Cardiothoracic Surgery ST4

Listed below are the self-assessment questions that appear on the application form along with the possible responses to each question. Your responses to these self-assessment questions will determine your own score. You will need to provide evidence to substantiate your responses via the Self-Assessment portal; this evidence will be validated by a panel and used to derive your final validated score.

Any lack of evidence, or lack of clarity provided by applicants will lead to an amendment of the score. It is the responsibility of the applicant to provide clear and unambiguous evidence for the process.

Applicants will be able to upload evidence as detailed in their application form between 10:00am on Monday 8 December 2025 and 10:00am on Friday 19 December 2025.

Full details of how to upload evidence will be provided by Friday 5 December 2025 so that you can start collecting and preparing your evidence but general guidance is below. It is imperative that you provide evidence for everything that you have cited on your application form as this evidence will be used to confirm the self-assessment score. Any discrepancies or missing evidence may result in your self-assessment score being downgraded.

The portfolio of evidence should be organised as follows:

  • The content of the evidence portfolio must be in the same order as the domains in the application form
  • Evidence within each domain should be in chronological order
  • The evidence must be in English. Non-English documents must be accompanied by a certified English translation
  • For each domain the entire evidence for that domain must be uploaded as a single PDF. Applications with multiple PDFs uploaded for each domain will not be scored and excluded from the application process.

The panel will only be able to assess the evidence you provide; they will not contact you to request additional evidence. You are therefore requested to provide all evidence in a clear format so that this can easily be identified and assessed.

The recruitment office is not able to advise you about which response you should select for any question. You must select the response you feel you will be able to justify to the panel, using the evidence you provide. Please note that no evidence can be submitted retrospectively. Evidence should not contain patient identifiable data.

Multiplier

The first question asks you to select the number of years that you have been qualified as a doctor (post primary medical qualification). The multiplier is applied for all domains except Domain 1: Undergraduate and Post graduate qualifications and Domain 5: Operative Skills – Basic Thoracic Operative Skills and Anatomical Lung Resections.

Years post-primary medical qualification should exclude any statutory leave such as maternity, paternity, adoption or sick leave and this should be clearly documented on the employment history / gaps section of your application form and will be cross checked at the longlisting stage.

The multiplier will be applied to all relevant domains by the recruitment team.

  • Up to 6
  • Up to 7
  • Up to 8
  • Up to 9
  • Up to 10
  • MBBS, MD as primary qualification, MRCS : 0
  • Bachelor degrees, BA, BEng, LlB, BMedSci (not intercalated) : 1
  • MSc and equivalent (MSc in Medical education or PG Cert do not score in this section) : 2
  • MS or MCh (UK), MPhil: 3
  • MD (UK) or PhD : 4
  • Doctorate degree (MD or PhD) in Thoracic themed topic : 5
  • No Evidence : 0
  • Post-graduate First prize at regional scientific meeting (Only first prize scores, no score for runner up etc.) : 1
  • Post-graduate First prize at National or International scientific meeting (Only first prize scores, no score for runner up etc.) : 2
  • Post-graduate First prize at National or International scientific meeting in Thoracic theme (Only first prize scores, no score for runner up etc.) : 3
  • No evidence : 0
  • Departmental presentations : 0
  • 1 or more regional presentation : 1
  • 1 or more poster presentations at national or international meetings : 2
  • Personally delivered 1 to 2 oral presentation(s) as the podium presenter at a national or international society involving a major personal commitment : 3
  • Personally delivered 1 to 2 oral presentation(s) on a thoracic surgical theme as the podium presenter at a national or international society involving a major personal commitment : 4
  • Personally delivered 3 or more oral presentation(s) on a thoracic surgical theme as the podium presenter at a national or international society involving a major personal commitment : 5
  • No evidence : 0
  • Letter to editor Abstract / E-comments / Pay to publish journal articles : 0
  • Co-author for 1 to 4 peer-reviewed publications (listed in PubMed) or book chapter(s). NB Joint first authorship would only be accepted and scored when it is clearly stated by the publishing journal : 1
  • Co-author for 5 or more peer- reviewed publications (listed in PubMed) or book chapters or Author or editor of a relevant textbook or First author for 1 to 2 peer- reviewed publication (listed in PubMed). NB Joint first authorship would only be accepted and scored when it is clearly stated by the publishing journal : 2
  • First author for 1-2 peer-reviewed publications (listed in PubMed) on a Thoracic Theme. NB Joint first authorship would only be accepted and scored when it is clearly stated by the publishing journal : 3
  • First author for 3 or more peer-reviewed publications (listed in PubMed) on a Thoracic Theme NB Joint first authorship would only be accepted and scored when it is clearly stated by the publishing journal : 4
  • No evidence : 0
  • Ad hoc teaching commitment (i.e. less than monthly for at least 6 months duration) / Talks given to members of the public : 0
  • Evidence of regular teaching commitment to clinical professionals e.g. medical students, nurses etc. (minimum frequency of monthly for at least 6 months duration) : 1
  • Formal teaching qualification: MSc in Medical education or PG Cert in education of at least 12 months duration) : 2
  • Formal teaching role for 12 months or more e.g. anatomy demonstrator, Lecturer (minimum 50% WTE for at least 12 months duration) : 4
  • No evidence / None : 0
  • Evidence of involvement in running a thoracic themed training course : 1
  • Faculty on a regional thoracic themed training course : 2
  • Faculty on a National / International thoracic themed training course : 3
  • Faculty on a National / International thoracic themed training course with 25 delegates or more. (Must have more than 25 delegates to score 4 points. Less than this for a National / international course scores 3 points) : 4
  • No evidence : 0
  • Participation in QI / clinical audit e.g. data collection -audit project commenced but not yet completed : 0
  • Completed one or more Quality Improvement Project OR Completed one or more audit project(s) but the loop is yet to be closed : 1
  • Leadership in the design, conduct, and presentation of 2 or more completed QI / clinical audit project(s) OR Leadership and completion of 1 closed loop audit cycle registered with audit department (i.e. completed both audit AND re- audit) : 2
  • Leadership and completion of 2 or more closed loop audit cycle (i.e. completed both audit AND re-audit) OR Leadership and completion of 1 closed loop audit cycle on a thoracic theme registered with audit department (i.e. completed both audit AND re-audit) : 3
  • Leadership and completion of 2 or more closed loop audit cycle on a thoracic theme registered with audit department (i.e. completed both audit AND re-audit) : 4

How many of the following procedures have you performed in total as primary operating surgeon via a VATS / robotic or open approach? - Lung biopsy, wedge resection, pleural biopsy, pneumothorax surgery

  • 0-5 : 1
  • 6-15 : 2
  • 16-25 : 3
  • 26-40 : 4
  • 41+ : 5

How many anatomical lung resections have you performed as primary operating surgeon by any approach?

  • None : 0
  • 1-5 :2
  • 6-15 : 3
  • 16-25 : 4
  • 26-40 : 5
  • 41+ : 6

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