GPST / GPVTS SELECTION PROCESS Stage 3 (Selection Centre)

Stage 3 - GPST Selection Centre

The GPST Selection Centre is a one-day event which comprises of three main stations:

Station 1 - Role-play (simulated consultation)
Station 2 - Group discussion
Station 3 - Prioritisation tasks (written station)

The stations can be undertaken in any order, as determined by the organisers on the day.

Station 1 - Role play (Simulated Consultation)

Role plays take the form of a 20-minute simulated consultation where you will need to address either a patient or a relative. Your task is to demonstrate the extent of your communication skills and your ability to react to the patient's behaviour during the consultation. Only a very small part of the mark relates to your clinical knowledge (you do not actually need an extensive clinical knowledge to succeed at role plays). You will be mostly judged on:

The way you present and introduce yourself to the patient.
The simplicity of the language that you use and its relevance to the patient.
Your ability to listen and check the patient's understanding.
The manner in which you explore the patient's concerns and answer their questions.
How you use the information that you are given.
The manner in which you handle the patient, including your body language.
Your ability to ensure that your consultation has a successful outcome.
Your understanding and application of the holistic approach.
Your clinical confidence.

The role of the patient is often played by a professional actor, though some examiners sometimes play the patient too (this can be quite tricky when a 50-year old male examiner is pretending to be a 14-year-old girl asking for TOP!) The topics raised in role-plays follow the types of cases that you may expect in general practice and would include:

Having to explain a chronic condition and its management to a patient
Breaking bad news
Dealing with a mistake
Dealing with poor adherence to treatment
Dealing with psychosocial issues
Dealing with difficult or demanding patients

Example of role-play with suggested approach

Station 2 - Group Discussion

Group discussions are primarily designed to test how you interact with others. Groups are typically made up of 4 candidates and the discussion is observed by up to 3 observers, each of whom is assessing one or two candidates. GPST/GPVTS group discussions generally revolve around a generic topic or a problem within a GP practice. Each discussion lasts approximately 20 minutes.

Group discussions follow one of two formats:

Format 1: Everyone is given the same information and a general debate ensues.
Format 2: Each member of the group is allocated a role and receives different pieces of information about the topic. For example, a discussion about how a patient should be managed could involve one of the candidates playing the GP, another candidate playing the role of a nurse, a third candidate playing the role of the hospital SHO and the fourth candidate playing the role of the hospital bed manager.

Topics have included:

Discussing with colleagues what to do with an allocated budget, between opening a specialist clinic, improving parking facilities for patients, recruiting a salaried GP or hiring someone to ensure accuracy of electronic patient records.
Discussing how to handle the head of the practice, about whom patients have been raising concerns. There are gossips circulating about the fact he may be having an affair with a patient.
Discussing how, as a practice, you would set up a smoking-cessation clinic.
Discussing whether the work that GPs do justifies their salary, and whether the public perception of GPs is also justified.

The examiners will be primarily assessing the manner in which you are relating and interacting with the others in the group, your team playing and leadership skills rather than the actual content of your answers. Of course you will need to make sure you are making sense in order to be credible, but the questions should be simple enough for you not to have to worry too much about it. Essentially you will be marked in accordance to your ability to:

lead the discussion without being imposing.
present your ideas coherently and confidently but at the same time involve others.
listen to others, take on board their comments, and reflect on them.
derive and present good, sensible and convincing arguments.
avoid direct confrontation.
lead the discussion towards a result.

Station 3 - Prioritisation task (written paper)

This is a written paper where you are asked to consider a situation (usually a busy clinical environment) where a number of tasks need to be done within a short period of time of one another and therefore need to be prioritised.

There are typically six items that you need to prioritise, some relating to patient care, some relating to your team and others relating to yourself. Opposite each item you are asked to allocate a priority number and at the exam, under each option there will be a box in which you will be expected to justify your decision. In order to succeed in the prioritisation task, there are a number of factors that you should bear in mind:

There is no single correct answer to the question. There are a few wrong answers though (for example, it would be out of the question that you should give maximum priority to your job application form if a patient is dying in front of you!) but generally speaking several combinations will be accepted.
The most important aspect of the answer is the justification that you provide.
You cannot achieve all tasks by yourself. You need to delegate and demonstrate in your justifications that you can involve other team members appropriately (other doctors, nurses, receptionists, secretaries, etc)
There are tasks that you cannot handle effectively until you have more information at your disposal.

Example of a prioritisation task with suggested approach