Respiratory medicine: Specialty Training Interview Questions
The respiratory medicine 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 28 October 2026
The structures these questions are marked on
- 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 →
- 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 →
Motivation
Point to things you have done rather than feelings you have: tasters, audits, courses, exams, conferences. Name what you will find hard, honestly. Know the curriculum, the stages and the exams, and have an answer for what you would do if unsuccessful this year.
- Asked in most interviewsUsually asked by the consultant colleague in the specialty
Why respiratory medicine, and what have you done to show you are committed to it?
Evidence: the respiratory rotation and what it confirmed, the bronchoscopy or sleep or lung cancer clinic time, the audit, the course, the research. Say what each taught you about the job.
- Asked in most interviewsUsually asked by the clinical director or clinical lead
What do you know about the respiratory curriculum, dual accreditation with internal medicine, and the subspecialty options?
Group 1 with the acute take, the length, the subspecialty interests in lung cancer, interstitial disease, sleep, pleural, airways, cystic fibrosis and intensive care, and the exams. Two accurate sentences, then what will be hardest.
- Often askedUsually asked by the consultant colleague in the specialty
Which area of respiratory medicine interests you, and why?
An area with reasons from what you have seen, and openness about how training may change it.
- Often askedUsually asked by the clinical director or clinical lead
Respiratory medicine carries a large share of the acute take and winter pressure. How will you sustain a career in it?
A real strategy: the winter load, the on call and recovery, the balance of acute and clinic work, life outside, and what you would do if you noticed the signs of burnout.
Clinical scenario
Go to see the patient, assess with ABCDE, treat what can be treated, escalate early and clearly, and say what you would do afterwards. Assessors are scoring judgement, prioritisation and escalation rather than knowledge; a safe answer that asks for help early beats a clever one that does not.
A patient with COPD is drowsy with a saturation of 94 on 15 litres of oxygen. What do you do?
Hypercapnia from oxygen until proven otherwise: a gas now, controlled oxygen to the target range, nebulisers, steroids, antibiotics if infected, and non invasive ventilation by the criteria with intensive care aware. Say what would make you call intensive care and what the ceiling of care discussion would involve.
A patient with severe asthma is tiring, silent chested, with a saturation of 88 on high flow oxygen. What do you do?
The tiring asthmatic needs intensive care now: nebulisers, steroids, magnesium, a gas, the anaesthetist and intensive care called immediately because this patient may need intubation. Say that you would not leave the bedside.
A 65 year old smoker presents with haemoptysis and a chest X ray showing a mass. What do you do?
Lung cancer until proven otherwise: the urgent CT, the staging, the bronchoscopy or biopsy route, the lung cancer multidisciplinary team, and the conversation with the patient about what is being looked for. Say what would make the haemoptysis an emergency.
A patient presents with a large pleural effusion and breathlessness. How do you approach it?
The history and the examination, the ultrasound guided aspiration with the fluid sent for the full analysis, the differential between transudate and exudate, the drain if needed, and the pleural team. Say what you would do if it were an empyema.
A patient on the ward develops sudden breathlessness and pleuritic chest pain two days after surgery. What do you do?
Pulmonary embolus until proven otherwise: the assessment, the risk score, the anticoagulation started if the probability is high and there is no contraindication, the CT pulmonary angiogram, and the escalation if the patient is unstable including the thrombolysis decision.
A patient with interstitial lung disease deteriorates acutely. What do you do?
The infection, the embolus, the heart failure and the acute exacerbation considered, the investigations, the treatment of what is found, the discussion with the patient and the family about the ceiling of care, and the interstitial lung disease team involved.
A patient with cystic fibrosis is admitted with an exacerbation. What is different about their care?
The specialist team and the patient's own expertise, the intravenous antibiotics by the microbiology history, the physiotherapy, the nutrition, the cross infection precautions, and the psychological support. Say that you would involve the cystic fibrosis team from the start.
System knowledge
Name three current pressures and link each to your specialty and your own experience. Know how your training is governed: the ARCP, the curriculum, the college and the GMC.
What are the biggest challenges facing respiratory services in the NHS, and how do they affect training?
Winter pressure and the acute take, lung cancer waiting times, the long term conditions burden, workforce, and the effect on training time in clinics and procedures. Link each to what you have seen.
Governance, safety and quality
The problem, the measure, what you changed, the result and whether it lasted. Be clear about your own contribution. Know the definitions and be able to say which your project was.
Tell us about an audit or QI project in respiratory medicine and what changed.
The problem, the standard, the measure, the change, the result, your part. If it was on oxygen prescribing, non invasive ventilation or lung cancer pathways, say why it mattered.