involvement in leadership and show evidence as to what you have done.

Question 11: Teaching

Please select one statement that best describes your involvement in formal teaching. (With the exception of “I have not been engaged in a formal teaching role” all responses are scored equally)

Responses:

I have a formal qualification in teaching
- This could be anything from having the full Post Graduate Certificate in Medical Education (PG Cert Med Ed) to having simply attended a local teaching course or a training the trainer course.
I am engaged on the faculty of a recognised medical course
- Problem Based Learning tutor (expect to be asked about how recent this experience was if it is outdated. Do not lie to the interview panel, but make a note that there is no timeline specified in the question).
- Given lectures to students
- Take medical students to shadow you
I am regularly engaged in formal teaching and will provide evidence in my portfolio
- You need evidence (i.e. letters of thanks from the education centre, or feedback slips from students) to show you have been involved in teaching. Medical Education is part of your obligation as a training registrar. You will be expected to teach medical students, nursing assistants, nursing / physiotherapy staff, and junior doctors during your time as an ST in trauma and orthopaedics. Once you become a consultant it will be expected of you to train your registrars also.
I have not been engaged in a formal teaching role
- Well really come on? Its not acceptable to put this. You must have taught someone something!

Attending a teaching course will gain points.

Being a teacher at a university will gain further points. Generally speaking you just need to ask the administration office if you can teach and you will be given opportunities.

Regular involvement in random teaching, slightly less than a university for points.

No evidence of teaching, well you better make up for it elsewhere!

Everything you need to do:

Tell the truth! You can manipulate and bend the truth a little to pad your statements up, but do not lie! In the interview if you are found to have lied you will be withdrawn from the process.

Question 1

You need to gather the evidence of completion of foundation training listing the jobs you have performed. You will also need evidence of core surgical training posts. If you have been in a non-training post you will need to bring a copy of the front page of your contract of employment to the interview.

Question 2

You need to evidence that you completed your training along with a list of jobs. If non-training post then a copy of your contract of employment will also be required. If your contract does not state the individual jobs then ask human resources at the trust, or your supervising consultant to write a letter giving the dates you worked in each post.

Question 3

Get your logbook in order the week before the interview. Make sure that all you historical logbook has been validated. This is either done by your consultant logging onto the elogbook website with you and you putting you password in on his account to allow him to validate your logbook. It can also be done by printing the sheets off and asking them to sign to validate them. Simpler than it sounds but you need to do it well in advance.

Question 4

You need to have a copy of the publication in your portfolio along with the coversheet for the publication. Make sure you are listed as the first author of the paper. The journal needs to be listed on either of these links to count in this application. www.Ulrichsweb.com (peer review journal) / or here

Question 5

Again a printout of the article with a copy of the front page to confirm its printed. In this section you can potentially include other publications such as book chapters, websites, digital media as long as you can justify why you think you should get points for it and accept that the panel may not give them to you.

Question 6

You need a copy of the meetings program with the details of your presentation on it.

Question 7

You need to write a summary (abstract: introduction, methods, results, conclusions, re-audit results) for all audits in your portfolio / on your CV.

Question 8

As above, a summary of the audit in your portfolio.

Question 9

You need to have your degree certificate for all of your degrees in your portfolio.

Question 10

Leadership causes confusion on the ortho application form self assessment. You need evidence for anything that you may wish to mention when asked about leadership at the ortho interview.

Question 11

Gather all evidence of teaching you have and put it in one section of your portfolio. You also need to be able to navigate straight to relevant parts of this.

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