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Maritime interview practice

Maritime interview simulator: six shipboard and offshore scenarios

Practice questions for ship doctors, cruise nurses and offshore medics, each with a pass-level and a distinction-level answer. They are written for posts at sea and on platforms; hospital and ambulance interviews have their own pages, linked below.

Interviewing for a hospital or ambulance post?

These six scenarios are set on ships and offshore platforms. Emergency department and ambulance panels ask different questions, so practise with the pages written for them:

How to practise

  1. Pick the scenario closest to the post you are applying for.
  2. Read the question, then answer it out loud for about two minutes, as you would to a panel. Recording yourself on your phone helps.
  3. Open the answers. Compare yours first with the pass-level answer, then with the distinction-level answer.
  4. Answer again, adding what you missed.

What the distinction answers have in common

  • They treat the patient and state how long onboard resources (oxygen, drugs, staff) will last.
  • They name the people outside the medical team who must know: the captain or bridge, the OIM, the company medical director.
  • They use a structured handover such as SBAR, with a clear recommendation.
  • They document decisions, times and capability gaps as they go.

Six scenarios

Open a scenario, answer it out loud, then compare

Each scenario opens with a click, Enter or Space, and works without JavaScript. Jump straight to one:

Chest Pain at Sea
Ship Doctor

"A 62-year-old passenger presents with central chest pain, diaphoresis and nausea. You are 14 hours from the nearest port. What do you do?"

Pass-Level Answer

Perform an ECG, administer aspirin and GTN, establish IV access, give morphine for pain and monitor vitals. Arrange medevac if STEMI is confirmed.

Distinction-Level Answer (SBAR-M)

Stabilize with ACS protocol, acquire and interpret 12-lead ECG, initiate dual antiplatelet therapy where indicated. Simultaneously begin an oxygen endurance audit against the 14-hour transit window. Notify the bridge using SBAR-M with a resource endurance and capability gap assessment. Document the capability gap: no cath lab, no troponin trend, no blood bank. Frame the medevac decision around whether onboard resources will outlast the clinical trajectory, not just current stability.

Norovirus Outbreak
Cruise Nurse

"You receive 23 cases of acute gastroenteritis overnight on a 3,000-passenger cruise ship. As the duty nurse, how do you support the outbreak response?"

Pass-Level Answer

Isolate symptomatic passengers, increase sanitation, rehydrate affected individuals, notify the ship doctor and monitor the case count.

Distinction-Level Answer (SBAR-M)

Support activation of the vessel outbreak management plan. Assist with calculating the current attack rate against the 2% GI illness threshold. Establish an isolation log with cabin-level tracking and timed symptom documentation. Coordinate with housekeeping on enhanced sanitation protocols. Prepare IV fluid and antiemetic stock audit for the ship doctor. Support documentation for CDC VSP reporting. Communicate staffing impact to the medical team lead using structured handover: current caseload, resource status, projected demand over next 24-48 hours.

Captain Disagreement
Ship Doctor

"You recommend a medevac for a deteriorating patient but the captain wants to continue to the scheduled port. How do you handle this?"

Pass-Level Answer

Explain the medical urgency, document the conversation and escalate to the company medical director if needed.

Distinction-Level Answer (Command Language)

Present the clinical trajectory in operational terms the bridge understands: ORS level, oxygen endurance window, resource depletion timeline and what will not be survivable if transfer is delayed. Frame it as a capability gap, not a disagreement. Document the recommendation in writing with the Capability Gap Speech: "Captain, I must formally advise that our onboard capability may not sustain this patient beyond [timeframe]. I am documenting this communication." If the captain declines, document that decision, contact the company medical director, and continue stabilisation while logging all interventions and reassessments.

Platform Trauma
Offshore Medic

"A rigger sustains a crush injury to the lower limbs during a lifting operation on an offshore platform. Helicopter medevac is 4 hours away due to weather. What is your approach?"

Pass-Level Answer

Secure the scene, apply C-spine precautions, control haemorrhage, splint fractures, establish IV access, administer analgesia and request helicopter medevac.

Distinction-Level Answer (SBAR-M)

Coordinate with the OIM to confirm scene safety and secure the lifting operation. Perform a primary survey with C-ABCDE approach. Assess for crush syndrome risk: document entrapment duration, administer aggressive IV fluid resuscitation before extrication if prolonged entrapment. Apply tourniquet if uncontrolled haemorrhage. Monitor for hyperkalaemia indicators. Communicate to the OIM using SBAR-M: "OIM, this is a priority 1 casualty. Our medical resources can stabilise but not definitively manage crush syndrome. I am requesting immediate helicopter medevac. Current weather window closes at [time]." Audit analgesic and fluid stock against 4-hour hold time. Prepare transfer documentation and packaging for helicopter extraction.

Medication Error at Sea
Cruise Nurse

"You discover that a crew member was given twice the prescribed dose of anticoagulant by a colleague on the previous shift. The patient is currently asymptomatic. What do you do?"

Pass-Level Answer

Inform the ship doctor immediately, assess the patient for signs of bleeding, document the error and complete an incident report.

Distinction-Level Answer (SBAR-M)

Immediately assess the patient: vital signs, signs of bleeding (bruising, haematuria, gum bleeding, altered consciousness). Notify the ship doctor using SBAR-M: "Doctor, Situation: crew member received double dose of [drug]. Background: administered at [time] by [colleague]. Assessment: currently asymptomatic, vitals stable, no visible bleeding. Recommendation: I suggest increased monitoring frequency, withholding next dose, and considering reversal agent availability." Document the error with timed entries. Complete the incident report per vessel protocol. Audit onboard supply of reversal agents. If the patient deteriorates, reassess the capability gap and consider telemedicine consultation. Support the colleague involved with a non-punitive debrief per just culture principles.

Oxygen Exhaustion
Offshore Medic

"You are managing a casualty on high-flow oxygen on an offshore platform. You calculate that your oxygen supply will run out 6 hours before helicopter medevac can arrive due to weather delays. What do you do?"

Pass-Level Answer

Reduce flow rate where clinically safe, request priority medevac and prepare for potential clinical deterioration.

Distinction-Level Answer (SBAR-M)

Perform a formal oxygen burn-rate audit: current cylinder pressure, flow rate, litres remaining, and calculate the precise endurance window. Assess whether the FiO2 target can be reduced without compromising the clinical trajectory. Audit all platform oxygen sources including emergency cylinders. Communicate the depletion timeline to the OIM using SBAR-M: "OIM, at current consumption we will exhaust medical oxygen at approximately [time]. This is [X] hours before projected helicopter arrival. I am formally advising this is a capability gap." Document the gap. Request weather re-assessment and explore alternative transfer options. Prepare a contingency plan for clinical deterioration if oxygen is exhausted and document all decisions.

More shipboard questions: ship doctor interview questions and cruise nurse interview questions.

About these scenarios

The scenarios and answers were written by Dr Ezekiel Aluda Osolika, an emergency physician with shipboard, expedition and remote-care experience. They are fictional, for interview practice only, and are not clinical guidance; real decisions follow your employer's protocols and current guidelines. They describe what interview panels commonly probe, not any employer's official questions or marking scheme.

Next: check your preparation with the maritime readiness quiz, or draft your application with the maritime CV builder. For worked answers to a full panel, see the Ship Doctor & Cruise Nurse Interview Guide.

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Important Disclaimer The Ship Doctor does not represent employers, recruiters or cruise lines and does not guarantee job availability, interviews or employment. This tool is educational. Each employer handles its own applications; always check requirements with the employer or the relevant regulator.