Many of the attendees at our training and workshops are considering Basic Physician Training (BPT) with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP). As are many trainees who use our interview coaching.
Getting a BPT position can be highly competitive. Especially in some of the premier programs.
Here’s a collection of the basic physician training interview questions we have gathered to help you in your endeavours.
Basic Physician Training Interview Questions
Basic Physician Trainee (BPT) Interview Questions
Clinical Scenario Questions
- A 70-year-old patient presents to a rural Emergency Department with acute chest pain. Past medical history includes a renal transplant and type 2 diabetes mellitus. On assessment, BP is 70/40 mmHg and the patient is diaphoretic.
- Outline your assessment and management approach.
- ECG shows narrow complex sinus tachycardia – what do you do now?
- A 92-year-old patient is brought to the Emergency Department from a nursing home with a GCS of 9.
- How would you go about gathering the history?
- A woman who has been feeling unwell for several weeks to months presents with a creatinine of 600 µmol/L.
- What is your approach?
- What are the indications for dialysis?
- A patient presents with heart failure and anuria.
- How would you assess and manage this situation?
- An 87-year-old man with vascular dementia presents with a diabetic foot ulcer and fever. His wife, who is frail, feels unable to care for him at home. The patient expresses concerns about their relationship and the suggestion of nursing home placement.
- How would you assess and manage this complex social situation?
- A patient with poorly controlled diabetes presents with a foot ulcer under the great toe.
- Outline your approach to assessment and management.
- A 62-year-old patient with metastatic colorectal cancer presents with new onset shortness of breath.
- What are your differential diagnoses and how would you manage the patient?
- A 62-year-old patient with metastatic prostate cancer presents with lumbar back pain, constipation, abdominal pain, and confusion.
- What are your differentials and how would you manage this patient?
- A woman with metastatic breast cancer presents with haematemesis, hypotension, and tachycardia.
- How would you assess and manage her?
- She arrests before the consultant is called – what do you do now?
- A 60-year-old renal patient on the ward is reviewed during a clinical review call for reduced urine output. They are hypotensive, hyperkalaemic, clinically dry, with a high anion gap acidosis on ABG, and report chest tightness. No ACD in place and not previously on dialysis.
- Describe your approach.
- ICU is called – what would you say to them?
- Family arrives – what do you say?
- How would you discuss an advanced care directive?
- A stroke patient is reviewed on the neurology ward. He has deteriorated over the admission and now has new fevers and is unresponsive to voice. No ACD is in place.
- How would you proceed with management?
- You are called to a postoperative patient who has collapsed. You are the most senior doctor on-site.
- What is your management and differential diagnosis?
Ethical and Professionalism Scenarios
- You are a first-term BPT. You find your supervisor difficult to approach, often unavailable during usual hours, and making decisions you don’t always agree with.
- How would you manage this situation professionally?
- You are a registrar on the haematology team caring for a patient who is not of English-speaking background with end-stage myeloma and severe back pain. The family refuses opioid analgesia, fearing it will hasten death.
- How would you manage this ethically and clinically?
- You’ve diagnosed a patient with terminal pancreatic cancer. A family member, concerned about cultural expectations, requests that the diagnosis not be disclosed to the patient.
- How would you handle this situation, balancing ethical and cultural considerations?
- You’ve noticed that a fellow BPT is frequently late, appears withdrawn, and their clinical performance seems to be affected.
- How would you approach this situation while ensuring appropriate support and patient safety?
- You notice a colleague is overworked and stressed in a busy rural hospital.
- What steps would you take?
- Your consultant is being harsh to your intern, who is very upset.
- How would you address this situation?
Neurology-Focused Questions
- A patient with motor neurone disease presents to ED in respiratory failure.
- How would you approach this situation?
- A patient with myasthenia gravis reports a sensation of something stuck in their throat.
- What is your differential? Do they require admission?
- Some people say neurology is too hard.
- What would you say to convince them otherwise?
- Tell us about a development in neurology that interests you.
- Why do you want to pursue a career in neurology?
Personal and Reflective Questions
- Tell us about a mistake you made in your career and what you learned from it.
- Tell us about a difficult time in your life and how you managed it.
- Tell us something non-medical about yourself.
- What would you be if you weren’t a doctor?
- How do you manage stress?
- How do you relax?
- Tell us about a time you experienced conflict in the workplace and how you resolved it.
- What qualities do you possess that make you a good leader?
- What skills or qualities do you possess that make you a good physician?
Training and Systems Questions
- What is a physician? What does it mean to be a physician? What are the qualities of a good BPT?
- What do you understand the role of a BPT to be?
- What do you know about the RACP PREP program?
- What are the roles and responsibilities of a BPT?
- Why do you want to do BPT at [Hospital]?
- Why have you chosen to do BPT in the [Network]?
- What do you have to offer to our BPT program?
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
- Which medical professional you’ve worked with do you admire most, and why?
- As part of the BPT program at [Hospital/Network], you are required to complete at least three months in a rural location.
- Are you willing to go? Why or why not?
- What would you change about the healthcare system?
- What are the pros and cons of AI for Phyiscians?
- How can the healthcare system become more sustainable?
- What do you understand by the term Clinical Governance?