How to Build a Competitive Specialty Training Portfolio (Even If You're Starting Late).

How to Build a Competitive Specialty Training Portfolio (Even If You're Starting Late) Opening your portfolio and feeling like you're miles behind everyone else? I've been there. I started taking mine seriously later than I probably should have — and still ended up ranked in the top 1% of radiology applicants, got my top-choice interventional radiology post, and was separately offered an ST1 histopathology post in my first-choice location. This video is exactly how I'd build a portfolio from scratch if I had to start again — not by doing everything, but by understanding what actually gets scored and making a handful of deliberate decisions. In this video: 🎯 Why reading the actual recruitment criteria comes before anything else 🎯 Taster weeks — the easiest win, and how to make them count as genuine evidence 🎯 Leading (and finishing) an audit or QI project 🎯 Turning one audit into a poster, a presentation, and an interview story 🎯 Building a real teaching programme instead of a single session 🎯 Why exams and PGCerts should be the cherry on top, not the foundation 🎯 The honest truth about research — and why I wouldn't rely on it alone 🎯 Leadership roles that actually count, and the one document you must not forget 🎯 What I'd prioritise if applications were 3–6 months away, not 2 years I'm Dr Tinashe, a Radiology Registrar in the NHS, and this channel is all about helping medical students and doctors build careers — and lives — they actually love. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 The portfolio panic moment 01:03 Meet Dr Tinashe 01:28 Step 1: Read the actual recruitment criteria 02:56 Step 2: Do taster weeks early 07:18 Step 3: Lead an audit or QI project and finish it 09:14 Step 4: Turn your audit into a poster or presentation 10:49 Step 5: Use your portfolio as interview evidence 11:58 Step 6: Build a teaching programme, not just a session 14:39 Step 7: Treat extra exams as the cherry on top 16:00 Step 8: Be careful with Master's degrees and PGCerts 17:29 Step 9: Do research, but don't rely on publication 18:51 Step 10: Take leadership seriously 20:54 If you're starting late: what I'd prioritise 22:48 The bigger lesson 💬 Want a dedicated video on taster weeks — how to organise one, what to do while you're there, and how to use it at interview? Let me know in the comments. 🔔 Subscribe for the next video: how competitive every UK specialty actually is, and whether that should change what you apply for. #DoctorDecoded #SpecialtyTraining #MedicalPortfolio #NHS #Radiology #MedicalStudent #JuniorDoctor #FoundationDoctor