This time, I think it is for real, unless there is a last minute mistake. The board of the MRCPCH have accepted me for the January exams in Ahmedabad, India. So, it may be polite to say: here I come. It might not be timely to predict whether I will or will not pass, but I can only hope that I do. It is a tough exam, and a lot depends upon the examiners. We are tested on 10 stations, one on child development, one on videos of sick children, three on taking a proper history and communicating with patients or their relatives or health personnel, and five on real patients with real ailments. Thus, there are ten stations, and one can get a maximum of 12 marks on each; to pass, one must gain 100 out of 120 - a really daunting task if you ask me! Many candidates reach 96+ and still fail because they did not reach a 100. They may ask for a re-valuation of their marking, but it is something not many people do, as the perception is that the examiners did the best they could and there was no margin for error.
Thus, I have begun to study more energetically, albeit still less than 4 hours a day, a figure that I hope to increase in the weeks to come. My small online study group has around 6 active members; we exchange clinical photos and videos on a whatsapp group, files on a secret Facebook group and we chat and discuss cases every evening on Skype. Thus, we are trying to optimise the use of electronic media to study in the most feasible manner. Two of these six friends are from the candidates I mentioned in the first paragraph. Thus, they are both in line to attempt the exam for a second time.
In other news, a new week begins now ... and I am not on call this week. Let us see where this goes. My health has been satisfactory. Back home, Hannah, my younger daughter is away on a trip to Goa with her friends, while Inas is on her job, as always.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading. Do leave your comments.
Thus, I have begun to study more energetically, albeit still less than 4 hours a day, a figure that I hope to increase in the weeks to come. My small online study group has around 6 active members; we exchange clinical photos and videos on a whatsapp group, files on a secret Facebook group and we chat and discuss cases every evening on Skype. Thus, we are trying to optimise the use of electronic media to study in the most feasible manner. Two of these six friends are from the candidates I mentioned in the first paragraph. Thus, they are both in line to attempt the exam for a second time.
In other news, a new week begins now ... and I am not on call this week. Let us see where this goes. My health has been satisfactory. Back home, Hannah, my younger daughter is away on a trip to Goa with her friends, while Inas is on her job, as always.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading. Do leave your comments.
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