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IMPO Info For PACES (DR Shiny Moon)
IMPO Info For PACES (DR Shiny Moon)
DearmemberstheseareveryvaluableexperiencethatIlikeyoutoreadcarefullyandinspireitbeforegoing
intoyourPACESpreparation....itanswersmostifnotallqueriesaboutpacesandIreallyappreciateand
agreewitheverywardinitsokeepitinyrheartandinfrontofyreyes
IhavejustgotmyPACES"pass"resultandIjustwantedtosaythankyoutothemembersofthisgroup.I
havebeenfollowingitformorethanonenowonlyasanobserverandithashelpedmegetthroughPACES.
Thecommentsalwayshelpedmetofocus,reflectandsometimesmademelaughoutloudbutalways
inspiredme.
Recommendationshavebeendonetodeathonthisgroupandothers,butthisiswhathelpedmeforPACES:
1.TakeeverysingleopportunityoneverysinglepatienttoreviseforPACES.Althoughitisextremely
importanttogotothewardswithcolleaguesfor"goodcases,"itcansometimesbetimeconsumingwhen
"goodcases"areactuallyinfrontofyourverynoseatclinic/onthetake/incasualty/inoutpatients.Hallway
discussionswithcolleaguesaboutcaseswasveryhelpfulaswasreadinguprandomlyondifferenttopics.
2.spendacouplehoursrevisingafterworkeverydayforabout4months.Maybethatseemslikealotof
time,butthat'swhatIneeded.Peoplewillsay"youonlyneedafewweeks"etc.whichmaybetrueforsome
luckyfew,buttobeveryslickyouneed24months.Thefirstfewweeksareneededtogetaplanofaction
anditmaynotseemthatmuchisgoingin.Thelast10weeksgetsreallyfocussed.Respectthisexamby
puttingintheeffort.
3.OxfordSpecialtyTrainingbook(amust)clinicalandethicsbooksbutLONG.Startonthisassoonas
possible.Thisreallyhelpedmeon"whattosay"initiallytotheexaminersonceIfinishedexaminingthe
patientandturnedtofacethem.Practiceoutloud.
4.GoldandSilverRyderbooks(importantbutlikeOST).Don'twaittoreadtheorybeforestartingthese
books.Thesetwobookscanseemdiscouragingatfirst,theyreallyareatthestandardoftheexamandare
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notoutmoded.Iranoutoftimebutflippedthroughitattheend.
5.Courses:theyallcostaboutthesame,andinmyopinionareallaboutthesame,withapparentlysomeof
thesamepatientsfromwhatIhavegatheredfromthecourseIdidinLondonandmyfriends'sUKcourses.I
dothinkthatyoushoulddoonecoursebutdon'tgoin"justtosee"asitcanbeverydiscouragingassomeof
theothercandidatesarequitegoodandyoumaygetoverlookedbytheregistrarswhoprovideveryimportant
tipsandcommentsonyourperformance.It'sgoodtodoamock.
6.Pastestvideos:Ican'tdescribehowimportantthesevideosare.Gothroughagoodfewofthembefore
goingtoacourse.Theytakealongtimetogothroughsodon'twaittoolongtostarttheseeither.Dowatch
themwithacriticaleyeassomeoftheexaminationsandreasoningscanbevariable.Itmusthavebeen
somefeatforpastesttomaketheseandItakemyhatofftothem.
7.TimHallbluebookgoodforthetheorypartonlybutit'sreallyallintheOST.Ididnothaveagoodvibe
fromthisbookasIthinkIwastedalotoftimeonthetheory.YetI'vehadcolleagueswhoswearbythisbook.
Itmademeabetterdoctor,butnohelp(Ithink)inpassingtheexam!
8.250casesownit,lookedatitonce
9.YourfirstMRCPbookIlikedthepictureofthebabyonthecover,lookedatitonce
10.Pacesebooksupposedtobeverygood,Ineverreadit
11.Theexaminersreallyliketoseeyouthinkandtryingtoworkthingsout.It'snotjustgettingthediagnosis
astheymaynotevenknowasthey'vejustcalibratedthepatientjustbeforeyou.Ifyousaysomethinglike:
"Mr.Brownhasthefollowingclinicalsigns...AlthoughI'mnotabletofindaunifyingdiagnosis,mydifferential
diagnosisis....."theyreallylikethatasitmeansthatyoucanthinkonthespotandyetgatherupthesigns.If
youdothisthenyouwon'tpanicifyou'renotsurewhat'sgoingonwiththepatient.
12.Nailstation5asit'sworthsomuch.Bereallyfastinpickingupthediagnosisalmostasaspotand
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chattingtothepatientandthenmentioningtheirconcensandimpactondailyliving,sotheexaminershear
you.Sometimestheycanbeactorsandsodon'treallygiveagoodhistorysodon'tmissabasicstepinthe
examination.
13.Youneverfeelyou'verevisedenoughandwishyoucouldhaveanothermonth.
14.However,itallreallydoes"cometogether"inthelastfewdaysbeforetheexam!
15.It'sacompletelydoableexam.Therearealwaysdistractionsinlifeleadinguptotheexam(e.g.afriend's
wedding,family,difficultworkrota).Ultimately,it'showyoudoontheday.Don'tthinkthatyou'renot
preparedenough.Youprobablyaren'tasyoucanneverbe.Beconfidentandcompletelyfocussedduringthe
exam.Doeverysinglestationtothebestofyourabilityasyoumayenduppassingbyonepointsoyouneed
everything.
HopefullyIhavepassedonsometipstotherestofyou.AllthebesttotheMRCPcandidates.
Regards,
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