The List

Finally with 3 weeks to go before the exams we have been given our timetable for OSCEs (practical exams) and an exhaustive list of potential topics.

OSCEs work in an amusing format where a number of rooms (in this case 12) are set up each with a different task in them. You have a fixed set of time in each room then when the bell rings you pick up your stethoscope and clipboard and run to the next room.

I like this format - it gets your heart going (particularly if you have to run along a long corridor between rooms!) but you don't have time to dwell on any mistakes and it's actually pretty fun.

My list of topics for this set of OSCEs is -

Abdominal examination

Arterial pulses

Blood pressure

BMI Measurement

Cardiovascular system examination

Communication skills

Cranial nerves

ECGs

Ethics and values in medicine

Genetics

GI examination

Infection control

In hospital resuscitation

Lumps and bumps

MedLine

Musculoskeletal

Neurology

Reflexes

Respiratory system

Thyroid

Venepuncture

Start the countdown!

Apologies again for the blogging silence. Final exams for the pre-clinical phase of my course start in less than a month. This week our hospital tutor led us onto the ward where he had managed to procure 5 very gracious and patient patients!

"Here you go - 1 patient each - Do ALL the examinations"

That means these patients obliged whilst for our own education and practice we carried out-

• A general examination of their hands, face and neck
• A cardiovascular exam
• A respiratory system exam
• An abdominal exam
• A thyroid exam
• An exam of all their joints 
• A neurological exam (both of the limbs and all the cranial nerves)
• Thankfully for them and us not a rectal exam though!

Any other willing volunteers? Free healthcheck!

If we were done too fast our consultant proceeded to grill us on what we might have missed. Thankfully I noticed one of my patient's most obvious symptoms - he had a missing finger on his right hand from his previous occupation as a butcher!