Just returned from a full day at Penang General Hospital for the MRCP PACES Course. There were fifty of us, all eager to seek the College seal of approval. We were divided in groups of five and tutored in individual stations by experienced consultants in their respective fields.
There is general agreement that the session was rushed and not every candidate was able to get their hands on the patients. But those lucky enough to have a go at examining the patients under scrutiny were well rewarded. The tutors are very constructive in their criticisms and gave us all many important pointers and tips for the exam.
I am particularly grateful for the tutelage of Professor Raymond and Dr Haniffah, both respected neurologists. The Kearns-Sayre Syndrome case is beautiful. I never thought I could encounter one in my lifetime. Rare in real life but common in exams, lesson learned.
Dr Yoon and Dr Yeow are both in their elements in the Communication Skill station. I gave it my best in that station; apart from a few extraneous points, I thought I did okay but was surprised to earn a praise or two from the tutor for being able to ‘convey the message in a sympathetic tone’.
Other interesting cases that I managed to examine are hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, lumpectomy scar, lung biopsy scar, renal transplantation, polycystic kidney disease, Becker’s muscular dystrophy and chronic myeloid leukemia. If only there is more time allocated for each station…
The day ended with all candidates convening at the lecture hall to hear what the examiners have to say about their performance. The feedback was pretty much expected. Most of us still struggle with the verbal presentation of the clinical findings. More need to be done also to improve the routine examination techniques which were said to be not methodical and focused enough.
Dr Hooi (Respiratory Physician) on the other hand lamented the lack of proper observation and inspection of the patients. She reprimanded us about missing a blatant scar in the lateral chest wall on one of the patients. Finally, many young MRCP diplomate from Penang GH took time to share their PACES experiences which were engrossing if stirring accounts of how they overcame the system.
No doubt I walked out of the venue a wiser candidate.
Can’t wait for tomorrow’s session! Now, on to the Penang hawker food…
Hope you have benefited from the course. I guess the committee did a very good job and I really want to thank them especially they had to sacrifice the weekend without any profit at all.
With regards to the timing of the course, I understand that time was not enough but the limiting factor was that it was a Puasa month and we had to lengthen the lunch time and also finish earlier for buka puasa. We also had to do it within Saturday and Sunday because that place is day care which means we couldn’t start on Friday.
I am glad you found the cases good. I only managed to get back half the feedback forms and hope some of you can email to me.
Well, I tried my best in organizing this course with many sleepless nights together with the committee, some sweet and also some bad experiences while organizing the course…..but no regrets and hope most of you who attended the course will pass. I would appreciate for those who sat for the course to email me after your exam.
I will try to pass the chief coordinator post to my friend to organize it next year !
Hope not to see you all again….which will mean you all have passed and hope that you all will continue to train the juniors !
Btw, I enjoy reading your blog !
Adios !