Exams are a great stressor for candidates. Sharing the “joy” and being able to meet up with candidates from all over Australia is an opportunity for true fellowship and camaraderie. The Australian Society of Anaesthetists’ national viva tutorials hosted by ASA Education Committee Vice Chair Dr Kaylee Jordan and myself and the upcoming EPIC (Exam Performance Improvement Clinic) daysupport both those aims.
The ASA Trainee section in Australian Anaesthetist has a regular section for exam tips too.
It’s not just the CONTENT…think about the CONSTRUCT as well – both for written and viva responsesAdd value to a simple “LIST” question by using a construct that signals a deeper understanding of the issuesDr Vida Viliunas ASA Education Officer
The final anaesthesia exam candidates are spending today at their written exams. From now on they will be preparing for their viva exams.
Many anaesthesia consultants haven’t given a practice viva exam for a while. Here’s a handy video to refresh your viva skills and help the anaesthetists of the future!
Be in the 8% who follow-through with their New Year’s resolution…
Got a New Year’s resolution? Harvard Medical School suggests a seven point plan.
Do you want to study more, lose weight (again), get fit, give up a bad habit or develop a good one? Work on a nudge in the right direction regularly and often and not a cataclysmic change for a sustained difference.
These are my 5:
1 Be ambitious – it’s inspirational
2 Chunk it – breaking a big task into small, achievable parts is motivational
3 Commit – use an app, make a public promise, tell a supportive friend
4 Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good
5 Know the loopholes! Habit and happiness researcher Gretchen Rubin lists them on on her website. From the “false choice loophole” (I can’t do this because I am too busy doing that”), to “Tomorrow” (when you will do it) to “This doesn’t count” (I’m on holiday, I’m sick, It’s the weekend) to my favourite “One-coin loophole” which is the essence of successfully changing a habit.
The one-coin loophole turned on it’s head is precisely how to get fit, give up “x”, be more considerate and kind, be less impatient or adhere to a study program. Every little bit counts in the argument of the growing heap:
“If ten coins are not enough to make a man rich, what if you add one coin? What if you add another? Finally, you will have to say that no one can be rich unless one coin can make him so.”
…any one little thing that we do is a little thing, but the sum of all our actions will change our behaviour. If that’s what you want.
So: think big, act small, be accountable, know the barriers to your success, do it today and start now.
Many patients are concerned about cognitive decline. There are many misconceptions about the association between surgery, anaesthesia and cognitive decline.
A recent Clinical Review and Education issue from the Journal of the American Medical Association (September 7, 2021 Vol 326, Issue 9) summarises the state of knowledge.
World Anaesthesia Day, also known as National Anaesthesia Day or Ether Day, is observed annually on 16 October to commemorate the birth of anaesthesia. On 16 October 1846 at Massachusetts General Hospital, William T.G. Morton administered ether anaesthesia to Edward Gilbert Abbott (1825-1855) (Haridas 2017). Dr John Collins Warren (Hersey Professor of Anatomy and Surgery at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA) was then able to surgically remove a vascular neck tumour painlessly. This first public demonstration of ether anaesthesia marks a significant event in medical history. This success led to rapid progress in surgical medicine because patients could now undergo surgical treatment without the pain associated with an operation.
‘Ether Day’ is celebrated annually by the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) with special events. This year will mark the 175th anniversary of the event. Around 134 societies representing anaesthesiologists from over 150 countries take part in the celebrations.
The WFSA uses this day to highlight a global shortage in the anaesthesia workforce, which translates into surgical operation, labour analgesia, and critical care gap (WFSA 2021). There is currently less than one anaesthesia provider per 100,000 population in most countries in Africa and South-East Asia, compared to 15–30 anaesthesiologists per 100,000 in North America and Western Europe (Firth and Evans 2021). Thus, there’s a deep disparity in the number of trained anaesthesia providers worldwide, along with an inability to treat surgical conditions where providers are unavailable. In the light of this ongoing neglect, WFSA celebrates global awareness days like World Anaesthesia Day since they can be a powerful advocacy tool to mobilise political will, educate the public, and showcase the achievements of the global anaesthesia community.
From https://healthmanagement.org/c/hospital/news/world-anaesthesia-day-on-16-october-2021
Some candidates are naturally good at exams. All candidates can be good at exams.
If you have learned the content and have rehearsed your technique, there is only one other thing that you need to remember. The examiner reports for exams repeatedly state that candidates who answered the question asked, scored better than candidates who gave general answers around the topic question.
Focus your energy on responding to the specific question asked by examiners and immerse yourself in the scenario. Remember to focus on “this patient” in the particular scenario described.
Best wishes to you all – I look forward to congratulating you soon!
I devoted thousand of hours to watching You Tube videos on how to look better on Zoom. While I did not become an expert, I reduced my learnings to a couple of minutes.
Yes, it was epic. The annual ASA exam preparation weekend had a substantial re-work to accommodate a new exam format for those candidates who sat the written section in March (and who will not have medical vivas with patients) and a new boot camp format via Zoom.
Hollywood in the Home: with co-host Kym Buckley, Examiners Dr Nicola Meares, Dr Sally Wharton and Dr Steve Davies
The registrants were surveyed prior to the weekend to find out about their expectations, special requests and exam cohort. There was an approximately 50:50 split between those from 2020-1 and those preparing for 2020-2 and beyond, together with a number of International Medical Graduate Specialists.
Convenor Vida Viliunas, ASA office superhero Kym Buckley, Co-host Dr Rod Katz, delegate Dr Leonie Roberts
PREPARATIONS AND LOGISTICS
Many hours were dedicated to the question of how to engage a group of close to 90 people via Zoom. Ultimately, the obvious choice was to create ‘Hollywood in the Home’. This allowed a combination of TED-talk style and screen-shared presentations. As always with Zoom, pants were optional but candidates were asked to try out the rest of their exam wardrobes on-screen.
An extended ‘arrival window’ at the beginning of each day was an opportunity to chat and meet individual participants and gave the weekend a personal feel. Candidates were encouraged to commit to the weekend as if they were in a lecture – without distractions or phones, and with Zoom cameras and exam-brains on.
PRESENTERS AND OTHER SUPPORTERS
Thank you to the examiners who participated in the exam panel. They answered candidate questions and provided commentary on the ingredients of good and great exam performances. Dr Steve Davies, Dr Nicola Meares, Dr Carmel McInerney, Dr Prani Shrivastava and Dr Sally Wharton volunteered their time, experience and knowledge of what appeals to examiners and what garners extra marks.
Sunday morning with the Final Exam Chair Dr Sharon Tivey was another opportunity to clarify the exam process for candidates. All participants gained insights into the diabolically difficult jobs of conducting exams, training, and studying during a pandemic.
The weekend would not have been possible without my co-hosts Dr Rod Katz and ASA office super-hero Kym Buckley. They co-ordinated chat responses, answered private questions and ensured the smooth running of the production.
EXAM SECTIONS
Each exam section (MCQs, SAQs and Vivas) was addressed and ingredients for success outlined.
For multiple choice questions the tips were mainly straightforward. Since there is no negative marking, each question should be answered. Strict timing is important to allow review of all responses.
The short answer questions are a test of knowledge, reasoning and communication skills. This is a demanding section for which strict timing is essential and a construct is helpful. Writing less, writing legibly with all abbreviations explained was stressed. Practicing questions to time and having responses assessed is key.
Every year, examiner reports repeat the importance of answering the question asked. Techniques to ensure that the precise questions are answered were discussed.
Viva deconstruction, viva creation, practicing in sections, role-playing as examiners and video review were suggested techniques to improve viva performance.
It is important to systematically interpret investigations (for the exam as well as professional life). This demonstrates understanding and competence.
The examiners stressed that the entire curriculum was examinable in all sections of the exam including the vivas.
How to manage ‘viva-brain’: what to do and what not to do when a candidate is faltering or uncertain were part of recovery techniques discussed.
STUDY TECHNIQUE
Most examiners are active clinicians. Candidates should not make the mistake of thinking that time spent in operating theatres and other clinical activities is not useful exam preparation.
The value of a range of techniques including individual and group study, a study plan that covers the entire curriculum and practicing past questions under exam conditions was stressed as an important part of exam success.
POST EPIC
Details of EPIC participants were shared after the weekend. This is intended to help candidates in things such as forming study groups and developing and sharing practice questions. One of the points that was made through the weekend was that there is a real benefit to collaborating and no real downside. The exams are intended to test judgement and knowledge and
not designed to rank candidates. A higher success rate reflects well on candidates, examiners and teachers. Collaboration and working together will also be of benefit through post-exam professional life.
Professor Winston’s suggestion of an empowering promise was embedded in the plan for our weekend. All candidates were promised extra marks if they engaged and concentrated during the two days. Candidates listed what they learned that would most help them to earn those extra marks in the chat at the end of each day. That summary of what was meaningful to candidates also informed the lecture series for the future. However, we all agreed that we will never do it again… until next year.
