Article Contents
General Surgery ST3 Application Guide
General Surgery ST3 Application Guide
A Complete Guide to the 2025 National Selection General Surgery ST3 Interview & Application Procecss
Written by Francis Ugwu
Introduction
General Surgery is a 6-year training programme. Recruitment in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is managed through a nationally coordinated process by the London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex Deaneries. The process involves an application, portfolio submission and interview.
Applications are only accepted through the Oriel platform.
Eligibility & Longlisting
You must meet the eligibility criteria in order to be considered for specialty training. The requirements for this are detailed in the person specification.
- MBBS or equivalent medical qualification
- Completion of Core Surgical Training or equivalent by start date
- Successful completion of MRCS by offer date
- Full registration and license to practice with the GMC by start date
- Complete employment history
- Not eligible for CESR
A key requirement is that you will have completed Core Surgical by the time the training programme is due to start. If you have not done Core Surgical Training, you will need a completed ‘Certificate of Readiness to Enter Higher Surgical Training’. This certifies that you have achieved the equivalent competencies to the Core Surgical Training programme.
Candidates currently in core surgical training posts who are expected to complete core surgical training in October rather than August are eligible to apply for the coming year of General Surgery ST3 recruitment.
Recruitment Timeline
| Stage | Key dates |
|---|---|
| Vacancies published | 15 November 2023 by 5pm |
| Applications open | 16 November 2023 at 10am |
| Applications close | 7 December 2023 at 4pm |
| Evidence upload window | 12 December 2023 - 9 January 2024 |
| Portfolio shortlisting scoring date | 15 January 2024 |
| Portfolio results release date | 17 January 2024 |
| Appeal window | 18 - 22 January 2024 |
| Invites to interview | 27 February 2024 |
| Interview window | 19 - 21 March 2024 |
| Preferences open | 22 March |
| Preferences close | 10 April 2024 |
| Initial offers released | 18 April 2024 by 5pm |
| Hold deadline | 23 April 2024 at lpm |
| Upgrade deadline | 24 April 2024 at lpm |
| Training start date | August/October 2024 |
NB Subject To Change
Portfolio Assessment & Shortlisting
This year self-assessment of your portfolio is no longer required. Instead, you will answer questions about your portfolio achievements and submit the relevant evidence. Portfolio assessment will be performed by consultant interviewers meeting in person. If there are more eligible candidates than available interview slots, a process of shortlisting will take place. This will be based on your portfolio score.
After submitting your application you will be given instructions on how to upload evidence for your portfolio assessment. The upload window is from 12th December 2023 to 9th January 2024.
Shortlisted candidates will then be invited to virtual interviews between Tuesday 19th March and Thursday 21st March 2024.
The portfolio questions for 2024 are:
Question 1
By the end of July 2024, or by the completion of Core Training if this is later, how many months will you have spent in total in General Surgery in any post-Foundation job in any country? Please do not include any other posts.
Maximum Points – 6
| Responses | Score |
|---|---|
| 0 to 3 months | 0 |
| 4 to 12 months | 2 |
| 13 to 24 months | 4 |
| 25 to 36 months | 6 |
| 37 to 48 months | 4 |
| 49 to 60 months | 2 |
| 61 months or more | 1 |
Question 2
By the end of July 2024, or the completion of Core Training, will you have spent at least 4 months in T&O, Plastic Surgery, Neurosurgery, ENT Surgery, Cardiac/Thoracic surgery, A&E, ITU, Paediatric Surgery, Urology, Vascular or OMFS posts since completing your Foundation Programme?
Maximum Score – 4
| Responses | Score |
|---|---|
| | will not have spent 4 months in any of these specialties | 0 |
| | will have spent at least 4 months in a post in 1 of these specialities. | 2 |
| | will have spent at least 4 months each in posts in 2 or more of these specialities. | 4 |
Question 3
At the time of application, how many appendicectomies (laparoscopic and/or open) have you completed which have been done either STS or STU or P or T? These must be recorded in a validated logbook and each sheet signed by a consultant.
Maximum Score – 4
| Responses | Score |
|---|---|
| 0 to 5 | 0 |
| 6 to 15 | 1 |
| 16 to 25 | 2 |
| 26 to 35 | 3 |
| 36 to 45 | 4 |
| 46 to 60 | 3 |
| 61 to 80 | 2 |
| 81 or more | 1 |
Question 4
Publications: Please submit your 2 best publications, published in any PubMed-indexed journal. To be eligible for this section, publications must have a PubMed ID and be published by the time of application.
Do not include articles which have not yet been published. Collaborative papers, abstracts, case reports, letters or technical tips are acceptable. Points will be awarded for candidate contribution, level of authorship, quality of study and impact factor of publication.
Maximum Score – 10 (5 per publication)
Question 5
Presentations: Please submit your 2 best presentations. In order to be eligible for this section, the presentation must have occurred by the time of application.
You may include poster presentations.
Points will be awarded for candidate contribution, being the presenter of the work, quality of study and scope of meeting (regional, national, or international).
Maximum Score – 10 (5 per presentation)
Question 6
Audits and QIPs: Please submit your 2 best closed-loop audits and your best additional audit/QIP. Please only submit audits/QIPs which have been presented as you will need to provide evidence of presentation. For each loop of the closed loop audits and the additional audit/QIP, you must provide evidence of your involvement in the design, execution and presentation of the audit/QIP.
Points will be awarded for candidate involvement, reference standard, study design, importance of clinical question and impact of work.
Maximum Score – 21 (8 per closed loop audit and 5 for audit/QIP)
Question 7
At the time of application, have you completed and been awarded a stand-alone UK higher degree or equivalent (see evidence below) examined by thesis/dissertation? (NB: This does not include intercalated degrees)?
This category has now been broadened to include PG Certs, Diplomas and taught Masters degrees. Points will not be awarded unless evidence is provided that the qualification has been awarded.
Maximum Score – 5
| Responses | Score |
|---|---|
| PG Certificate | 1 |
| Diploma/Masters degree without thesis or dissertation | 2 |
| Masters with thesis or dissertation (e.g. MSc, MMedEd, MS, ChM) | 3 |
| MD | 4 |
| PhD | 5 |
You must ensure that evidence is provided for every response. You can find guidance on what evidence to provide for each question here.
Interviews
If you are shortlisted for an interview you will be invited to book an interview slot via Oriel. Invites to interview will be sent on 27th February. Slots will be offered on a first-come first-served basis.
2024 Interview Window
Tuesday 19th March and Thursday 21st March 2024
Since the pandemic General Surgery ST3 interviews have taken place online. This will continue for the 2024 process. The interview will assess different areas of your skills, knowledge and experience. The stations will have 2 consultant interviewers.
The interview lasts 40 minutes and is made up of 3 stations: Clinical, Management & Portfolio
- Clinical Station – You will be given a scenario and have 5 minutes reading time before the interview– this will be a clinical scenario about a patient. You will have 10 minutes to answer questions about the clinical scenario and other related questions.
- Management Station – You will be given a scenario and have 5 minutes of reading time before the interview– this scenario will be about a management problem based in the clinical environment. You will have 10 minutes to answer questions about the management scenario and other related questions.
- Portfolio Station – You will have 10 minutes to answer questions about aspects of your career to date. You do not need to prepare or present a hard copy of your portfolio. Portfolio evidence will not be available to the interviewers to review during your interview.
The key to success at the interview comes down to 2 things: preparation and using the right answer frameworks.
The key reason I scored 100% in my ST3 interview is that I used the right answer frameworks. The difference that separates the best candidates from everyone else is not what they know, but how they communicate it.
If you want to learn the answer frameworks that allowed me to score 100% at my ST3 interview, the Medset General Surgery ST3 Interview Course contains everything that I used to score full marks at every station, rank in the top 10 in the country and get my first choice job.
Preferences
Following the interview you will be invited to preference available posts on Oriel before offers being made. Your ranking will be based on your portfolio and interview scores. These scores will be combined to generate one national ranking from which offers will be made to all available posts.
Offers
Offers will be made to those successful applicants that have ‘matched’ to a post and will be based on the applicant’s ranking and preferences. Offers will be made via Oriel by 5pm on Thursday 18 April 2024.
Following initial offers being released, further offers are made in subsequent iterations. You have 48 hours from the time of offer (excluding weekends) to confirm via Oriel whether you wish to accept, reject or hold your offer. Offers made after the hold deadline will only have the option to accept or reject.
Allocations
Once offers have been accepted, the appointee’s details will be passed on to the local training programme director around 14 weeks before the start date, and to the first Trust you have been appointed to 12 weeks before your start date.
About The Author
Francis is a General Surgical Registrar and current PhD candidate at the Institute of Global Health Innovation under Lord Professor Darzi. He has a passion for teaching and scored an impressive 100% at his ST3 interview.
Useful Links
Article Last Updated – April 2024
General Surgery ST3 Interview Course
Boost your chances of success at the 2025 National Selection General Surgery ST3 Interview with our comprehensive interview course.
What’s Covered?
The General Surgery ST3 interview process is becoming increasingly competitive, with hundreds of candidates vying for a limited number of spots each year. Enhance your chances of success with our comprehensive General Surgery ST3 interview course, created by experienced consultants and top-performing trainees. This quality-assured course combines essential knowledge, expert advice, and interview techniques to help you secure your ST3 position and preferred deanery.
More Interesting Articles…
Explore more of our most popular content and professionally written guides.
