Healthcare & Life Sciences

Physicians & Specialists interviews. 9 titles, each with its own model.

Each page shows the competency model, the questions that test it, what changes with seniority, and where candidates lose the interview.

Last reviewed

What the report looks like for Physicians & Specialists

Sample report · the format, not a result
Diagnostic reasoning4/5
Recognising deterioration & escalation3/5
Communication & shared decision-making2/5
Clinical governance & error disclosure3/5
Leading the clinical team4/5
  • The situation in one sentence: where, what was short, and by how much.
  • The decision that was yours rather than the team’s, and what you chose not to do.
  • One number or one consequence that shows it worked.

Every competency is scored out of five with a line you actually said as evidence, and the weakest answers are rewritten as structure and specifics, never a script.

What Physicians & Specialists interviewers keep scoring

Diagnostic reasoning

Builds a differential from history and examination, orders investigations that change management, and revises the working diagnosis when findings do not fit.

Recognising deterioration & escalation

Identifies the sick patient early, initiates resuscitation and treatment within competence, and calls for senior or specialist help without delay.

Communication & shared decision-making

Explains diagnosis, risks and options in plain language, obtains informed consent, breaks bad news with care, and respects a patient's right to decline.

Clinical governance & error disclosure

Participates in audit, morbidity and mortality review and incident reporting; discloses errors to patients honestly and changes practice as a result.

Leading the clinical team

Runs ward rounds, resuscitations or theatre lists with clear roles, supervises juniors safely, and handles conflict with nursing and other specialties constructively.

Managing uncertainty & resources

Makes safe decisions with incomplete information and limited beds, theatre time or investigations, and can justify the trade-offs made.

Ethics, confidentiality & professionalism

Applies HPCSA ethical rules on confidentiality, conflicts of interest, capacity and end-of-life decisions, and raises concerns about colleagues' fitness to practise.

Walk into the real one already warmed up.