2014 Interview Questions

Westmead
1. What do you feel is the roles and responsibilities of a BPT?
2. Why have you chosen to do BPT in the Westmead network?
3. Which medical professional, whom you have worked with, do you admire most?
4. What would you change about the healthcare system?

St. Vincent’s
1. Why have you chosen to do BPT in the St. Vincent’s network?
2. Name a time that you’ve dealt with conflict and how you handled the situation
3. Clinical scenario = Metastatic prostate cancer patient presenting with lumbar back pain, constipation,
abdominal pain and confusion – What are your differentials and management of this patient?
4. Clinical scenario = Metastatic colorectal cancer presenting with shortness of breath – What are your
differentials and management of this patient?
5. How do you deal with/manage stress?
6. What skills/qualities do you possess that makes you capable of becoming a good physician?

Concord
1. Describe to us the role and responsibility of the Royal Australian College of Physicians
2. What are the requirements for PREP and how have you gone about achieving these requirements?
3. What medical literature have you read recently and how has this changed your clinical practice?
4. Scenario = You are currently a medical registrar in outpatient clinic and have been paged by ED x2 to
come see a patient, who is currently in the resuscitation bay. Around the same time, you have also
received a clinical review page of a patient on the ward. What would be your next step of management?
5. Scenario = You have noticed your intern being late to work and not finishing tasks that have been
assigned to them. Describe to us how you would handle this situation

Nepean
1. How do you handle stress?
2. What qualities do you possess which you feel help to make you a good physician? What qualities do you
think you can improve on?
3. Describe to us a situation where you demonstrated teamwork
4. Scenario = You are a medical registrar and are looking after one of your consultant’s patients. You do
not agree with the management of this patient by your consultant. How would you manage this? (There
was a particular scenario, but I can’t remember the details. I think it was like the patient didn’t want a
particular treatment but the consultant wanted it to no end)
5. Scenario = You performed a thoracoparacentesis and the patient had a pneumothorax. How would you
manage this situation?

Liverpool
1. What qualities do you possess which you feel help to make you a good physician?
2. Why have you chosen the Liverpool network to do BPT at?
3. Scenario = You are a medical registrar working an afterhours shift. You are called to review a renal
patient (60yo) on the ward during a clinical review call for reduced urine output (PACE, RACE). You
 notice that their renal function has deteriorated significantly from baseline. The patient is also
hyperkalaemic, clinically dry and an ABG reveals a high anion gap acidosis. He is also complaining of
chest tightness and palpitations on further questioning. The patient has no advanced care directive in
place and he is not previously on dialysis. Talk us through your management of this patient. (The
interviewers then kept asking questions during your answer, like patient is now hypotensive, what
would you do (ie: escalate to rapid response call/ICU involvement), what would you say to ICU when
they arrive. Family has arrived, describe to us what you would say to them. How would you discuss the
advanced care directive with the patient? What are your differentials?)
4. Scenario = You notice your fellow BPT is coming in late to work, being depressed in mood and not
managing their patients effectively. Describe to us how you would handle this situation
5. What have you done to manage stress?

Prince of Wales
1. What qualities do you possess that make you a good leader?
2. Why do you want to do BPT at Prince of Wales?
3. Scenario = You are a medical registrar on night shift. You are asked to review a stroke patient on the
neurology ward. He is having new fevers, is not responding now to voice and has no advanced care
directive in place. On reading the progress notes, you note that this patient has been steadily
deteriorating during hospital admission. How would you further manage this patient?
4. Scenario = You are a medical registrar on the cardiology team. A patient of yours is having an
arrhythmia. Your consultant wants to give amiodarone, however the advanced cardiology trainee has
reviewed the patient and feels sotalol is sufficient. How would you manage this situation?
5. As part of the BPT training at POW, BPT candidates are required to go, for at least 3 months of their
training, to a rural location. Are you willing to go to our rural hospitals and why/why not?

Royal North Shore

1. Why do you want to do BPT in the Royal North Shore network? What do you have to offer for our BPT
program?
2. All of us have made mistakes in our careers. Give an example of a mistake you made and what you
learnt from it.
3. Scenario: You feel your consultant is being unnecessarily harsh to your intern. Your intern is very upset
about this. How do you manage this situation/what steps do you take in broaching this with your
consultant?
4. Scenario: You are a medical registrar on the haematology team. You are currently looking after a NESB
patient with end stage myeloma who has severe back pain. The patient's family are refusing opioid
analgesia because they feel this will hasten her death. How would you manage this situation?
5. Another variation of above question: You have just diagnosed a patient from a NESB with terminal
pancreatic cancer. A family member approaches you, insisting that the diagnosis remain kept from the
patient. How do you manage this situation?

2013 Interview Questions

Westmead
1. Why do you want to do BPT?
2. What in your opinion makes a good BPT? What makes a good consultant?
3. You smell alcohol on the breath of your consultant, and his/her decision-making has been dangerous.
What is your next step?
4. Your intern starts coming in late to work and leaves all his jobs including discharge summaries to
yourself or the afterhours doctors. How do you manage this situation?
5. If you could change one thing in the hospital you work at, what would it be?

RPA
1. Why do you want to do BPT at RPA network?
2. Scenario 1: There is a RACE/PACE call for hypotension, the intern has already been reviewing this
patient and has given x2 500mL boluses, with no response. What do you do next?
3. Scenario 2: You discover that your intern has prescribed double the standard dose of a penicillin-based
antibiotic, to a patient who has a known penicillin allergy. The patient receives this dose and develops
anaphylaxis, however, recovers completely from this after intervention. How do you approach this
situation? (another variation to this question is: Your intern has been giving the wrong, excessive doses
of digoxin to a patient, what would you do?)
4. Scenario 3: If you were due to do case practice with your professor at 5pm but had one sick patient on
the ward and one referral from ED, what would you do?
5. Scenario 4: You suspect that a fellow BPT colleague might be taking drugs stolen from the drug room.
You find that he comes in late to work, leaves early, and makes questionable decisions. Later, you find
him passed out in a cupboard. What do you do?
6. Scenario 5: You are called to see patient with metastatic melanoma without an advanced care directive
in place. He is hypoxic and after you arrive, the patient arrests. What would you do?
7. What do you think RPA can offer you?
8. What are your strengths? What would you consider are your weaknesses?

POW
1. Why do you want to do BPT and why do you want to train at POW?
2. Tell us about a time that you were involved in a conflict, and how it was resolved. Is there anything you
would do differently next time?
3. Scenario 1: A patient develops rapid AF on the ward (150bpm). How do you manage this?
4. Scenario 2: A patient develops acute respiratory distress with RR >30 and O2 saturations 85% on RA.
How do you manage this?
5. Scenario 3: A work college of yours has not been showing up to work and you have to cover him. It has
been happening with increasing frequency. What do you do about this?
6. Are you familiar with the other hospitals in our network? How would you manage being away from
Sydney while training in a rural centre for 3 months?

St George
1. I’m sure you’re aware that we had the highest rate of success in the clinical exam last year. Can you live
up to this standard/are you prepared to put in the effort associated with BPT?
2. Scenario 1: You are in a country hospital and a patient suddenly develops a pruritic, erythematous rash.
There is no Dermatology or ID service at your hospital. What do you do?
3. Scenario 2: You are the night medical registrar at St George Hospital, and a patient has a RACE/PACE call
on the Haematology ward for febrile neutropaenia. There is a long list of instructions written by the
team for this particular patient in the notes, however, it is illegible. It is 3am. What do you do?
4. How do you feel about the current state of the healthcare system? What laws would you change if you
could?
5. How do you intend to maintain a healthy work-life balance while studying for BPT exams?

Concord
1. Why BPT and why Concord?
2. What can you offer Concord? What can Concord offer you?
3. Tell us how you have managed a clinical conflict in the past. What have you learnt from this? What
would you do differently next time?
4. Tell us about a clinical triumph you have experienced
5. Where do you hope to be in 5yrs, 10yrs?
6. How would your colleagues (nurses, allied health, interns, residents, registrars, consultants) describe
you and your working style, in 5 words?

St Vincent’s
1. What BPT at St. Vincent’s Hospital?
2. How will you approach your time management next year?
3. Tell us what you know about the BPT program?
4. Scenario: Your intern has incorrectly prescribed the dose for a patient’s antihypertensive. The patient
receives a much larger dose than usual, and, as a consequence, develops hypotension SBP 80. The only
symptom he experiences is mild dizziness, and he recovers fully from the episode, after you take
appropriate resuscitative measures. After the patient has been stabilised, how do you manage this
situation?
5. You have a patient on the ward who has had a seizure. How would you manage this situation?
6. Variation of above: You have a patient on the haematology ward who is neutropaenic, hypotensive and
has a fever. Describe your steps in managing this patient.

2012 Interview Questions

Westmead
1. What is the last book you read/ movie you have seen?
2. Give us an example of how you boosted team morale.
3. Why BPT in the Westmead network? What are you looking for in a basic physician training program?
4. What qualities do you feel makes a good physician?
5. How do you manage with stress?

Concord
1. What made you apply to Concord for basic physician training?
2. What do you perceive are the benefits of working in a network BPT job?
3. Please give an example of your work as a team member/leader?
4. Give us an example from your clinical years which showcases the excellent care you have given to a
patient
5. What career or research goals do you hope to have achieved in the next 4-5 years? How do you plan to
achieve them?

St Vincent’s
1. Are you prepared to go to our rural/peripheral hospitals?
2. How would you cope being a first year BPT looking after intubated patients in Wagga Wagga. Do you
have ICU experience?
3. What are you looking for in our BPT training network?
4. Describe to us, in your own words, what clinical governance is
5. Are you applying for any other SRMO/BPT jobs? Which job would you prefer?

Royal North Shore

1. What is a physician’s role and what qualities does a physician have?
2. Give us an example of a quality improvement project you have been involved with
3. Scenario: Demented patient who is unable to consent for a blood transfusion, which he needs as Hb is
49. He has no family or friends who are contactable. How would you manage this situation.
4. Scenario: How would you deal with conflict between a physiotherapist and your consultant regarding
timing of discharge of a patient (physiotherapist not keen to discharge patient given poor mobility but
consultant would like patient to leave hospital that day)?
5. Are you prepared to go to our rural/peripheral hospital locations during BPT training?

Prince of Wales
1. Why should we hire you?
2. How will you manage stepping up from being a resident/SRMO to being a medical registrar?
3. What do you think is the role of physician trainee?
4. Scenario: Patient presents with DKA and sepsis. Describe to us your steps in management
5. Scenario: Patient who is quite ill and has terminal illness. No advanced care directive in place. Describe
to us your steps in management

BPT interview questions

1. Tell me about the significant events that have lead you to want to do BPT
2. Who is the most important member of your team as a BPT?
3. What does evidence based medicine mean to you?
4. You have a patient with a serious diagnosis receiving toxic therapy and the family don't want the
patient to know about it. The consultant knows this. How do you approach it?
5. How do you manage stress?
6. What do you hope to achieve as a consultant?
7. Your intern is making arrogant comments to everyone and questioning your management
decisions in front of the patient. How do you manage this?
8. Haematology ward after hours, patient is acute short of breath. How do you manage
9. You prescribe morphine for a palliative patient but nurse doesn't want to give cause already
drowsy - how do you handle it?
10. Tell me about a mistake you've made and how you handled it
11. Patient with alcoholic cirrhosis, homeless, unwitnessed fall with headstrike. Now ataxic and
slurred speech. How do you cope?
12. You're in ED and want to admit someone under respiratory. Resp boss says no. Geris boss
says no. Patients family says must be admitted. What do you do?
13. Why this network/what will you bring to this network?
14. Homeless man who's confused and agitated, what do you do
15. Give us an example of a highlight and a lowlight of your experiences to date
16. Give us an example of working in a multidisciplinary team
17. Upper GI bleed, shocked, NESB. What do you do?
18. What's a significant life event you've had?
19. You have to do an outpatient clinic once a week with no consultant, what do you do?
20. Tell us an example of when you've been a leader in a team