A complete guide to preparing for your CST and ST1/ST3

Surgical training is highly competitive and requires preparation, dedication and an understanding of the principles of selection.

Your application will be evaluated across a range of competences according to objective criteria, with selection based primarily on your:

• surgical portfolio – evidence of relevant experience and achievements to date, which is used to demonstrate your suitability for a role
• surgical interview – a range of ‘stations’ designed to assess specific areas of the selection criteria

This book is a practical guide to help you build an impressive portfolio and deliver a quality performance at interview. It offers key advice on these two areas of assessment, as follows:

The surgical portfolio:

• Advice on where to start and how to maximise the benefit you gain from each opportunity.
• Each portfolio domain is discussed in turn, explaining the context and rationale and providing a guide to maximising your performance in each area.
• Example opportunities are provided for you to pursue to help to adapt your experience to the specific assessment criteria.

The surgical interview:

• Understand the rationale behind the questioning to help you tailor your answers to maximise scoring.
• Answer templates with key guidance to help you provide effective answers based on your portfolio experiences.
• Guidance on contemporary surgical topics to help you with discussion and debate.