Oxford Medical

Medical Presentations including power point at Consultant Interviews

It is common during the consultant interview process (approximately 40-50% of consultant interviews) that you will be required to give a presentation. You will be informed of this when you receive your letter of invitation to attend the consultant interview which should outline the following information

1. The topic of the presentation 
2. The time restrictions for the presentation 
3. The mode of delivery of the allocated presentation (usually power point) 
4. A summary of audio visual equipment available on the day

Typically you are given ten minutes to deliver a short presentation using Power Point. This will be followed by a further period of time (10-15 minutes) where you will be expected to answer questions from the panel. All candidates will be given the same instructions including the same topic to present during their consultant interview. If you have any questions phone the medical Personnel Manager who is coordinating the interview and ask for more details or clarification.

Here are some tips when preparing your presentation:

Maintain an introduction, main body and a conclusion.  To begin with, introduce yourself and the topic that you will be talking about. This will then lead on to the main section.  Here you’ll need to provide all the background factual knowledge concerning the topic that you are talking about. Make sure that you are concise and that you provide the information in a hierarchical structure so that the most important facts are delivered first.  No doubt you will be trying to answer some particular question.  It is very important that you answer this question during your presentation.  Once again stick to factual information then deliver your opinion, with one slide covering conclusions.  Following this, questions are normally put to you about your presentation in an attempt to go into more depth about actual content and opinions that you have voiced.

What are the main problems and main pitfalls of delivering medical presentations?

We have found that the most common pitfalls are as follows:

1. Not answering the question that has been asked 
2. Exceeding the time limit for the presentation 
3. Not using effective communication skills, such as talking too quickly 
4. Not engaging the audience 
5. Using slides with too many words 
6. Using a template that is difficult to read 
7. Using abbreviations that may not be apparent to everyone else
8. Not having done research into the area when given time to prepare
9. Not being able to answer questions afterwards on the topic matter
   

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Here are some horror stories that we have encountered at consultant interviews when a presentation has been incorporated as part of the selection process:

• A candidate invited for a consultant interview for a cardiology position was asked to deliver a medical presentation for 10 minutes using power point. She had not saved the latest version onto the memory stick that she brought with her (the original was saved on her home computer). She delivered information on the wrong slides which contained errors, lost confidence which resulted in a poor presentation. Her application was unsuccessful.
• A candidate interviewed for a consultant anaesthetic position delivered a power point presentation which had an in built timer to change the slides. His verbal presentation lagged behind the relevant slide changes and was therefore disjointed and not professional. He stopped the presentation attempted to remove the slide timer and started a second time. He lost confidence and momentum and delivered a poor initial presentation. His application was unsuccessful.
• A candidate interviewed for a consultant surgeon position brought the wrong memory stick with her. She attempted to deliver her presentation at this consultant interview without the aid of power point. Although she recovered well her presentation was not at the same level as the other candidates. She was not successful in her application.
• A candidate using a mac did not check the cross compatibility with the AV equipment available during his consultant interview for an orthopaedic position. He was unable to deliver his presentation. He did however have the foresight to print 9 copies of his presentation and brought these with him to his consultant interview. He delivered a high quality presentation without the use of power point. The panel was impressed that his pre-emptive initiative by having a plan B (printed handouts) combined with a high quality presentation and interview reflected well. He was successful in his application.
• A candidate not familiar with power point had incorporated several videos in her consultant interview presentation for a paediatric position. She had not linked the videos onto the memory stick so they did not play when required. Although a strong candidate this was the main point why another similar candidate was offered the position.
• A candidate during a consultant radiologist interview overran the allocated time period of 10 minutes. The chairman switched off the power to the projector and started the 10 minutes as questioning. As the candidate had not given his conclusions he was not in a strong position. As a result of poor time management and not following simple instructions this candidate was not offered the advertised post.
• If you would like to hear more about how to deliver a knock out presentation at your consultant interview come on one of our Oxford or London Consultant Interview Courses. Why not bring a copy along and receive informal feedback so you don’t make the errors above and more during your actual interview.