NHS INTERVIEW GUIDE

Specialty Doctor and Clinical Fellow Interview Questions: What Panels Look For

What NHS panels look for in specialty doctor, SAS and clinical fellow interviews, the question themes to prepare, a worked STAR example and common mistakes.

Last updated 24 October 2026 · Created by a practising NHS doctor · Independent of the NHS

Quick answer

What questions are asked in a specialty doctor interview?

Specialty doctor and clinical fellow interviews usually cover motivation for the specialty and trust, acute clinical scenarios, on-call prioritisation, escalation, clinical governance, audit and QI, teaching and supervision, teamwork and career plans. Panels look for safe judgement, insight into your limits and genuine commitment to the department. Prepare real examples for each theme and practise them out loud.

Key takeaways

Expect clinical scenarios and prioritisation questions.
Prepare one audit or QI project that closed the loop.
Give specific reasons for the specialty and trust.
State career aims honestly, including the Portfolio Pathway.
Describe principles and follow local policy, not figures.

NHS specialty doctor (SAS) and clinical fellow or trust grade interviews usually focus on safe clinical judgement, prioritisation, teamwork, clinical governance, audit and quality improvement, teaching, and why you want this specialty and this trust. Panels want to see that you can work with growing independence, know when to escalate, and will add something to the department beyond filling a rota.

This guide explains what panels look for, the main question themes with practice questions, how to talk about career plans such as the specialist grade or the Portfolio Pathway, a worked STAR example, how to prepare and the mistakes to avoid. The questions here are original practice themes, not questions taken from any real interview, and formats vary between trusts, so always read the job description and person specification.

In this guide

What do panels look for in a specialty doctor interview?
What is the difference between a specialty doctor and a clinical fellow interview?
What questions are asked in a specialty doctor interview?
How do you answer clinical scenario and prioritisation questions?
How do you talk about clinical governance, audit and QI in an interview?
How should you answer questions about teaching and supervision?
Why this specialty and why this trust?
How do you answer career plan questions as a specialty doctor?
Worked STAR example: escalating a deteriorating patient
How to prepare for a specialty doctor interview
Common mistakes in specialty doctor interviews

What do panels look for in a specialty doctor interview?

Panels look for a doctor who is clinically safe, works well in a team, contributes to governance and teaching, and will stay and grow with the department. For specialty doctor posts they expect more independence than for a junior clinical fellow, including supervising others and managing a caseload or clinic.

The panel is usually a consultant or two from the department, sometimes the clinical director or a medical staffing representative, and occasionally someone from medical education. Most interviews last around 20 to 40 minutes, but check your invitation for anything extra, such as a short presentation.

Clinical safety: sound reasoning, recognising limits and escalating early.
Prioritisation: triaging competing demands by clinical risk.
Governance: incident reporting, learning from errors, audit and quality improvement.
Teaching and supervision: supporting foundation doctors, students, nurses and other staff.
Professionalism: honesty, openness and the principles in the GMC's Good Medical Practice.
Fit and commitment: genuine interest in the specialty, the service and the trust.

What is the difference between a specialty doctor and a clinical fellow interview?

Clinical fellow and trust grade interviews tend to test whether you can work safely at a junior or middle grade level, while specialty doctor interviews test whether you can work with more autonomy and take on responsibility for service, supervision and improvement. The core themes overlap, so the same bank of examples often serves both.

For a clinical fellow post, expect more on on-call prioritisation, escalation and learning goals, and sometimes on how the post fits your development plans. For a specialty doctor post, expect more on running clinics or lists, supervising juniors, leading audits or projects, and how you will contribute long term. Titles and responsibilities vary between trusts, so read the job plan closely.

What questions are asked in a specialty doctor interview?

Most questions fall into clinical scenarios, prioritisation, governance, teaching, teamwork and motivation. Here are 12 practice questions to rehearse; wording in a real interview will differ.

Motivation: Why have you applied for this specialty, and why our trust?
Career plans: Where do you see yourself in five years?
Clinical scenario: You are called to see a patient who has become acutely unwell on the ward. Talk us through your approach.
Prioritisation: You are the only middle grade on call and receive three urgent requests at once. What do you do?
Escalation: When would you call your consultant out of hours?
Governance: Tell us about a clinical incident you were involved in and what changed afterwards.
Audit and QI: Describe an audit or quality improvement project you led and its impact.
Teaching: How do you support and supervise foundation doctors?
Teamwork: Tell us about a disagreement with a colleague about a patient's care and how you resolved it.
Professionalism: What would you do if you were worried a colleague was unsafe to work?
Keeping up to date: How do you maintain your knowledge and prepare for appraisal?
Contribution: What would you bring to this department?

How do you answer clinical scenario and prioritisation questions?

Answer clinical scenarios with a clear, structured approach: assess, stabilise, gather information, escalate appropriately and document, following local policy. Panels care more about safe reasoning than about quoting exact figures.

For acute scenarios, many doctors use a systematic airway to exposure assessment and say when they would involve seniors, outreach or other specialties. For prioritisation, explain how you would gather information from each caller, see the sickest patient first, delegate tasks that others can safely do, and tell people when you will reach them. Avoid quoting doses or thresholds you are unsure of; describe the principle and say you would follow trust guidance. Mention patient communication and documentation, which candidates often forget.

How do you talk about clinical governance, audit and QI in an interview?

Pick one project you genuinely contributed to and explain the problem, the standard you measured against, what you found, what you changed and what happened when you re-audited or measured again. Panels want to hear about closing the loop, not just collecting data.

If you have not led a project, talk honestly about one you supported and what you would do differently as lead. Show that you understand governance more widely too: incident reporting, morbidity and mortality meetings, learning from complaints, and the duty of candour. Saying you would report incidents to improve systems, not to blame people, shows the right attitude.

How should you answer questions about teaching and supervision?

Give a specific example of teaching you delivered, how you adapted it to the learners, and how you gathered feedback. For specialty doctor posts, also show how you supervise juniors safely on the ward and on call.

Good answers mention informal bedside teaching as well as formal sessions, making yourself approachable, and supporting struggling colleagues. Any teaching qualification or course is worth naming, but practical examples matter more.

Why this specialty and why this trust?

Link your answer to real experience in the specialty, what you enjoy about the work, and something specific about the trust or department that fits your skills and goals. Generic answers that could apply anywhere are one of the most common reasons candidates score poorly here.

Read the trust's website and annual report, look at the department's services, and if the advert offers it, contact the named consultant for an informal conversation. Then mention one or two concrete points, such as a service you would like to be involved in or a teaching programme you could contribute to.

How do you answer career plan questions as a specialty doctor?

Be honest and specific about where you want to be, and show how this post helps you get there while benefiting the department. Panels generally welcome ambition when it is realistic and paired with commitment to the service.

Common career aims include progressing within the SAS career structure, for example towards the specialist grade where it exists, developing a special interest, taking on teaching or leadership roles, or pursuing specialist registration through the GMC's Portfolio Pathway, which was previously known as CESR. If that is your plan, say so plainly and explain how the post's clinical exposure, supervision and appraisal would help you build evidence. Avoid suggesting you only want the post as a stepping stone; show what you will give back while you develop.

Worked STAR example: escalating a deteriorating patient

STAR stands for situation, task, action and result, and adding reflection at the end works well for doctors. Keep the setting brief and spend most of your answer on what you did. Adapt this example to your own experience rather than learning it word for word.

Example answer: escalation and prioritisation (specialty doctor applicant)

Situation: I was the medical middle grade on a busy night shift, covering the acute medical unit and several wards with two foundation doctors.

Task: Around midnight, a foundation doctor called me about a patient whose early warning score had risen sharply, while I was reviewing a new admission with chest pain and had two more patients waiting in the department.

Action: I asked a few quick questions to judge urgency, then asked the foundation doctor to start an initial assessment and request the investigations our local pathway recommends. I handed my current patient over safely to a nurse with a clear plan and went straight to the ward. The patient looked unwell, so I followed the trust's sepsis and escalation pathway, called critical care outreach early, and informed the on-call consultant as our local escalation policy required. I kept the department team updated and reprioritised the waiting patients with the nurse in charge.

Result: The patient was stabilised and moved to a higher level of care. The waiting patients were seen safely, and I documented everything with times.

Reflection: Afterwards, I ran a short teaching session for the foundation doctors on recognising and escalating deterioration, and I now agree an escalation plan with juniors at the start of each night shift.

How to prepare for a specialty doctor interview

Read the job description, job plan and person specification line by line, and match a real example to each essential criterion.
Build a bank of eight to ten examples: deterioration, prioritisation, an incident, an audit or QI project, teaching, conflict, a mistake and leadership.
Review Good Medical Practice and your trust's or specialty's key pathways at principle level.
Research the trust and department, and take up any offer of an informal visit or conversation.
Practise out loud with a supervisor, colleague or peer group. Trust medical education teams, royal colleges and the BMA may also offer career resources.
Use self-study material to rehearse structure. Healthcare Interview Prep has medical and dental question banks with written model answers, the first 8 free per role; it is a self-study resource, not live coaching or mock interviews.

Common mistakes in specialty doctor interviews

Generic motivation: answers that could apply to any trust or specialty.
Hiding behind 'we': the panel cannot tell what you personally did.
No limits: never mentioning escalation or seeking senior advice.
Quoting uncertain figures: wrong thresholds or doses damage credibility; state principles instead.
Unfinished audits: describing data collection without changes or re-measurement.
Vague career plans: or plans that suggest you will leave as soon as possible.
Forgetting the patient: process answers that never mention communication with patients and families.

Frequently asked questions

What questions are asked in a clinical fellow interview?

Clinical fellow interviews often cover why you want the post and the department, an acute clinical scenario, prioritisation on call, escalation, teamwork, an audit or QI project, teaching and a mistake you learned from. Some ask how the post fits your development plans. Questions vary between trusts, so prepare real examples for each theme and practise talking through scenarios in a calm, structured way.

How long is a specialty doctor interview in the NHS?

Many specialty doctor interviews last around 20 to 40 minutes, usually with a panel of consultants and sometimes medical staffing or the clinical director. Some trusts add a short presentation or a discussion about your portfolio. Your invitation should explain the format, and if it does not, it is reasonable to ask the medical staffing team or the named contact on the advert.

Should I mention the Portfolio Pathway or CESR in my interview?

If specialist registration is genuinely your aim, it is usually fine to say so. The GMC's Portfolio Pathway was previously called CESR. Explain how the post's clinical exposure, supervision and appraisal would help you develop, and balance it with what you will contribute to the department. Panels tend to respond well to honest, realistic plans that also show commitment to the service.

What is the best way to answer prioritisation questions as a doctor?

Show that you triage by clinical risk. Gather key information from each request, see the sickest patient first, delegate safely where appropriate, escalate early to seniors or outreach if needed, and tell people when you will reach them. Mention documentation and communication. Describe principles and say you would follow local policy rather than quoting thresholds you are unsure of.

How do I prepare for a trust grade doctor interview?

Start with the person specification and prepare a real example for each essential criterion. Cover clinical scenarios, prioritisation, governance, audit or QI, teaching and teamwork, and research the trust and department. Practise out loud with colleagues or a supervisor and ask for honest feedback. Self-study question banks can help you rehearse structure, but pair them with spoken practice.

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