Reflection and resilience: Specialty Training Interview Questions

A mistake you made, a case that changed your practice and how you cope with pressure are asked in most training interviews. Assessors score honesty and the concrete change that followed.

Updated 26 October 2026

How to answer

Own a real mistake, describe what you learned and what you changed. For pressure, name your own warning signs and the strategies you actually use, including asking for help. Claiming never to have made a mistake scores badly.

Frameworks: GIBBS for reflection; STARR for the event

  • Gibbs Description of what happened, Feelings at the time, Evaluation of what went well and badly, Analysis of why, Conclusion: what you learned, Action plan: what you now do differently and the evidence it stuck. Full guide →
  1. Asked in most interviewsUsually asked by the clinical director or clinical leadGIBBS

    Tell us about a mistake you made and what you learned from it.

    Own a real mistake plainly, say what you did at the time including telling the patient and your senior, and what you changed afterwards. The worst answer has no mistake in it. The second worst blames someone else.

  2. Asked in most interviewsUsually asked by the consultant colleague in the specialtyGIBBS

    Tell us about a case or event that changed your practice.

    One case told briefly, then the change: what you do differently now and how you know it stuck. Assessors score the concreteness of the change, not the drama of the case.

  3. Asked in most interviewsUsually asked by the clinical director or clinical leadGIBBS

    How do you cope with pressure? Give us an example of a time you were under pressure and what you did.

    Name your own warning signs, then the strategies you actually use: prioritising, asking for help early, sleep, exercise, talking to someone. Then one example of a pressured situation and what you did. Avoid claiming to thrive on stress.

  4. Often askedUsually asked by the consultant colleague in the specialtyGIBBS

    Tell us about a time you received difficult feedback and what you did with it.

    The feedback, how it felt, what you did with it, and the change that followed. Assessors score the absence of defensiveness and the evidence of change. Say how you now seek feedback.

  5. Often askedUsually asked by the clinical director or clinical leadGIBBS

    Tell us about a time you felt out of your depth. What did you do?

    An honest example: a situation beyond your competence, how you recognised it, and how you got help. Panels want to hear that you know your limits and act on them, which is the opposite of weakness.

  6. Often askedUsually asked by the consultant colleague in the specialtyGIBBS

    How do you look after your own wellbeing on a busy rotation?

    Practical and specific: sleep on nights, exercise, time with people outside medicine, saying no when overloaded, the support available at work. Mention how you would notice if it was not working.

  7. Often askedUsually asked by the clinical director or clinical leadGIBBS

    What is reflective practice, and how do you use it?

    A structured habit, not a buzzword: a model such as Gibbs, when you use it, and one example of a reflection that changed what you do. Say how it fits with the portfolio requirement without being only a portfolio exercise.

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