Boosting Your CV From Now To The ST3 Orthopaedic Interviews

Some of the most popular elements of our ST3 Mock Interview Course were the lectures and CV analysis that suggested quick ways to add to your CV and ways to stand out ahead of 2015 ST3 Trauma and Orthopaedic Specialty Selection. Today we’re going to take a look at some resources from around the web that might help you to stand out and add some lines to your CV between now and the interviews.

Publications

Let’s be realistic. It’s unlikely that you are going to have time to start a large research project that will be published in journal format by the time of the interviews. Gathering data, writing up and getting your research accepted can be time consuming. Don’t panic, however, as though the below suggestions may not be JBJBS publications they are achievable in the time remaining and will help you stand out at interviews.

The Journal of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery (JUTO)
JUTO is the official journal of the Future Orthopaedic Surgeons Society for students and junior doctors wishing to pursue a career in trauma and orthopaedic surgery. JUTO was launched in 2013 and is published twice a year with the next issue deadline at the end of November 2014. The journal is open access without payment and accepts original research aimed at undergraduate level, case reports and educational articles such as interesting X-Rays and summaries of key orthopaedic topics.

You probably have a number of Trauma and Orthopaedic presentations at local level that could easily be turned into a quick educational article or perhaps have a case report or an audit or research topic that you have yet to publish. This is a great way to quickly see those put into print.

BMJ Case Reports
You may already have a case report sat on you computer or might have just seen an interesting case in work. BMJ Case Reports requires patient consent and requires institutional access for free publications (an open access fee is payable if not) but is PubMed listed

Presentations

Points are awarded for international, national, regional and local presentations.

British Hip Society Meeting 2-3rd March 2015
Abstract submission closes just before Christmas and offers a chance to present your work at a national meeting.

British Knee Society Meeting 10-11th March
Abstract submission closes November 14th and offers a chance to present your work at a national meeting.

British Hand Society Meeting 30th April-1st May
Abstract submission closes December 15th and offers a chance to present your work at a national meeting.

Teaching

To score maximum points on the ST3 orthopaedic application you will need to have completed a higher degree in medical education. This can be achieved in a short period of time but if you don’t want to spend upwards of £2000 organising a course will also score you points.

Dundee Certificate of Medical Eduction
Dundee offers a distance learning Medical Education degree that is entirely online with completion dependent on how quickly you can pass each module. Dundee also offers surgery-specific modules.

Bristol Certificate of Medical Education
Similar to Dundee the Bristol degree requires you to attend some lectures together with writing essays.

Imperial Medical Education for Surgeons
If you prefer a longer course with more focus on surgery Imperial offers a surgery specific course. The downside is that the duration is longer making it unlikely that you will be able to graduate before the interviews.

Audits

Getting up to date audits is important to help your score maximum points on the application. Audits can be completed quickly and retrospective audits undertaken before Christmas can easily have their loop closed by the time of the application.

Recruiting SHOs or teaming up with a colleague are great ways to undertake multiple audit projects. Audits looking at existing data will make data collection easy to achieve and audits can then be presented at local audit meetings.

Leadership (And Standing Out)

Most applicants will have a selection of the above on their CVs and selling everything you have done is key. Having something that makes you stand out from the crowd that also demonstrates leadership will add extra weight to your CV at both the application stage and will likely gain interest from interviewers at the selection centre. Below are a few suggestions.

Write a Book Chapter
Book chapters or book editing are good ways to demonstrate both teaching, leadership and help you stand out at interview. Websites such as Get Me Into Medical School or independent publishers are often looking for medics to contribute to upcoming books aimed at both school and undergraduate students. If you are reliable, enjoy writing and can meet deadlines this is a great way to add something different to your CV. The ST3 Ortho Interview Team will soon be producing another orthopaedic website and book and if you are keen to become involved please contact us (though inclusion will be dependent on your work ethic and drive).

Contribute to a Website
Independent surgical education websites such our partner website Core Surgery Interview and popular MRCS revision website MRCS Part B Questions are always on the look out for surgeons with a keen interest in surgical education to contribute articles or questions. Contribution to such websites can add a line to your CV for both teaching and management and will be a talking point at interviews.

Become a Journal Reviewer
While you may not be sufficiently senior to review articles at Nature or JBJS America journals such as the Student BMJ or The Journal of Undergraduate Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery often have positions for reviewers. These again fit into both management and teaching sections of your CV and require you to review submitted articles on an ad-hoc basis.

Join a Committee
Sitting on a committee such as BOTA or FOSS not only gives you an insight into what happens behind the scenes for orthopaedics but also helps demonstrate communication,leadership and management skills. BOTA committee application is done at the annual conference in June each year while FOSS offers committee positions following a trial period from early December.

Sporting Events and Charity
While not formally assessed, undertaking a sporting event such as a marathon, ultra-marathon, triathlon or other outstanding sporting achievement will help to demonstrate drive and determination and will make interviewers know that you are not just an orthopaedic machine.


There are of course lots of other ways to stand out at interview and many of the points scored are for reflection on any achievements. The above list are suggestions and are entirely dependent on you having the drive to pursue any of the above avenues. If you have any other suggestions please sound off in the comments below.