interviews

[nicolacurrie]

NOVEMBER!!!!??? :eek:

HI. just reading Damien's announcement there and was wondering what advice all you acceped medics out there can give to us wannabes? Anything in particular to research? or even just tell us what kind of things you all did to prepare?

l'n'h

nic x :p

[jojo]

nic have you actually read the questions wow scary!!!Think ill have to definately look some stuff up.Did anyone actually find out how long it takes to become a consultant surgeon?

Cya Joanna:)

[nicolacurrie]

nope, we didn't find out about the consultant surgeon.

As for the interview questions - yup, very scary indeed!! When i'm better and can actually talk properly i'm going to be interviewing Dr. Lough (for all of you who don't know he is my friend's daddy and a GP at Airdrie Health Centre) He is also going to be interviewing me so i'll let you all know on the results of that.

nic with the sore throat :( xx

[andrewbaillie]

Does anyone know for sure when the graduate interviews take place. I read somewhere that its march but I thought that was quite late. I also wondered because Damien said he got his in November.

[elliottsimpson]

There is a tendency to ask topical questions and anthrax could be one such subject. Have a look at http://www.phls.org.uk/facts/anthraxindex.htm for details.

Elliott

;)

[jojo]

Does that mean that the website on anthrax is up and running Elliott?hehe if that question comes up anywhere remind me to thank the man from Edinburgh uni!!:)

Joanna

[elliottsimpson]

The address above will lead you to the Public Health Laboratory Service web-site page on Anthrax. The options there are :-

Anthrax

General Information on Anthrax

(You can get access to this without additional software: for the next two items you'll need Adobe Arobat Reader - and you can down-load this free if you don't already have it.)

Questions Commonly asked by Health Care Providers about Anthrax

Provisional Guidelines for Action in the Event of a Deliberate Release

Notification of Infectious Diseases

Then there is a disease facts index.

There hasn't been any recent press releases on ANthrax - but keep looking and you'll soon get the latest gen there.

Elliott




:cool:

[Damien]

I am not an expert on interviews - I just wrote down all my questions and compiled questions that were posed to other people.

Just make sure you have an answer to all of those questions as a basis for your interview. Other questions may be completely miscellaneous or just conversational.

What I noticed from my interview in Aberdeen was that you can 'control' the interview. You can answer a question then emphasise more on it bringing in other details - the interviewers will 'lock onto' these additional comments and ask about them - they seemed to do that with me. Also, when the first interviewer was asking me questions the other two were just sitting down writing down what questions they were going to ask me - probably from what I was saying to the first interviewer. That's how I got that consultant surgeon question. Really, I think the time in becoming a consultant is a very random thing from my experience, but surgery should certainly take longer, so thats why I said that. One of my friends up here has a regent who is only 33 and he is a consultant paediatrician, which, to me, seems pretty young, but I don't know. Derek will know better. If you want to avoid getting questions like that then you should avoid that area in your interview - talk about what you know about most so as to not change the subject.

General tips would probably be the obvious ones like dress smartly (suits etc.), be early for your interview (I went 10 minutes early and I was taken early) and just try to remain calm. I was a nervous reck when I was getting mine and I think I stuttered about four or five times but the interviewers will understand that you are nervous. I have met two of my interviewers since coming up to Aberdeen, one of them being a doctor and the other being one of my lecturers - they are very nice people. So whatever you do, don't go in there expecting to see three pairs of eyes staring at you as you sit in a steel chair under a spot light. And if you get a grilling then again just stay calm and answer to the best of your ability. And if you do not know the answer to a question then talk around it - don't just sit there and look terrified. I was saying things like "I would imagine that..." which seemed to work well. I was just using my common sense for the hard questions which is maybe what they are looking for. In one of our problem based learning classes, the first question was "...using common sense..." and our answer ended up being totally complicated and too in-depth when the real answer was a simple one. When I was asked about the advantages of long/short hours I just used common sense to answer it - I didn't try to think of statistics or anything.

Elliott mentioned keeping up with medical related events - take his advice. I am sure you will be asked about Anthrax. At the time of my interview the case about the doctor who had been responsible for the deaths of over 30 people in different hospitals through bad practice was on the news and they asked me about that. So study up! I wish I could tell you some more but as I say I don't know much about interviews at all but hopefully the above should help you a wee bit.

Damien :evil

[kenclark1uk]

Andrew, i think that the graduate interviews are held quite early on (Nov/Dec).

Did you send any additional information along to the uni's you applied to? I was going to send my logbook and course outline but i am not sure about this. I will wait and see what you and others think.

Kenny

[nicolacurrie]

There is that really big court case going on just now about that woman who wants to make sure that her husband will not be proscecuted if he helps her kill herself. There hasn't been a descision yet. Has it not ben going on for a while?

nic x

ps. what of you lucky bunnys got Aberdeen interviews?

[relliott]

watch out for questions about euthanasia. try and walk the middle ground neither for nor against it. They'll want you to be open to other views

[DScollon]

Another possible line of questioning in light of recent events is emergency medicine in terms of...

1. Overwhelming numbers of casualties (i.e. major incidents)
2. Chemical attacks
3. Biological attacks (like anthrax)

[elliottsimpson]

http://www.questdiagnostics.com is a web-site for Quest who do 250 million assays a year.

Quest Diagnostics Responds to Questions About Testing for Bioterrorism Agents
October 16, 2001

Following the recent events involving threats of bioterrorism, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has received hundreds of inquiries about our laboratories' role in testing for anthrax and other bioterrorism agents. Responses to these questions and some general information about bioterrorism agents are provided below. For additional online information, a helpful and credible source is www.cdc.gov, the official web site of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). If you have further questions, contact your local or state health department.

Information for patients and the general public >

Information for healthcare professionals

Q: Should I send samples to Quest Diagnostics to be tested for bioterrorism agents?

Routine screening of the general public is not advised at this time. Quest Diagnostics does perform routine cultures in which anthrax or other bioterrorism agents could be detected. We are designated by the CDC as a "level A" laboratory and as such are capable of performing cultures for these microorganisms. If a suspicious agent is identified, we forward the sample to a "level B-D" laboratory, usually a state health department, for definitive identification. Public health officials advise that physicians who see asymptomatic patients, who do not have confirmed exposure, should reassure them that they are not at risk. To rule out anthrax in patients with appropriate symptoms, use standard diagnostic procedures, including chest X-rays and blood cultures. In cases where you reasonably suspect that anthrax or another bioterrorism agent is present, you should contact your state health department for information about where to send samples.

Q: How do I get samples to the testing location?

The Standard Universal Precautions used for packaging all specimens and transporting them to the laboratory provide adequate protection. If you are submitting a specimen to Quest Diagnostics through transportation means other than a Quest Diagnostics courier, please follow the packaging procedures for that specific carrier (e.g., U.S. Postal Service, UPS, commercial airline). Please note that the CDC classifies these specimens as "infectious substances."

Q: What is the specimen of choice for anthrax testing?

Blood cultures or wound biopsies, if appropriate, are the samples of choice for determining infection. At present, nasopharyngeal swabs and nasal swabs are being obtained for epidemiological purposes (to test for exposure).

Q: Can I get a Gram stain on the nasopharyngeal swabs/nasal swabs I'm sending?

No. Gram staining would not be appropriate, because nasopharyngeal swabs and nasal swabs are used to detect spores, and spores do not stain.

Q: How long does anthrax testing take?

Culturing the sample typically takes 24 to 48 hours, once it has been received and processed at the laboratory. If a suspicious agent is found, it will be sent on to a public health lab for confirmation, which may take several more days.

Q: What safety precautions is Quest Diagnostics taking?

The safety of our employees and our communities is always a primary concern. Standard Universal Precautions and good laboratory practices are appropriate to ensure employee safety. Even so, the Company has taken the additional steps of reviewing laboratory guidelines with all microbiology laboratory employees and establishing a Bioterrorism Task Force to ensure that our laboratories are fully prepared.

Information for patients and the general public

Q: What is bioterrorism?

Bioterrorism is the use of infectious agents, or germs, to intentionally produce disease. Most discussions about bioterrorism in recent news reports have focused on anthrax and smallpox, but a number of other diseases such as plague, botulism, and cholera can theoretically be transmitted by acts of bioterrorism. Sophisticated technical knowledge is necessary to produce, handle, and disperse infectious agents. Bear in mind, too, that the United States has a vast public health system operating at the local, state, and national levels to deal with cases of suspected bioterrorism.

Q: What, specifically, is anthrax?

Anthrax is an acute infectious disease caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax can infect people through superficial cuts or wounds (cutaneous, or skin, form), through inhalation of the spores (inhalation form), or through consumption of B. anthracis-contaminated food (intestinal form). It is important to remember that the disease cannot be spread by person-to-person contact.

Q: What symptoms should I look for?

The chief symptoms are skin ulcers, fever, acute gastroenteritis (stomach and intestinal illness), vomiting, bloody diarrhea, difficulty breathing, and flu- or pneumonia-like symptoms. According to public health officials, individuals are at no risk of developing anthrax unless they have been exposed to the B. anthracis bacterium or spores. Officials also point out that because the U.S. is entering the influenza season, most people who experience flu-like symptoms may have just that-the flu. If you experience flu-like symptoms or any of the other symptoms above, see your doctor.

The form of anthrax a person develops dictates the specific symptoms and the severity of the disease, as described below:

 Cutaneous: About 95 percent of anthrax infections occur when the B. anthracis bacterium enters a cut or abrasion on the skin. Skin infection begins as a raised, itchy bump that resembles an insect bite but soon turns into a painless ulcer, usually one to three centimeters in diameter with a black center. Lymph glands in the adjacent area may swell. About 20 percent of untreated cases of cutaneous anthrax will result in death; however, deaths are rare with appropriate antimicrobial therapy.

 Inhalation: Initial symptoms may resemble a common cold but lead to severe breathing problems and shock after several days. Inhalation anthrax is usually fatal.

 Intestinal: This form may follow the consumption of contaminated meat and is characterized by an acute inflammation of the intestinal tract, with initial symptoms of nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting, and fever, followed by abdominal pain, vomiting of blood, and severe diarrhea. Intestinal anthrax results in death in 25 to 60 percent of cases.

Q: Do other bioterrorism agents cause the same symptoms as anthrax?

The overall clinical picture of anthrax is different from other commonly discussed bioterrorism diseases, but many individual symptoms overlap. For instance, initial signs of pneumonic plague include fever, headache, weakness, and a cough that produces bloody or watery sputum. Cholera is an acute, diarrheal disease. Botulism can cause double vision, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, and muscle weakness. And people with smallpox experience high fever, vomiting, fatigue, headache and backache, and a raised, spotted rash that appears two to three days following exposure on the mouth, throat, face and forearms, spreading to the trunk and legs. It is important to note that smallpox was eliminated worldwide in the 1970s, although there are two known stocks of variola virus, the agent that causes smallpox, in existence.

Q: Do children get anthrax?

Yes. Their symptoms are the same as those seen in adults.

Q: How common is it?

Anthrax is uncommon in the United States, yet sporadic cases do
occur. Prior to the recent cases, the last reported U.S. case was in Texas earlier this year. Anthrax is mostly common in wild and domestic animals like cattle, sheep, goats, antelopes, and other herbivores, but it can also occur in humans when they are exposed to infected animals or tissue from infected animals. Anthrax is found worldwide. It is more common in developing countries or countries without veterinary public health programs.

Q: Should I be tested?

This decision should be made between individuals and their physicians. According to public health officials, only individuals who experience exposure need to be tested. If you worked in or visited buildings identified as containing anthrax, and have not yet been in contact with public health officials, call your local or state health department. As a preventive measure, officials have been contacting personnel who have been in contaminated buildings to provide them with antibiotics. The incubation period from exposure to onset of illness with anthrax is usually 1 to 7 days but may be as long as 60 days. There is no person-to-person transmission of anthrax.

Q: How can I be tested?

Call your local health department.

Q: Can I have my home or office tested?

It would not be appropriate to do so unless someone who has been in your home or office has contracted anthrax, say public health officials. Although we should all remain diligent, it is important not to add to the current backlog at public health laboratories with unwarranted testing. Resources must be used to test locations where known exposures have occurred.

Q: Should I get antibiotics from my doctor?

Use of antibiotics is recommended only for individuals who may have been exposed to anthrax spores and is ultimately a decision between individuals and their physicians. Taking antibiotics indiscriminately may cause needless side effects, and may encourage the development of drug-resistant organisms.

Q: Should I be vaccinated against anthrax?

Although a vaccine does exist, anthrax vaccination for the general public is not recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to prevent disease, and is not widely available.

Q: How can I get more information about bioterrorism agents?

Call your local health department.

[Lauren]

hey andrew
noticed you wonderin about interview dates.
i got my aberdeen interview date for january so i guess it just depends on how much time the university have.

i too was a bit worried coz i hadnt heard anything back from the universities and then i heard that damien got his in november.
i was quite worried but now i feel qquite lucky. tons of time to prepare.....so theres a plus side....unless of course glasgow decided to get back to me and give me a closer date

thanks elliot for the info on anthrax. very helpful

[Adam]

hey lauren,
check out the date on andrews post

[Adam Gilmour]

Just thought I'd hijack this thread to post another piece of advice on here for those about to attend interviews.

Just remember that the interviewers are only people, they are no better or worse than any of you!!!. So if they start putting you down to see how you cope under pressure etc. Just stick up for yourself.I mean hell in about 15 years it could be some of us doing the interviewing - Elliotts already there!!!:D