OSCE Examination skills, Exam skills, Medical School

Have you ever wondered how some can acheive consistent honour grades without the stress that the rest of us endure during the exam period. The answer lies in the fact that they put in long hours and a lot of effort. However that alone cannot guarentee success. Part of the reason for my succes in exams stemmed from the books that I used to study. In this article I will share with you the books I used to help me acheive honours. Let me share them with you!

1. Oxford Handbook of clinical medicine A must for any medical student. Comprehensive detailed knowledge of the core medical topics (cardiology, respiratory, diabetes and endocrinology, renal, gastrointestinal, haematology, microbiology) and common surgical topics eg. hernias, stomas, acute presentations. Truly an essential books to pass exams with honours! This handbook will take you through from year 3 medicine to postgraduate exams. A real bargain considering you will use it daily!

 Click here for more details on Oxford Handbook of clinical medicine

2. Crash course neurology second edition. Turner, Bahra, Cikurel

I am a great fan of the clinical crash course books – I love the way the content is laid out. In this book, the first part focuses on the main neurological SYMPTOMS that a patient may present with – a fantastic way to revise for OSCEs that ask you to perform focussed histories and examinations. Part 2 provides a complete text of the disease and disorders of neurology. Part 3 focuses on how to take a thorough neurological history and examination, whilst Part 4 provides sample MCQs to help exams. It’s a well written and easy to guide through book.

 Click here for more details on Crash course neurology

3. Crash course Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Panay, Dutta, Ryan, Broadbent

Again, a fantastic book for the medical student doing Obs and Gynae. There are numerous detailed books available for this topic, but crash course provides the basics necessary to pass the clinical exams – well! Bleeding in any stage of pregnancy is thoroughly covered and explained simply – a common exam questions. Stages of labour is also broken down into easy phases so that you can remember them! From CTGs interpretation to differential diagnosis of pelvic pain and to history and examinations skills – this book covers it all!

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4. Crash course Psychiatry Alasdair D Cameron

This was the only book I used and purchased for psychiatry. It comprehensively and simply covers the main topics used in the Manchester undergraduate exams: mood affective disorders, psychosis, anxiety, dementia and delirium and alcohol and substance related disorders. The first part of the book covers the symptoms the patient may present with – useful for knowing how to descriptively state the mental state of an anxious patient, psychotic patient etc..

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5. Crash course General medicine – Sharma Parker

A complement book to the oxford handbook of clinical medicine. the first part of the book (as like all crash course books) – focuses on the symptoms a patient may present with – an excellent way to practise what questions to ask and what to look for on examination. The second part focuses on all the main cardiology, respiratory, endocrine, renal, musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, neurology and haematology topics. A must have

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6. The ECG made easy. John R Hampton – year 3

ECG interpretation is a fundamental aspect of medicine, surgery and the acutely unwell patient. A small easy to read book that will provide you with the essentials of how to read an ECG – A skill needed throughout your medical career. You could read this within a few hours and it provides sample ECGs to test your knowledge! The books is split into firstly the physiology of the heart and formation of the waves of theECG. It then focuses of conduction problems of the heart, then rhythm problems and finally focuses on abnormalities waves that can be produced on the ECG. Well worth the money.

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7. Trust me, Im a junior doctor Max Pemberton

An easy read book to divert your attention from revision and exams! funny and well written – a must read for future house officers!

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8. Communication skills for final MD: A guide to success in the OSCE. HR Dalton . SIR Noble

I wish I bought this book whilst in year 3. Very thin and easy to read. Repetitive in places but this helps to reinforce the simple communication skills needed to pass the OSCE. Covers topics which are notoriously difficult to answer in the exam: breaking bad news, discussing resuscitation status, explaining procedures simply, discussing sexual issues etc..

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9. Get through medical school: 1000 SBAs, / BOF and EMQs – Una Coales and Seema Khan

Nicely divided into sections: medicine vs surgery questions. It also includes obs and gynae and paediatric sections. A well rounded accessory for progress test revision which focus on single best answers and EMQ papers.

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10. Flesh and bones of surgery. Aneel A Bhangu, Michael RB Keighley

An easy to read surgical book. Used in combination with the oxford handbook of clinical medicine – I used these books both for my surgical knowledge. The book explains the ‘big picture’ – the preop stages of surgery, fluid balance and post op complications – the crux of surgery. The remaining chapters are split up conveniently into upper GI topics, lower GI, breast, urology, vascular, neck and endocrine, trauma and fractures and common orthopaedics topics. Each topic is nicely set out and covered with pictures on a double page. Stomas and gallbladder disease is nicely described in this book.

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Year 3 Respiratory examination skills presentation.

Respiratory exam presentation

A PowerPoint slide explaining  how to do a testicular examination in a systematic way.  Common topics related to the testicles, for example: torsion of the testicles, testicular cancer and lumps in the groin is also briefly covered. Click the link below to download the presentation.

Testicular Examination Presentation

This presentation gives a brief overview on the types of questions you should ask in an abdominal history taking OSCE station.  A run through of the basic structure of how to perform an abdominal examination for the OSCE. is also covered.  Components of the abdominal exam, for example: causes of jaundice, hepatomegaly and splenomegaly is also covered briefly in this lecture.  Furthermore, other nutrition, metabolism and excretion OSCE stations that may arise are explored. click the link below to download the presentation:

Abdominal History and Examination skills for OSCEs

Click the link to access the  presentation on cardiovascular history and examination. There is also a link to a feedback form and teaching register for those who attended the lecture.

• Cardiovascular History & Examination
• Feedback Form
• Teaching Register

 As students, we all rote learn for the OSCE but beware – can you answer the question that will follow from the examiner? Lets give it a go! – Can you name some cadiovascular causes of clubbing? If you said tetralogy of fallot as one your causes, my next question to you is: what are the 4 defects associated with the disease? Another example: in a respiratory exam, would you look at the JVP?  And why? – You look at the JVP and if it is raised, this may suggest cor pulmonale.  So, what are the causes of this?  And the list continues – so many people fall into the trap of saying info they don’t even understand! Lesson of the day – if you don’t know what it means – don’t say it – blagging doesn’t look professional to the examiner!

It’s easy to pass the OSCE! Take cardiovascular examination for example. All you need is a system your comfortable with. We are all very different people and so making the examination ‘your own’ will make it look slick and show the examiner that you know exactly what you’re doing.  You want to elude that you have done this examination thousands of times before (well – you should have!).  And for those who want the honours and distinction marks (who doesn’t!), all you need to do is that little extra something special to impress the examiner! So, what will yours be?