The essay answers here are longer than those you will write in the exam.
I have tried to cover all the stuff you might need to know about the subject.
Fortunately, the exam questions come with a template.
This tells you the things that will get marks.
Importantly, it lets you know the things that will get no marks.
So you are not going to include them in your essay.
For example, you usually do not need to write an introduction about why the subject is important.
Also, each section of the template has marks allocated.
This lets you know how many facts you need to include in that section to get all the marks.
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This is the part of the exam that torpedoes most people.
There are 2 papers.
Each paper has 4 short essays and you get 105 minutes.
This means that you only have 26¼ minutes per essay.
So you need to do loads of practice.
Nowadays the exam gives you a template with the number of marks for each section.
This means that there are things you don’t need to waste time writing about.
The marks tell you how many key points you need to include in each section.
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The topics are mostly clinical.
When you are in clinic, most patients could provide a topic.
Make a note of the clinical problems you encounter.
Then, when you get home, devise an essay and write out a plan for each clinical problem.
When you read an article or something in a book, make it into an essay.
Advice about trying to spot essay questions.
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How to write an essay plan and a model essay.
Do this under exam conditions.
Don't prepare the subject.
Allow only 5 minutes - you could perhaps allow 10 minutes for the first few until you get used to the exercise.
Don't cheat.
You are trying to develop a skill that will enable you to get at least some marks for a horrible question in the exam.
If you get some marks for the really horrible question, you should be able to pull through by getting more marks for the others.
If you cheat while writing the plans, you will not develop the skills you need for the exam itself.
The plan consists of all the things you think will get a mark.
You are guided in this by the template provided by the exam committee.
Each essay is split into sections, usually 2 - 4.
Each section has marks allocated.
For example an essay in the March 2008 exam was as follows:
"A 34-year-old man is referred to your clinic with a semen analysis reported as showing azospermia.
A. Describe the salient features in the male history and examination which may point to a diagnosis. (8 marks)
B. State the investigations you would perform, and discuss how each result would help you determine the cause of the azoospermia. (7 marks)
C. Briefly outline the possible treatment options (5 Marks)"
So this gives you an idea of the balance you need to strike.
You only have 5 marks for the treatment options, so you going to mention them without great detail of success rates etc.
You would need to include hormone therapy, surgery to undo blockages, varicocoele, sperm retrieval and ICSI and not forget AID and adoption.
Although, technically adoption is not a treatment.
There will be twenty marks in total.
Some things may get more than one mark, but you will need to make more than one statement to get more than one mark.
Remember with drugs to put in the dosage and major contraindications and side-effects as appropriate.
Put in all the relevant clinical things.
Put in important negative statements.
E.g. "D&C are no longer adequate on their own as investigation of postmenopausal bleeding".
I am prone to say that the good undergraduate would get a pass mark in many of the essays.
So where will the extra marks come from?
So you need to do better than the undergraduate by adding "extra value".
This means stuff like:
Adverse Incident Reporting,
Audit,
Care pathways,
Clinical Governance,
College &NICE guidelines,
Fire Drills,
Major trials:
MAGPIE,
ASTEC,
the Term Breech Trial etc.,
Multidisciplinary working,
Patient information leaflets,
Protocols,
Risk Management,
Staffing Levels,
Staff training etc.
Once you have written the plan, read up on the subject.
Then write a model essay including everything you think is essential to the answer.
Take as long as is necessary.
But make sure the model essay can be written in 20 minutes or so and on one piece of paper.
Transfer the plan for the model essay onto a card.
Go over the card often to make sure you remember the plan.
Unless you are very unlucky, at least some of your prepared essays will come in the exam.
This means you get a high score for that essay and gain some time to spend on a more difficult essay.
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Don't get writer's cramp in the exam.
Allowing up to 5 minutes to draft your plan, you have to get the essay written in just over 20 minutes.
Writing at speed for 105 minutes puts a strain on your hands and forearm muscles.
So make sure you have a comfortable pen.
Get lots of practice writing at speed to get your muscles used to it.
This sounds daft, but it would be sad to fail the exam because you got cramp and couldn't write any more.
Make sure you have a second comfortable pen to take to the exam in case the first one fails.
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Model essay questions and answers.
Critically evaluate screening for ovarian cancer
Cystic fibrosis: pre-pregnancy counselling
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