OSCE Q&A Finals
- 1. OSCE Q&A @NICKHARVEYSMITH Today should be the biggest waste of time for you You shouldn’t be learning anything new
- 2. START EARLY TO PREPARE Too late!
- 3. RUMOURS! DONT LISTEN T0 Just don’t listen to them - everyone will think they know something thats coming up cos someone has said this always comes - this never comes up - this never comes up cos it costs too much. Well surprise - the exam gets tweaked and changed and if you just learn what has come up before you will fail
- 4. LIKE YOU PLAY PRACTICE An OSCE is a mixture of types of stations - so when you are practicing do exactly that - don’t do all examinations, all oath, all cardio, all histories, mix it up - you will be better prepared on the day.
- 5. STATIONS MAKE YOUR OWN Hard ones, not just do a cardiovascular exam, do a respiratory exam… I mean ones that represent real life such as Mr Patel has breathlessness on exertion, please examine him, Mrs Jones is complaining of pain in her should region please examine her. Most students spend far too long memorising the minute details of all the exams but then when it comes to having to put multiple parts together they struggle.
- 6. STRUCTURE HAVE A You need a structure to fall back on for most things whether its inspection, palpation, percussion, auscultation or look, feel, move, special tests, joints above and below, neurovascular exam PC, HPC, PMH, DH, FH, SH or SOCRATES or SBAR Practice these structures so in time of stress you can fall back on them
- 7. USE IT? DO YOU KNOW HOW TO Can you use an otoscope, ophthalmoscope, doppler, sonicaid, monofilament? If you can’t get down to the skills lab and make sure you can
- 8. CONSERVATIVE BE Smartly dressed, hair tied back, shoes polished, nothing too outlandish! You need to look and sound similar to the people examining you - people like people like them. If they are thinking WTF are they wearing you unlikely to be getting the top mark due to psychological barriers
- 9. PREPARED MAKE SURE YOU ARE Watch, library card, stethoscope - somewhere to put the stethoscope! Phone number of the assessments office and the base in case of emergency Do you know where you are going? Do you know what time you should be there? Every year SOMEONE cocks this up - don’t let it be you!
- 10. READ THE QUESTION NOW The marks are for what it asks you to do - not what someone has told you what came up last time. Preconceived ideas cause students to fail stations
- 11. READ IT AGAIN NOW Seriously - read it again! You will be nervous - You will miss-read… read it again. Only then formulate any plan you need.
- 12. SMILE DONT FORGET TO Smile at the examiner and then smile at the patient. Why do we smile? To show people we like them - if they think you like them then they are likely to like you
- 13. WASH YOUR HANDS REMEMBER TO If you don’t it will cost you a mark That mark could cost you the station That station could cost you the exam This has happened Wash your hands!
- 14. YOURSELF BE Dont be a robot, don’t try to be Dr. OSCE. Be you in clinical practice, you will be far more relaxed.
- 15. WANT YOU TO PASS EXAMINERS I’ve never met an examiner who wants to fail a student - they all want to pass you. Give then reasons to - explain what you are doing as you go along, explain why you are not doing something - in short if you are thinking it then say it (unless it’s oh shit I have no idea what I am doing here!)
- 16. TAKE A MOMENT IF NEEDED we all have moments where we blank in exams - it’s fine, just take your time, ask for a moment, gather your thoughts, take a breath, then get back on track. Breath in for 4 sec, hold for 4 sec, out for 4 sec
- 17. DONT MIME! WHATEVER YOU DO Pet hate of mine - students miming passing a leaflet or checking the name band It’s weird… don’t do it
- 18. JUST WING IT IF NEEDED If necessary to just wing it. It may be a station you weren’t prepared for in which case what would you do in practice. As in life we cannot prepare for every eventuality and sometimes we will have to make it us as we go along. If there’s a structure then use it. If there’s an SP then really listen to them - what do they want, what are their concerns. By using mirroring and pauses you will get more out of them.
- 19. THINK! BEFORE YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTH
- 20. PLAN YOUR EXIT YOU NEED TO Most students just seem to finish with “er… I think I’ve finished” Plan how you are going to end the consultation “thank you… if you have no other questions I will go and get the leaflets we talked about…?”
- 21. FORGET IT AFTER THE STATION Once you have done a station then forget it! Whether its gone good or bad, forget it and move on to the next station. What happened before doesn’t affect what is happening now so just forget it.
- 22. DONT PANIC! THERE IS STILL TIME SO
- 23. QUESTIONS? WHAT QUESTIONS DO YOU HAVE