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Operating Department Practice 2015

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Reply 60
I'm at 9 too! Apparently everyone is asked to attend for 9, I emailed them today to ask how long do they think we will be there cause I don't wanna park somewhere for a few hours if its gunna be longer, they said we could be there until late afternoon!! 😢
hey i applied for coventry and BCU
had my interview at Cov on the 28th November but unfortunately didnt do too well, and they dont want me so it all hangs on BCU :s-smilie:
Reply 62
Ah no really?? Id hoped it would be in and out type of thing I hate waiting around :/ did they say why? X
yeah, we had mini interviews, like speed dating, i hadnt considered all of the options on one scenario and for our last question, which was a group interview i hadnt said much, never mind that everything had already been said by the person that had got in there and started speaking first, so trying to think of things when they had already been said was rather difficult! i phoned the admissions office to see if there was anything major they said id fell down on and they said they felt i didnt know enough about the role of ODP which i thought was a bit silly because we were never asked about our understanding but hey ho, they dont have a lot of places on their course so it is very competitive, but the staff are lovely and they really want you to succeed so just do what you can
Hi everyone I had my interview at Surrey today, not really sure how it went as its hard to tell, wasn't a fan of the mini interviews don't think they allowed me to talk about my personal skills with the senarios!
Exactly! It's so hard to know what so say without waffling on and feeling like you're missing the point, oh well, fingers crossed for you
I know I only had one relevent question which was asking me why I had chosen to be an odp and if anything had influenced it...thanfully I went to this station last so I had built up a bit of confidence... Thanks!!
Reply 67
Oh god I'm scared lol!! I will fluster and not get my words out! Has anyone had an interview at Teesside yet?
Xxx
Reply 68
Original post by Steph113
Oh god I'm scared lol!! I will fluster and not get my words out! Has anyone had an interview at Teesside yet?
Xxx


I keep thinking of what I can answer but I know I'll forget by the day! X
Reply 69
Original post by Tinks126
I keep thinking of what I can answer but I know I'll forget by the day! X


I'm exactly the same! I think of
Good answers at home but I know I'll crumble! Oh we can only do our best xx
Hi everyone, I'm Nat. I'm currently a first year ODP at Northumbria, just finished the penultimate week of my first placement. This time 9 or 10 months ago, I found the 2014 version of this thread unbelievably helpful with current students posting advice or support, so figured I would pass the torch on for you lot. If anyone has any q's about the course or the interview process or anything like that, I'd be happy to help. I will check this thread every couple of days / whenever I get time :smile:
Reply 71
Original post by NatBenson93
Hi everyone, I'm Nat. I'm currently a first year ODP at Northumbria, just finished the penultimate week of my first placement. This time 9 or 10 months ago, I found the 2014 version of this thread unbelievably helpful with current students posting advice or support, so figured I would pass the torch on for you lot. If anyone has any q's about the course or the interview process or anything like that, I'd be happy to help. I will check this thread every couple of days / whenever I get time :smile:



Hi nat! What was your interview process like? What sort of things would you say we need to mention?
Thanks, Steph xx
Original post by Steph113
Hi nat! What was your interview process like? What sort of things would you say we need to mention?
Thanks, Steph xx


Hi Steph. The first part of the interview was writing a side of A4 on a generic health topic (can't remember what it was). Knowledge isn't important in this bit, it's more just a test to make sure you can write cohesively and construct sentences etc, a very generalised sort of English exam. The main interview was split into groups of about 5 or 6, in a room with 3 lecturers. They will ask a range of the usual interview questions which are answered by everyone, why you are right for this course, what your best qualities are as a person etc. They also ask about any stories in the news you have seen about the NHS, so maybe do a bit of reading on that. I used the Francis Report. In this part of the interview it can be easy to let other people answer first and then get ideas of what you're going to say, I would try and be the first to answer as often as you can as they definitely seemed to be watching out for that. The main things to remember for the interview are that they are assessing your personality aswell as your knowledge, you need to be talkative and relaxed as they are looking or people who interact well with others. I said a couple of spur of the moment jokes which, while not very funny, seemed to go down well.

You don't need hospital experience to do this course but the main things I would try to mention at some point are:
-you are a caring person
-good communication skills
-keen learner

If you've done any sort of education or qualifications since your A levels I would definitely mention that as an example of how continuing your learning indefinitely is important to you.
Reply 73
Original post by NatBenson93
Hi Steph. The first part of the interview was writing a side of A4 on a generic health topic (can't remember what it was). Knowledge isn't important in this bit, it's more just a test to make sure you can write cohesively and construct sentences etc, a very generalised sort of English exam. The main interview was split into groups of about 5 or 6, in a room with 3 lecturers. They will ask a range of the usual interview questions which are answered by everyone, why you are right for this course, what your best qualities are as a person etc. They also ask about any stories in the news you have seen about the NHS, so maybe do a bit of reading on that. I used the Francis Report. In this part of the interview it can be easy to let other people answer first and then get ideas of what you're going to say, I would try and be the first to answer as often as you can as they definitely seemed to be watching out for that. The main things to remember for the interview are that they are assessing your personality aswell as your knowledge, you need to be talkative and relaxed as they are looking or people who interact well with others. I said a couple of spur of the moment jokes which, while not very funny, seemed to go down well.

You don't need hospital experience to do this course but the main things I would try to mention at some point are:
-you are a caring person
-good communication skills
-keen learner

If you've done any sort of education or qualifications since your A levels I would definitely mention that as an example of how continuing your learning indefinitely is important to you.


Hi Nat.
Was this for your interview at northumbria? Did you have one for teesside too or just Northumbria?
Reply 74
I'm a 2nd yr student ODP at SHU and I found the facebook group very useful in my studies. Type in :

ODP - Operating Department Practitioner Talk Forum - ODP Student Forum

and you should find it easily. It has 1018 members - qualified ODPs as well as current students at different British universities.
Reply 75
Original post by NatBenson93
Hi Steph. The first part of the interview was writing a side of A4 on a generic health topic (can't remember what it was). Knowledge isn't important in this bit, it's more just a test to make sure you can write cohesively and construct sentences etc, a very generalised sort of English exam. The main interview was split into groups of about 5 or 6, in a room with 3 lecturers. They will ask a range of the usual interview questions which are answered by everyone, why you are right for this course, what your best qualities are as a person etc. They also ask about any stories in the news you have seen about the NHS, so maybe do a bit of reading on that. I used the Francis Report. In this part of the interview it can be easy to let other people answer first and then get ideas of what you're going to say, I would try and be the first to answer as often as you can as they definitely seemed to be watching out for that. The main things to remember for the interview are that they are assessing your personality aswell as your knowledge, you need to be talkative and relaxed as they are looking or people who interact well with others. I said a couple of spur of the moment jokes which, while not very funny, seemed to go down well.

You don't need hospital experience to do this course but the main things I would try to mention at some point are:
-you are a caring person
-good communication skills
-keen learner

If you've done any sort of education or qualifications since your A levels I would definitely mention that as an example of how continuing your learning indefinitely is important to you.


Thank you that is such a help!! I'm worried if we are all going to be together how we all manage to get our words out? And if one person says something I wanted to say? Did that happen lol? Xx
Original post by Tinks126
Hi Nat.
Was this for your interview at northumbria? Did you have one for teesside too or just Northumbria?


Just Northum.
Original post by Steph113
Thank you that is such a help!! I'm worried if we are all going to be together how we all manage to get our words out? And if one person says something I wanted to say? Did that happen lol? Xx


Yes that absolutely did happen! So if you have an answer in your head just get it out, don't wait around! If someone else takes what you were going to say, and you can't think of anything else, just repeat it as that's better than nothing!
Reply 78
Original post by NatBenson93
Yes that absolutely did happen! So if you have an answer in your head just get it out, don't wait around! If someone else takes what you were going to say, and you can't think of anything else, just repeat it as that's better than nothing!


Thanks nat, really appreciate your help even though it's got me worrying more than ever lol xx
Reply 79
Original post by parislilley
Sheffield Hallam is my first choice and on the open day they basically said no chance without having had some kind of experience. I was lucky and managed to get a theatre tour with an ODP. :smile:


hello I am afirst year student at SHU and you don't need experience as I didn't have any at all in health environment. Just knowledge of what ODP is. interviews easy, no maths or English test.

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