Intensive care: Specialty Training Interview Questions Australia

The intensive care questions that sit on top of the specialty training core: clinical scenarios, the system and governance questions specific to the specialty, and presentation titles.

Updated 24 October 2026

The structures these questions are marked on

STAR Situation in a sentence, Task: what you had to do, Action: what you did in the first person, Result: the outcome with a number where there is one. Add Reflection for STARR. Full guide →
ETHICS Establish the facts and capacity, Think through the four pillars and name the tension, Hear the other side fairly, Identify two or three options, Choose a patient centred action with the next step, Safeguard and document. Full guide →
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 →
The What it is in a sentence, Why it matters with a fact, What it means for this organisation and specialty, What I would do at my level and how I would measure it. Full guide →

Motivation

Evidence of commitment over enthusiasm: rotations, courses, audits, exams sat. Know the programme's stages, exams and rural requirements. Say what you would bring to a rural site, not just that you are willing to go.

Asked in most interviewsUsually asked by the head of department
Why intensive care, and what experience have you had in critical care so far?
Evidence: the intensive care and anaesthetic terms, the sick patients, the procedures, the courses. Why intensive care in terms of the work: physiology applied in real time, the sickest patients, the team, the conversations. Avoid the answer that is about adrenaline.
Asked in most interviewsUsually asked by the staff specialist colleague
What do you understand the ICU registrar's role to be, and what will you find hardest about it?
The registrar who runs the unit overnight, reviews the sick on the wards, leads the MET calls, procedures, talks to families, and calls the consultant with a plan. Say which parts you are ready for and which you will find hard.
Asked in most interviewsUsually asked by the head of department
What do you know about the CICM training programme, the Foundation term and the examinations?
The Foundation term and its assessment, the core and transition years, the primary and second part examinations, the requirements for rural and paediatric experience, the supervision. Two accurate sentences, then what will be hardest.
Often askedUsually asked by the staff specialist colleague
Intensive care has long shifts and high emotional load. How will you sustain yourself?
A strategy and an escalation: sleep after nights, exercise, people outside the unit, the debrief after a bad outcome, knowing your warning signs, and who you would tell. Units have watched registrars burn out and the panel wants to hear that you know it.
Often askedUsually asked by the head of department
Which pathway are you considering, intensive care alone or dual training, and why?
Say which and why, honestly: the dual training with anaesthesia or emergency medicine or medicine for the breadth, or intensive care alone for the depth. The panel wants a considered answer and knowledge of what each involves.

Leadership and teamwork

One specific example per question, your actions and the outcome clear, a line of reflection. Include what the nurses or allied health staff contributed. Show you can follow as well as lead.

Asked in most interviewsUsually asked by the nurse unit manager or director of nursingSTARR
Tell us about a time you worked closely with nursing staff to manage a critically ill patient. What did you learn from them?
A real example: what the nurse saw that you did not, what you learned about the patient or the unit, how the care changed. ICU nurses are the unit's memory and the nurse unit manager is on the panel.
Asked in most interviewsUsually asked by the head of departmentSTARR
You are leading a MET call and a senior colleague arrives and starts giving different instructions. What do you do?
Say so, calmly: confirm who is leading, hand over if the senior is taking over, and if not, ask them to help in a specific role. Closed loop communication, one leader, and a debrief afterwards about how the handover of leadership should work.
Often askedUsually asked by the staff specialist colleagueSTARR
Tell us about a time you had to coordinate several teams around one sick patient.
A real example: the surgical team, the medical team, the family, the retrieval service, around one sick patient. How you kept everyone informed, how you resolved disagreement, the outcome.

Communication

One real conversation, stepped through, with the outcome. For the family refusing analgesia or treatment, explore the belief, involve an interpreter or cultural liaison, explain without pressure, and find the acceptable option. Practise ISBAR until it is automatic.

Asked in most interviewsUsually asked by the head of departmentSPIKES
A family want everything done for a 90 year old with multi organ failure. Talk us through that conversation.
Prepare, then SPIKES: what the family understand, a warning shot, the reality in plain words, silence, what everything means to them, the patient's wishes, the goals of care, and the plan with the consultant's confirmation. Say what you would do if they refused to accept it.
Asked in most interviewsUsually asked by the staff specialist colleagueSPIKES
How would you approach a conversation about organ donation with a family?
The donation conversation is separate from the conversation about death and comes after it. The donation agency is involved early and its staff usually lead the conversation with the treating team present. Say that you would raise it with the consultant and the agency first, never pressure the family, and know the two pathways.
Often askedUsually asked by the head of departmentSPIKES
A patient's daughter is angry that her father was not admitted to ICU earlier. Speak to her.
Acknowledge first and genuinely, listen to the whole complaint, explain what happened without defending or blaming, say what is happening now, offer the complaints process and the consultant's conversation. Afterwards, look at whether the admission was delayed and report it if it was.

Ethics and professionalism

For the supervisor, stay professional, use the supervisor of training and the college channels, and keep patients safe. Define cultural safety as the patient's experience and give your own actions. Know mandatory notification and open disclosure.

Asked in most interviewsUsually asked by the head of departmentETHICS
The unit is full and two patients need a bed: a 30 year old with severe sepsis and an 80 year old post operative patient. How do you decide, and who do you involve?
Assess both patients properly: severity, trajectory, reversibility, baseline function, the patient's wishes. Apply the criteria: need, likelihood of benefit. Find more capacity: a ward ready patient, another unit, outreach support. Involve the consultant, the bed manager, the teams and the families. Document and review. Deciding by age fails.
Asked in most interviewsUsually asked by the staff specialist colleagueETHICS
A patient with an advance care directive refusing ventilation deteriorates and the family want them intubated. What do you do?
A valid directive is the patient's decision and it is binding. Check validity and applicability, explain to the family that honouring it honours the patient, explore their distress, involve the consultant immediately, and know your state's law on directives and substitute decision makers. If validity is in doubt, treat while it is clarified.
Often askedUsually asked by the head of departmentETHICS
A colleague's treatment plan is, in your view, futile and causing suffering. What do you do?
Check your own judgement, then talk to the colleague directly and respectfully about the goals of care. If the disagreement persists, the consultant, a family meeting, palliative care, and the ethics committee if needed. The patient's suffering addressed throughout. Say what you would do if the colleague were your own consultant.
Often askedUsually asked by the independent chair or consumer representativeETHICS
How would you make an Aboriginal family feel safe when their relative is in intensive care?
Involve the Aboriginal liaison officer early, make room for family in numbers the unit can manage, explain in plain words and check understanding, ask about cultural needs around care and death, and be flexible about the small things. Say that safety is judged by the family.

Clinical scenario

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.

Asked in most interviewsUsually asked by the head of departmentSAFER
You are called to the ward for a patient with a respiratory rate of 40, saturations of 85 on 15 litres and a blood pressure of 90. Talk us through your assessment and management.
- Follow-up: The patient needs intubation and the consultant is 30 minutes away. What do you do?
ABCDE, high flow oxygen or non invasive ventilation, the cause sought, access, bloods and a gas, treat what you find, and the decision about intubation. When the patient needs intubation and the consultant is thirty minutes away, prepare, call the anaesthetist and the senior nurse, and proceed if the patient cannot wait, with the consultant on the phone. Say what you would do if it went wrong.
Asked in most interviewsUsually asked by the head of departmentSAFER
A patient in ICU on noradrenaline has a sudden drop in blood pressure. What do you do?
Check the line and the infusion first, then the causes: bleeding, a new arrhythmia, tamponade, pneumothorax, sepsis worsening, a drug. Assess, treat what you find, increase the support, and call the consultant. Say what you would examine and what you would scan.
Asked in most interviewsUsually asked by the staff specialist colleagueSAFER
A patient with severe sepsis is not responding to fluid. Talk us through your management.
The sepsis bundle, the source sought and controlled, vasopressors started early rather than more fluid, the lactate trend, the consultant called, and the escalation of support. Say what would make you consider that the diagnosis was wrong.
Often askedUsually asked by the head of departmentSAFER
A ventilated patient suddenly desaturates. What is your approach?
Disconnect from the ventilator and bag by hand, then the causes: the tube displaced or obstructed, a pneumothorax, equipment failure, a mucus plug, a new pathology. Assess, treat what you find, and call for help. Say the sequence.
Often askedUsually asked by the staff specialist colleagueSAFER
A patient post cardiac arrest is admitted to ICU. What are your priorities in the first hour?
The cause of the arrest sought and treated, the neuroprotection: temperature control, oxygenation and ventilation targets, blood pressure, glucose, seizure control. The family told honestly about the uncertainty of the prognosis and when it can be assessed. The consultant involved.
Often askedUsually asked by the head of departmentSAFER
A patient with diabetic ketoacidosis and a pH of 6.9 is admitted. What do you do?
Fluids first with reassessment, a fixed rate insulin infusion, potassium replacement guided by the level, careful correction, monitoring of glucose, ketones, gas and electrolytes, the cause sought, and the awareness of cerebral oedema in the young. Say when you would consider bicarbonate and why rarely.
Often askedUsually asked by the staff specialist colleagueSAFER
A patient with a severe head injury has a dilating pupil. What do you do?
Raised intracranial pressure with herniation: the head up, the sedation and ventilation targets, hyperosmolar therapy, the CT now, and the neurosurgeons now. Say what you would tell the family.

System knowledge

Know the programme's requirements in detail. Name three current pressures and link each to your specialty. Be able to explain clinical governance and the standards most relevant to your work in a sentence each.

Often askedUsually asked by the head of departmentSYSTEM
What are the main pressures on intensive care units in Australia at the moment?
Capacity and the pressure from the wards, the workforce including nursing shortages, the ageing population, the cost, and the gap for rural hospitals without intensive care. Say what a registrar can do about one.
Often askedUsually asked by the staff specialist colleagueSYSTEM
What is the role of the ICU in supporting the rest of the hospital, including outreach and MET calls?
Outreach to the wards, the MET and rapid response calls, the national standard on recognising and responding to deterioration, advice to the other teams, and the education of the ward staff. Say what you have seen work.

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