“Would you like this person to be your specialist registrar tomorrow? That's the criterion we use for this exam,” says Tom Lissauer, officer for examinations at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. “In our exam a lot is about dealing with emergencies because that is the most important thing we require of a newly appointed.
Before the new style clinicals, examiners will see the children and agree what they expect candidates to achieve. Tom explains, “We are looking for candidates to demonstrate they are used to handling parents and children. If children are not happy we are looking for candidates who are able to handle that.”
Tom believes that the main reason why candidates fail is a lack of experience: “There is a temptation for people to take the exam too early,” he says. “Everybody is so keen to progress that they just have a go and see what it's like. That is not the wisest way.”
The college doesn't recommend any books or revision material, other than, “our past papers and stuff on the web.”
“One problem,” says Tom, “is that people spend too much time learning how to take the exam and not enough time going back to the basics of knowledge and experience. If people think they are going to pass the exam by practising millions of multiple choice questions that is a poor way of preparing.”
More information at BMJ website
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