The CST Interview Video Bank '25/26 Membership
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- Introduction
Section 1 - Management Presentation

Reflect on your experience of leadership when working as a team member and how this will be useful as a core trainee.
Section 2 - Follow-up Questions

What is a clinical audit?
What is your experience of clinical audit?
What is the difference between research and audit?
When have you not acted as good team member?
What are the pros and cons to admitting your mistakes?
What is the difference between a manager and a leader?
Should all trainees be required to carry out research?
Where do you hope to be in 10 years?
Why do you want to become a surgeon?
What do you dislike about a surgical career?
How do you recognise when you are stressed and how do you handle stress?
Is teamwork important in surgery?
What makes a poor leader?
What is the worst experience you have had as a teacher?
What kind of leader are you?
What is clinical governance and how are you involved in it?
Can leadership be learned?
Do you think leadership is necessary in surgery?
What challenges have you faced as a leader and how are these relevant for CST?
Should a leader by feared or liked?
Why is research important in surgery?
Why do you enjoy teaching?
What are the qualities of a good teacher?
What are the qualities of a good team member?
How are you involved in clinical governance?
Do you work better alone or in a team?
What is your greatest strength?
What is your greatest weakness?
What makes a good leader?
What is a stressful situation in which you showed leadership?
Who is responsible for clinical governance?
Section 3 - Management Questions

Introduction
Consent, competence and capacity
A patient has refused to be treated by a foreign doctor. How would you respond?
A consultant is drunk at work. How would you respond?
If you were the only doctor available, would you perform a life-saving procedure you have never done before without support?
Two patients from different teams require urgent operations but there is only one operating room. How would you proceed?
A patient has consented for the removal of a foreign body from the right leg. Once the patient is under general anaesthetic, you realise the foreign body is on the left leg. How would you proceed?
You incorrectly marked the surgical site, resulting in the patient having the wrong mole removed. Given the patient has come to harm, what steps would you take next?
Your consultant is not interested in teaching. How would you respond?
Your consultant has asked you to consent a patient for a procedure you have no knowledge about. How would you respond?
You receive your rota, where you are working a much greater number of on-calls and bank holidays than your colleagues. How would you respond?
You have been asked to complete a DNACPR form with a patient and their next of kin. What would this require?
What is the Mental Health Act?
Section 4 - ATLS

The ATLS Protocol: Template Answer
Abdominal/ Pelvic Trauma
Head Trauma
Paediatric Trauma
Chest Trauma
Burns
Hip Trauma
Limb Trauma
Section 5 - CCRISP

The CCrISP Protocol: Template Answer
Post-op: Low Urine Output
Post-op: Confusion
Post-op: Hypotension
Post-op: Leg Pain
Right Upper Quadrant Pain
Right Iliac Fossa Pain
Loin Pain
Epigastric Pain
Post-op: Abdominal Pain
Abdominal Distension
Swollen Joint

The CST Interview Video Bank '25/26 Membership

65+ videos on CST Interview frameworks, answers to common scenarios and advice from the highest-ranking applicants across the UK. Learn the pitch, pacing, and tone that candidates use to get to the next level, sign up now. Membership lasts until the end of the respective interview cycle.