Healthcare Science – STP Perspectives

STP interviews | Preparation

Editors note: This post was valid for the 2019 application process and might not be accurate for future years.

I cannot stress enough how important preparation for these interviews is. Everyone talks about how competitive the STP is, so if you want to be in with a chance of getting one of those coveted places, then preparation is key. The National School has some pretty good resources that cover the format of the STP interviews, but I know what you really want to know is “what the hell are they gonna ask me?!”. And I bet your google searches are coming up blank- I know this because I was there 2 years ago; frantically scanning the internet to find any hint or example of the questions I might face in any of the 4 stations. Well, I’ve heard that the questions asked at the interviews are pretty similar year on year so specifics are kept notoriously hush hush. I’m sorry to tell you that I’m not about to change that. Mostly because 50% of the interview is specialism specific so I wouldn’t even have a clue for anything other than bioinformatics. But – before you stop reading and vow never to visit this blog again – what I will do is give you some tips on what I think are the best ways to prepare for each station that I hope will help.

Healthcare Science Week 2019

It’s healthcare science week 2019! A celebration of all the amazing work healthcare scientists do throughout the year to improve patient care and outcomes. For healthcare science week this year, I was appointed by our lead healthcare scientist to coordinate the activities of the trust to celebrate the week. This appointment came through being the trainee representative in the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust healthcare science network. The network was created with the aim of establishing a corporate profile for healthcare science, to represent the workforce with one voice and facilitate celebration, innovation, collaboration and communication across specialisms.

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Specialisms | Clinical Pharmaceutical Science

Specialism Icons _

Emily Plimmer, 1st year Clinical Pharmaceutical Science trainee in Staffordshire talks about her role.

Clinical Pharmaceutical Science (CPS) is one of those specialisms that always seem to make trainees in other areas pull a confused face – they’ve often never even heard of us! Yet the work we do is absolutely vital for patients. In simple terms, we make medicines. However, that really doesn’t do it justice; we are involved in not only making medicines, but ensuring standards of safety, efficacy and quality are met for all patients, and that is no mean feat!

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3 months until STP applications open!

So you want to apply for the STP 2019 intake? Read on to hear our top tips for making that application stand out. These tips are tailored purely for the written application and we will do another post later on to tackle the interview process.

Editors note: These tips were valid for the 2019 application process and might not be accurate for future years.

If you’re not sure about the process for the application there are basically 2 parts:

– Aptitude tests: Mathematical and logical reasoning.

– Personal Information and short written answers to 4 questions.

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