The Call for applications for recruitment for the Position of Foundation Doctor for the next intake in July 2026 has now been published and may be found here. The expected Timeline for Recruitment for the Foundation Programme starting July 2026 may be viewed here.
The recruitment process is directed by the Human Resources Department of the Department of Health and the Public Service Commission of the Government of Malta. The Public Service Commission may make changes to the process from year to year. The Malta Foundation School is in a position to issue guidance on this process based on that which was undertaken in the previous years.
The Situational Judgement and Clinical Test (SJCT-see below) will be resumed this year. An interview is also held as part of the recruitment process. This usually focuses mainly on communication skills.
Below you will find details related to the SJCT and the interview process. A section on typical marking is also included below.
Please keep yourself updated by visiting this site regularly in the run up to the Recruitment process.
The Situational Judgement and Clinical Test
The test this year will be made up of 70 questions which need to be answered in 120 minutes. There will be 50 Clinical questions and 20 Situational behavioural judgment questions. The Clinical questions will be of the type Choose best one out of five answers. The Situational behavioural judgment questions will be distributed evenly between Ranking best answers from 1 to 5 (10 questions) and Best 3 out of 8 answers (10 questions).
Behavioural judgment questions will focus on the professional and ethical responses expected of doctors. These will vary between interactions with peers, seniors, other staff, patients and relatives among others.
Examples of subject matter for the Clinical questions may be found below and are usually commonly encountered clinical scenarios on hospital wards which Foundation year 1 doctors will be encountering and dealing with under senior supervision, while following local and international guidelines.
• Anticoagulation management: INR and APTT
• Electrolyte management
• Acute confusional states
• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath
• Post-operative complications
• Urine retention
• Collapse and shock
• Syncope
• Overdoses
• Falls in elderly persons
• Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
• The febrile patient
• Gastrointestinal bleeds
• Hepatic encephalopathy
• Ascites
• Common arrythmias
• Jaundice
• Skin rashes in the acute setting
• Low urine output
• Gynaecolgy and Obstetric emergencies
• Anaphylaxis
• Medication administration errors
• Neutropenic sepsis
• Congenital bleeding disorders
• Spinal cord compression
• Acute limb ischaemia
• Chronic limb ischaemia – ulcers and gangrene
• Deep Venous thrombosis and Pulmonary embolism
• Diabetic foot complications + sepsis
• Issues around COVID-19
• Oxygen management in wards
• Diabetes control
• Hypoglycemia
• The Early Warning Score
• Intravenous fluid prescription
• Arterial blood gas interpretation
• Infection control on the ward
• Management of venous access lines
The interview
The interview is usually conducted by around three to five interviewers who will:
1. verify the information provided in the application form. Those applicants who are not able to verify claims made in the application form or provide the documents required will not be able to proceed further in the selection process.
2. verify claims made about language proficiency and assess Personal Qualities.
3. ask questions which address relevant experience, qualifications, communication and personal qualities.
Marking
Please note that the below marking is based on the previous recruitment year’s marking procedure. This is ultimately decided by the Interview Board which is appointed by the Malta Public Service Commision. Thus the marking and distribution of marking may change from year to year.
Table 1: Breakdown of marks
| Deciles | 440 | |
| Qualifications and Educational achievements | 40 | |
| Communication | 200 | |
| Situational Clinical Judgement Test | 240 | |
| Relevant Experience | 80 | |
| MAXIMUM MARK | 1000 |
Claims made on the Curriculum vitae will need to be supported with evidence at application stage for marks to be given. Applicants may also be asked to present original documentary evidence at the start of the interview for marks to be awarded in the sections on Qualifications and Educational achievements and on Relevant experience.
