Core Surgery Applications - Part I (the form)

So, most people will be finishing off their forms by now and I thought I'd thrown in a few last minute tips on completing your applications.

1) Firstly, brevity is essential! Most of the questions are limited to 65 words!! Ensure every word counts but write in clear and concise sentences. Bullet points look scruffy and unprofessional. You do not have space to list every achievement so highlight the most impressive and quickly mention the others.

2) Be honest. Whilst its important to "big up" your achievements, lying will only hurt your chances at interview as they can be very thorough with questioning. Also this is a probity issue and can lead to referral to the GMC.

3) Teaching is a very important part of being a surgeon. Don't just list your teaching experiences. If you have organised teaching then explain this, mention any feedback you have received and any plans you have to build on your experiences. Also, if you have had any training or attended a course to help with teaching then also state this.

4) Audits. Be honest and explain how you contributed to each audit. Also, whether outcomes were implemented and if re-audit has been done (state this as that's key to finishing the audit loop). If the audit has been presented or published then state this too. If you have done tons of audits then state how many and highlight a few examples rather than listing everything.

5) Commitment to speciality. This is very personal and I think you need to show how long you have been interested in the speciality and how you have explored it further. Mention electives, courses, placements, research, if you have sat any exams etc...

Anyway, I know this is brief but just wanted to give a few ideas out there. Please note, I am only posting my opinion but I do not know what the Deaneries are looking for and how they mark these questions. This is just advise based on experience of having applied last year and as such should not be taken as anything more than this. I do not accept any liability for any unsuccessful applications (sorry).

Good luck!!!

Amel

Hand Surgery and so much more!

For anyone interested in hand surgery and/or working in developing countries and/or anatomy and/or art:

www.donaldsammut.com

I went to a talk he gave at the RSM on tuesday and it left me very impressed and inspired. In fact the whole evening was a great start to the Plastics section.

Journal Club - November

Hi all,

I was very impressed by the response to the first journal club paper. This month, I have chosen a paper that is very clinically relevant and addresses a common problem but management is often fraught with controversy. So this month's paper is:

J Bone Joint Surg Br. 2011 Oct;93(10):1362-6.

The non-operative functional management of patients with a rupture of the tendo Achillis leads to low rates of re-rupture.

Wallace RG, Heyes GJ, Michael AL.

I will pot my assessment in a few days time and would appreciate any input from you guys. Also if you would like to suggest any papers for next month, please go ahead! I would welcome input. FINALLY, I shall be putting up some posts on core training applications soon as well as more MRCS advice...

First update

Seems like Amel has been pretty busy over the last few days blogging. Congratulations to Amel and Tarik for their poster presentation, no doubt it wil tick all the right boxes when it comes to Core surgical training application.

In my end, i have been relatively busy with my vascular job, which i am thoroughly enjoying. I had very little exposure tovascular surgery as a student, however this job has opened  my eyes to the joys of vascular surgery, in particular the wide range of extraordinary surgeries that are being performed everyday such as visceral hybrid repairs, arch hybrid repair, type 1-4 thoracoabdominal aneurysm repairs, carotid endarterectomies, carotid-carotid bypass etc. I shall blog about these interesting procedures in the near future.

In addition to the free MRCS advice given by Amel, i just would like to add a few more tips.

 Consider tutoring groups of medical students, this will help refresh examination skillls, as well as help you to examine a wide variety of patients who you may not see otherwise. For example: being a vascular house officer, i am only exposed to vascular patients, this means that for the next few months i will not see/examine many general surgical patients. By tutoring a group of final year students, in addition to learning vascular surgery, i will be exposed to general surgical, and orthopaedic patients. This will no doubt be invaluable when i prepare for the MRCS Part B. In addition, the students can also fill out feedback form for the teaching you provide, which wil of couse tick the 'teaching experience' part of your job application form/interview.

So keep tuned for blogs on further MRCS advice, tips, hints, as well as posts on current vascular surgical procedures.

Romesh