Computer generated transcript

Warning!
The following transcript was generated automatically from the content and has not been checked or corrected manually.

Good evening everyone. Uh So, uh thank you for joining us in this session. Today. We have uh Chioma with us who is doing her ST one SST two obstetrics and gynecology in Sheffield. Um She is a trainee of the South Yorkshire Deanery. So I'm gonna pass on the uh stage to her uh for giving her insights into uh obstetrics and gynecological training. Hello, I'm Doctor Chama, um Chama two, like you said in of, and um I'm doing the presentation today on applica the application into specialty training series and oncology. It's not meant to be a really long um presentation because I think um this is more or less knowledge that is already out there and I'm just trying to just make it a bit more focused for and gynecology. So um I'll just give a little background again, like she registered, I'm currently working in Sheffield City Hospital in the south of she. Um I graduated from University of Science and Technology in Ghana and I did my foundation here in Nigeria. I'm Nigerian, by the way. And after I did my foundation here, I did a one year mandatory national service program and then I came, moved to the UK in 2021 where I joined as 1/12 grade doctor um at Ashford and ST Peter's Hospital in Surrey. It was an extra rotational program and I basically did 1/4 rotate um, four month period in obstetrics and gynecology, the thyro or that. Um, so I'll just give you a bit of, um, just a little introduction into the obstetrics and gynecology specialty. It's a sevene run through program. So run through program just basically means that when you've done your application and you've gotten into the um the training program from ST one to T seven is a trace program. You don't have a break after ST two to apply again into a sub specialty. So it's a run through program from T one to ST seven. No other applications in between and um in the obstetrics and oncology training. It sort of um the, the generic part of it is it's more generic most of it, especially for ST one and T two where you do a lot more of um admin uh where, which just admin which involves you just reviewing and class in patients, examining them, doing a lot of prescriptions, doing a lot of discharge summary. Sometimes you also get the opportunity to go to clinic, so you can go to the Antenatal Clinic, you can go to Gynecology Clinic. You can also shadow um some, sometimes if you have enough specialist or a consultant who be running maybe like the hysteroscopy clinic and the Colposcopy clinic. You are also um able to do ob um obstetrical calls where you can be in Labor ward and also assist in Cesarean section. And then yeah, you can also go to theater, assist in Cesarean sections and also be able to attend gynecology theater. Another big part of the training is what we call the portfolio. So um the only way for the gene to know that you are actually meeting up with your confidence is by eng actively engaging with your portfolio and your portfolio is what is going to be reviewed when you have your annual evaluation. So your ac where it is your body of work throughout the year is to look at and then decide if you're moving on to the next day or not. And um usually it's usually advised that you keep, like you keep um engaging with this portfolio onto the A if you don't wait until the deadlines to do that. And then finally, uh most of our job also includes you getting involved or involved in all this um quality improvement projects and research. It's not compulsory, but it's highly recommended that you get involved in this. So um I'll just talk a little bit about the application process to get into the G um training. So um the first thing usually that happens is the um we have a website called A. So A is where all um specialty applications are done. Um It's a website which I think I should have put a link here, but I'm sure if you Google oral, anyway, oral NHS you're going to find it. So that is where all applications for specialty training goes through. And then we also have a what we call the Crest form. So the crest form is more or less like a competency form into uh specialty training, which needs to be signed by almost all trainees. Uh Almost all applicants are getting into the training program. I think to the best of my knowledge is signed mostly by IM DS of people who haven't done their foundation training in the UK. Um And the Crite the, the criteria for finding your correct form is that you can either sign it with a consultant abroad, which is for those who are not currently uh who did in school in the UK, you can get to sign wherever you did your internship. But that is only if you've not been in the UK for up to three months. If you've been in the UK for three months, then it has to be signed by a consultant who you have worked with for at least three months since you come to the UK. After after filling the um the Crest form and um submitting your application on oral, then you have to go through the uh Multispecialty um assessment exam, which is called the M SRA exam. And this is an examination that is also done by a lot of other specialties. It's mostly a GP examination but none is being applied to other specialties. So this is a general examination, uh an examination that tests your general know, knowledge and medicine. And then um usually it includes the um the clinical part and the S JC which is the um situational judgment test, situational judgment test is um is usually a test for an examination that is done mostly by the foundation E doctor. But it's also been applied to the NSR exam. And after you've written the MSI exam, usually you're going to have your scores um put out and you're going to go through what is called a long listing, which is where they sort of sort you out based on your scores. Um If that puts you through, um they sort of check your score, check your qualifications to see if you are actually eligible for the training that you applied for. And then based on your MSI scores, usually you either by your inter interview is usually bypass or you are shortly to attend an interview. I'm not 100% sure what it is what applies for this year. But I know that in this current, um, this current round of applications that we had that um, the, um, some people were bypassed for the interview based on their score, I think about 7 to 5 people were bypassed. And then there are many people have to go through interviews. So one advice I'm going to give is that you try and familiarize yourself with the deadline, deadline for application deadline for the exam just so that you are aware and you don't make any mistake during your application. Ok. So um for those who um we fortunate enough to go through to the interview stage, the interview is made up of two components. So we have the clinical prioritization and the structured interview, which is basically like the portfolio. This um interview usually takes about 20 to 25 minutes. And the breakdown is that usually they give you about five minutes where the question is um where you have the instructions displayed for the examination, you read it and then then have some time to answer the question. So in the obstetrics and gynecology um train um interview, usually we don't um have physical portfolio, unlike some other specialties where you need to actually submit evidences. The obstetrics and gynecology training interview doesn't require you to have a physical portfolio or even a virtual one. So basically everything that pertains to your portfolio is discussed during the interview. And um I just put in this slide just to show you some of the books that are really helpful when preparing for the interview. So we have um the one on the file left which is 30 gynecology SD one interview book by Doctor Neha. It is a really good book and I recommend it. I have no affiliation with time just uh mentioning it because that was what I used to prepare for my own interview. These other two books are also really good, but it just depends on the time you have. So um I'll just talk a little bit about the portfolio because um this session is not really about um telling you what the questions are and all of that. But the first part, like I said is a clinical prioritization question where you have a set of questions and then you more or less have to go through these questions and decide on how you're going to prioritize the patient and then discuss the management. But the most important part is the second part which is a structured clinical, which is a structured interview and the structured interview is actually more or less your portfolio. It has four main components, which is the leadership and management, the teaching component, the Q IP, which is quality improvement projects and the audit and then research. So um there's also a part about commitment to specialty, which is actually what I want to talk about. Because at the end of the day when we talk about the leadership and management and we talk about P IP research. At the end of the day, it all boils down to your commitment to the and gangs specialty. And I usually advise people that whatever you say should sort of point or add or contribute to your commitment to the, of the specialty. I don't know what level for those who have attended the uh webinar today. I'm not sure those who are still medical students and those who are already postgraduate doctors. But I'm just, I've just listed everything just in case we have medical students longer. So there are usually things you can do while in medical school to show your commitment to the or gyne specialty. And one of those things you can do is joining a medical elective program. So medical electives are usually like um attachments that you can do in maybe a another hospital abroad or even in your home country where you get to apply to a department. For example, you can apply to um do onemonth shadowing in obstetrics and gynecology. And usually that just involves you taking part in the ward round going and attending teaching with the medical students and sometimes depending on who your supervisor is, you're usually even allowed to go into theater and sometimes assist them. I was able to do this too when I was in medical school and I actually did my medical elective in um Oxford University. I wanted to go obstetric and gynecology, but I couldn't get that because the department was full at that time. But I did the surgical um elective. I still got the opportunity to attend teaching in Tania with the uh medical students during my elective. Another thing you can do to show um your education to special is volunteering in maybe medical outreaches in conferences. So sometimes you have outreaches organized by a medical student body, by some organizations, government organizations, nongovernmental organizations. And you can um attend um this um outreaches most times they are more or less about um for specific outreaches that are related to um sexual and reproductive health. Maybe that women are sensitized. Young girls are sensitized and talk to them about their sexual and reproductive health. You can also attend um conferences that are maybe more specific for sex and gynecology, like the College of Obstetrics and Gynecology conferences and then maybe the Figo conference. So, Figo is the world um the World Association for Obstetrics and Gynecology and they have conferences every two years. So I volunteered for it just recently and it was actually a good opportunity because I saw some medical students there. So that's a good way to demonstrate your um commitment to the gyne specialty. Then you could also join um the medi the Obstetrics and Gynecology um society for those who are in the UK and they are still undergraduate. You can join the British undergraduate Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology. You can, if you're not in the UK, you're very free to join any other um society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, many countries have um these societies and you can join them. And basically, even though there are a lot of people, they are the ones that are not under undergraduate societies. Usually it might look like there are a lot of people there who are sort of far above your um qualification se but what you can do is attend these conferences, join the society, ask a lot of questions and you'll be lucky to find people who will be willing to mentor you, tell you what to do and also get you involved in their project for those who are postgraduate doctors. Um One thing you can do is to do a clinical rotation in obstetrics and gynecology. So for example, if you are yet to do your foundation program, you can request for um one of your rotations to be in the obstetrics and gynecology department. For those who are doing medical officer jobs or drug grade jobs that is called in the UK, you can also get a job in obstetrics and gynecology and all these things actually play a role when you're applying when you're doing your interview because it shows that you are really, really interested in being in this special office. There's something else also called a week. So a week is usually mostly for people who have not had the opportunity to be rotated into um obstetrics and gynecology. So for example, if you've not um had um if you don't have an off and gyne rotation included in your foundation training, or you were not fortunate to just get a trust grade job in obstetrics and gynecology you can do something called the week where you apply to the department and ask for them to let you come shadow. Usually it's for a week and you can just get involved hands on. And this actually adds a loss to your portfolio because it shows that even though you are not working in the department, you are very interested in it. And that is why you're taking the time to do a test a week in that department. OK. And then another thing we can do is attending relevant clinical T meetings. So if for example, you are in surgical department or you're even in medicine, sometimes um you can attend. So DT is multidisciplinary team meetings. So sometimes you can have meetings with obstetrics and gynecology. There are meetings that usually combined, they have to discuss patients across different specialties. If you're fortunate enough to be in a trust when this happens, you can actually take part in these meetings and learn a lot from them. Next slide, please. Yes. So um another component of the portfolio is the research component, um component. And um as medical students usually um you, you're not really expected to be writing papers and to be actually conducting research, but you can always get involved in research. So some people, some schools can organize some other research projects and you can just take pass in this. It doesn't involve you doing a lot. Sometimes it might just be data collection, helping to analyze this data. And then we have people who would actually be the ones doing the writing. Some people are actually already really skilled in this and it's not bad if you are able to do this, you could actually write papers if you're that skilled in it. But you really don't need to write a paper for you to be accepted into the training. I was involved in a, a research project in my time, but I wasn't one of the key writers, I just took part in data collection and I gave my own input and I was included in the paper. So you can find different ways to get included in, in, in um research project. You don't really have to be the one who this project. For those who are still medical students, you can also do what we call the intercalated degrees where you sort of, you can also have a research component to your degree and it also can show dedication to specialty, especially if you've done the research in obstetrics and gynecology or anything related to sexual or health. And for the postgraduate doctors, um we have what we call General Club, which you can attend or if there's no one existing in your hospice, you can set one up. So general clubs are where um usually doctors or people come together and sort of discuss paper or new innovations on specific topics. And these are usually this is usually present in a lot of hospitals. So you can just find out from your, either some of the consultants who are in charge of teaching in your department, you can ask, or there are also some online ones, I think. Um, there's one called Gas O. So GSOC is actually an organization comprising Surgeons Obstetricians, Anesthetist. If you Google Gasto, it's JAS OC. They usually have a general club online and you can participate in the general club if you're interested. And then like I said before, you can join in writing a paper, it doesn't have to be recessive. I can also do a case report and you could also participate in recruitment for clinical trials. So most hospitals have a research and development and we have a lot of um we have some, sometimes these are led by research nurses and sometimes there's a lead consultant. You could take part in this most times they have ongoing clinical trials and you could just help them in recruiting patients. They go when you're in clinic and you see a patient that fits one of their research research criteria, we can always help in recruiting, that's actually a way of getting involved in research. And then if you uh if you have the time and um you're able to do a postgraduate degree, you can do a postgraduate degree in reproductive medicine, you can do one in um central and productive health. You don't necessarily have to do a degree. And in fact, it's not compulsory to do a postgraduate degree. But again, it's a choice that is available if you want to. I've actually seen some people being very innovative by having social media. Um pla um um they have social media accounts where they actually talk about all things. O and G some people actually do um a day in the life of an obstetrician, a day in the life of an A G et cetera. So these are little like things that are actually different from the norm. If you can, you can have a blog where you talk about sexual and reproductive health and women's health and everything involved in that it, it's more or less your choice and how you're able to prove that whatever you're doing counts towards um your commitment to the specialty. And then another component of the, an interview, which is the, the portfolio part is the teaching aspect. So teaching doesn't necessarily have to be you um conducting a webinar like I'm doing. But if you can do this, so that is also really good. And again, teaching doesn't also have to um necessarily be in obstetrics and gynecology. They just want to know if you're actually involved in teaching because it is expected that doctors should be willing to teach, should be available to teach and should be able to teach and teaching in involves not just teaching, but also being able to give um get good and feedback from people you thought so that you can apply it in your neck next teaching experience. So, um there are usually some courses I think people do. I didn't do this course. It's called the teach the teacher course. For those who actually have physical portfolios, I think this is very beneficial. But if you don't, if you are applying for obstetrics and gynecology, I don't think it's necessary because you don't even have to present a physical portfolio. So all you need to do is to demonstrate that you've been involved in teaching. And another simple way you can do this is if for example, you are an sho or even if you're a clinical fellow, a registrar or grade doctor, you can always see there are medical students on the ward, you can always see medical students teaching can be in any topic, it could be on anything. It could just show that do examinations. By the best side, you could do bedside teaching, you could ask them, what do you want me to teach you today? And they can tell you what you, they want you to teach. So all of that is teaching, it doesn't even have to be obstetrics and gynecology related. Any teaching is teaching and they just want to know that you are able to teach people around you. Another thing is also getting involved in departmental teaching. So if you work in the NHS most times we have sho teachings and registrar teachings. Sometimes they have departmental ground, um departmental teaching. So sometimes even without you wanting to do it, you're usually assigned to do a teaching. But if you've not been assigned to do a teaching, kindly reach out to maybe your teaching lead or the consultant in charge of medical education and tell them that you're interested in um doing the teaching, a departmental teaching. Or you can get involved in sho teaching or you can even get involved in um teaching of the medical students. Sometimes they have specific teaching sessions for them and you can express your interest there and also teach if you're interested. OK. These are the little things you can do to sort of show that you've been involved in teaching because this all adds to your portfolio and it all include add to your um actual portfolio, uh marking or rating it, add to it. OK? And um next slide, we also have uh a talk about leadership and management. So usually in this interview, they ask you what is, what is the difference between leadership and management? There's a definition for it. And I'm sure when you do the course it's going to be there. But um there are different ways for you to get involved in leadership and management. So before I applied for my training, I used to think that I needed to have done really big things, maybe become um the President of um Medical Students Association or become the secretary or vice president of this. But I realized at the end of the day that it's little things you do each day around you that shows that you are a leader. So for example, if you're an sho or your house officer or whatever you are, you can for the time, if you've been able to even organize the kitchen in your department, it shows that you have leadership skills, it shows that you probably identified the problem in your department. And then you try to take care of this problem. For example, maybe, maybe Sh Os or medical students feel that they are not good teaching opportunities. So if you're able to organize, teach and teaching, if you're also able to organize inductions for incoming doctors, and that shows that you have good leadership skills, then we have um what we call the ROTA organizer. So when I was in a one, I and one other colleague, I had were involved in organizing the ROTA. And then what that just basically meant was even if the ROTA coordinator had done the ROTA, we still have to go through the ROTA, look at this and decide, ok, this person needs more time in and so department or in. And so because they need to sign of competences. So we found a way to make sure that everybody around us were able to get the time they needed in the specific places they wanted us to be. And that's I was able to add that to my portfolio as me being a, a leader because I was able to help organize the route. I didn't take a lot of my time. I don't think it even took up to two hours of my time in the whole year, but that's was added to my portfolio leadership. Some other things you can do is to volunteer as a trainee rep even in your hospital. So for example, I was one of the trainee reps for the IND doctors in my previous stroke. And I actually talked about that during my interview. So you can volunteer to be a rep even in some society. So if you join the society, maybe like the British um undergraduate society, but that's mostly for medical students and junior doctors or if you joined any society association at all, you could be a rep there, you could help them, you could also help to organize leadership courses in your, in your, in your trust. And then you could take part in quality improvement projects. Like I said earlier on, if you're able to identify problems or things that are of concern in your department, are you able to work on solutions to address this problem that with you being a leader because you're able, you're trying to solve the problem. So that is good leadership and management skills. And yes, so for quality improvement projects and all this again, um I wouldn't want to delve really deeply into this because there are also causes for this and this is more relevant when you're actually preparing for your interview. So, but it's more or less like I said, finding a problem and looking for ways to solve this problem, applying the solution to this problem. And then later on reviewing this to see if what is actually done is making an impact. So it's a whole circle I think, call it the C DSA circle. I'm not, I can't remember it anymore, but it's a whole circle of even evaluating the problem solving it and reevaluating to see if you've done something. So you could actually join AQ IP course from trust actually have quality improvement project courses, which you can join, take part in and then you'll be able to actually start up a quality improvement project if you're interested. And then even if you don't know what to work on, if you're able to come in, if you are able to reach out to any consultant, even your educational supervisor, you can talk to any registrar or anybody in your familiar with in the department. If you tell them that you're interested in doing that, an audit or a quality improvement project, they'll be very happy to show you the way again. Like I said before, it doesn't have to be an UPS and gin um project. It could be anything really good if it is up and g because again, it still show this commitment to specialty. But at the end of the day, all they want to know during the interview is that you actually are aware of what quality improvement is and what an audit is and you are able to apply it to your daily practice. Yes. So, um a apart from all of that, these are some other things you can also do to show um dedication to specialty. So you can attend conferences that are specific to obstetrics and gynecology, like the RCO Conference, the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynecology Conference. And again, like I said, the world uh Federation of um Obstetrics and Gynecology, which is TIVO. You can also do um pre do um oral presentations, post presentation, submit a, there are usually even some essay competitions and there are some grants you can apply to. I think the Royal College actually has um awards and prizes that you can apply for. And these um prizes are for medical students and for junior doctors up to even consultant. And I think on the next slide, I have a picture of some of these awards that are available. Yes. So we have the ent and elective award. So this is for students to actually go on the um on an elective program in Obstetrics and Gynecology in another country. So there are a lot of projects here like I put on the screen and if you check the RCO G um website for the hours and private session, you see this and you'll be able to see the description there. So getting involved in this um grant show that you're actually quite interested in, get going into et and gynecology and it's going to add a lot to your portfolio during the interview. Um I think I've already talked about this. So doing oral presentations, um doing POSTOP presentations, you can do this, you can attend conferences as a delegate. You don't necessarily have to present anything you can attend as a delegate. But again, you can also attend as a presenter. You can also present just in conference. But even in your local, like in your local department during grand rounds, during the half day training, educational day, you can do a POSTOP presentation on oral presentation on all of these to your portfolio, preferably of anx related projects. And then um some people usually recommend you doing the um MRC G exam, especially the Parton exam. It's not necessary because um when you've gotten into obstetrics and gynecology training, you need to pass the Parton exam before you're done with T two. For me, for example, I never wrote the MRC the exam before I got into training. And I don't think it has any impact on my um interview because at the end of the day, there are other way for you to show that you're dedicated to the off and Gyne specialty. You don't necessarily have to shell out the money and, and write this exam. But if you really want to, if you have the capacity to write it, then feel free to do it. It's one of the ways you can show that you're really interested in becoming an off and Gyne trainee, then there's also what we call the basic practical skills. Again, I don't think it's necessary to do this because you still have to do it when you get into the training and it might even be cheaper or even sponsored fully by the generic. So you don't need to do it. But again, it's one of the things you can do that we have the air less um a lesson, obstetric, so advanced life support, obstetrics, which is also is more like or less like the a less often you can do that. And then again, as I mentioned before, you can be a member of a um society or organization. Most times, some of these societies want you to be full members. But if you're not it and it's mostly trainees who are full members or consultants. But even if you're a medical student or you're a first grade doctor, you can still join as an associate member. You don't have to be a full member. Yeah. So, um and I talked about a lot about how you need to um um show your commitment to specialty and just the advice I have to give you. It's never too late to apply. It's never too late. To start walking on distance, there's a lot of things you can do and again, it doesn't even have to be any of these things that I've said you can sit down and have it, like, have, it's more or less like a reflection with yourself introspection and sort of try to see things that is even already done in the past that could actually apply to this training and how you can, um how you can beef up your portfolio with past experiences. You already have, they just finished a round of interview, uh a round of um application now and the next one will be for the training that will be beginning in August 2024. I believe the application should be opening very soon. I think maybe November, December, I'm not sure. And then you still need to write the MSI exam. And I think the the interview is usually around March. So there's still a lot of time you have about three months. There's still a lot of time to still do something you could still organize teaching, you could still attend the conference, you could still do an audit. You don't need to do a full audit, preferably if you can close the loop, you can still do it and you just need to pick something really, really simple. And do you can talk to one of the consultants or any registrar, even an in that department? So some people are even already working on this um audit so you can even join them. You don't need to start a whole audit on your own. Sometimes we also have audits that have already been done and then they just need someone to redo the audit and close the loop. You can get involved in that. You can do that because you already have it sent. So you really don't need to do much. You just need to collect data. So those are a few things you can do. Like I said, it's never too late. Then in preparing for the interview, I definitely attended the course. It was a course by Doctor Niha who is the author of one of the interview books that I showed the course was really good and it was more or less just taking us through how the interview was going to be. And after that, we did more um interviews and I thought, I think it was really um helpful. So I think, yeah, I think it was really helpful. So I would recommend you to attend because again, it's not compulsory to attend because and there are also a lot of courses around. So just you can ask your senior colleagues or anyone who you know, who is in and they can actually recommend some courses to you, especially the ones that they've done that they found really helpful. Then it's not just also about attending the course, you really need to have good interview skills. So like I said, because the obstetrics and gynecology interview doesn't require to have a good portfolio. At the end of the day, it boils down to how you saw yourself. We have people who have not had a lot of experience in this specialty who have managed to get their way into training. And that is because of how they sold themselves. We have people who have done a lot, but because they don't have good interview skills, you see that you have just nine minutes to talk about your to do your clinic structure um interview. And then in nine minutes, you realize you talked a lot, but you've really not said anything, you've not sold yourself. So you have to find a way to be able to con you have to continue practicing. Even after attending the course, you have to keep practicing. Sometimes people advise looking into a mirror and talking and seeing how you talk. I personally didn't do that because it's not my own style of preparation. But if that is what works for you, then I encourage you to do it at the end of the day, you have a very short time for your interview and it's going to go by in a flash. So you need to continue practicing. So that on that day, you are not going to get overwhelmed with everything and then forget what you're supposed to say. And then the time goes and then the interview is interview is gone. And then the last thing I'm going to say is that I should try to organize yourself before the interview. So, um unfortunately, I'm not able to project um the host is projecting for me, but I had the powerpoint. I said, and what I did for my own time was I got this four, the four domains that I knew were going to be at in the interview, which is the leadership for management, the research, teaching all of that. And I, what I did was I created a powerpoint for myself. And then I started digging the checking my port, like checking my laptop looking for things that I have done in the past because most times it's done things that you actually for that you've done distance. So what I did was I made a powerpoint. I started trying to remember, it took like about a week or two to start putting in everything I thought I had done that was able to fit into those domains. So I had all of that prepared. So that's when I was not trying to prepare for my interview. I knew that if I was asked about leadership, I knew the things I was already going to say. If someone asked me about P IP audit, I already knew what I was going to say because I've done this and I put it in a powerpoint. So I'm going to strongly reco recommend that if you can do that don't wait until the interview and then you start trying to think of things you've done. Don't just attend the course and then start giving generic answers. Because that is one thing that is also going to be commented about. I had comments like that in my portfolio because I was sent uh the the marking script for my my interview and I saw a comment there about giving generic answers and it was one but to be fair, it was a question of um why, why do you want to get into obstetrics and gynecology? I think everybody has the same answers and there was no way I was going to make it unique. I tried to make it unique because it's something special from me. By the end of the day, most of us want to get so and dining and most of us already have the same reason. So at the end of the day, you have to find a way to make your yourself unique. Every experience you've had is unique to you. And it's very important. It doesn't matter how big or small you think that experience is. It's about how you sell it and how you market it. So like I recommend that you try to organize yourself, put these things down in advance. And then when you're practicing, you're using your own unique experience to practice, you're not just using what is in the course because the cost is going to give you a lot of things to say, it's going to tell you under research. You can say this under pt you can say this by the end of the, these people conducting these interviews have interviewed thousands of doctors who are applying for the same specialty. They do this every day. So what you're going to tell them might not be exactly unique per se, but at the end of the day, it's so unique to you and your passion will show to you when you're talking about this. So even if another thing I want to say, even if you've not necessarily done something. So for example, if you've not really been able to teach anybody or you've not done any teaching, if you are asked about your teaching experience, you don't just say I have not done any teaching. What you can say. I have not been able to do any teaching, but I've been able to weakness or experience someone who has taught to maybe probably inspired me. And then you can talk about what that person said or did during their teaching that made it stand out to you. So you don't just say no, I have not done this. You have to be able to, even if you've not done it, if I think you should have weakness before you finish it. So it doesn't necessarily have to be your experience. It could be an experience that you think. But this just shows that you're able to reflect on this and you're able to retain or learn something from that experience. So it's going to apply to everything, even research, even if you have not done research, even if you've not done quality improvement project, as far as you know, what is involved in doing and all this, what is involved in doing a quality improvement project. I'm talking about this. You are still going to get masks compared to saying I've not done a quality improvement project or what trying to lie about it by maybe talking about something you've never done before sometimes except you are very good liar. Sometimes it's going to come through and people will know that they are not saying the truth. So even if you've not done it, try and see if you can get involved in something you might not be able to finish it, or at least during your interview, make sure that you talk about it no matter how little whatever you think you've done is try to find a way to squeeze it into the interview as far. It shows that you're really dedicated to um coming into the or and gynecology training. Yes. So, um I talked about the interview. I just wanted to just give you a quick run through of my experience so far in training. I'm currently in ST two and I did my ST one in Doncaster and it was a good introduction to gynecology. Um We always talk about you applying to a specialty where you have great passion for. And at the end of the day, it's really going to come down to that, your passion, your dedication to the specialty. Because obstetric and gynecology is not an easy specialty. It's not a bed of roses. And I don't think any re any specialty training is easy because if you're not interested in a specialty, it's always going to be difficult for you. So what I learned throughout my first year of training was to try and continue looking out for and utilizing every opportunity I've got. So because you're in training now, you're not going to be sponsored information, it's actually more self directed learning. So you have to learn for yourself. No one is going to force you to know how to do anything. No one is going to force you to um come for teaching or do anything. No one is going to do that by the end of the day, when you realize that you've gotten into this training and your aim is for you to become someone who is highly skilled in this specialty. Then I think it, they only lies on you down, keep looking for opportunities to keep improving yourself because what you don't want to get to maybe D3 when you are suddenly expect just to be a registrar and then you don't know the basic things to do and it's going to be embarrassing for you. It's going to be embarrassed and it's going to be embarrassing for you. At the same time, it's going to be unsafe for patients and even unsafe for you. So as much as possible when you get into training, try and look, continue looking for opportunities, continue trying to be curious, continue trying to utilize every single opportunity you get opportunities can come in different forms just so just keep an eye out and continue looking for them. Then another thing is um the on call. So the on calls are usually quite brutal, but it's doable. And how I keep trying to push myself is that the fact that other people have done this specialty. It's not just me. So I'm not the first person doing training. So it means that it's doable. It doesn't mean that when you need rest, you shouldn't rest. If you need rest, rest, ask for time off to rest, you can take time during your own course to rest. Because at the end of the day that be will continue going, going off, your call is going to end and you're still going to hand over to somebody, the job never finishes. So you just need to learn to take some breaks. Think about yourself because at the end of the day, if you're not there, the job is going to continue and you're going to be replaced immediately. So take care of yourself. Then again, talking about teamwork and walking with multidisciplinary team, especially gynecologist want specialty where you need to walk with a lot of different people. Most especially the midwife, it's not really easy because sometimes, especially you being a junior, maybe in ST one T two, ST three, you are dealing with people who have, are used to the system. So they might not necessarily be older than you in the profession. But the fact that they've been in one hospital probably and you're just rotating around sort of makes you look like a new person and makes you look like you probably don't know a lot. So it's not really easy trying to deal with this other um team members by the end of the day, if you try to be um if you try to be, I don't want to use the word humble. But if you try to be maybe open-minded and try to um be at least respectful because the same way you would want others to treat you the way you should treat other people. If you try to be respectful and you're willing to learn, you are going to be able to learn from everybody. Willing to learn, doesn't mean that they are going to teach you what you should have known already, maybe from medical school, but willing to learn in terms of procedures might be different protocols might be different in different hospitals. So as far as you're open minded and willing to learn, you're going to be tough then um again, the examinations, there are a lot of examinations in this specialty. We have the part one, part two and part three exam. Usually, even in your interview, they would ask you how this, sometimes they might ask you how this exam should be done. And usually you need to have passed your part one exam before the end of ST ST two. And then you should have passed part two and part three before the end of ST five. You can write this exam any time. You can also do your part two and part three. If you, that, um, if you're that dedicated, you can do it. Even in T two. Some people are, are, are doing it and it's, it's, it's fine if you're able to do that. But you need to find time to prepare for this exam. It's not, these exams are not easy and there's usually not enough time to prepare for exam. So it's more or less a, a thing of being able to manage your time and being able to realize that you are no longer in medical school where you can just sit down and spend the whole day reading. It's not going to happen anymore. You're going to be on call, you're going to be coming back late from work, you're going to be busy. So you need to find ways to try and prepare for your exam. I'm actually preparing for my part on exam now and I've found a study group. And I found that it helps because it keeps me motivated. Even when I'm tired, I come back from work, I can just join my study group and we can prepare. And that's literally, I think one of the ways you can prepare during training because you really don't have the time to sit down doing uh preparations for exams anymore. It's not going to happen anymore. So you just try your best and trying to utilize the opportunities around there and find ways to be able to prepare everyone has their own way of learning. So just try to think of what your own style of learning is and use that and then um for future plans. Um usually, sorry. So um in terms of future plans, the the specialty is a big specialty. We have some specialties. We have four specialties, mostly gyne oncology. We have uh fertility, reproductive uh fertility, we have the urogynecology and then we have maternal medicine. So one advice I've been given, which I'm also going to give to you is that the moment you're fortunately able to enter training after you've settled down, it's good to now start thinking of where exactly what your future plans are, where you're heading to and then you can start as early as possible. Unfortunately, the the the risk continues, it doesn't end the moment you get into training. Now you have to start thinking of self specialties. I have to start thinking. Do I want to be a self special subspecialist or not. If you know, you want to be a self specialist, then now is the time you now need to start getting involved in research projects, getting involved in Q I PS. I'm still trying to get the hands of it. I'm still trying to look for those opportunities, but these are the things you have to keep an eye out for. And um at the end of the day, opportunities will always be there for you. And as far as you decide you want to do ETS and gynecology, I don't think you've made the wrong decision. It's a tedious, tedious specialty, but at the end of the day, if you have passion for it, I'm sure you'll be able to filter um the next flight, please. Yeah. So I think the, the basically the, the the main point I want to make is it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter how much you've done if you are not able to sell yourself during the interview, no one is going to know what you've been able to achieve. So at the end of the day, like I've said, the, the tips I've given before, try and organize yourself. And at the end of the day interview is the most important thing after you pass your Mr exam. So, um I really hope um I've not, I I've been able to give you a good insight into how to apply for the uh um the specialty um application. And I hope I've not really, I've not scared you from applying for obstetrics and gynecology. I think at this point, this is what I'm going to ask if anyone has any questions. OK. Someone has asked, do we not submit proof of our portfolio? No, you asked me. So you don't submit anything for as far as to the best of my knowledge. And even from this last interview round, you don't submit any um proof of portfolio. So basically your portfolio is you talking about what you've done? The portfolio domains are always still the same thing as if as compared to if you are submitting an actual portfolio, but because you will not be submitting one, you don't need to talk about it. So they will ask you questions pertaining to each domain of the portfolio and then you talk about it. So you are not submitting any proof of portfolio. Yes. So um thank you very much for attending. Like I said, I hope I'm not scared you from applying for the specialty. If you have any questions at any point, you can always reach me or I'm going to put my email address. You can always send me an email and I will try my best to um to respond to your email as soon as possible before your interview preferably. But um I put my email there, just send me an email if you have any questions or if you need me to help you with anything. Um, how much time do we have to talk about? Portfolio? It's usually nine minutes. I have my own interview. It was nine minutes. The whole interview is 25 minutes. The portfolio one itself is nine minutes. I don't know if they've increased the time now. It's nine minutes. So, like I was saying, it's a very short time for you to be able to talk up, talk a lot and sell yourself. And unfortunately, that's what they used to um grade you and then decide if you're going to get into the specialty or not. So you're not submitting and it's physical for. So, so you actually have to sell yourself within nine minutes. Yes. Yeah. Uh Thanks to that talk was very insightful and you had given us like some nice tips and tricks to get through the interview. Um Thanks everyone for attending the session and uh if you had any questions, you can put it up the chart for the next few minutes or, or you could also email Shoma. She has very kindly given her email ID for uh uh postfeedback, uh postfeedback questions. So, uh we also posted the feedback link for the session so you could uh fill it up uh at your convenience. And uh thanks a lot, everyone. Uh Thanks for attending. Thanks to your mom. Thank you. See you soon in our next sessions. Bye bye.