Clinical Genetics ST3 Interview Questions 2026

The Medibuddy Clinical Genetics ST3 Question Bank includes over 40 scenarios that closely mirror the real interview, each with a model answer written/edited by high-scoring candidates who sat the Clinical Genetics ST3 interview in 2026.

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

10 years’ experience preparing doctors for interviews

Users of the Medibuddy Clinical Genetics ST3 Revision Platform have secured some of the most competitive training jobs 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 every year? That's why we review and update every Question Bank on the platform twice a year, 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 both interview stations, 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 Clinical Genetics ST3 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 Clinical Genetics ST3 interview.

Verified candidateInterviewed 2026

"The counselling and ethics scenarios were pitched exactly right. Having a structure ready meant I could handle a complex predictive testing conversation calmly."

Secured first-choice deanery

Verified candidateInterviewed 2026

"Practising out loud with other candidates was the single most useful thing I did. The model answers showed me how much structure the panel is really looking for."

Ranked highly

Part 1 • See the questions

The Medibuddy 2027 Clinical Genetics ST3 Question Bank

The interview is two 15-minute stations covering four question areas, and each part 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 2026 Clinical Genetics ST3 interview, so you know exactly how to approach every question the interviewers throw your way.

What's inside

What's included in the Clinical Genetics ST3 Question Bank

There's nothing worse than getting to the interview and being handed a scenario you've never seen before. The panel can draw on clinical genetics, ethics and counselling, communication and commitment across the two stations, 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 Genetics Scenarios

Genetics clinic and counselling scenarios where you play the registrar: take a structured approach, reason through the genetics, and plan safely, each with a worked answer.

Ethics & Counselling

The ethical dilemmas central to genetics, from predictive testing and testing of minors to confidentiality and the duty to relatives, with structured model answers built on clear principles.

Communication

Breaking difficult news and non-directive counselling, with worked answers showing how to communicate clearly and sensitively with patients and families.

Commitment & Experience

Questions on your motivation for clinical genetics and your relevant experience, with example questions and model answers.

Reflecting how genetics is really assessed

Clinical genetics treats the family as the unit of care, and communication is assessed throughout the interview. Our model answers are built around exactly that, alongside the clinical, ethical and commitment themes.

Try it

Try an example Clinical Genetics ST3 question

You are the clinical genetics ST3 registrar in a general genetics clinic. Your next patient, Mr Okafor, is a 34-year-old primary school teacher referred by his GP. He is requesting genetic testing after his mother, aged 61, was recently diagnosed with Huntington disease.

He is in good health, has two children aged 5 and 8, is anxious about the future, and has asked specifically for a gene test. He has no neurological symptoms and no significant past medical history.

How would you approach this?

Question

How would you approach the consultation, and what must you establish before any testing?

Example answer

This is a request for predictive testing of an autosomal dominant, untreatable, late-onset condition, one of the most ethically complex scenarios in genetics, so I would not rush to test.

Introduce myself, explore what he understands about Huntington disease and what has prompted him to seek testing now, and acknowledge the emotional weight.
Confirm his mother's diagnosis is molecularly confirmed (the CAG repeat on the HTT gene); a clinical diagnosis alone is not enough to proceed.
Take a detailed three-generation pedigree, ask about any subtle symptoms of his own, and take a careful psychiatric history, including any self-harm or suicidal ideation.
Explore his social circumstances, his employment, and whether he has discussed testing with his partner.

Question

What is the inheritance and molecular basis, and what is his prior risk?

Example answer

Huntington disease is an autosomal dominant CAG trinucleotide repeat expansion in the HTT gene, and as a first-degree relative of an affected parent his prior risk is 50%.

Normal is 26 repeats or fewer; 27 to 35 is an intermediate range with a transmission risk; 36 to 39 shows reduced penetrance; and 40 or above is fully penetrant.
A positive result predicts that he will develop HD if he lives long enough, but does not reliably predict the age of onset.
A negative result is genuinely reassuring.

Question

What is the HD predictive testing protocol, and how does it differ from BRCA or cardiac testing?

Example answer

The HD protocol is the most structured in genetics, because a result is for a currently untreatable, fully penetrant condition.

It involves two to three pre-test counselling sessions over weeks, a multidisciplinary team (geneticist, genetic counsellor and neurologist, with psychology if needed), no result given on the day of the blood draw, and mandatory follow-up whatever the outcome.
For BRCA or inherited cardiac conditions, testing is often achieved in fewer sessions because a positive result is actionable, through surveillance, risk-reducing surgery or an ICD, which can be life-saving.
The ethical balance differs: in HD there is no intervention for a positive result, whereas in cardiac genetics a positive result changes management immediately.

Question

He says he wants to test so he can plan. What must you explore before proceeding?

Example answer

Wanting to plan is valid, but it needs unpacking.

Explore what planning means concretely, financial, career, reproductive or existential, as each carries different psychological risks.
Assess his coping style and any history of depression, anxiety or self-harm, and how he would react to both a positive and a negative result, as survivor guilt is recognised.
Reassure him that a predictive result should not affect his current teaching job, and that the ABI moratorium means it cannot be required for most life insurance.
Explore whether he has discussed it with his partner, the implications for his children (each at 50% risk), and reproductive options such as pre-implantation genetic testing, and identify a nominated support person.

Question

His result shows 42 CAG repeats. How do you disclose it and manage him?

Example answer

A result of 42 is fully penetrant, meaning he will develop HD in his lifetime, and I would follow the agreed protocol.

Disclose at a pre-arranged appointment, not by phone or letter, with his nominated support person if he wishes, in plain and compassionate language, allowing time to absorb it before any management discussion.
Refer to a specialist HD neurologist for baseline assessment and research registries such as ENROLL-HD, and arrange formal psychological support, with particular vigilance for depression and suicidality in the following weeks, a recognised high-risk period.
Explain there is currently no disease-modifying treatment, though trials are ongoing.
Discuss the family implications: each child is at 50% risk, cascade testing for at-risk adults, and reproductive options.

Question

He asks whether his young children should be tested now. How do you respond, and what principles underpin this?

Example answer

Testing minors for an adult-onset condition with no childhood benefit is not appropriate, a consistent position in UK and international guidance.

It removes the child's future right to choose whether to know, and a positive result would not change their childhood management while causing significant psychological harm.
I would acknowledge his love and his wish to plan, explain they can decide as adults just as he did, and offer age-appropriate support and resources for talking to them about the family history.

The case turns on the core principles: autonomy (the right to know and not to know, with non-directive counselling), non-maleficence (mitigating psychological harm, and not testing children), beneficence (why actionable conditions have lighter protocols), and justice and family-centred practice (confidentiality alongside the duty to at-risk relatives, and the ABI moratorium).

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

Actively maintained

How we keep our Question Banks up to date

The Clinical Genetics ST3 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 twice a year, so you know you're revising with scenarios that are likely to come up. We do this in April after the previous year's interviews, and again in the autumn when the new recruitment guidance is published.

For 2027, this process kept the Question Bank aligned with the current two-station format, with communication assessed throughout, so you always practise with the format the panel is using now.

Updated for 2027 Interviews

Part 2 • Practise them live

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

Our Clinical Genetics ST3 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 Clinical Genetics ST3 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 Clinical Genetics ST3, so you can engage and network with people preparing for the same interview as you. Everyone brings different experience from different hospitals and deaneries, 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 Clinical Genetics ST3 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

What to expect from the Clinical Genetics ST3 interview

Clinical genetics is a small, competitive specialty. In 2025, 84 doctors applied for 15 posts, over five applicants for every place.

The interview is two 15-minute stations, each with a separate pair of interviewers, covering four question areas with communication assessed throughout.

Assessed