16 April 2008

The OSCE Mantra

I will ignore the examiner when taking a history. He does not exist and I will not be put off by him.

I will act my little socks off. The school nativity play has nowt on me in exam mode.

I will not stammer, stutter or say 'erm'.

I will wash my hands at every station, and be bare below the elbow. This means my watch will be on my belt loops. Please do not laugh at me.

I will feel a tit with my stethoscope around my neck, but I will try and forget it is there.

This performance is sponsored by Diet Coke and ProPlus

6 comments:

Trini Med Student said...

lol...diet coke...how about red bull?!

Sage said...

Good luck Merys, will be rooting for you...

Love the idea of the school nativity play exam mode.... helps me get through my role play events at times.. and why not.

Sweet Camden Lass said...

Good Luck ~x~

The Little Medic said...

stethoscope around neck is an infection risk in our trust so is banned, yet more stuff to keep in my pocket!!

Best of luck!

The Shrink said...

Hope the OSCE goes well, all seems sound thoughts on how to approach it. Biggest beneficial advice I had was to physicall pause between stations, deep breath, clear your thoughts then go to the next station. Sure, it's using up 10 to 15 seconds of valuable time, which seems an age when pressured, and sometimes the next station wonders why you're waiting 6 feet away doing nothing instead of moving on. But a few moments to refocus and prepare meant I always found OSCEs much less threatening, then.

"stethoscope around neck is an infection risk in our trust so is banned"
Such things pique me too much. Is it evidence based? Is there any good grounds for believing that a white coat's pocket generates less infection risk than worn around the neck?
But I guess it's only in the happy position of being a Consultant that you can flaunt and ignore such silliness :-)

Dr Michael Anderson said...

Good luck Merys,
Finals are horrid, my top tips are to keep taking slow, deep breaths and to consciously slow down your talking.

All the best - go got 'em!

Michael