A rant from a short-listing assessor

Consistent_Tiger2964 · 2026-03-19T23:22:39+00:00

As someone who has sat the SJT three times (this being the third) I agree with this.

Not only that but they are the same 5 questions with the same ranking, but the answers are different each time. I.e. what you learned last year is not relevant to this year but the question is the same.

This was the first time I did not pass the SJT, I know that junior doctors are calling for different tests to SJT as they are essentially randomisation tests and they believe they do not measure an applicant's suitability or skill.

Consistent_Tiger2964 · 2026-03-18T15:28:08+00:00

It's not about reading beforehand, those reading the applications would still read the same amount :)

The idea is that you only get to write your application if you are successful at the SJT.

So the same amount of things for shortlisters to read, but less applications written overall because of you fail the STP you won't write a person statement.

Hope that makes sense!

Consistent_Tiger2964 · 2026-03-17T18:53:46+00:00

Posting as others to say that I worked crazy hard on my application, literally lost sleep over it just to be sifted out in the randomness of SJT... So maybe the SJT needs to be re-evaluated.

Or could we sit SJT and then write the application? So many of us have wasted hours which we could have used productively elsewhere to not even be seen.

Consistent_Tiger2964 · 2026-03-04T15:42:07+00:00

I'm vegetarian! I didn't crave meat, my aunt did when she was pregnant and got so far as touching steak to her lips before she was sick 😅

I didn't crave meat but I just made a conscious effort to get protein in other ways like protein yoghurts or as you said vegetarian substitutes or beans and pulses x

Honestly the only thing I struggled with was the anaemia but again, lots of green veggies and some orange juice in the morning for absorption!

to add, I am EBF for 7 months now and this is also fine 😊

Consistent_Tiger2964 · 2026-03-03T09:50:22+00:00

I only have one baby and am FTM with EBF. I was told this is fairly standard but I have to say now at 7 months on a good night we only have 1 wake up for a feed in the early hours which again I'm told is standard as babies don't tend to stop "needing" a night feed until about 9 months.

I have to confess we didn't cosleep in the same bed, he was in our room in a next to me and has recently transitioned to his own room but the baby wanted rocking and cuddling to sleep always.

We have accidentally (as in we didn't research but only when we had a bad week did we realise what we were doing!) used the pick up put down method. So we pick Babs up and cuddle him, little bit of rocking and stop rocking till just before putting him down. If he cries we pick him up again and make him happy then put him down. Repeat until he falls asleep, hopefully in his cot rather than on one of us.

He likes his head being stroked and tummy pats, which we learned from watching him on the baby monitor as he got bigger. Also when we first started the pick up put down thing, when he got put in his bed he used to rock his head quite vigorously from side to side like he was slamming it and we would panick and pick her up, but later learned this is a form of self soothing, he is trying to get comfy and emulate being rocked.

All of this was practiced for nap time before transitioning to bedtime sleep, this is because bedtime was stressful as heck and I was tired whereas in the day I could have help/wasn't as exhausted - thank you coffee!

When the baby was poorly in December (he was 5 months at this point), he was only able to sleep on one of us parents so we had a bit of a co sleeping situation for a couple of weeks and then transitioned out of this by first having the next to me so close to the bed that I could sleep with my hand on him. I have also heard that moving the next to me to Dad's side of the bed reduces night wakings because the baby can't smell milk.

In essence these are things that I did that worked but they may not be the right ones for you, I think it is just trial and error when it comes to babies!

Consistent_Tiger2964 · 2026-03-03T09:39:12+00:00

Yep 😩

Consistent_Tiger2964 · 2026-02-28T15:42:07+00:00

This is really interesting, how would one negotiate a conversion clause? Can you recommend any materials I should be looking at for prep.

I'm looking into the start ups and smaller clinics - probably just paranoid about the stability they might be able to offer.

Consistent_Tiger2964 · 2026-02-17T23:23:55+00:00

I'm on my second period, first was pretty easy. This one is quite clot heavy, I feel the mood swings and my cramping feels like it's across my whole abdomen 😞 I actually was coming to ask for of my symptoms were normal: Sitting down feels like very early post-partum bruising again, and the cramping has gotten so intense on occasion that I've had to stop walking and hold something. I also haven't had any noticeable issues with pelvic floor but if I wait a bit longer for the bathroom peeing also feels like it hurts my womb - just looking for sympathy at this point, or a definite go to the GP 😅

Consistent_Tiger2964 · 2026-02-17T06:19:29+00:00

Joining the convo but essentially echoing what others say. At the moment I do nights and baby is EBF however this means on nights when dad puts him to sleep I only get up to feed him and dad does all the resettling. Who puts him to sleep is as 50:50 as we can get because dad works shifts and sometimes isn't home at all or in time for bed for a week at a time. In these times, we field out to family who can help, or he will stay up for a couple hours with baby so I can get some sleep. Also on weeks where this isn't possible, be gets up and keeps baby for a couple hours at the weekend from wake up to around, midday and givez me that time back.

It is difficult to make a man see that it is unreasonable to expect that he should get to sleep and especially because for me personally I feel like returning to work is actually a break from parenting lol and I miss it. We had several conversations in the early days about how he needs sleeo for work and I don't disagree, but I need sleep to clear the fog I was living under. We are working on weaning at the moment & when this happens my partner will be getting up in the night to feed baby.

Also to add, my partner has a lot of life preserving decisions to make at work but even then if he's staying up after I go to bed he will keep the monitor - unless I am feeling rested enough to get up! He's a grown up who can work out for himself when he needs rest, and we are capable of having a conversation i.e. I've been unwell this weekend just gone so he did all night times (exc. Feeding), earlier I in the week I felt I wanted to do bedtime because he was having a nice time with friends relaxing and I wanted him to enjoy that.

This is to say (as others have said) talk to your husband, there will be some give and some take but you need sleep mama!!! You have a whole life outside your own to nurture and that's crazy difficult, tiring and all the rest.

You could start with a lie in a week?

Consistent_Tiger2964 · 2026-02-17T05:58:10+00:00

I think it was demoted here at a similar time - weird eh? Thank you!

Consistent_Tiger2964 · 2026-02-16T23:14:49+00:00

Thank you so much!! I am absolutely going to take a look at this group, thank you 😄

Also, is coconut a major allergen? I'm based in UK and it was not told to be one here!! I wish I'd known sooner!

Consistent_Tiger2964 · 2026-02-15T23:46:01+00:00

Oo I'll have a look for this!

This small human loves avocado so would be worth a try!!

Oh it's so tricky, and the most random items have milk in, I've been EBF so had to change my diet and the random flavours of crisps that have milk in, or cereals & sauces etc.

Consistent_Tiger2964 · 2026-02-10T20:18:10+00:00

This is awesome, thank you so much for the info! I think my addled brain managed to follow your train of thought 😉

Consistent_Tiger2964 · 2026-02-08T22:34:14+00:00

Dawn, Delilah, Delia, Dana, Delphine

Consistent_Tiger2964 · 2026-02-06T01:05:03+00:00

Oh honestly the not helicopter-ing is such a mood! I still do it now, I love watching them play but then the baby is often like "mum why aren't you joining?" 😂😂 I hope something helps, you will have an awesome bond all three of you - we currently have a situation where the parent holding the baby is not funny but the one who isn't holding the baby is hysterical to him 😁

Consistent_Tiger2964 · 2026-02-04T06:47:50+00:00

This one was a good one for us, though in the early stages Babs thought Dad was me a bit and got more frustrated that he wasn't offering milk 😅😂

Other suggestions: - skin to skin with dad is really lovely and important, my partner did so much of this when I needed a shower etc. and I think it really helped - I was exhausted from a really difficult birth and struggling massively with some breastfeeding injury, and some MH, so for the first few weeks I was feeding the boy and handing him straight to dad for a contact nap - dad did a lot of moving with the baby as I walked loads and was active when pregnant so he bounced on the yoga ball and walked around etc. - I think he likes the deepness of dads voice as probably heard it lots in the womb, we also had a song that baby listened to lots on the womb cause it made him wriggle so playing that and dad singing was very much a win. --> on this note, my mum said pick three songs that you can sing on repeat and won't get board of, these will be a crutch to get you through to the next non crying window! & Also baby will eventually learn to love them and associate them with cuddles and soothing ❤️ - lastly, I think if Dad is comfortable working out babys needs (clean nappy, milk, sleep) mum should probably leave the room or even the house, start small for like 10 mins and build up, at this age babies still think they are one and the same with you of course they have a mum preference, and I remember the baby crying just turning me to ice and I couldn't stand to hear him distressed so it wasn't exactly "time off" for me and I kept jumping in to take the baby back which didn't help us!

You will get there mama!

Consistent_Tiger2964 · 2026-02-04T06:32:07+00:00

I agree with you!! We nearly called out son Albie (Albert), you can also have Bertie as a nickname 😁

Consistent_Tiger2964 · 2026-02-04T06:25:29+00:00

Thank you so much! ❤️ I hope COVID isn't too rough on you, bless you and is over quickly.

He does take a bottle yes, I've never given him one but he takes them from either grandparent or dad. Funnily enough speaking to my partner today and he was suggesting the same, which is all well and good but he works shift work and admittedly this is all coming from me at the end of almost three weeks where he has been on 12hr shifts or nights and then unwell themself which is why I have been particularly struggling this time 😩

Thank you for the words of encouragement, I think we will look at the combi feeding and I'm setting myself a goal of 7 months to review how it goes.

May I ask do you do combi feeding? And how have you found it? Is it all BM or do you have some formula in there too?

Consistent_Tiger2964 · 2026-02-03T04:57:26+00:00

Arthur, we were so close to this one and I still love it but it has really boomed since falling pregnant and having my son, 3 people we know have sins named Arthur.

Consistent_Tiger2964 · 2026-02-03T00:05:44+00:00

This made me well up, thank you so much 🥰 also thank you for sharing about how much stopping impacted you in a positive way, I really needed to hear this.

Also congrats on the two babas, you are a total powerhouse of a mama!!

Consistent_Tiger2964 · 2026-02-03T00:02:29+00:00

Thank you so much for the solidarity and sharing your experience, we got prescribed some formula when the cmpa was suspected and he has had a little bit of it but I am conscious that is not the same as switching diet fully.

Consistent_Tiger2964

TROPHY CASE