On the day Before the exam

The viva part of the exam takes place one or two days after the clinical cases. Half the candidates will be examined on one day and half on the second. The time in between is stressful and difficult to spend productively as you mull over your performance in the clinical cases. Try not to convince yourself you have failed, as you probably haven’t and need a confident performance in the vivas.

Often several different surgical specialties hold exams on the same day so there will be lots of trainees milling around. Listen for when you are to enter the examination hall.

Before each viva you line up in groups of eight and are then led into the hall where you sit at lines of tables.

The viva is in four sections:

• Adult elective orthopaedics and spine
• Trauma
• Paediatric orthopaedics and hand surgery
• Applied basic sciences related to orthopaedics

You have 30 minutes for each oral. Some candidates will have all four in close succession; others will have long gaps between them.