Endocrinology and diabetes mellitus is a broad-ranging subject; and an enticing one for trainees and consultants alike. It encompasses basic mechanisms of physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology, coupled with the ability to improve quality of life and long-term outcomes. There are increasing opportunities in the specialty to become more involved in digital technologies, genetics and community models of care.


Endocrinology and diabetes mellitus - trainee characteristics

Key skills in endocrinology & diabetes include:

  • Passion and desire to develop an in-depth knowledge of the specialty
  • Recognition of patients who require specialist input
  • Willingness to work as both a member and leader of a multi-disciplinary team.

Working in an HST endocrinology and diabetes post

Endocrine and metabolic diseases are some of the most commonly-encountered in the UK population, and are increasing in prevalence and impact on the health of the nation - emphasising the need to continue to strive towards improved health care delivery in our specialty.

Widespread requirement for skills

Endocrine diseases and diabetes affect every physiological system of the body, determining that our specialists enjoy a wide range of skills and expertise, and make a major contribution to general medicine in its broadest sense.

Importance of endocrinology and diabetes

The specialty of endocrinology & diabetes continues to be at the forefront of basic science, clinical and translational research, determining that much of what we do has a strong evidence base.

Every trainee and specialist has the opportunity to contribute further to that growing evidence base, which has led to so many innovations in recent years. Equally there are varied opportunities to become involved in quality improvement, leadership and medical education.


Further information

    General / application queries

    For general queries relating to areas such as eligibility criteria, making an application or the Oriel system, please contact the Physician Specialty Recruitment Office.

    Queries regarding the progress of a submitted application should be directed to the lead recruiter for this specialty. The lead recruiter for endocrinology and diabetes mellitus is South West Severn.

    Group 1 specialty

    This is a Group 1 specialty and requires completion of the internal medicine training (IMT) stage 1 programme or equivalent; all programmes in the specialty will dual specialise with general internal medicine.

    Therefore, this specialty uses the standard HST eligibility criteria for Group 1 specialties and does not accept candidates from any alternative training routes. Please visit the am I eligible? section of this website for further information.

    Commitment to specialty

    The specialty will be assessing your commitment to specialty as part of the shortlisting process. Please visit the application scoring page for more information about how this is assessed and scored.

    As part of the process of applying to HST, you may wish to gain an idea of how recruitment progressed in previous years for the various specialties participating in the nationally-coordinated recruitment.

    To this end, we have published data dating back to 2013 (where this is available), based around four main areas:

    • Competition ratios - application numbers submitted to each specialty, along with the number of NTN and LAT posts available in each. It is worth noting that posts are subject to change throughout the round (increasing on average between 20-40%), and post numbers for this data are taken at the end of the round.

    • Shortlist scores - the scores awarded to all submitted applications, including average scores and distribution nationally.

    • Total scores - the total score awarded to all candidates who completed the full recruitment process for a specialty (application and interview), including some analysis of scores.

    • Post fill rates - the number of posts filled by region. 

    We have published information for all specialties participating in our process that year; consequently not all specialties will have data in all cases.

    Indicative post numbers

    Indicative vacancy numbers are available in the table below, broken down by region and divided between substantive national training number (NTN) and locum appointment for training (LAT) posts. In many cases these will be presented as a range (e.g. 1-4) as it is not always possible for regions to know at this stage how many vacancies there will be.

    It is the intention that indicative post numbers for all regions will be published prior to the application opening date, although this cannot be guaranteed. Please note that this table is not likely to be updated subsequent to indicative numbers and actual numbers will be confirmed when programme preferences are opened later in the round.

    Numbers subject to change

    Please be aware that it is not uncommon for vacancy numbers to change as the round progresses.

    More commonly, post vacancy numbers can increase as the round goes on (and confirmation of posts becomes available); but it is also possible that numbers can reduce as well. In the past, post numbers have risen an average of 20-40% from the start to the finish of the round but this can vary greatly for individual specialty/region combinations.

    It is possible that regions which do not have a post at the start of the round may declare one after applications have closed. Whilst we try and minimise instances of this, it is not always possible to predict vacancies so even if there appears not to be a vacancy in your preferred specialty/region combination, you may wish to consider applying in case one becomes available during the round; you can check with the region concerned if you wish to check on the likelihood of a post arising.

    Generally, once a region enter a post into a round they would always have at least one post available and would only withdraw it in exceptional circumstances.

    Round 1 Interview dates & posts

    Region NTN posts LAT posts* Evidence upload date(s) Interview date(s)
    East Midlands

    0 - 1

    N/A

    18/12/23 - 05/01/24

    20, 21, 22 March 2024

    East of England

    6 - 7

    N/A

    London

    TBC

    N/A

    Kent, Surrey and Sussex

    0

    N/A

    North East

    0 - 2

    N/A

    North West 

    Mersey

    N/A

    N/A

    North Western

    1 - 2

    N/A

    South West

    Peninsula

    0 - 2

    N/A

    Severn

    0 - 1

    N/A

    Thames Valley

    0 - 3

    N/A

    Wessex

    3 - 4

    N/A

    West Midlands

    2 - 4

    N/A

    Yorkshire & Humber

    TBC

    N/A

    Scotland**

    6 - 8

    TBC

    Wales

    2 - 4

    TBC

    *English LATs

    Please note, English regions do not recruit to LAT posts.

    **Scotland post numbers

    If you are interested in working in Scotland, a breakdown of post numbers by the four Scottish regions is available on the Scottish Medical Training website. This has details of all specialty training post numbers in Scotland, including specialties which are not part of the nationally-coordinated process.

    The SMT website will always be the more accurate one where they differ.

    Interview Content

    The interview be split across two separate stations with a separate pair of interviewers scoring you on the areas within their station. There will be four questions, 10 minutes each in length. You will be marked on these questions and your communication skills, giving five scored areas in total. The headings below show the question areas and in which station they will be covered, along with information about what will be assessed.

    Each station will last 20 minutes, so including the time between stations, the interview will be approximately 45-50 minutes.

    Please note that this is subject to change and will be confirmed by the date of interview.

    Scoring framework

    The score of 1-5 an interviewer will award you for each assessment area is judged in relation to how well you perform against an expected level. Below is the framework used to award scores at interview, as well as interpretation of what these scores represent:

      

      

      

    Mark

      

      

      
      

      

      

     Rating

      

      

      
      

      

      

    Assessment

      

      

      

    1

    poor

    not considered appointable

    2

    area for concern

    performed below the level expected from a core level trainee applying to the specialty;
    possibly unappointable, subject to discussion and performance in other areas

    3

    satisfactory

    performed at the level expected of a core level trainee applying to the specialty;
    the candidate is suitable for a higher specialty training post

    4

    good

    above average ability;
    the candidate is suitable for a higher specialty training post

    5

    excellent

    highly performing trainee;
    the candidate is suitable for a higher specialty training post

    As shown in the table, for each of the question areas at interview, 3/5 is considered a satisfactory score; and reflects the level of performance that would be expected of a trainee ready to progress to a specialty training programme.

    Should your performance go above and beyond this expected level, interviewers can award marks of 4/5 or 5/5 as appropriate.

    Conversely, should your interview performance not reach the expected level, then interviewers can award marks of 1/5 or 2/5, as reflects their level of concern over your performance.


    Appointability

    Raw interview score (RIS)

    The RIS is the sum of all ten scores awarded to you during your interview, but before any weighting is applied.

    As each individual score will be between 1 and 5, your RIS will be between 10 and 50.

    Appointability requirements

    To be classed as 'appointable', you must meet all three criteria below:

    • none of your ten interview scores can be 1/5
    • no more than two of your ten interview scores can be 2/5
    • your RIS must be 30 or above.

    If you meet all three requirements, your application will be assessed as appointable, and can progress to be considered for post offers.

    However, if you fail to meet any of these requirements, your application must then be assessed as not appointable, and it will progress no further in that round.


    Total score

    After interview, a weighting is applied to the scores in each area, as well as your application score.

    These scores are then combined to give your total score which determines your ranking, which will in turn be used to inform how offers are made. The weighting of different sections, as well as the method by which your total score is established, is detailed in the table accessible through the link below:

        

     

      

        

     Interviewer 1

      

        

     Interviewer 2

      

        

    Weighting

      

        

    Max score

      

    Station 1 - Question 1

    Clinical scenario – endocrinology

    / 5

    / 5

    2.0

    20

    Station 1 - Question 2

    Medical registrar suitability

    / 5

    / 5

    1

    10

    Station 2 - Question 1

    Clinical scenario - diabetes

    / 5 / 5 2.0 20

    Station 2 - Question 2

    Suitability & commitment

    / 5

    / 5

    1.5

    15

    Communication mark

    / 5

    / 5

    1.5

    15

    Raw interview score

    / 50

    Interview score (w weighting)

    / 80

     Application score

    / 50

    0.4

    / 20

     Total score

    / 100