General tips in preparation for EXAM DAY!
Wear your white coats & name tags and bring the appropriate equipment you will need for the exam.
Arrive on campus AT LEAST 30 MINUTES before your exam appointment, and arrive to Room 1A/B NO LATER than 20 MINUTES before your scheduled start time.
Attendance will be taken!
15 MINUTES before your exam: announcements begin (you want to be there for these).
10 MINUTES before your exam:
Pick a card (it will be labeled in order of the stations you are assigned).
Grab a clipboard and your name stickers.
You have 5 minutes for a data dump from your brain (devices/notes away).
5 MINUTES before your exam
Head to your first station - you're going to do AWESOME!
Weeks before the exam:
Organize your history approach and practice.
Practice presenting a history, complete with assessment, problem-based medical decision making (your thought process), and a very basic plan.
Practice your physical exams.
Review sessions built into Workshops.
Practice with friends in the OSCE center.
Day before the exam:
Review your physical exams.
Review your history method/plan.
Gather your equipment.
Get good sleep!
Day of exam:
Eat breakfast!
Double check to make sure you brought everything you need.
Plan to arrive early.
The OSCE center is open during business hours, and often after hours and on weekends as well. Check with the Medical Skills team for availability (Kalia Watkins and Alicia Leija).
Please observe a pack-in-pack-out mentality when using the OSCE center. Clean up the room, clean the exam bench, renew the paper, and take your things with you.
There is no food or drink allowed in the OSCE center (water is ok).
You will be randomly assigned 3 stations based on the card number you draw.
Check which stations you have been assigned to for the designated location:
Stations 1-10 located in the OSCE center.
Stations 11-15 located in study rooms across/through 181.
Each station will have a pre-determined task for you to complete within a 15-minute time limit:
Perform a specific physical examination.
Perform a history & presentation.
3. Procedure for each station:
Wait outside the room until you hear the bell ring.
Flip over the door sign and read the instructions thoroughly, making sure to write any necessary notes on your clipboard.
Once you are ready, knock & enter the room to begin!
4. Once you are in the room:
Begin your assigned activity.
A 2nd bell will ring to signal the 3-minute warning.
Immediately STOP and leave the room when the 3rd bell rings (15 minutes is up).
You will have 5 minutes to get to your next assigned station.
If you finish your assigned activity before the time is up, you may revisit portions of the assignment that you missed/need to review, OR you may exit the room.
Each station will be graded by the faculty assigned to the room and your overall numerical score will be posted on Canvas.
70% and above = PASS
Less than 70% = FAIL
Your Summative Exam Grade = the average of your 3 station grades
**Final grades will be posted when more than 80% of course evaluations are received (WE ARE STRIVING FOR 100% EVALUATION RESPONSE RATES! 😎)**
Remediation may be attempted a maximum of 2 times.
Situation #1: For overall score < 70%, official remediation will be required.
Time and format discussed with Course Directors and arranged at their convenience.
Situation #2: Overall Exam Passing Score WITH a failing grade on one or two stations.
Tutorial of that topic(s) will be required prior to progressing to M2 Medical Skills course.
Situation #3: Passed all stations BUT significant concerns for skill proficiency from faculty.
Tutorial of that topic(s) may be required prior to progressing to M2 Medical Skills course (at course directors’ discretion).
tips from M2's 2023-2024:
It might be different for you guys, but for M1 2022-2023 Summative we were tested on:
HEENT (recommend being able to do in 6 mins)
UL + LL Neurological (12 mins), do both upper and lower at the same time
MSK all Upper or All MSK Lower (13 mins for either)
Cranial Nerves (8 mins)
Pulmonary (10 mins)
Cardio (13 mins)
Vitals (3 mins)
History Taking (12 mins) & Presentation (3 mins), with emphasis on history taking
For M2 2023-2024 Summative:
Everything above
Abdominal/Renal
Endocrine
Male Reproductive System
Female Reproductive System
To save time in the clinic, patients fill out their history on a template for us to read. For the summative, we were given a pre-filled sheet with the patient's entire history and asked to focus more on the physical exam and presentation. Recommend spending:
When the bell rings, take 1 minute to skim the pre-filled sheet and get a good idea of what the case is about. Do not rewrite the note on your notes (this is what I did and wasted 2 minutes). The pre-filled sheet becomes your note that you can use later to present.
7 minutes max on SOCRATES (with pertinent ROS questions) and double-checking pertinent parts of the pre-filled sheet. The difficult part is figuring out what's pertinent and what isn't. If you blank out, go autopilot and shotgun it, but do it quickly.
if the physical exams, labs, or imaging not given:
1 minutes asking about pertinent physical exams (e.g. if chief complaint is "pelvic pain", ask for vitals, pelvic exam, abdominal exam), write down abnormal findings
1 minutes asking about labs & imaging (e.g. CBC, ultrasound), write down abnormal findings.
5 minutes on prepping and presenting pertinent findings:
H&P
current labs, special tests, and imaging
Be succinct with the assessment (e.g. "This patient is a 32 year old female presenting with 6 months of abnormal uterine bleeding. With the findings of anemia, diffuse pelvic pain, an enlarged uterus, heavy menstrual bleeding, and intermenstrual spotting, the most likely diagnosis is fibroids with differentials adenomyosis and endometriosis").
work up each diagnosis/differential
List any labs, imaging, tests, and/or treatment needed - e.g. lifestyle/diet/habit changes, medications, procedures
not expected to nail the diagnosis or management
Do your best and remember to BREATHE!
You know more than you think you know, and you are capable of more than you know!