Portfolio & evidence
Useful things to do before you apply
These are development ideas, not a claim about points in a particular recruitment cycle. Check the current official person specification and scoring guidance before relying on any activity for an application.
Follow a patient from streaming through assessment, referral or discharge and reflect on the Emergency Physician's decisions.
Choose a small ED or acute-care QI problem with a clear standard, intervention and realistic repeat measure.
Keep examples of prioritisation, uncertainty, escalation and communication across professional boundaries.
Join a defined local role in TERN, PERUKI or another governed study rather than chasing nominal authorship.
Teach an identified acute-care need, collect feedback and improve the next session.
Royal College / Faculty watchlist
Current topics worth understanding
These are concise summaries of current professional-body material, not predicted interview questions. Use them to understand the specialty and then read the primary source.
Crowding, corridor care and avoidable harm
RCEM's June 2026 State of Emergency Medicine analysis estimated 15,860 excess deaths associated with long waits in English EDs during 2025, while July 2026 set a record for 12-hour waits in that month.
Why it matters for a candidate: Connect crowding to monitoring, privacy, medicines, deterioration and staff workload. Discuss reliable escalation and whole-hospital flow rather than blaming the front door.
Read the primary sourceEmergency Medicine workforce and retention
RCEM workforce resources describe the need for an appropriately trained multidisciplinary team and enough senior decision-makers to provide safe, sustainable emergency care.
Why it matters for a candidate: Discuss supervision, rota design, breaks, culture, flexible careers and retention as patient-safety issues, not only recruitment numbers.
Read the primary sourceRCEM Quality Improvement Programme 2026
The 2026 national QIPs cover adolescent mental health, care of older people and time-critical medication, reflecting common harm outside high-profile resuscitation.
Why it matters for a candidate: Use one topic to show how measurement, multidisciplinary work and reliable routine processes can improve outcomes in a crowded ED.
Read the primary sourceUpdated Emergency Medicine curriculum
GMC-approved changes to the 2021 curriculum took effect on 6 August 2025, with updated capabilities and assessment guidance while the broad training structure remained.
Why it matters for a candidate: Connect curriculum delivery to supervision, feedback, protected teaching and a breadth of clinical exposure during sustained service pressure.
Read the primary sourceUseful stuff
Official tools you can actually use
ACCS Emergency Medicine application and career hub
The comprehensive 2027 guide to eligibility, MSRA, interview, evidence, ACCS training, exams, on-call, subspecialties and current issues.
Read on The Interview Bank The Interview BankEmergency Medicine evidence and example builder
Map truthful experience to the 2027 person specification without inventing an ST1 self-assessment score.
Read on The Interview Bank The Interview BankACCS EM portfolio station guide
Prepare concise, evidence-led answers for commitment, teamwork, leadership, QI, teaching and research with original prompts.
Read on The Interview Bank The Interview BankACCS EM clinical and ethical station guide
Practise acute prioritisation, capacity, consent, professionalism, escalation and changing information in original scenarios.
Read on The Interview Bank RCEMRCEM Quality Improvement
National QIP topics, standards, data tools and guidance for improvement in Emergency Departments.
Open resource RCEMEmergency Medicine curriculum
The current capabilities, assessment programme and progression expectations for UK Emergency Medicine training.
Open resource RCEMLearningRCEMLearning
College learning resources spanning induction, clinical topics, professional development and exam-oriented study.
Open resource TERNTrainee Emergency Research Network
Multicentre research opportunities designed for meaningful trainee participation across UK Emergency Departments.
Open resource EMTAEmergency Medicine Trainees' Association
Trainee representation, education, employment, wellbeing and practical training resources.
Open resourceInterview reflection
Turn exploration into a real “Why Emergency Medicine?” answer
What have you learned about whether rapid switching and safe decisions under uncertainty genuinely suit you?
Start with something you genuinely experienced. Explain what it taught you about the work, what appealed to you, what challenge you noticed and what you did next.