Clinical scenario: Specialty Training Interview Questions Australia
Scenarios at junior registrar level, usually with reading time: the post operative patient in shock, the rapid response call, the junior who is worried but cannot say why. Panels score structure, prioritisation and early escalation.
Updated 26 October 2026
How to answer
Systematic assessment, treat what you can, escalate early and clearly even when the consultant is distant, use retrieval and telehealth where they apply, and say what you would do afterwards. A safe answer that asks for help beats a clever one that does not.
Frameworks: SAFER, with ABCDE inside Assess and ISBAR for the handover at Escalate
- SAFER See the patient, Assess systematically with ABCDE, Fix what you can and decide, Escalate with a clear request in SBAR or ISBAR, Review: the patient told, the handover, the documentation and what you would do if the first plan failed. Full guide →
You are the registrar on call. A nurse calls about a post operative patient who is hypotensive and tachycardic. Talk us through your approach.
- Follow-up: The patient does not improve with fluid. What now?
Systematic assessment, oxygen, access, bloods and a gas, fluids, examine the abdomen, the wound and the drains, think of bleeding, sepsis, the leak and the embolus, and call the consultant early with ISBAR. When fluid does not help, it is a surgical or critical care emergency and you say so.
A patient on the ward triggers a rapid response call. You arrive first. What do you do?
Call for the team, assess with ABCDE, treat what you find, allocate roles as people arrive, and hand over clearly when a more senior person takes over. Afterwards, the family, the documentation and the debrief.
A junior doctor calls you about a patient they are worried about but cannot explain why. How do you respond?
Take it seriously: a junior who is worried without being able to say why is often right. Go and see the patient, assess systematically, treat what you find, and thank the junior. Say what you would do if you found nothing, including the review in an hour.
You are asked to manage a case at the edge of your experience and the consultant is an hour away. What do you do?
Be honest about your scope. If the patient needs it now and no one better is available, do what is safe, use telehealth and the retrieval service, and escalate; if it can wait or be transferred, do that. Tell the consultant either way, and reflect afterwards on the gap.
How do you prioritise when you have several sick patients and several pages at once?
Triage by acuity using the observations, see the sickest first, delegate the simple tasks, and escalate early for help with the rest. Say what you would ask each person to do and when you would review the others.
A patient wants to leave against medical advice. How do you handle it?
Assess capacity, find out why, address what can be addressed, explain the risks plainly, involve a senior, and if they have capacity and still leave, make it as safe as possible and document. If they lack capacity, the law lets you keep them safe. For an Aboriginal patient, involve the liaison officer early.
A nurse tells you a patient received a medication meant for someone else. What do you do?
Assess the patient for harm and treat it, tell your senior, report the incident, make sure the patient is told through open disclosure, and check the patient who was meant to receive the drug. Support the nurse. Say what you would change to stop it recurring.