Anaesthetics Specialty Recruitment 2021

Published: 22/10/2020

Following the Autumn recruitment rounds for CT1 and ST3 the College’s Recruitment Advisory Group (RAG) has established plans for 2021 recruitment working in conjunction with the Anaesthetics National Recruitment Office, Medical and Dental Recruitment and Selection (MDRS), anaesthetists in training representatives, Clinical Recruitment leads for the four nations, senior members of the College responsible for training and multiple stakeholders involved with recruitment. These plans comply with principles agreed by MDRS for all specialties with the anticipation of further disruption due to COVID-19, such that face to face interviews are not possible. Selection processes need to be deliverable in the face of heightened restrictions due to COVID-19. All applicants will be informed of plans before recruitment rounds take place and should be assured that these processes will not change in the middle of a recruitment round.

The College’s RAG has considered processes already put in place for 2020 recruitment rounds and reflected on experience gained through the use of unverified self-score, portfolio online verification and digital interviews. Experience from other specialties has also been considered, including the robust evidence in place to support the use of the Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment (MSRA) for shortlisting for CT1 recruitment. Over 50% of all Foundation doctors applying to core training sit the MSRA which has been found to have high reliability, small differences in scores due to ethnicity and gender, and good predictive validity in respect to subsequent scores at interview and performance in training. Approximately 20% of CT1 anaesthesia applicants sat the MSRA as part of applications to other specialties in 2019 and 2020; analysis of this data indicates that the MSRA would work well as a method for shortlisting for CT1 anaesthetics recruitment since there is a strong association with subsequent scores at interview and appointability.

The College will not be using unverified self-score at any point in the selection process since the verification process has demonstrated significant variation in self-score and actual verified score. Online portfolio verification for Autumn recruitment was labour intensive for trainees, administrative staff and assessors, but we are making progress in improving this process for 2021 for ST3 trainees.

The feedback for virtual interviews was that it worked well for both CT1 and ST3; the College has made strong representation at MDRS to retain the interactive element of the digital interview process for any selection process adopted for 2021 recruitment for both CT1 and ST3. Due to exam cancellations for the Primary FRCA during the pandemic and difficulties trainees faced with the implementation of the Primary MCQ via remote proctoring, the ST3 person specification has been changed so that ‘Primary MCQ only’ is required by time of interview. This is to make sure that no trainee is disadvantaged due to exam cancellations/difficulties encountered which were outside of their control. For the same reason scores for ‘full Primary’ will not be included in the portfolio score as this would disadvantage these trainees. 

All specialties have formulated a Plan A and a Plan B in case restrictions dictate that resources required to run Plan A are not possible. The corresponding plans for CT1 and ST3 anaesthetic recruitment are described below:

CT1

Plan A

  • MSRA for shortlisting (details on MSRA can be found on the GP National Recruitment Office resource bank webpage)
  • Online interview 30 minutes
    • 1st part (10 mins) portfolio based questions around teaching, training, audit and QI which will be scored using domain based scoring rather than asking trainees to present evidence.
    • 2nd part (20 mins) assessing the following domains: commitment to specialty; communication; decision making; reflective practice; teamwork; working under pressure.
    • 2 panel members

Plan B (if COVID situation depletes admin resources/consultant availability for interviews)

  • MSRA for shortlisting
    • 1st part (10 mins) portfolio based questions around teaching, training, audit and QI which will be scored using domain based scoring rather than asking trainees to present evidence.
    • 2nd part (20 mins) assessing the following domains: commitment to specialty; communication; decision making; reflective practice; teamwork; working under pressure.
    • 1 panel member

ST3

Plan A

  • Online Portfolio Verification for shortlisting with improved portal for uploading and reviewing documents. Completed before interview as it is a shortlisting tool.
  • Online interview - 30 minutes.
    • Assessing commitment to specialty; communication; decision making; reflective practice; teamwork; working under pressure. 
    • 2 panel members (including at least one consultant)

Plan B (if COVID situation depletes admin resources/consultant availability for interviews)

  • Online Portfolio Verification for shortlisting with improved portal for uploading and reviewing documents. Completed before interview as it is a shortlisting tool.
  • Online interview - 30 minutes.
    • Assessing commitment to specialty; communication; decision making; reflective practice; teamwork; working under pressure. 
    • 1 panel member

MDRS have widened the recruitment timelines for both CT1 and ST3 recruitment to enable more flexibility and time for running shortlisting processes and scheduling digital interviews. Applicants will be able to view timelines and full details for the CT1 and ST3 2021 anaesthetic recruitment processes on the ANRO website.

Professor Tom Gale
Chair of the RCoA Recruitment Advisory Group