Plastic Surgery (NI) ST3 - Specialty Specific Application Form Questions

These are the Specialty Training application form questions used on Oriel for applications to Plastic Surgery ST3 higher specialty training in Northern Ireland. These are the application form questions used for posts advertised in November 2024 with a start date from August 2025.
 
The questions are presented here to help you prepare for your future applications. Please be aware application form structures, questions, word counts, etc. can change and there is no guarantee that future application forms will remain the same. 

Supporting Information

1. Additional Undergraduate Degrees and Qualifications

Please include details of the qualification awarded, institution/awarding body and dates. Include intercalated BSc/ equivalent degree here, if you have one. Do not include details of your pre university school education/ exam results. 

For each qualification enter:

  • Name
  • Qualification
  • Place of Study
  • Grade/Honours
  • Date Completed


2. Postgraduate Degrees and Qualifications

Please give details of any completed postgraduate medical qualifications/ other degrees/ diplomas/ certificates. Where a qualification is partly completed please state your exam status. For an MD please state whether this is linked to your primary medical qualification or the result of an independent research thesis. Please include here any relevant qualifications listed as desirable on the person specification.

For each qualification enter:

  • Name
  • Subject/Qualification
  • Place of Study
  • Grade/Result
  • Date Completed


3. Additional Achievements – Prizes, Awards and Distinctions

Prizes, awards and other distinctions (please include specialty and qualifying distinction). Please indicate whether these were awarded to you as an undergraduate or postgraduate.

For each prize/award/distinction enter:

  • Name
  • Prize/Award/Distinction
  • Awarding Body
  • Date Awarded


4. MRCS (& DOHNS) Progression

Please provide details on your MRCS examination status.  Please also provide details of any progress made with the DO-HNS examinations if relevant to your application.

To be eligible for this vacancy, successful completion of MRCS (and DOHNS if applying to ENT) is required by date in application.

Please state whether you have completed MRCS Part A

  • I have passed MRCS Part A
  • I have sat MRCS Part A and am awaiting the results
  • I have booked MRCS Part A and expect to have the results by the initial offers deadline for this recruitment round
  • I have neither passed MRCS Part A nor booked my place on the exam


Please state whether you have completed MRCS Part B

  • I have passed MRCS Part B
  • I have sat the MRCS Part B examination and am awaiting the results
  • I have booked the MRCS Part B examination and expect to have the results by the initial offers deadline for this recruitment round
  • I have neither passed MRCS Part B nor booked my place on the exam


Please state whether you have completed the DOHNS or DipEBORL part 1 examination

Diploma of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery (DOHNS)

Diploma of the European Board of Otorhinolaryngology (DipEBORL)

  • I have passed DOHNS/DipEBORL Part 1
  • I have sat DOHNS/DipEBORL Part 1 and am awaiting the results
  • I have booked DOHNS/DipEBORL Part 1 and expect to have the results by the initial offers deadline for this recruitment round
  • I have neither passed DOHNS/DipEBORL Part 1 nor booked my place on the exam


Please state whether you have completed the DOHNS or DipEBORL part 2 examination

  • I have passed DOHNS/DipEBORL Part 2
  • I have sat DOHNS/DipEBORL Part 2 and am awaiting the results
  • I have booked DOHNS/DipEBORL Part 2 and expect to have the results by the initial offers deadline for this recruitment round
  • I have neither passed DOHNS/DipEBORL Part 2 nor booked my place on the exam


5. Presentations and Publications

In this section please provide details of your most relevant publications in journals or presentations to local bodies, regional or national societies. Please state whether the presentation was oral or a poster. Please give full citation details of any published work (please provide PubMed link or alternative in your answer). Please give a statement about your personal contribution to the work (e.g. first author, lead investigator)

If you do not have an achievement in that area, please put ‘N/A’ in the relevant box.

Presentations at regional or national level (Words allowed: 200)

Presentations at local level (Words allowed: 200)

Publications in peer reviewed journals (Words allowed: 200)

Other publications – conference extracts etc. (Words allowed: 200) 

6. Supporting information

Use the spaces below to provide information to demonstrate how you are suitable for a training post in this specialty.  Please refer to both the essential and desirable criteria on the person specification as you complete the following sections.

If you do not have an achievement in that area, please put ‘N/A’ in the relevant box.

Teaching Experience

Please provide details of your teaching experience. Please give full details about the type of teaching, your personal contribution, details of any feedback obtained and how you have reflected on this. (Words allowed: 250)

Training in Teaching

Please provide details of your training in teaching. Include details about: the course provider, any qualification gained, start and end dates, the length of training and how the course was conducted (Words allowed: 100)

Quality Improvement

Please provide details of your experience of quality improvement activities, providing details of your experience of quality improvement activities, giving titles and dates. What specifically was your contribution, what did the project show, how was it sustainable, was it presented or published. (Words allowed: 250)

Leadership / Management

Please provide details of your experience in leadership and management, specifying the: name of the organisation, nature and scope of your role, start and (if applicable) end date. You must also include details of the positive impact you were able to make. Roles must be subsequent to commencing your first undergraduate degree (ie this includes any degree undertaken prior to your primary medical qualification) (Words allowed: 250)

Skills and Attributes

Describe how you believe you meet the person specification for the programme you are applying for. Include the particular skills and attributes that make you suitable for a career in this specialty. (Words allowed: 250)

Commitment to specialty

Please provide evidence of activities and achievements which demonstrate your commitment to a career in this specialty and/or have led to the development of skills relevant to career in this specialty (Words allowed: 200)

Achievement outside Medicine

In this space please describe any other attributes or activities outside of the field of medicine that you feel may support your application. It is not mandatory to enter any information here but is recommended to refer to the person specification when considering information to include. (Words allowed: 150)

Research Skills

Please give brief details of all research projects, and/or relevant research experience that you have undertaken or are undertaking, including methods used. Indicate your level of involvement and your exact role in the research team detailing when this took place, your time commitment, your contribution/involvement and source of funding. If you have been awarded a higher degree as a result of research, this must be detailed additionally in the appropriate section above. Detail your academic career plans, if applicable. (Words allowed: 300)

Please describe in more detail one of the research projects above. (Words allowed: 300)

7. NIMDTA Welcome Event 

NIMDTA runs an annual Welcome Event for trainees new to Northern Ireland. This event is predominately aimed at doctors who have neither worked nor lived in Northern Ireland before.  The course is designed to address some of the elements of life particular to Northern Ireland, both inside and outside medicine.

All new appointments are welcome; however we would appreciate if you could answer the questions below to indicate the range of trainees attending.

Do you identify yourself as someone New to Northern Ireland (N2NI)? (Yes | No)

i.e. If you don’t have enough experience of working or living in NI, then please answer yes.

Would you like to receive an invitation to NIMDTA’s New to Northern Ireland Welcome Event (Yes | No)

Self-assessment

ST3 Plastic Surgery Self-Assessment

The questions below require you to select the most appropriate achievement from each section. The answers to these questions will make up the application score used to allocate candidates to interview.  

  1. All Candidates MUST upload evidence for ALL self-assessment domains at time of application.
  2. All Evidence MUST be uploaded in PDF FORMAT.
  3. You MUST upload an index page before completing the self-assessment.  The index should detail the evidence you have provided for each domain, to help the validators navigate through your evidence.  This document MUST be named 00Index.pdf. A blank index template can be downloaded from the document library for this vacancy.
  4. Please combine evidence for each domain into ONE pdf per domain in the order listed within your index document.  Each Domain should then be labelled accordingly (ie. 01Quals)
  5. If it is not possible for you to combine documents into one pdf, you will be permitted a max of 5 documents per domain and they should be labelled accordingly (ie, 01a, 01b, etc. in order based on your index page)
  6. Please ensure you keep to the naming convention above and DON’T use any non-alphanumeric characters (ie. &*.%$) as this will prevent the transfer of your documents into SharePoint for validation.
  7. It is the responsibility of the candidate to ensure uploaded documents FULLY DEMONSTRATE the required evidence based on the rating they have chosen.  Failure to do so may result in the score for that domain being reduced. (ie. if you have claimed that you have presented at a national or international meeting, do not expect your slides alone to be accepted as evidence; please also upload confirmation from the conference organisers that your presentation was included in the programme of events.)
  8. It is the responsibility of the candidate to ensure uploaded documents are CORRECTLY ORIENTATED AND LEGIBLE.  Failure to do so may result that domain being scored zero.
  9. ONLY upload documentation directly relevant to your self-assessment. The validating panel cannot be expected to review your entire portfolio.  If a candidate is deemed to have uploaded unnecessary documentation that prevents the validation panel from quickly identifying the correct evidence, their application will be rejected.
  10. You can only claim on the basis of achievements completed at point of submission of your application.
  11. Scores are not adjustable after submission – you cannot amend your self-assessment score after should you have made a mistake on your application form, or gained an achievement after the submission of your application.
  12. It is never permissible to share or upload patient identifiable data. Any file found to contain patient identifiable data will be removed from your evidence folder, prior to validation, to prevent it being shared further. NIMDTA may also be obliged to raise this as a GDPR issue and inform your Responsible Officer.

2. Specialty Experience

Time spent in Plastic Surgery posts

Please round total time to the nearest month (up or down).

In the time since you completed your foundation training until the end of July 2024 how long will you have spent in Plastic Surgery? 

  • No experience : 0
  • One – seven months : 2
  • Eight – nineteen months : 6
  • Twenty – thirty-seven months : 2
  • Thirty-eight months or more : 0


3. Postgraduate degrees and qualifications

Not allowed for undergrad, intercalated or exam such as MRCS.

Highest degree only counts for marks.

At the time of application, which of the following qualifications have you been awarded? eg :- MPhil, PHD, MMedED, MCh, MS, MSc. 

  • None : 0
  • Masters (eg Msc, MMedED, MS, MCh, MPhil) : 1
  • MD, PhD : 2


4. Presentations

Marks can be for either Oral or Poster.

Must be first author and / or evidenced as presented at relevant meeting to get mark.

Exclude purely ‘in house’ regular hospital or audit meetings.

Exclude presentations at in-house teaching events and similar. 

For local/regional, need to have significant presentation (not just routine e.g. morbidity and mortality meetings). 

Cannot count same presentation given more than once.

Presentations given (up to the time of application) since leaving medical school.

  • None : 0
  • One : 1
  • Two or more : 2


5. Publications

Formally accepted papers to count (but not letters to editor or abstracts). 

Acceptance letters to be provided as evidence.

Please provide PMID number or equivalence.

Must be formally accepted and evidenced. Must give significant contribution to publication if not first author.

How many publications do you have since leaving medical school up to time of application (accepted or published). 

  • None : 0
  • One : 1
  • Two or more : 2


6. Audit / Quality Improvement (QI) Projects

Need evidence of either significant input and/or having presented.

Recommended evidence is the NIMDTA Audit/Quality Improvement Confirmation Form, available from the document library for this vacancy.

How many audit or QI projects have you completed since leaving medical school (up to the time of application). 

  • None : 0
  • One – two : 1
  • Three or more : 2


7. Operative Procedures

How may of the following procedures have you performed (up to the time of application).

Only include those where you were the primary operator (either performed alone or performed with supervisor present – P, STS, STU). 

Do NOT include those procedures where you assisted only.

Please provide valid evidence.

Flexor Tendon Repair – zone 1 and 2 only 

  • None : 0
  • One – two : 1
  • Three or more : 2


Digital Nerve Repair

  • None : 0
  • One – two : 1
  • Three or more : 2


Fixation of hand fracture – k wire or other method of internal fixation

  • None : 0
  • One : 1
  • Two or more : 2


Burns Resuscitation 

  • None : 0
  • One : 1
  • Two or more : 2


Excision of skin malignancy and graft flap reconstruction 

  • None : 0
  • One – two : 1
  • Three or more : 2


8. Evidence Index

Please upload your index page to help the validators navigate through your evidence.  Index templates can be downloaded from the document library for this vacancy.  Please list all evidence you have uploaded as part of this self-assessment in the order it will appear.  The document should be named ‘00Index.pdf’.

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