The interview / assessment centre
The main stage of your application to IMT is the interview. You will be asked a series of questions by clinicians on different question areas. The 'Structure & content' tab has detail about the question areas included.
Consistent for all applicants
The structure and content of IMT interviews will be consistent among all applicants; all online interviews will follow exactly the same format and cover the same areas of assessment.
Sharing information about the interview
Whilst it is natural that you may wish to discuss your experience at interview with others, you must not share detailed information about the interview, beyond that which is publicly available (ie which is available from this website) - specifically, the content and format of questions asked. Ultimately, this may reduce your own chances of success and is unfair to all other candidates.
Individual questions are changed regularly at each interview centre and candidates are advised against altering their behaviour based on the advice of others.
The interview will consist of three main question areas which will last between 5-9 minutes each. Overall you will be scored on six areas:
- Application and achievements
- Suitability for IMT
- Clinical scenario
- Clinical scenario - handover
- Ethical, professionalism and governance scenario
- Overall communication skills based on responses to all questions.
Including time for questioning and reading, the interview will be approximately 25 minutes.
Details of the three main question areas can be viewed by clicking on the tabs below.
The interview will start with a six-minute exploration of your achievements to date and your suitability to be an internal medicine trainee; you will be awarded two scores from each interviewer on these two areas.
This question is divided into two sections:
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Presentation – you are required to start the interview with a two-minute presentation on the following: Give an overview of your achievements to date which are most relevant to your application to be a trainee in internal medicine
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Questions – you will then be asked questions about your suitability to be an internal medicine trainee, this may include clarifying questions about your achievements and application.
Presentation guidance
When preparing your presentation, please bear in mind the points below:
- Give headlines and brief descriptions of your achievements to maximise the time available.
- Ensure your presentation is clear and well-structured.
- Credit will be given to achievements which demonstrate skills transferrable to being an internal medicine trainee; these achievements do not necessarily need to have been gained in physician-related activity.
- Two-minute time limit - Your presentation must last for no more than two minutes, and you will be stopped at this point.
- No aids/resources allowed – you are not allowed to use any visual representations, such as PowerPoint, when giving your presentation and you must not share your screen. You are welcome to use notes, but these should be for your own use only.
Scoring guidance
Application and achievements
Your self-assessment application score will not directly be counted towards the total score used for ranking. The score from this section of the interview will reflect your achievements to date, taking your personal circumstances into account. The interview scoring section of the website details the guidance that interviewers will be using for scoring this question.
Suitability for IMT
You will be scored based on demonstrating knowledge and enthusiasm for medicine and commitment to a career as a physician.
After the previous question finishes, you will be given three minutes to review a clinical scenario. After the three minutes, you will be asked questions relating to this scenario.
Questioning in the scenario may cover the following:
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what next steps you would take, e.g. further investigations
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your differential diagnosis
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any potential treatments possible
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any further information you would gather
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how you would go about communicating with any people (eg patients, family members, colleagues) involved in the scenario.
The clinical scenario will be relatively brief (a few sentences), so most of the three minutes will be used for mental preparation. Whilst it is permitted to make notes, these must be destroyed as soon as your interview is completed and not shared with anyone.
Questioning on the clinical scenario will last for up to eight minutes. After this, you will be asked to do a one-minute handover of the patient to a colleague. This will require you to speak for up to one minute as if you were speaking to the person being given the handover.
Areas for assessment
There are two areas that will be scored in the clinical scenario question:
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One mark will be awarded to you based on the investigations you would do, your diagnosis given the information available and subsequent management of the patient.
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The second mark will be awarded for your handover and your ability to relay information in a clear, concise and accurate way.
You will be asked a question which focuses on one or more of these areas. This question will not be available to you to consider in advance and the hypothetical scenario will be given on completion of the clinical scenario.
This question will not focus on clinical aspects, and will deal with the moral, ethical, legal, etc. issues of a particular situation. Your answer should be guided by GMC Good Medical Practice.
This question will last up to five minutes.
Where applicants have dyslexia, it is common practice for reading time to be increased by 25%.
This is also the policy employed at IMT interviews; and where this comes into play specifically is where candidates prepare for assessment of 'scenarios'.
Scenarios
Only the clinical question will use a written scenario, given to you for three minutes just before the question starts. Upon arrival in the interview room, you will be asked questions relating to this scenario.
The actual text in the scenario is quite short - usually two/three sentences at most - and so the bulk of preparation time is to allow you to consider the scenario and the next steps you would take (eg diagnosis, treatment, further questions, etc.), rather than it being 'reading time' as such.
But should you have dyslexia and wish to request extra time here, this can be granted in line with the recommendations on your psychological assessment.
The standard time for scenario consideration is three minutes; therefore the time would be adjusted to three minutes 45 seconds. The exact adjustments will depend on: the recommendation, whether it can be considered a reasonable adjustment and documentary evidence of your circumstances.Requesting adjustment
If you have dyslexia and wish to request this adjustment, please add information to the relevant section of your application form.
You need to explain the requirement in the space provided and upload documentary evidence to the application when prompted .
Further information
The British Dyslexia Association has a webpage dedicated to how the Equalities Act 2010 relates to dyslexia.