IMT Interview Qbank

IMT is a two or three-year programme that doctors who wish to pursue physician specialty training starting at ST3 or ST4 level must complete first. The time is spent rotating through medical specialties within a hospital setting in 4-6 monthly blocks as a medical senior house officer (SHO).

Every doctor must complete IMT years 1 and 2 as part of this programme. However, only those who wish to pursue a specialty that ends in a dual certificate of completion of training (CCT) in both the primary specialty as well as general medicine must complete an IMT year 3. This group of specialties is referred to as Group 1, and entry into specialty training is at ST4 level thereafter.

Specialties that are in Group 2 do not result in dual CCT; therefore, doctors wishing to pursue a Group 2 specialty do not need to complete an IMT 3 year in order to enter at ST3 level.

Application to IMT training is via a national recruitment process on a website called Oriel.

There are generally two application windows per year, referred to as 'Round 1' and 'Round 2'.

Round 1 usually runs in October-November, and Round 2 later in the year. If you are thinking about applying for IMT, you should note that applications are only open for short windows so you should leave plenty of time for your application and check the IMT recruitment website for a timeline so you do not miss your opportunity to apply.

Alongside basic details such as your name and experience to date, the application form on Oriel will ask specific portfolio questions that allow your application to be scored and ranked, shown in the table below. This is referred to as your shortlisting score or application score.

Application Scoring Categories:

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  Postgraduate degrees and qualifications

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  Additional achievements

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  Presentations

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  Publications

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  Teaching

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  Quality Improvement

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  Leadership

A minimum application score is required to make it past the application stage and to be shortlisted for interview. The minimum score required varies from year to year. Historical scores are published on the IMT recruitment website.

The interview involves three stations:

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  Application and suitability for IMT

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  Clinical scenario and patient handover

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  Ethical, professionalism and governance

The IMT recruitment 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 score is given out of 5 by each interviewer. This is combined with your application score to provide you with an overall total score that will form the basis of your ranking compared with other applicants.

A candidate will score 5/5 if they are deemed an excellent candidate; that is, performing 'at the level expected at IMT or above.'

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 in the top 1% of IMT 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 and frameworks

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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

Here are some station-specific tips

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  For clinical stations during an IMT interview, try to think of how a 'Med Reg' would approach things, or what your consultant may say on the post-take ward round; think a few steps ahead of the basic answer

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  For ethical and professionalism stations, try and link your answers back to the GMC Good Medical Practice