How to use this Book

Abstract

Section 2 of this book is organized into five chapters, each representing a professional attribute to which SJT questions are mapped: commitment to professionalism (Chapter 9), coping with pressure (Chapter 10), effective communication (Chapter 11), patient focus (Chapter 12), and working effectively as part of a team (Chapter 13). Each section contains 40 questions, split equally between multiple choice and ranking items. The book ends with Section 3, which contains abbreviated practice tests (Chapter 14) that use a mix of different questions. You will notice throughout the book that most questions cover multiple domains. This is true for those in the SJT as well. It is easy to imagine scenarios that test all five domains with very little effort; for example, a senior nurse pressures you to do something to the detriment of a patient. Do not become distracted by trying to guess which domain(s) are being tested. Although the SJT requires knowledge, the answers to questions cannot be learnt by rote. This is what the test creators mean when they say candidates cannot be ‘coached’ to score highly. The benefit in working through these examples is thinking about the issues they raise. For this reason, the ‘wrong’ answers are at least as valuable as those that are ‘correct’. When practising questions in other subjects (e.g. anatomy), most students read the question, choose an answer, and then check that they picked correctly. The best approach to this book is to read a scenario and then consciously think about which details make (C) a better choice than (D), or vice versa. Only when you have done this should you check our answer and explanation. SJT questions go through a commendably thorough process of assessment and evaluation. The answers are determined by a consensus panel of ‘experts’, most of whom are senior doctors. Our own questions have been through an abbreviated review process using the contributors listed on. This group of contributors broadly reflects the type of people used by the SJT team to validate their items, i.e. members include Clinical Supervisors, doctors with recent experience of the Foundation Programme, and others working closely with FY1 doctors (e.g. senior nurses).