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Maritime career self-assessment

Maritime readiness quiz: are you ready for medicine at sea?

Eight questions on certificates, experience and maritime operational thinking for doctors, nurses and paramedics considering ship, offshore or remote work. You get one of three results, each with one main next step and a link for your profession.

Eight questions

Choose one answer for each question

Pick the answer closest to where you are today. Your answers stay in this page; none of them is sent anywhere.

0 of 8 answered

1. Which of these certifications do you currently hold?

2. How many years of emergency or acute care clinical experience do you have?

3. A patient develops chest pain at sea, 18 hours from port. What is your first operational consideration beyond clinical assessment?

4. You need to request a course deviation for a medical emergency. How do you communicate this to the bridge?

5. What does "capability gap" mean in maritime medicine?

6. During a norovirus outbreak, at what threshold should you consider notifying port authorities?

7. Can you independently perform: IV cannulation, ECG interpretation, wound closure and emergency drug administration?

8. You are alone managing a critical patient overnight. What is your priority documentation?

Your result: Interview-Ready

You have strong certifications, solid clinical experience and show operational thinking suited to maritime medicine. You understand capability gaps, command communication and resource-constrained decisions.

Try the interview simulator

When you are preparing for a specific panel, the Ship Doctor & Cruise Nurse Interview Guide has worked answers.

Next step for your profession

Your result: Build More Preparation

You have a clinical foundation but need maritime-specific readiness: key certificates (STCW, ALS/ACLS), procedural confidence, and structured communication with the bridge. Practise one of those now.

Practise a medevac SBAR

Then plan oxygen for a long transfer with the oxygen burn-rate calculator.

Next step for your profession

Your result: Start with Fundamentals

Maritime medicine builds on acute care experience and core certificates. Start with the emergency skills every setting needs, through your profession's route.

Get the free Emergency Practice Toolkit

Then come back to this quiz once you have more acute experience; maritime posts usually ask for several years of it.

Next step for your profession

Score the quiz by hand (works without JavaScript and on paper)

Give yourself 3, 2 or 1 points per question, then add them up (8 to 24).

  1. 3: STCW, ACLS/ALS, ATLS and ENG1/PEME. 2: ACLS/ALS and some maritime certificates. 1: basic life support only.
  2. 3: three years or more in emergency, ICU or acute care. 2: one to three years. 1: under one year or mainly outpatient.
  3. 3: oxygen endurance against transit time. 2: call the captain immediately. 1: transfer to ICU.
  4. 3: structured SBAR with endurance, oxygen window and resource status. 2: email the captain. 1: ask the bridge to come to the medical centre.
  5. 3: the point where onboard resources cannot sustain the clinical trajectory. 2: the difference between ship and hospital equipment. 1: a gap in the doctor's training.
  6. 3: when GI illness exceeds 2% of passengers or crew. 2: when the captain decides. 1: when 50 or more passengers are affected.
  7. 3: confident in all four skills. 2: some, not all independently. 1: limited procedural experience.
  8. 3: timed entries, resource audits, bridge log and capability-gap note. 2: a detailed clinical note. 1: an incident report.

20 to 24: interview-ready. 14 to 19: build more preparation. 8 to 13: start with fundamentals.

What the quiz covers, and what it does not

Questions 1, 2 and 7 ask about certificates, acute experience and procedural independence. Questions 3 to 6 and 8 test maritime operational thinking: resource endurance, structured communication with the bridge, capability gaps, outbreak thresholds and documentation when you are alone. Each answer scores 1 to 3; the total (8 to 24) gives one of three results.

Certificate names differ by country and employer: ALS (UK and Europe) and ACLS (US) are broadly equivalent resuscitation courses, ENG1 is the UK seafarer medical and PEME a pre-employment medical. Always check the employer's own list. The outbreak question reflects the 2% gastrointestinal illness reporting threshold used by the US CDC Vessel Sanitation Program for ships sailing to US ports; other regimes differ.

Written by Dr Ezekiel Aluda Osolika. A result is a self-assessment for your own planning; it does not measure competence or decide eligibility for any post.

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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.