# Practising for Vascular Surgery (ST3) with MedMock

Canonical page: https://medmock.com/exams/vascular-surgery-st3

## What is the Vascular Surgery ST3 interview, and how do you practise for it?

Vascular Surgery ST3 national recruitment interview, run online by NHS England: about 50 minutes over two stations, each with two consultant interviewers. Each station opens with a written scenario and 5 minutes of reading time, then two 10-minute parts: a clinical scenario and a communication scenario in Station 1, and a management scenario and a virtual operative skills scenario in Station 2. The communication scenario is discussed with the interviewers, not role-played, and the operative skills scenario is talked through in words. Here one examiner voice speaks for the panel. MedMock lets you practise it out loud against an AI interview panel, with examiner-style feedback on any station you finish.

## About Vascular Surgery (ST3) recruitment (official sources, checked 2026-10-13)

- 2025 recruitment round, NHS England figures for Vascular Surgery ST3: 225 applications for 35 posts, a competition ratio of 6.43.
Most of the following describes the previous recruitment round; the official pages have not yet been updated for the next one.
- Each Vascular Surgery candidate had a 50-minute interview assessing a clinical scenario, a management scenario, a communication skills scenario and a virtual operative skills station.
- Vascular Surgery interview Station 1 covered a clinical scenario and a communication scenario, and Station 2 a management scenario and a virtual operative skills scenario.
- An administrator invigilated every Vascular Surgery interview, applicants needed a smartphone or tablet as a second camera, and the stations had 2 consultant interviewers.
- Vascular Surgery applicants gave a self-assessment score and uploaded evidence, which a team of consultants reviewed and could change, producing a verified evidence score.
- Vascular Surgery combined the verified evidence score with interview scores to set the final total score and ranking.
- Vascular Surgery removed candidates who self-scored 0 on all domains, and could use an unverified score cut-off in a second shortlisting if applications exceeded interview capacity.
- Vascular Surgery recruitment to programmes in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a nationally coordinated process run on behalf of the Vascular Surgery Specialty Advisory Committees.

Sources: https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/competition-ratios/2025-competition-ratios https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/surgery/higher-surgery/vascular-surgery/overview-of-vascular-surgery/overview-of-vascular-surgery https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/surgery/higher-surgery/vascular-surgery/overview-of-vascular-surgery/interviews https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/surgery/higher-surgery/vascular-surgery/overview-of-vascular-surgery/how-to-apply

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: NHS England Medical Specialty Recruitment, checked 2026-09-24).
All Vascular Surgery (ST3) dates: https://medmock.com/exams/vascular-surgery-st3#dates

## Stations you can practise

- **Station 1** — After 5 minutes of reading: Clinical Scenario (10 min) — examiner-led discussion of a written vascular clinical scenario (rAAA, acute limb ischaemia, symptomatic carotid disease, CLTI, mesenteric ischaemia, vascular trauma), followed by Communication Scenario (10 min) — examiner-led discussion of how you would speak to the patient or family about consent, breaking bad news, refusal, or duty of candour.
- **Station 2** — After 5 minutes of reading: Management Scenario (10 min) — examiner-led discussion of a non-clinical management problem in the clinical environment (governance, candour, conflict, complaints, trainee performance), followed by Virtual Operative Skills (10 min) — verbal walk-through of a vascular operation step-by-step, naming positioning, surface anatomy, layers of dissection, named structures, clamps, sutures, and post-op plan.

## Sample Vascular Surgery (ST3) questions

- *Station 2:* How would you assess a patient with acute limb ischaemia?
- *Station 1:* A 65-year-old man, three weeks after a right hemispheric TIA, has a 75% symptomatic right ICA stenosis on duplex. What is your management plan and what is your timeline?

## Example scenarios

- *Station 1:* A 75-year-old man with a known 6.8 cm AAA arrives with sudden back pain and a BP of 80/40. Talk me through your emergency management.
- *Station 1:* Counsel a 70-year-old woman with a 4.8 cm screen-detected AAA on surveillance versus elective repair.
- *Station 2:* Your firm's registrar disagrees with the consultant on the FEVAR plan and refuses to consent the patient. How do you handle the disagreement?
- *Station 2:* Walk me through your exposure of the common femoral artery for a femoral embolectomy.

## 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 Vascular Surgery 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