Anaesthetics Interview

Core Anaesthetics Training is a three-year programme that doctors who wish to pursue anaesthetic training starting as an ST4 registrar must complete first.

The route into anaesthetics training is also possible via the Acute Care Common Stem (ACCS) programme, where doctors spend an additional year (four years in total) rotating across allied acute specialties, such as acute medicine and emergency medicine, before being able to commence anaesthetics training as a registrar at ST4.

Application to Core Anaesthetics Training is via a national recruitment process on a website called Oriel. This is run by ANRO, the Anaestheics National Recruitment Office. There may be multiple recruitment rounds throughout the year, but Round 1 usually runs in October-November.

To obtain an interview, candidates must score highly in the Mutli-Specialty Recruitment Assessment (MSRA). You will be invited to sit this exam after you apply. Interviews are allocated after results are available, with priority given to those who have scored most highly in the assessment; there is no cut off to be invited to interview, but if you are applying in a year where your peers score much higher than you on average, you may miss out as slots are allocated based on ranking.

The interview involves two stations:

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  Clinical scenario

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  General interview

The ANRO website provides a detailed breakdown of what is to be expected at each of these stations.

Each station is marked by two interviewers and a total score of 100 is available at interview. A matrix describing how scores are allocated has been published by ANRO.

The interview score is combined with the MSRA score to provide a total application score that will form the basis of your ranking compared with other applicants. The higher your rank, the more likely you will receive your first choice job. You should note that the total score is weighed significantly in favour of the interview.

We have worked with doctors who have scored highly in applications to generate an extensive online interview question bank covering a range of scenarios that you may encounter on the day across each station.

Our question bank will give you plenty of opportunities to read model answers and to learn the structures and frameworks you need to navigate the tough questions you may face at interview.

Alongside our written knowledge library, we have also developed a number of instructive videos showcasing model answers so you can see how a top-performing candidate might perform face to face.

We also spoke to top-performing doctors who have been through the interview process and asked them for any other preparation tips, and this is what they suggested:

Plan a strategy and leave plenty of time

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  You should approach an interview like preparing for an exam

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  Don't leave everything to the last minute

Buddy up with a friend or someone who has been through it and get them to do mock interviews

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  It's helpful to try to do this with someone more senior or someone you know less well, to replicate the anxiety you may face of having to perform at interview

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  Put yourself out there and be uncomfortable - it's okay to make mistakes when practising

Come up with solid structures

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  It's useful to go through Quesmed's example videos and written content as it will allow you to see patterns in how best to approach any given question style

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  This will allow you to think on your feet if the question asked on the day is not the exact same one that you prepared

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  Remember, most questions can fit into a handful of well-known interview frameworks that are illustrated on our interview question bank

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  Practise these frameworks heavily so you can adapt them to any question thrown in your direction

Make a list of every possible question you could be asked and write the model answers down, personalised to you

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  Practice makes perfect - rehearse those answers until it's second nature

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  Remember to try and link your experiences and achievements back to why this may make you better at your chosen career path

Speak to those around you and learn from their experience of the interview

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  Sometimes, questions that you may have never thought would be asked have come up in the past

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  Learn from the mistakes that others have made around you