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Assessment and selection
 

GP RecruitmentStage 2 Assessments...

The Stage 2 assessment consists of two papers to be completed under invigilated conditions. The papers are designed to assess the essential competencies in the National Person Specification and are based around clinical scenarios. Applicants will be asked to read and accept the rules governing the Stage 2 assessment when they confirm their place.
 

Clinical Problem Solving
This paper lasts 95 minutes. The questions present clinical scenarios and require you to exercise judgement and problem solving skills to determine appropriate diagnosis and management of patients. This is not a test of your knowledge, but rather your ability to apply it appropriately. The topics will be taken from areas with which a Foundation Programme Year 2 doctor could be expected to be familiar. There are no questions requiring a specific knowledge of general practice.

Questions will be drawn from the following topic areas...
  • Cardiovascular
  • Dermatology / ENT / Eyes
  • Endocrinology / Metabolic
  • Gastroenterology / Nutrition
  • Infectious disease / Haematology / Immunology / Allergies / Genetics
  • Musculoskeletal
  • Paediatrics
  • Pharmacology / Therapeutics
  • Psychiatry / Neurology
  • Reproductive (male and female)
  • Renal / Urology
  • Respiratory

Questions may relate to...

  • Disease factors
  • Making a diagnosis
  • Investigations
  • Management plans
  • Prescribing
  • Emergency care


Every effort is made to ensure that the wording of the questions is as clear and unambiguous as possible. It is important that applicants understand the meanings of certain conventional terms which frequently appear:

  • Pathognomic, Diagnostic, Characteristic and In the vast majority imply that a feature would occur in at least 90% of cases.
  • Typically, Frequently, Significantly, Commonly and In a substantial majority imply that a feature would occur in at least 60% of cases.
  • In the majority implies that a feature occurs in greater than 50% of cases.
  • In the minority implies that a feature occurs in less than 50% of cases
  • Low chance and In a substantial minority imply that a feature may occur in up to 30% of cases
  • Has been shown, Recognised and Reported all refer to evidence which can be found in an authoritative medical text. None of these terms makes any implication about the frequency with which the feature occurs.

Questions may be presented in a variety of formats and you will have to choose the best of the given responses according to your clinical judgement. The examples below illustrate some of the question formats that may be used and the type of topics to be covered. Other question formats may be used when appropriate e.g. Algorithms and multiple best answers.

You will be asked to mark your answers on a separate sheet by filling in lozenges.

Click here to view Clinical Problem Solving Example Questions


Professional Dilemmas
The paper focuses on your approach to practicing medicine. The paper lasts 115 minutes. You are presented with scenarios you might meet when practicing as a doctor. Each scenario encapsulates a professional dilemma and you are asked about dealing with it. The paper is designed to assess your understanding of appropriate behaviour for a doctor in difficult situations and allow you to demonstrate the application of competencies such as professional integrity, coping with pressure, and empathy and sensitivity. It does not require specific knowledge of general practice but does assume general familiarity with typical primary and secondary care procedures.

Your responses should represent appropriate behaviour for a second year Foundation doctor. Scoring is based on how close your responses are to the most appropriate response for the item. The most appropriate response is determined by a panel of expert GPs. We only include questions where there is a consensus between our expert panel regarding the most appropriate response to the situation. Applicants can score highly in these questions by providing an answer that is close to, but not identical to that from the expert group. The closer your answer is to our experts responses the more points you will gain for the question.

Click here to view some updated Professional Dilemmas Example Questions


Preparation hints:

  • Papers are NOT negatively marked so make sure you answer all the questions.
  • Read instructions and questions carefully. You may invalidate your answer by responding inappropriately e.g. marking more options than were asked for.
  • There may be times when you would like more information to answer questions. Just give your best answer given the information provided.
  • Read the example questions carefully. If you feel you would benefit from revisiting some areas of knowledge or practice in order to be better able to show your capability then you should do this before the assessment.
  • We will provide a glossary where questions use terms or abbreviations which are not in universal use or may be misunderstood by some candidates.
 

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