Questionnaire re MTAS and MMC
20th April 2007

Please go to http://www.cai.cam.ac.uk/people/mjb14 for the latest questionnaire. This is an archived copy of the questionnaire from 20th April 2007.

(please see link at the end, if looking for the March 2007 questionnaire)

analyses of results received by 6th May 2007 (MS Word format)

This information is being collected by the authors of the letter to the Times, 4th April.

The main purpose of this questionnaire is to influence Review Body recommendations, with several options at question 21. Because there may be selective revisions for different grades, specialties and locations, we need some initial information about you.

You will be asked at the end of the questionnaire for your permission(s) how we might use your answers.
1. Are you medical:
2. If medical, what level:
3. If Junior what grade:
4. Do you belong to a College:
5. Are you a Member or a Fellow:
6. Surname:
7. Forename:
8. Middle Initials:
9. D.O.B. (optional):
10. GMC number (optional):
Please note we may not be able to use entries without one or both of
D.O.B. and GMC number, if we are required to demonstrate authenticity of submissions.
11. Email (optional):
12. Current Post:
e.g. Consultant Physician
at St. Excellent Hospital,
Wondertown
13. Have you applied for a post
under MTAS:
14. How many specialties
did you apply for:
15. How many locations
did you apply for:
16. How many interviews
have you attended before
April 23rd:
17. What is your first-choice
specialty: please spell
out in full from MMC list
(free text, 100 letters)
18. What is your first choice
location: please spell
out in full from MMC list
(free text, 100 letters)
19. Have you had an interview
for your first choice
before April 23rd:
20. Are you broadly familiar
with Review Body
recommendations of 4th April:
We would like you to vote on a number of alternative solutions, but please first read our assessment of what is feasible.
  • Complete suspension for this round of MTAS is no longer a feasible option.
  • Reversion to Deanery-specific appointments at ST3/4 level may be feasible, especially if some slippage in the 1st August deadline can be accommodated.
  • Trust appointments at ST1/2 are more problematic.
  • A long-term change to the 1st August changeover is desirable for other than MTAS reasons.
  • A delay this year may require financial compensation to new FY1's and depend on logistics of rota re-planning.
  • The optimum compromise solution will minimise the number of repeat interviews without impairing fairness to candidates.
21. For each of the following possible solutions, please indicate (Yes/No) whether you would be broadly satisfied if they were the final decision of the Review Body. (More than one 'YES' permitted)
i. Scores from all interviews
to date will count. All
applicants to be offered one
interview in England, four
in devolved nations (Review
Body 4th April recommendation):
ii. Review body recommendation
+ guaranteed proportion
of posts held over for second
more rigorous round of
appointments (nature & timing
to be decided):
iib. If Yes, what percentage
of posts should be held
over in your (1st choice) specialty:
iii. Reversion to Deanery-specific
interviews for all ST3/4
posts; ST1/2 appointed
according to Review Body 4th
April recommendation:
iv. Reversion to Deanery-specific
interviews for ST3/4 posts
in high competition-ratio
specialties, e.g. Surgery,
Cardiology; all else
as per Review Body:
v. Option iii or iv, plus a
proportion of posts withheld
for best candidates interviewed
to date, (to cut number
of re-interviews required):
vb. if Yes, what proportion (%):
vi. Only temporary-training
or fixed-term specialty
training appointments (FTSTA's)
to be offered to all applicants
(ST1-4) until process repeated
with improved MTAS procedure:
vii. Only temporary-training
or FTSTA's to be offered
to all applicants for ST1/2
until process repeated with
improved MTAS procedure:
            viib. If Yes to (vi or vii),
what should be the duration
of the temporary period:
viii. Other option which you
would like us to add
to this list: (optional
free text, 100 words)
22. In question 21, which
is your preferred option:
23. If a delay in changeover
date from 1st August were
necessary to delay implementation,
would this be acceptable to you:
24. The hybrid options above (i.e. mix of old and new systems) will result in a reduced number of MTAS single-interview posts remaining from the number advertised on the MMC website (for the specialties affected).
Do you consider this to be fair,
as long as the total number
available for the specialty
remains unaltered:
25. Would you like Consultants
to withdraw from appointments
committees if one of the
preferred options above
is not implemented:
26. Do you think, when MTAS appointments are sorted, MMC-style run-through training will be an improvement upon:
i. SHO posts
ii. SpR posts
27. Out of 1-5 (1=miserable, 5 = excellent), how would you score the performance during introduction of MMC/MTAS of:
i. Your College:
ii. Your Deanery:
iii. Your Trust
iv. Review Body
v. PMETB
vi. DoH
vii. BMA
viii. Patricia Hewitt
ix. Liam Donaldson
x. Consultants (in general)
xi. Juniors (in general)
28. Other suggestions
(optional, 100 words)
29. Your personal experience
as an applicant or assessor
(optional, 100 words)
30. Other suggested questions
we might ask
(optional, 100 words)
31. May we contact you if necessary
for further information?
32. Are you willing for your answers
to be used anonymously in providing
summative information to
support changes?
33. Are you willing for your name
to be appended electronically to a
petition limited to those alternatives
to MTAS single-interviews to
which you have answered 'Yes'
in question 21
Thank you for completing this form.

If your submission is unsuccessful despite answering the compulsory questions 2, 6, 7, 31, 32, 33, please keep window with your answers open, and try submitting later. Check you have not exceeded 100 words in the free-text fields. If still unsuccessful, please accept apologies and email profmorrisbrown@doctors.org.uk putting problems with questionnaire submission in title line to request an electronic proforma.

Please email this web-address to as many colleagues as possible. We need at least 5000 entries to influence Review Body decisions.

[See mjb14-20070307.html if you came to this site looking for our March 2007 questionnaire]