How Can You Prepare?

The Improving Selection to the Foundation Programme (ISFP) project does not believe that it is possible to be ‘coached’ through the SJT. This is generally true. Knowing the ‘right thing to do’ in any given situation is a matter of internalized values and intuition. However, no one seriously accepts that candidates are born with a fixed level of situational judgement. This is clearly something that develops over time and therefore can change. In addition, the SJT does not set out to test your values but whether you understand the values and attitudes expected of an FY1 doctor. This is why you are instructed to answer questions as you ‘should’, not as you ‘would’. The principles on which foundation doctors should base their behaviour are learnt and internalized throughout medical school. However, knowledge of these principles can clearly be learnt in the same way as any other part of the medical school curriculum. Most final- year medical students are satisfied with the FY1 posts to which they are allocated. For 2017 entry, 74% were appointed to their firstchoice foundation school, and 94% to one of their top five preferences. Those who were not initially pleased often look back in retrospect and are satisfied with their allocations. Your score on the SJT is unlikely to make or break your career. However, the same can be said of medical school finals. You will almost certainly pass finals— upwards of 95% of final- year students do so— and your ultimate career destination is unlikely to hinge on your cumulative examination score. But this is not a reason to go into finals unprepared. The truth is that every point on the SJT, as in finals, could mean the difference between your chosen outcome and something different. A point lost on the SJT could result in your leaving your first- choice foundation school and moving across the country for work, or not having a high enough score to capture your chosen specialty as a Foundation Programme rotation. Increasing competition for FY1 posts means that not everyone can be appointed.