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Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery (Scotland) ST1 - Specialty Specific Application Form Questions

These are the UK Specialty Training application form questions used on Oriel for applications to ST1, CT1, ST3 and ST4 specialty training posts. 

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

Evidence (1 of 2)


1. Statements to Support Achievements
Before completing the next section, you should complete the self-assessment section of the application form. Once complete, please use the spaces below to provide additional information to demonstrate why you have chosen the achievement for each of the questions on the self-assessment section of your application. Your statement, along with your evidence, will be reviewed to confirm your choice was scored appropriately.

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

2. Additional Achievements
Please specify details of any prizes, awards, and other distinctions (please include specialty and qualifying distinction). Please also indicate whether these were awarded to you as an undergraduate or postgraduate. [Words allowed: 200]

3. Additional Degrees and Qualifications
Please include details of any completed postgraduate medical qualifications / other degrees / diplomas / certificates (e.g. MD, MRCS etc). For an MD please state whether this is linked to your primary medical qualification or the result of an independent research thesis. Please include any relevant qualifications listed as desirable on the person specification. [Words allowed: 200]

4. Evidence of Surgical Education and engagement in addition to Foundation (or equivalent full registration to practice)
Please provide details of any learning you have completed, that is relevant to this specialty. [Words allowed: 200]

5. Experience of Procedural / Manual Tasks
Please describe any additional duties to standard FY tasks and describe any procedural experience / logged surgical Trauma & Orthopaedic operations, that is in excess to standard FY skills along with a summary of any logbook data you may have collected. [Words allowed: 200]

6. Teaching Experience
Please provide details of any teaching / examining you do for medical students / junior doctors / PAMs. Please describe whether this is bedside / clinic based or is more formal, plus any feedback or structured assessment of your teaching you have received. If you a have been in a teaching fellow post or are working towards a formal teaching qualification, please provide details. [Words allowed: 200]

7. Quality Improvement (Audit)
Please clearly state any experience of clinical audit that you have. Please include where and when this was undertaken and state specifically your role in each of the projects. Please indicate whether any of the audits you have carried out have closed the loop. If relevant, describe where any of your audits have been published / presented and if they were peer reviewed. [Words allowed: 200]

8. Publications
Please provide details of relevant publications in journals. Please provide full citation details of any published work (please provide PubMed link or alternative). Please provide a statement about your personal contribution to the work (e.g. first author, lead investigator). [Words allowed: 200]

9. Presentations / Posters (research / audit / QI)
Please provide details of all your presentations to local bodies, regional or national societies / conferences. Please state whether the presentation was oral or a poster and whether you or a co-author presented it. [Words allowed: 200]

10. Other Research Indicators (non-publications / presentations)
Please tell us about any research you have been involved in including your contribution any grant applications submitted and the results of your research in terms of presentations / publications. You may include formal roles, e.g. Associate / Trainee PI, Academic FY schemes or Academic Clinical Training, and the details of that role.

Also, please provide details of any other research experience you have; for instance, if you have submitted an application to ethics, carried out a structured literature review or have any particular data analysis skills. If you did any relevant research tasks / modules as an undergraduate describe these. If you have studied for a higher degree describe what research skills you learnt during this. [Words allowed: 200]

Supporting (2 of 2)

1. Training Time in Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgery
Will you have worked more than 18 months (whole time equivalent) in Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgery posts (post Foundation Training) by 6th August 2025? [Yes/No]

All applicants’ employment experience is reviewed at longlisting and will NOT progress if they have more than 18 months experience.

2. Other Applications
Applicants for ST1 must not also be applying to ST3 Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgery in the same recruitment year, as per the person specification.

By ticking this box, you are confirming that you will not progress an application to ST3 Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgery in the same recruitment year. [Tickbox]

3. Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment (MSRA)
NHS Education for Scotland (NES) are exploring whether the MSRA can contribute to the recruitment process for ST1 Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery.

Whilst it is not a requirement for applicants to undertake the MSRA for the 2025 ST1 Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, NES are keen to gather as much data as possible. Therefore, if you are undertaking the MSRA as part of your application to a different training programme, please confirm below whether you agree to NES accessing your MSRA score for future confidential analysis or not.

Your MSRA score will not be shared with any of the ST1 T&O assessing panel.

Optional Consent [Yes/No]

Self-Assessment

1. Self-Assessment
When completing this section, you must read the 2025 Application Scoring Guidance & Evidence Verification Process – ST1 T&O Scotland document which is available here on the Scottish Medical training website, and includes the scoring framework for each domain.
 
The guidance includes specific rules about what you can claim for each domain, however, please note the following major points:
 
Evidence is submitted after application period – Longlisted applicants will be required to upload evidence and will be contacted with details about how to upload your evidence. There is no need to supply your evidence at the time of application, although you can use this time to prepare them ready for upload.
 
Please consult the T&O Recruitment Timeline on our website for further information. 
 
Achievements claimed – You can only claim for completed achievements that you have at point of submission of your application. Work currently being undertaken and expected to be achieved after application submission must not be included.
 
Scores are reviewed after submission – If your application progresses to evidence verification stage, your application score will be reviewed and verified by a clinician based on the evidence that you upload; this could lead to your score being increased or reduced.
 
Score honestly – Evidence verifiers will be aware that it will not always be clear exactly which option to choose and will therefore not treat most cases of perceived over-claiming as a serious offence. The most likely outcome is that the score will be adjusted accordingly. However, any instances of candidates blatantly or persistently trying to gain an unfair advantage by over-claiming scores for and / or exaggerating their achievements will be taken extremely seriously and could be reported as a probity matter to the GMC.
 
If you are unsure which option to choose the general advice here is to consider the options available, the guidance document and your experience / achievements in this area, and then use your professional judgement to select the highest available option you deem to be appropriate. After this, provide all additional information on the Statements to Support Achievements section on the Supporting – Information / Evidence page of your application form, to make a case as to why you have selected this option. Unfortunately, we are restricted in the guidance we can provide as completion of the form must be solely your own work, including choosing achievements from each list.
 
Evidence verifiers are aware that the options do not always neatly describe a candidate’s achievements. However, you must be able to justify the option chosen and supply evidence when requested after applications close, so please ensure the achievement you choose is a fair representation of what you have done to the best of your knowledge and belief.
 
The questions below require you to select the most appropriate achievement from each section. The answers to these questions will make up the shortlisting score used to allocate candidates to interview.
 
Q1 – Career Progression
How many years of clinical practice will you have since your primary medical qualification, at the anticipated start date of 6th August 2025? This will be verified using the employment history from your application form, which the assessors will be given access to. 
  • More than 3 years of clinical experience since primary medical qualification : 1
  • Between 2 and 3 years of clinical experience since primary medical qualification : 3
  • Up to 2 years medical clinical experience since primary medical qualification : 5
 
Q2 – Additional Achievements 
  • None : 0
  • Single subject in PMQ exam passed with merit/distinction : 1
  • Whole year of PMQ passed with merit/distinction : 2
  • Whole PMQ passed with distinction/honours : 3
 
Q3 – Additional Degrees and Qualifications 
  • No postgraduate degree : 0
  • Qualification below BSc/Masters or completion of e.g. ESSQ, diploma or PG Cert : 1
  • Undergraduate degree (BSc 1st/2.1 or equivalent) : 2
  • MRCS Part 1 : 3
  • MSc / other single year postgraduate course OR MRCS Full : 4
  • MD (research) / PhD / DPhil : 5
 
Q4 – Evidence of Surgical Education and engagement in addition to Foundation (or equivalent full registration to practice)
o None : 0
o 1-2 activities : 1
o 3-5 activities : 2
o 6 or more activities : 3
 
Items not provided elsewhere in the application. Examples are:
  • engagement with surgical societies
  • attendance at learning events (in person or virtually) relevant to surgery
  • active participation in societies/groups relevant to surgery – e.g., office bearer, event organiser
 
Q5 – Experience of Procedural / Manual Tasks 
  • No evidence of additional procedural competencies beyond FY curriculum : 0
  • Evidence of 20 or less logged procedures as observer or assistant relevant to surgical curricula and / or evidence of equivalent to taster week in Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgery : 1
  • More than 20 logged procedures as observer or assistant relevant to surgical curricula : 2
  • Evidence of 20 or less logged surgical Trauma & Orthopaedic operations as assistant, or performed under supervision : 3
  • Evidence of more than 20 logged surgical Trauma & Orthopaedic operations as assistant or performed under supervision : 4
 
This must be evidenced by a validated logbook and must not include any patient identifiable data.
 
Q6 – Teaching Experience
  • None : 0
  • Regular/scheduled medical student or other AHP teaching for 1-4 months AND consultant verified evidence of contribution plus feedback from teaching sessions : 1
  • Regular/scheduled medical student or other AHP teaching for more than 4 months AND consultant verified evidence of contribution plus feedback from teaching sessions  : 2
  • Designed, organised and delivered a teaching programme with consultant verified evidence of significant contribution AND formal feedback from recipients : 3
  • Completion of formal teaching qualification below Masters (e.g. Diploma, PG Cert) : 4
  • Completion of formal teaching qualification at Masters or above : 5
 
Q7 – Quality Improvement (Audit) 
  • None : 0
  • Participated only in some stages of one QI project (i.e. help with data collection) : 1
  • Actively participated throughout one cycle of a QI project/audit OR Completed a loop of a previously performed audit by someone else OR Participated in different stages of several projects : 2
  • Designed a QI project with QI methodology closing the loop OR Closed the loop on multiple projects : 3
  • Designed and led QI project with QI methodology closing the loop and leading to a sustained change with consultant-verified evidence of significant contribution and impact : 4
 
Q8 – Publications
  • None : 0
  • One or more abstracts OR Non peer-reviewed publications OR Case-report(s) : 1
  • First author or co-author of one peer reviewed original research publication / systematic review / review (supply DOI or PMID) : 2
  • Co-author of 2 peer reviewed original research peer reviewed publications / systematic review / review (supply DOI or PMID) : 3
  • Co-author of more than 2 peer reviewed original research peer reviewed publications / systematic review / review (supply DOI or PMID) : 4
  • First author of 2 or more peer reviewed original research peer reviewed publications / systematic review / review (supply DOI or PMED) : 5
 
Q9 – Presentations / Posters (research / audit / QI) 
  • None : 0
  • One oral presentation OR One poster at local medical meeting : 1
  • One oral presentation OR One poster at a regional meeting : 2
  • One oral presentation at national / international meeting OR one poster presentation at a national / international meeting : 3
  • Shown more than 1 poster at national or international meeting OR Oral presentation at national / international meeting : 4
  • Multiple oral presentations at national / international level OR Prize-winning presentation at national / international meeting : 5
 
Please note that National refers to each of the 4 nations of the UK, therefore if you had one poster presentation at a meeting in Scotland, this would be awarded 3 points.
 
Q10 – Other Research Indicators (non-publications / presentations) 
  • None : 0
  • Specialised (Academic) FY rotation : 1
  • Screened / consented 3 patients into an NIHR funded / sponsored trial (or equivalent nationally funded trial) OR initiated / active role in collaborative trial project : 2
  • Formal role in management of a trial, e.g. Associate PI post OR Formal role in trainee collaborative : 3
  • Written and submitted successful application to LREC / MREC or equivalent full research ethics committee : 4
 

Specialty Applications

This site provides data and information on the medical and dental specialty training application process to help doctors and dentists plan their applications to speciality training posts in the UK.