Plastic Surgery ST3 Supporting Info and Self-Assessment

You must read the instructions carefully before completing the application.

You are strongly advised to seek senior guidance about your application before you submit it. This should help ensure that the application is a fair reflection of your career to date.

Please ensure you answer the declaration of achievements correctly. If you have no evidence for a particular criterion, please state this.

As part of the assessment process, applicants will be required to provide evidence for each of the declarations of achievement made in the application form. Applicants will be invited to upload their evidence to Qpercom. Failure to provide such evidence may result in your disqualification from the recruitment process, so it is essential that portfolios are presented as instructed using the tables requested and clearly show evidence that was documented at the application stage.

The application form asks candidates to make a declaration of achievement in various criteria relating to the person specification. These quantifiable or measurable indicators of achievement will be used to score applicants relative to experience.

General guidance

In addition to the specific guidance for each section, the following is general guidance supplied:

All evidence may be subject to independent verification – false, inaccurate, or misleading evidence will lead to a probity concern being raised with the GMC
Documentation not in English – must be accompanied by a certified translation
Unintelligible evidence – it is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that evidence uploaded is legible and clear
Completed achievements only - you can only claim on the basis of achievements completed at point of evidence upload
includes publications accepted (no revisions required)
posters/presentations must have been presented by the date of evidence upload
Related to field of medicine - all achievements should relate to the field of medicine (in its broadest sense), except where otherwise specified
Achievements in multiple domains – it is acceptable to use one achievement to score in two areas – e.g. doing a presentation based on a publication; the only exception is that you cannot claim for a presentation on a quality improvement/audit project as this forms part of the scoring for the Audit section
Borderline evidence – applicants providing evidence that doe not clearly meet the scoring criteria must justify why the evidence provided should be accepted

Time in practice is the time between graduation from medical school and the day of interview.

Time spent on statutory leave (sick leave / maternity leave) and general military duties may be deducted provided that a written explanation is provided (you do not need to give a diagnosis). If you choose to deduct time spent on statutory leave or general military duties, then any achievements gained during the deducted period may not be included in your portfolio as evidence. [e.g. an applicant spent two years on general military duties and wishes to deduct these from their Years in Practice score – this is allowed, but means they cannot score for the audits they carried out during this period.]

Applicants working less than full time may reduce their Years in Practice proportionally but must show their working. [e.g. an applicant qualified 8 years ago, but has spent four of these years working at 60% of full-time equivalent – their Years in Practice would be 4 + (4x0.6) = 6.4.]

If you consider that there should be other reasons why your years in practice should be reduced written evidence should be provided which will be assessed by the Lead Clinical Advisor. Any achievements gained during this period cannot be included in your portfolio as evidence.

Evidence required:

ALL APPLICANTS: Primary Medical Qualification (copy of degree certificate or equivalent), must include date, and name of awarding university/medical school

IF APPLICABLE: explanation of statutory leave claimed

IF APPLICABLE: part-time working calculation

Please indicate the selection (A, B, C or D) that best applies to you.

Years in practice	Equivalent letter	Score
<5	A	3
5.1 – 7	B	2
7.1 – 10	C	1
>10	D	0

Years in practice (Post Qualification)

A
B
C
D

Evidence required:

ALL APPLICANTS: a verified logbook should be included at the start of this section of evidence a verified logbook should be signed and dated on each page with a legible name and/or GMC number of the verifying consultant. Only a consultant (or international equivalent) may verify a logbook. If the verifying consultant is not registered with the GMC, they should indicate their role and affiliation on the first page of the logbook [e.g. “Dr Elizabeth Corday, Surgical Attending, Cook County Hospital, Chicago, USA”].

Guidance on acceptable evidence:

All applicants who have access to ISCP (i.e. all UK-based trainees) must use ISCP and present WBAs (DOPS or PBA) as evidence of experience and competence.

Applicants without access to ISCP must provide evidence of a greater number of cases via a validated logbook (see below).

Letters from consultants will not be accepted as evidence of ability to carry out procedures.

Only procedures for which you were the lead surgeon for the relevant part of the procedure can be counted (i.e. P, PPT, PAT, STU, STS, not Assisted or Observed).

WBAs should be completed by the trainer who was present during the procedure.

Paper-based/scanned/copied WBAs completed by trainers not enrolled on ISCP will not be accepted (follow guidance for applicants without access to ISCP).

“Unbundling” of procedures is not allowed (e.g. a three-finger flexor tendon repair on one patient gives one WBA, not three, but the associated nerve repair may be assessed separately).

Simulated cases (such as cadaveric courses) do not score in this section.

Consultants are those on the GMC Specialist Register at the time of the procedure/WBA.

Locum consultants will be considered equivalent to consultants provided they are not a trainee “acting up” on a temporary basis [annotate if necessary].

Experienced SAS doctors will be considered equivalent to consultants, provided this is justified by the applicant [e.g. annotate as “Ms Carrie Weaver, Staff Grade in Plastic Surgery”].

Trainees at any level are not considered equivalent to consultants (e.g. ST8 fellow in hand surgery is still a trainee).

WBAs completed by anyone working below registrar level (e.g. CST, CT3) will not be accepted as evidence of competence and may result in a probity concern being raised.

Applicants are reminded that level 3 and 4 are described in the ISCP as follows:

Level 3 – procedure performed with minimal guidance/without guidance

Level 4 – procedure performed fluently without guidance or intervention

Make a selection that describes your level of competence in this section, by considering the examples shown below.

Evidence required:

ALL APPLICANTS: summary logbook for the procedures in this section

ALL APPLICANTS: three WBAs at the level at which you are claiming competency, of these two must be signed by a consultant and be at level 3 or 4 or six cases in a verified logbook (if no access to ISCP)

ALL APPLICANTS: three WBAs at the level below which you are claiming competency, of these two must be signed by a consultant and be at level 3 or 4 or six cases in a verified logbook (if no access to ISCP)

See notes above on who may be considered equivalent to a consultant for signing WBAs.

A nailbed repair itself does not score, but provides the “level below” for extensor tendon repair.

A hand fracture fixation is with a K wire, screw, or plate (not a cast/splint) of any carpal bone, metacarpal, or proximal/middle phalanx (distal phalanx excluded).

A mixed nerve has both motor and sensory elements such as the median and ulnar nerves, this excludes the superficial radial nerve.

A - Nailbed repair
B - Extensor tendon (any zone)
C - Hand fracture fixation
D - Flexor tendon repair (Zones I-IV only)
E - mixed nerve repair

Make a selection that describes your level of competence in each section, by considering the examples shown below.

Evidence required:

ALL APPLICANTS: summary logbook for the procedures in this section

ALL APPLICANTS: three WBAs at the level at which you are claiming competency, of these two must be signed by a consultant and be at level 3 or 4 or six cases in a verified logbook (if no access to ISCP)

ALL APPLICANTS: three WBAs at the level below which you are claiming competency, of these two must be signed by a consultant and be at level 3 or 4 or six cases in a verified logbook (if no access to ISCP)

See notes above on who may be considered equivalent to a consultant for signing WBAs.

In this section, the percentages refer to the TBSA that you personally excised and grafted (not the TBSA of the whole burn).

To score in this section, the burn must have been skin grafted (includes allograft) or covered with a skin substitute such as Integra, Matriderm, or BTM (not just dressings).

Please annotate your WBAs accordingly [e.g. “I excised 10% TBSA of a 70% burn and covered this with Integra”].

Non-burn wounds do not score in this section (e.g. pre-tibial laceration, necrotising infection, toxic epidermal necrolysis).

A No experience
B Excise & SSG 5% TBSA of a burn
C Excise & SSG 5-19% TBSA of a burn
D Excise & SSG 20-49% TBSA of a burn
E Excise & SSG 50% TBSA of a burn

Make a selection that describes your level of competence in each section, by considering the examples shown below.

Evidence required:

ALL APPLICANTS: summary logbook for the procedures in this section

ALL APPLICANTS: three WBAs at the level at which you are claiming competency, of these two must be signed by a consultant and be at level 3 or 4 or six cases in a verified logbook (if no access to ISCP)

ALL APPLICANTS: three WBAs at the level below which you are claiming competency, of these two must be signed by a consultant and be at level 3 or 4 or six cases in a verified logbook (if no access to ISCP)

See notes above on who may be considered equivalent to a consultant for signing WBAs.

Skin malignancy means a neoplastic lesion, including BCC, SCC, melanoma, or Merkel cell carcinoma, where a margin needs to be considered and marked.

Only sentinel nodes for skin malignancy score in this section. Sentinel node biopsy for breast or other cancers is specifically excluded.

A No experience
B Excise skin malignancy and direct closure
C Excise skin malignancy and FTSG
D Excise skin malignancy and flap closure
E Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy (SLNB)

Please make a selection from the list.

Audit

Little or no evidence

An audit relating to plastic surgery as primary author, presented at an audit meeting but full cycle not completed

A full cycle audit relating to plastic surgery where both audit and re-audit are completed by the applicant as primary author, presented by applicant at audit meeting

Extra point available for an audit that the assessors feel has made a significant impact to patient care

Evidence required:

ALL APPLICANTS: evidence of first cycle data collection and presentation

description of intervention/change

evidence of second cycle data collection and presentation

APPLICANTS with access to ISCP: either an AoA (Assessment of Audit) for each cycle or an AoA confirming that both cycles have been undertaken by the applicant

APPLICANTS without access to ISCP: written evidence from your supervising consultant confirming that both cycles have been undertaken by the applicant

Related to plastic surgery does not include general audits (such as VTE risk assessment, medical records audit, handwashing audit) even when performed on a plastic surgery ward.

Please indicate which selection (A, B, or C) best applies to you.

A - Little or no evidence
B - An audit relating to plastic surgery as primary author, presented at an audit meeting but full cycle not completed
C - A full cycle audit relating to plastic surgery where both audit and re-audit are completed by the applicant as primary author, presented by candidate at audit meeting

Applicants are asked to provide evidence of your four highest-scoring papers. Your overall score will be based on the total of the impact factor scores for the four papers.

Principal authorship will get 100% of impact factor, giving the “impact factor score”. Any other authorship will get 50% of impact factor, giving the “impact factor score”.

All papers must be PubMed cited and have an impact factor. Impact factors will be taken from JCR Clarivate 2025 list (even if the paper was published in a previous year).

If co-principal authorship is claimed then it will need to be evidenced from the journal itself. No one below 2nd author will be considered principal unless you are the senior author.

Collaborative papers do not score in this section and are dealt with below.

Only full paper publications will score in this section.

Other publication formats such as letters to the editor, short communications, case reports and technical tips will be assessed on their merit and may be counted at 25% if the publication has useful clinical content, and only if you are the principal author.

For example, an applicant has provided 4 papers:

1st author publication in JPRAS, impact factor 2.74 – 100% of impact factor = 2.74

3rd author publication in Annals of Surgery, impact factor 12.97 – 50% of impact factor = 6.5

2nd author publication in Cureus, impact factor 1.15 – 50% of impact factor = 0.575

1st author publication in European Journal of Plastic Surgery, impact factor 0.55 – 100% of impact factor = 0.55

Total score is 2.74 + 6.5 + 0.575 + 0.55 = 10.365 which would give an overall Qpercom score of 3

Total impact score of 4 papers	Qpercom Score
0	0
0.01 – 2.50	1
2.51 – 7.50	2
7.51 – 12.50	3
12.51 – 17.50	4
> 17.51	5

Evidence required:

ALL APPLICANTS: full PubMed citation for each paper

ALL APPLICANTS: impact factor score calculation as illustrated above

For each publication enter:

Name
Number
Title
Authors
Journal Details
PMID number

Using the table above please complete the options below you will be asked to provide the impact score as part of the Self-Assessment oriel upload

Total Impact score - Please total your first author impact score and select the most appropriate category

0
0.01 - 2.50
2.51 - 7.50
7.51 - 12.50
12.51-17.50
> 17.51

Applicants are asked to provide evidence of up to four posters or presentations as first author that you have presented at a national or international meeting.

Presentations/posters will not score if you are anything other than first author/presenter.

A presentation/poster will only score if it has been presented by the date of evidence upload.

National or international means a poster or presentation presented to a formal UK-wide or international body such as BAPRAS, BSSH, BBA, BAHNO, ASGBI, or FESSH.

Where there is a UK equivalent, bodies or organisations from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be considered as regional.

The only exception to this is the Celtic BAPRAS meeting which, as per guidance last year, will be recognised as a national meeting for the purpose of this section.

Specifically, RSM, Alcock Society, NPRAS, Welsh Surgical Society and their equivalents are not counted as national or international.

National trainee-led meetings such as those organized by ASiT and PLASTA will score for the 2025-26 application round (they are likely to be removed for 2026-27).

There are a number of meetings and organisations that badge themselves as national or international but are not considered to have equivalent peer review and scrutiny of presentations to meet the standard to score in this section. The assessors will consider each of these on its merits.

Please be aware that an individual piece of work can only be scored once within the presentation and poster section, irrespective of the number of times it was presented.

Assessors will want to see evidence that your presentations/posters are substantively different to one another.

Evidence required:

ALL APPLICANTS: for each presentation/poster

name, date, location of meeting
confirmation of presentation, confirming you as first author/presenter [e.g. slide presentation showing your name, poster showing author list]

For each presentation/poster enter:

Name
Number
Title
Authors
Role
Presentation / Poster Details

One point will be given if the applicant has participated in two collaborative papers.

Evidence required:

ALL APPLICANTS: evidence of inclusion on the author lists of two collaborative papers

For each paper enter:

Name
Number
Title
Authors
Role
Publication Details
Pubmed Citation
Impact Factor Score

One point will be given if the applicant has been Principal Investigator in a formal NIHR-approved, or equivalent, trial. Evidence required:

ALL APPLICANTS: evidence of participation as Principal Investigator Principal Investigator Certificate

Yes
No

Thank you for completing the Plastic Surgery Self-Assessment

Plastic Surgery ST3

Plastic Surgery ST3 Specialty Training Application Form

View Application Forms

Plastic Surgery ST3

Plastic Surgery ST3 Specialty Training Application Form

View Application Forms

General Sections

CT1 Specialties

ST1 Specialties

Higher Medical Specialties

Higher Medical Specialties (Northern Ireland)

Surgery

Psychiatry

Other Specialties Recruiting at ST3/ST4

Dental Specialties