Cardiology HST Interview Question Bank

The Medibuddy Cardiology HST Question Bank includes over 40 scenarios that closely mirror the real interview, each with a model answer written and edited by high-scoring candidates who sat the Cardiology HST interview.

However, knowing a strong answer isn't the same as delivering it well under pressure, which is why we provide:

Study Groups with candidates across the country
Unlimited Live Mocks with real people
Peer Feedback on your mocks from a wide range of candidates

Preparing doctors for interviews

Users of the Medibuddy Cardiology HST Revision Platform have secured competitive training places in recent rounds. Ask around, there's a good chance the trainees in the year above you used us too.

Always up to date

Did you know the interviews change from year to year? That's why we review and update every Question Bank on the platform regularly, so you know you're always practising with scenarios based on the latest interview structure.

Network and practise real interview scenarios with other candidates

Question Bank

See every scenario, and how to answer it well

Over 40 scenarios across every interview theme, which tell you exactly how to respond to each question.

Study Groups

Connect with candidates across the country

Most people only ever practise with one or two friends. Study Groups connect you with candidates right across the country sitting the same Cardiology HST interview.

Live MocksBeta

Practise interview technique with different candidates

Arrange or get matched on demand with other candidates and run real scenarios out loud under interview conditions. Those who practise with the widest range of people tend to score the highest.

Peer FeedbackBeta

Reviewed by candidates across the platform

Submit your recorded mocks to candidates across the platform and get honest, varied feedback. Reviewing other people's mocks teaches you just as much.

The question bank, and other candidates to practise with, all in one platform.

What candidates say

Scored well, secured their post

A few of the candidates who prepared with us for the Cardiology HST interview.

Verified candidateInterviewed 2026

"The clinical scenarios were pitched exactly right. Having a structure ready meant I could work through an acute cardiology emergency calmly under pressure."

Secured first-choice post

Verified candidateInterviewed 2026

"Practising the governance and motivation questions out loud with other candidates was the single most useful thing I did before the day."

Ranked highly

Part 1 • See the questions

The Medibuddy Cardiology HST Question Bank

The interview is tightly timed, so you have a limited window to deliver the high-scoring answers you need to do well. That means every point has to land, and knowing how to structure each answer is essential. That's why each of our 40-plus scenarios comes with a model answer, written by candidates who scored highly in the Cardiology HST interview, so you know exactly how to approach every question the interviewers throw your way.

What's inside

What's included in the Cardiology HST Question Bank

There's nothing worse than getting to the interview and being handed a scenario you've never seen before. The panel draws on clinical, governance and suitability themes, so the safest approach is to revise across all of them. We provide scenarios for every part of the interview, including the common ones and the more unusual cases that have come up before, so you don't get caught out.

Clinical

Acute and outpatient cardiology scenarios where you play the registrar: assess, reason and manage safely, each with a worked answer showing how to structure your response, apply the relevant guidelines and know when to escalate.

Ethics, Professionalism & Governance

Realistic situations covering ethics, consent and capacity, patient safety, clinical governance, audit and working within a team, with structured model answers built on clear principles.

Suitability & Commitment

Your chance to show your motivation for Cardiology, your suitability for the medical registrar role and your achievements in research, audit and teaching, with example questions and model answers.

Reflecting how Cardiology HST is really assessed

Our scenarios and model answers are written to reflect the current interview structure, across the clinical, governance and suitability themes.

Try it

Try an example Cardiology HST question

You are the Cardiology SpR on call at a district general hospital and you are fast bleeped to the Emergency Department to review an unwell patient.

The SHO hands over Mr Young, a 70-year-old man with diabetes, hypertension, a previous anterior MI three years ago and heart failure. His ECG shows new atrial fibrillation with a fast, narrow-complex ventricular response at 158 bpm, and he has no prior history of AF.

His blood pressure is 80/50, his GCS is 15, and he has crackles to the mid-zones.

How would you approach this?

Question

What are your immediate actions?

Example answer

This is new atrial fibrillation with adverse features, so I would treat it as an emergency and move quickly to a safe, structured approach.

Move him to the resuscitation area, put him on a cardiac monitor and attach defibrillator pads.
Call for help early: the ED team, my Consultant on call and the anaesthetist, as he may need sedation.
An A to E assessment that I repeat frequently: oxygen if saturations are below 94%, intravenous access and bloods, and continuous monitoring.
Recognise the adverse features: he is hypotensive with signs of heart failure, which places him in the unstable arm of the ALS tachyarrhythmia algorithm.

Question

He has adverse features. What is your definitive management, and how would you deliver it?

Example answer

With shock and heart failure, the correct treatment is synchronised electrical cardioversion rather than rate-control drugs.

Follow the ALS tachyarrhythmia algorithm: up to three synchronised DC shocks, under sedation or general anaesthesia with anaesthetic support.
If cardioversion fails or AF recurs, give intravenous amiodarone through a large-bore or central line and consider repeat cardioversion.
Correct reversible contributors in parallel, particularly potassium and magnesium, and treat hypoxia.
Keep reassessing with an A to E approach, and be ready to escalate to the Consultant and critical care.

Question

Once he is stabilised, how would you assess him and what might have caused this?

Example answer

I would take a focused history and examination and look for a precipitant, because new atrial fibrillation is usually driven by something.

History: onset and triggers, chest pain, breathlessness and exercise tolerance, and his cardiovascular risk factors and previous MI, from him or his family.
Examination: signs of heart failure, murmurs, and evidence of sepsis or thyroid disease.
Cardiac causes: ischaemia, hypertension, heart failure and valvular disease, all relevant given his history.
Systemic causes: sepsis, electrolyte disturbance, hyperthyroidism, hypoxia, pulmonary embolism, anaemia and alcohol.

Question

What is your ongoing management and investigation plan?

Example answer

He needs admission to a monitored bed, ideally coronary care, with the underlying cause investigated and treated.

Investigations: serial ECGs, troponin, full blood count, urea and electrolytes, thyroid function, glucose and HbA1c, and a chest radiograph.
An echocardiogram to assess left ventricular function and the valves, especially given his previous MI and heart failure.
Treat the heart failure and any identified precipitant, and review his current medication.
Consider anticoagulation using his CHA2DS2-VASc score once he is stable, and document a clear plan with senior review.

That's one scenario. There are over 40 more.

Actively maintained

How we keep our Question Banks up to date

The Cardiology HST interview changes from year to year, and the biggest fear for any candidate is getting to interview day and realising you've revised with a question bank that's totally outdated.

That's why we review and update every Question Bank regularly, so you know you're revising with scenarios that are likely to come up, aligned with current Irish cardiology practice and the HST recruitment process.

Our scenarios and model answers are kept aligned with the current interview structure, across the clinical, governance and suitability themes, so you always practise with the format the panel is using now.

Updated for the latest interviews

Part 2 • Practise them live

The only interview resource where you can practise live with other candidates from across the country

Our Cardiology HST Question Bank tells you exactly how to answer real interview scenarios. But how you practise with them will determine how many marks you score. Simply reading answers off a screen won't prepare you for the intense scrutiny you'll face in the interview. And only practising with the same few colleagues or friends limits the amount of feedback you'll get. Medibuddy gives you unique access to Cardiology HST candidates across the country, so you can learn from a variety of perspectives and hear a far wider range of feedback than your own circle could ever give you.

Study Groups

When you prepare in isolation, you're relying on your own interpretation of the interview process, which is one of the quickest ways to get found out on the day. Study Groups connect you with other doctors across the country who are also applying to Cardiology HST, so you can engage and network with people preparing for the same interview as you. Everyone brings different experience from different hospitals, meaning you won't ever miss out on the key bits of information that could swing the interview in your favour.

Live MocksBeta

Candidates who don't take part in mocks often struggle to adapt to the pressure of the interview. Your knowledge might be correct, but without convincing delivery the interviewers will score you poorly. The best way to improve your delivery is to take part in as many live mocks as possible, which is why we haven't put a cap on how many you can do. We also know how difficult it can be to organise mocks with other people, so all you have to do is join the waiting room and we'll match you with a different Cardiology HST candidate each time. Take turns as both the interviewer and candidate on real Question Bank scenarios, so you can see exactly how other candidates perform in real time, while refining your own interview technique.

Peer FeedbackBeta

Preparing alone means you won't know how you're coming across during the interview. And preparing with the same few candidates means you'll miss opportunities to improve, which is why it's so important to get as many opinions as possible on your performance. With Medibuddy, you can record a mock and submit it for feedback from other candidates on the platform, so you receive a wider range of feedback and refine your answers with each person you practise with. Reviewing other people's mocks is just as valuable, as it shows you how strong candidates handle the same scenarios, which is one of the fastest ways to improve.

The interview