# Practising for Medical Microbiology (ST3) with MedMock

Canonical page: https://medmock.com/exams/medical-microbiology-st3

## What is the Medical Microbiology ST3 interview, and how do you practise for it?

Group 2 Combined Infection Training interview practice: two ten-minute stations covering a research presentation, suitability, clinical reasoning and ethics. Authored practice cases with PHST-informed feedback. MedMock lets you practise it out loud against an AI interview panel, with examiner-style feedback on any station you finish.

## About Medical Microbiology (ST3) recruitment (official sources, checked 2026-10-13)

Most of the following describes the previous recruitment round; the official pages have not yet been updated for the next one.
- Combined infection training, which includes medical microbiology, has Scotland (NHS Education for Scotland) as its lead recruiter.
- The first two years are a common combined infection training programme for all four infection specialties; each specialty then has its own higher training leading to a CCT in that specialty.
- Medical microbiology overlaps with infectious diseases, and dual training in both specialties is possible.
- Medical microbiology sat in Group 2 of combined infection training, which accepted only physician training routes and required completion of the first two years of IMT stage 1 or equivalent.
- Commitment to specialty in combined infection training was scored at shortlisting on activity and interest across any of the infection specialties in the programme.
- The Group 2 interview had two stations with four questions, opening with a presentation of no more than three minutes on an infection-related research paper.
- Combined infection training had separate ST3 and ST4 vacancies; applicants eligible for both had a single interview with scores used for both.

Sources: https://www.phstrecruitment.org.uk/specialties/infection-specialties

Recruitment dates: Applications 19 November 2026 to 10 December 2026 (national Round 2); Interviews within the national Round 2 window, 11 January 2027 to 9 April 2027 (source: Physician Higher Specialty Training Recruitment (PHST), checked 2026-09-24).
All Medical Microbiology (ST3) dates: https://medmock.com/exams/medical-microbiology-st3#dates

## Stations you can practise

- **Presentation & suitability** — Prepared research-paper presentation (up to 3 minutes), paper discussion (about 3 minutes), then suitability and commitment to infection training (about 4 minutes). Small prompt cards allowed; no slides or screen sharing.
- **Clinical scenario & ethics** — A short clinical vignette followed by approximately 6 minutes of clinical discussion and a separate 4-minute ethical, professionalism and governance question given verbally. Brief mental preparation is allowed before the clinical question; the official reading interval is not specified.

## Sample Medical Microbiology (ST3) questions

- *Presentation & suitability:* Where do you see your career going within infection training, and what steps have you already taken towards that plan?
- *Clinical scenario & ethics:* A junior colleague tells you they did not request a malaria film for a febrile patient who had recently returned from Nigeria because the department was busy and they assumed it was probably flu. What would you do?

## Example scenarios

- *Presentation & suitability:* Present a recent infection paper, discuss its limitations and describe how your experience supports your choice of training.
- *Clinical scenario & ethics:* A 68-year-old woman develops fever, confusion and rigors on the medical ward. Her blood pressure is 84/50 mmHg, pulse 126/min and lactate 4.2 mmol/L; the infection source is not yet clear.

## How a practice session works

1. **Choose a station** — Choose the kind of question or scenario you want to rehearse — ethics, motivation, a role-play, and more.
2. **Have the conversation** — Speak naturally, out loud. The AI interviewer listens and asks the demanding follow-ups, just as a real interviewer would.
3. **Get instant feedback** — The moment you finish, you get specific, examiner-style feedback and a score — what you did well, what cost you marks, and precisely what to fix before the next attempt.

## Price

Start with a one-off £5 taster: 30 credits (30 minutes of speaking practice), not a subscription. After that, or instead, £69 per month for 350 credits. One credit is one minute of spoken practice, or two typed exchanges, and where the examiner or patient speaks first, that opening line is free. Examiner scorecards, mark schemes and model answers for finished sessions are included at no extra credit cost. Cancel at any time. Full details: https://medmock.com/pricing

## Frequently asked questions

### How does the feedback work?

When you finish a station you can have it marked, and the scorecard comes back in seconds — what you did well, what cost you marks, and exactly what to work on next. Scorecards, mark schemes and model answers are included at no extra credit cost.

### Can I practise specific Medical Microbiology ST3 stations?

Yes. You can pick either station to drill a weak area, or run a mixed set to simulate the real interview.

### How much does it cost?

You can start with a one-off £5 taster: 30 credits, which is 30 minutes of speaking practice, with no subscription. After that, or at any time, you can choose a monthly plan, which includes a monthly credit allowance. Current prices are on the pricing page.

## About MedMock

MedMock is a web app for practising the spoken parts of UK medical and dental exams and interviews out loud. The candidate talks; an AI patient, examiner or interview panel answers in real time by voice; and when the station ends MedMock marks the performance against that exam's assessment domains and shows the model answer.

It covers 104 spoken exams and interviews — OSCEs, vivas, structured oral exams, simulated consultations, and specialty-training and consultant interviews. It does not cover written or multiple-choice papers, and it is not a question bank.

It was founded by Mr Sam Nahas, MBBS BSc MEd FRCS (Tr & Orth), a practising consultant orthopaedic surgeon in the UK, with co-founder and CTO Arjan Jandu. It is operated by VirtualPatients Ltd (company no. 16303492).

Pricing: a one-off £5 taster of 30 credits to try it (not a subscription, one per account), and a monthly subscription from £20 to £129 depending on the exam (student exams cost least, fellowship exit exams and consultant interviews most), or £199 to £275 for the Intensive plans, which carry more credits. One credit is one minute of spoken practice, or two typed exchanges, and where the examiner or patient speaks first, that opening line is free. Examiner scorecards, mark schemes and model answers for finished sessions are included at no extra credit cost. Subscriptions can be cancelled at any time.

It runs in a web browser on a laptop or phone; spoken practice needs a microphone. There is no public demo: practice needs an account with credits, usually from the taster or a monthly plan.

MedMock is for adults aged 18 or over. Sign-up asks every new account to confirm it.

MedMock is a revision tool. The patients, examiners and cases are fictional and AI-generated; it is not clinical guidance and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any Royal College, the GMC, the GDC or any examining body.

Start with the £5 taster: https://medmock.com/auth/signup