Any tips for surviving them?

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Josie
StudentMidwife.NET Co-founder & Director

What exactly are they please?

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I'm in, thanks & bless you Mum & Dad x
Student Midwife 2007

Student uni rep
Educational Resources Manager

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OSCE's.... I can't actually remember what it stands for, but they are a type of assessment. I had to do an OSCE in my second year for the Pathophysiology module. I don't know what everyone else's was like, but mine was made of three parts, each lasting 15 minutes, and for all three you go into a room on your own with one or two assssors. The first 'station' was a clinical scenario. In it, you are given a short text to read, giving a history of a patient with various symptoms. From it, you have to say what you would ask the patient, to get a better idea of their history, and then what possible conditions they may have and why you think this. Then you have to say what tests you would order to confirm a diagnosis. Then, what advice would you give to the patient, any treatment you would offer, and to whom you would refer them, thinking holistically.

The second station was all about acting as a GP/nurse. You go into the room where there are two assessors, one of whom is acting a patient. You have to do pretty much the same thing as above, but act it out, thinking about your communication skills etc...

The final station was a written paper, where you are given another short history of a patient, and you have to give the tests you would offer, what you suspect the condition is, the differential diagnosis (what else their condition could be) and the treatment you would give. You also have to talk about the pathophysiology, i.e. how the condition has developed and how it presents itself in the signs and symptoms.

Was everybody else's OSCE's similar and for the same kind of module?
Hope this hasn't scared you too much. I have to admit that I was absolutely terrified of this assessment, probably more than any other, because I hated public speaking, but it really wasn't that bad and since I started this course, I have no problems with getting in front of a group and spouting out all sorts of nonsense. As you can probably tell!

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3rd year Student Midwife

Objective Structured Clinical Examination or Objective Standardised Clinical Examination, depending on where you are from. In short, practical exams.

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Josie
StudentMidwife.NET Co-founder & Director

As a relatively newly qualified midwife I remember all to well the fear as OSCE's approached.
Group revision with cake, crisps and wine worked well for us. We had sessions a couple of times a week and shared revision notes and grilled each other.
We all passed and life does go on! Good luck

I found making little 'word plays' helped ...

a bit like the everlasting Dr C Bravado for CTGs and the 4 T's for PPH ..

I hated the OSCEs but I think you're ok as lomg as you revise thoroughly
and keep your head!

I failed my mock OSCEs but got an A in the real one ...

Very importantly, if they're being video'ed don't forget the lipgloss

Just make sure that you explain everything you do - don't assume the examiner will give you credit for anything.

In my practice OSCE, we had a CTG to consider, and questions to answer - more like a Viva than an OSCE I suppose. The first bit was to look at the first 20 minutes of the trace and state whether it was reassuring or not. I said that the trace was reassuring, as it had a baseline of 130, variability of 5-10, accels present and no decels., I lost marks because I didn't state the normal ranges - ie, the baseline is 130bpm which is normal as it falls within the normal range of 110-160bpm etc etc. I got a good mark, but I could have got a great mark.

By the way, it turned out that the trace was someone having an abruption - you had to describe why the second half of the trace was abnormal, what you thought was happening, what you would be doing etc. We had been given a bit of a history - eg, woman arrives on LW with abdo pain etc etc

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Love Dory xxx
Just keep swimmin', just keep swimmin'....

Have you just been offered a place? If so and you want a mentor please post in post this forum (also post here if you would like a mentee)

Dory that was my REAL OSCE and I got an A!!!!!!!

Smartarse!

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Love Dory xxx
Just keep swimmin', just keep swimmin'....

Have you just been offered a place? If so and you want a mentor please post in post this forum (also post here if you would like a mentee)

I got 7 A's so there.... *blows raspberry*

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Josie
StudentMidwife.NET Co-founder & Director