The Unofficial Guide to Passing OSCEs: Candidate Briefings, Patient Briefings and Mark Schemes

Emily Hotton, MBChB (Dist), BSc (Hons) PhD, MRCOG, is an obstetric registrar and a leader in medical education, teaching on paid courses and within university and hospitals. She has contributed to four textbooks, including editing Unofficial Guide to Practical Skills, and nine peer reviewed journal articles. ***

Review of the previous edition:"This book presents a wide range of example scenarios that will ensure that you think in a logical manner and allow you to practise the stations, therefore reducing the anxiety when you perform under assessment. Each station contains instructions for the student, an extensive mark scheme and realistic directions for the patient so that your revision is as similar to the real exam as possible. Using this resource will guide your OSCE revision, enabling you to progress in skill and gain formative feedback. Questions at the end of each station test your knowledge or force you to think logically when giving a sensible suggestion if you're not quite sure! This book has been written and reviewed by doctors and students who know what medical schools like to examine on, therefore it is a focused, up-to-date and universally applicable resource for the clinical years of training. --Katherine Lattey. 4th Year Medical Student. Brighton and Sussex Medical SchoolWritten in conjunction with 'The Unofficial Guide to Passing OSCEs' this book will help any final year student accomplish these exams. Contributed to by medical trainees and students, it provides a clear, compact outline to OSCE mark schemes. It addition to mark schemes, the book provides valuable factual information in the format of questions and answers. The interactive format allows for both solo and group revision. There is the opportunity to mark practice stations and start discussions using the additional questions sections. It is a key revision tool for any medical student wanting to master the OSCEs --Emily Hotton. Final Year Medical Student. Bristol UniversityBrilliant aide to accompany the parent book. Perfect for practising close to exams! A must have for finals in my opinion!." --Shamit Shah, Final Year Medical Student"This book can be used early in the revision process to identify key areas one needs to focus revision on and periodically to check progress through regular mock OSCEs. It provides candidates with practical tips which other books may overlook, for both revision and the exam itself thus confirming the writers' proficiency as authors of an OSCE revision guide. It is reassuring to the reader and congruent with the aim of making students confident candidates to pass OSCEs." --International Journal Of Clinical Skills"I worked really hard for my first OSCE - learning and practicing the clinical skills we had been taught but was completely thrown once I got in there! I needed some help to understand what exactly the stations would entail, what the examiners were looking for and what sort of questions we would be asked. This book is a great guide to what the OSCEs are actually like and how to go about them. Other books help you learn about clinical techniques, such as how to perform opthalmoscopy. However, they tend not to explain the type of instruction you will be given or the questions you might be asked. Knowing these things makes it much easier for you to feel confident and you definitely need to appear confident when dealing with OSCE examiners. I've used this book with friends - taking it in turns to be the student/patient/examiner - and it works really well." --Rachel McNulty, Medical Student

• 1. History Taking - 23 stations2. Clinical Examination - 23 stations3. Orthopaedic Examinations - 9 stations4. Communication Skills - 17 stations5. Data Interpretation - 17 stations6. Practical Skills - 8 stations7. Obstetrics and Gynaecology - 17 stations8. Psychiatry - 10 stations9. Paediatrics - 15 stations10. Ophthalmology - 8 stations11. Prescribing - 12 stations12. Hospital Documentation - 4 stations