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OK, it to be there. We are. Hello, everyone. Could someone just let me know that you can all hear and see what's going on it. Yeah, sweet, awesome. So I'm I don't think it's live yet. No. Um you just press the go live, we start broadcasting. Do you want me to go live? It's already live I think. Mm ok. Um apologies. I'll pop down now. Cool. So I'm Zack, I'm a anesthetics A C CSC T one based in London and welcome. This is a little bit of a tips and tricks er for preparing for the CT one interview which hopefully a lot of you have got coming up in the next couple of months. Um So what we're gonna try and do is uh a little bit of info about how the interview works and how we understand the scoring matrix which is available on the ARO website. Um getting a bit more comfortable with both uh the makeup of the clinical and the nonclinical sections and then a bit of advice on how I found it best to prepare uh for my interview last year just so just a bit about me I studied in Edinburgh, uh went through med school and then did my foundation program in Northeast London and then applied straight into anesthetics during my F two year and I managed to get one of the A CCS training posts in London and I am parked way through that first ct one year. Um So if anyone else is in a similar situation, it's absolutely doable. Uh So just firstly on how you actually get to the interview, um anesthetics is not like some of the other specialties where there's point scoring personal specifications and things like that. Uh All you need to do is score well in the M SRA exam, which is not really an anesthetics exam, but it is what it is. Um Unfortunately, the cut off does kind of keep creeping up. So last year it was 565 this year, it's 560 again. Um So you need to be well inside the top sort of 10 to 15% of scores to get to get an interview. Uh So congratulations if, if any of you have made it this far already, what does the interview look like? So it's an online interview with two stations. Uh you'll be seen by at least two interviewers. Um Usually they're both consultant anesthetists or at least consultant itu anesthetic er doctors. Uh There may be a few senior registering in there as well just to boost it into a few numbers. Um and there may actually be an additional layperson in there just to observe the interviewer and ensure the process runs smoothly. The first thing that happens is you'll be asked to do an ID check, so you'll need to hold an ID up to the camera, er, and then you'll be thrown into your first station. Uh Each station is uh five minutes of reading time initially and then 15 minutes of interview. Uh and the stations can be either in either order. So you won't really know what you're starting in until you get to the interview. So uh the scoring matrix uh as I said is on the, on the website, it gives you an overview of, of the different areas that they're looking to score you uh against. The overall mark is 50 from each interviewer giving you a total of 100 and then the scores are broken down into the clinical judgment decision making, reflective practice and working under pressure for that clinical section and then professional behavior and communication teamwork on commitment to specialty for the general interview section and then both sections at the bottom you see there, there's a global rating score and that is uh 10 points for each interviewer on each station. So that makes up 40% of your total interview score. Um And just to note this, this has actually changed slightly from last year. So it's worth getting the the most up to date scoring matrix for this 2025 interview calendar. So, um the clinical scenario, there will be some sort of acute situation in the hospital. Uh You'll be given a scenario where you're on Fy two or working at Fy two level or sho level in either A&E itu or on a medical ward out of ours. Um And you'll be asked to go and see a patient. You'll get given that scenario in that five minutes of reading time before the station starts. And that is the point that you'll find out whether you're doing the clinical station or the general station first. So keep in mind that the scoring matrix when you're answering, they're looking for an ability to work well under pressure, so communicate well under pressure, they're looking for you to be reflective on what you've done. Um And, and show some good judgment and decision making when you're going through the clinical station, I would say, don't neglect the other scoring areas. So your communication teamwork, commitment to specialty uh because they can feed into that um kind of general score at the bottom, the one that makes 40% up. So what are they looking for in particular in clinical judgment and decision making? Um So if, if you zoom in, they're looking for uh you to be working kind of beyond the level of foundation doctor, if possible, um You need to be able to appreciate uh kind of the seriousness and urgency of each situation. Um you need to be able to escalate appropriately, involve relevant team members um be alert to kind of early um signs of deterioration as the scenario develops. Um And they want a good structure, um which as we all know is, is kind of an a to e structure prioritize your information, well, deliver it clearly come up with a clear plan and be able to function kind of independently. Um So we'll move on reflective practice uh that involves kind of using your learned experience. So a scenario you've been involved with uh in in your day to day work and kind of mentioning how you've reflect on it, implementing any change in your current practice. Um understanding the importance of feedback, especially in your portfolio and be aware of any tools or groups or kind of support that's required going forward. Uh It's also worth noting at the lower end of the scoring matrix, they're all kind of the opposites of what they deem to be outstanding. Um So if we go back to kind of clinical judgment, um they're looking for kind of someone who's working beyond the level of a foundation doctor, they're appreciating urgency. But if you look at the bottom, it's someone who doesn't necessarily understand a deteriorating patient and then the requirement to escalate that early uh working under pressure, the examiners are looking for you to be calm and collected. Now, a lot of that comes across in your communication style in an online interview, um, because the examiner isn't in the room with you, they can't really tell if you're stressed if you're communicating in a calm manner, um, don't come across flustered, you need to be able to kind of take a step back, prioritize your tasks effectively and make clear decisions with a good amount of confidence behind what you're saying. Um, make sure particularly that you're able to deal with a disgruntled patient or family member or even a member of staff that might be obstructing the the correct clinical path. Um And that's something that they, they might introduce to, to put you under a bit more pressure just to see how you, you respond to that. Um So as I said, the clinical scenario, you're given about five minutes to read it. Um It will be presented in a couple of short sentences about a patient or a nurse that's asked you to go and see a patient um with literally just kind of a presenting complaint as you would get an escalation in the hospital working out of hours. Um You can form a bit of a plan in that five minutes. Um So think of your practice A to E um which you should or will be very slick out by the time the interview rolls around and think about any additions or slight alterations you might need to make to your standard A to E assessment in order to reflect the little bit of information that you've been given in terms of competence, you'll need to act as an fy two or sho if not slightly above no matter what your actual competence is in a kind of day to day practice. That's what they're looking for. Um Always start with an A to e it's kind of the basics. Uh you'll be able to knock that out pretty quickly, but keep in mind the working areas, so kind of judgment, um decision making, reflection, working and the pressure and I found that they particularly liked you to involve as many team members as possible. So grab a nurse when you're going to assess a patient, make sure you use porters, make sure you talk to bed managers, talk to itu make sure that there's areas available to go and see the patient or move the patient to afterwards. Um Yeah, so I won't go through an A to E er as an example. Uh You'll get very slick of it by the time the interview rolls around. Um but just think about where you're going to, who you might need to inform and who you might need with you to help with the station, for example.