General preparation information, not official recruitment criteria. Confirm arrangements with the recruiting organisation and review professional reasoning with an experienced colleague. Practice scores do not predict recruitment outcomes.
Make your motivation specific to internal medicine
Reflect on what you enjoy and find challenging in medical work: uncertainty, managing complexity, continuity and collaboration across teams. Use a real experience to explain how your understanding developed.
Link your preparation to the training pathway rather than claiming you already have every skill it develops. Check the current applicant information and curriculum, then identify one learning need you can discuss honestly.
- Which experience informed your choice?
- What did you learn about the demands of training?
Separate clinical reasoning from a clear handover
In rehearsal, practise organising your explanation of a scenario and then summarising it for a colleague. SBAR — situation, background, assessment and request or next step — can help make the handover distinct from a long narrative.
Use a supervisor-reviewed simulated case and accurate information. Do not invent observations to fill a gap. This is a communication exercise, not a clinical protocol, and any management reasoning needs review against current guidance.
- State the main concern early.
- Separate known facts from uncertainty.
- Make the request for appropriate support clear.
Prepare reflection on professional dilemmas
Discuss a true example of responding to feedback, recognising limits or resolving a communication difficulty. Show your role, what you learnt and how your practice changed.
For ethical rehearsal, explain the issues and missing information without offering a legal interpretation. Use current GMC standards and human review. Real disputes and patient-care decisions need the appropriate local and professional support.
- Protect confidential details.
- Avoid assumptions about another person’s motives.
- Describe learning rather than a flawless outcome.
Build a practice-and-review routine
Confirm the current interview arrangements in your invitation and official applicant information. The themes in this guide are preparation topics, not a forecast of the questions or an official marking scheme. Avoid relying on an old document for eligibility, evidence requirements or timings.
Answer one rehearsal question aloud, then review whether you answered the question, explained your own role and acknowledged uncertainty. Ask a supervisor or experienced colleague to check professional reasoning. Remove identifying patient and colleague details; never upload clinical records. Practice scores describe rehearsal only and do not predict recruitment outcomes.
- Read the current person specification and applicant guidance.
- Choose real examples and record the limits of the evidence.
- Practise a follow-up, not just the opening answer.
- Review with an experienced colleague before relying on the material.
Your next practice task
Use a fictional, supervisor-reviewed scenario to practise a short SBAR handover. Separately record an answer about why IMT and ask a colleague whether the evidence is specific.
Questions to rehearse
- Which experience helped you choose internal medicine?
- How would you summarise uncertainty in a handover?
- What change followed a piece of feedback you received?
Original free rehearsal prompts, not official or recalled interview questions.
Sources and further reading
These sources support the broader preparation and professional context, not a universal scoring scheme. Check the latest official guidance for your own round and post; dated documents may have been superseded.