Personal Characteristics

Question 1

Rapport: importance and how to build

Answer 1

Rapport- basis of trust for the consultation, must be quick to provide effective care, build rapport with team to facilitate your learning opportunities, create positive atmosphere within team.

Strong introduction: Name role and open questions ‘how are you? Weekend? Did you make your way well today?

Non verbal: be confident, smile, demonstrate active listening

If a patient is feeling uneasy, approach more quietly still with a firm introduction ask how was their weekend then explore how are they feeling.

Question 2

Laymans terms: define and method to define a condition.

Answer 2

Layman’s terms: used to explain knowledge to someone with no prior knowledge (no jargon) this is vital to obtain informed consent from a patient.

Verbal skills: analogies, parallels, tailor to patients assumed knowledge (nurse or no med background).

Non-verbal: drawing aids/images, leaflets, websites (NHS Choices)

To describe a condition to a patient: describe condition, how it can be treated, complications, lifestyle factors, how these changes will affect condition

Question 3

Task prioritisation: importance, contextual importance and method.

Answer 3

Task prioritisation: increases efficiency and efficacy, focus and productivity.

Prioritising studying and placement is important to pass GMC exams. Important to improve the quality of time spent on tasks. Important to provide organisation and control over deadlines and schedule.

Eisenhower matrix: urgent important matrix is a good method of prioritisation.

Question 4

Teamwork: definition importance and principles of teamwork

Answer 4

Teamwork: attitude and sense that individuals can support each other so that their strengths combine to enhance their tasks/jobs.

Teamwork is important as it increases efficacy and encourages new ideas and mindsets, welcoming creativity and a positive work environment, builds confidence as a group.

Principles of teamwork: clear purpose and meaning, agree on ambitious goals, communicate coherently and regularly, define diverse roles.

Question 5

MDT members and focus, how its a positive teamwork environment.

Answer 5

MDT: Doctors, nurses, Physios, occupational therapists, auxiliary carers, dieticians, social workers, determined by qualifications and aims to come together for patient wellbeing and facilitate the best standard of care. Patient in the most important member of the MDT, the focus of the mdt’s goals.

Teamwork: provides a safe environment, reduced errors, ensures support, protects against burnout and mental illness, positive environment, more efficient.

Question 6

Missing teammate: factors, approach, key attributes.

Answer 6

Missing teammate: asked to consider factors within a team.

Difficulty of tasks, required help, personal factors such as understanding, health, social issues, learning difficulties. How would you contribute: empathetic, understanding, get to the bottom of the issue don’t jump to conclusions.

Approach: empathetic understanding, stages response and gradual tackling of problems, gradual escalation, try to solve locally.

Create a mental outline: work vs personal life.
Be empathetic: verbal / non-verbal.

Question 7

Key qualities of a good team player

Answer 7

communicating clearly, and regularly, active contribution, able to work together and dedicated, can create and implement effective solutions and supporting members.

Question 8

Problems within a team:

Answer 8

dominating team member, non-contributing member, low morale, disagreements, lack of coordination, leadership issues.

Question 9

Conflict resolution:

Answer 9

what’s gone wrong? Active listening (sensitivity and respect), mention past events and behaviours. Manage personal expectations vs team goals (align with end-goal) and prioritise, identify agreements and disagreements, develop solutions. Monitor and offer feedback on changes, provide support and motivation.

Question 10

importance and role of good leadership:

Answer 10

make judgement calls incorporating a variety on input, coordinate effort towards patient care, ensuring team members feel supported, setting direction to overcome challenges.

Role model, inspiring and motivating, sensitivity to others and support, lead and facilitate communication, helping members to grow and develop, elicit feedback and bring about a change.

Question 11

How to approach a confrontational teammate?

Answer 11

Take control and urge to speak in private, What led this teammate to be confrontational and ask them why this isn’t appropriate, corrective measures, apologies, prevention (rules?).

Control. Resolution, corrective measures.

Question 12

Qualities required in medicine?

Answer 12

resilience, problem solving, leadership and teamwork, empathy and compassion, planning and organisation.

Question 13

To demonstrate a quality

Answer 13

STARR , context, main challenge? Possible ways to behave, possible consequences, so action you took, how did it affect /resolve challenge, benefits of action, EBI?

Question 14

Gibbs reflective cycle?

Answer 14

Description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion (EBI), Action plan for next time.

Question 15

How are doctors academic?

Answer 15

Lifelong learning, up to date in skills and knowledge, duty to educate future doctors and colleagues, improvement and continuous learning and personal development

Question 16

How do doctors learn?

Answer 16

Mistakes are most critical to learn, local environment from fellow professionals, worldwide from talks and conferences, literature by keeping up to date with recent publications.

Question 17

Why do we fail and how do we fix mistakes?

Answer 17

Why do we fail? Mistakes, tiredness, lack of knowledge.

How do we fix mistakes? Reflection, advice, support, action plans

Question 18

Stress: define acute/chronic, dealing with stress

Answer 18

Acute stress is a bodily reaction after an unexpected crises or traumatic event, quick but severe, may cause anxiety low mood irritability, poor concentration and sleep.

Chronic stress is prolonged and constant, occurs when stressors are so frequent that the relaxation responses are not activated, can cause aches pains, low energy, fatigue.

Prioritise and execute strategy to reduce stress/workload : highest priority issue, explain it to team and brainstorm solutions, execute plan and repeat.

Maintain hobbies, control stressful situation can reduce anxiety, selfcare can provide a boost of motivation and morale, support networks.

Question 19

Why is organisation and time management important? How to stay organised?

Answer 19

Large and intense workload, prioritising is critical, unexpected changes may call for contingency plans, reliable team member is and example of portraying good organisation and time management.

Demonstrate awareness of medicine as a demanding profession, state importance of being organised, prioritisation (evaluation), effective time management.

Plan/deadlines, prioritisation, motivation to succeed and create contingencies.

Start early and think ahead, be realistic (have other things to do) allow time for comments and feedback.

Don’t try and squeeze work in, don’t rush and submit too early, don’t suffer In silence and not ask a supervisor.

Question 20

Overcoming adversity: relevance, overcoming adversity

Answer 20

large and intense workload, long difficult training, unforeseen circumstances, moving on (as a team).

Resilience: type of adversity (school,home,physical,mental?), how did you cope (work harder, learn, unexpected route, support?)

Question 21

Self reflection: define, importance, relevance in doctors life, communal definition

Answer 21

ability to witness and evaluate our own cognitive, emotional and behavioural processes.

Important to assess ways of working, thinking and studying to identify weaknesses and for self-improvement.

In a doctors life: encourages learning and personal development, increases self-awareness, helps deal with stress by managing stress, reduces complexity of situations by providing different perspectives and thus different solutions.

Communal learning: share reflection with team to allow other members to overcome the recurrence of your adversity.

Question 22

Importance of self awareness:

Answer 22

demonstrate and play to your strengths, understanding how traits became your strengths, identify areas for improvement or support.

Question 23

How to identify strengths and weaknesses:

Answer 23

be fair and realistic, evidence to display those traits, keep it relevant to medicine so not a good badminton player but a committed team member which relates to medicine. Positive spin on weaknesses, currently working on this, not always so good at this and include current efforts to fix this.

Question 24

Making and explaining a mistake:

Answer 24

Common, owning mistakes with integrity and often shared accountability, identifying mistakes and damage control is vital, escalating and seeking support when necessary.

Situation: mistake, context, consequences

Action: when did you identify the mistake, solutions? , who do you need to remedy? , responsibility and apologise.

Reflect: factors led to mistake, what could be done differently next time?
Gibbs reflective cycle: Description, feelings, evaluation (www/ebi), analysis, conclusion (lesson?), action

Situational Judgement: Patient Safety/confidentiality, Patient Autonomy, Conflict Resolution, Professionalism.

Components of response:
Situation: parties, primary problem/conflict?
Considerations: risks, consequences of acting?
Evaluation: weigh up considerations, decide on appropriate action.

• Seek information
• Patient safety
• Initiative
• Escalate
• Support

Question 25

Accepting Responsibility: define, doctors responsibility

Answer 25

having a duty to deal with or have control over someone or something.

Responsibility of a doctor: patient care, knowledge, learning/improvement, communication. Passion, professionalism, adherence to rules/ethic, resilience.

Question 26

Absenteeism: define, importance to fix, methods

Answer 26

regularly staying away from work or school without good reason

Greater strain on other members of team, greater burnout, poorer patient outcomes, poorer quality doctors.

Approach with no bias or assumed knowledge, offer help.

Have an up-front, honest conversation about their behaviour and signpost the help available.

If these efforts don’t work, communicate to a senior, this shouldn’t be kept behind anyone’s back.
Minimum force required approach, staged escalation.

Key idea:
Whistleblowing: Healthcare Professional raising a concern about malpractice, risk, wrongdoing or illegality which can cause harm to patients, colleagues and or wider public. NHS have their own policy and also CQC.