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DearmemberstheseareveryvaluableexperiencethatIlikeyoutoreadcarefullyandinspireitbeforegoing

intoyourPACESpreparation....itanswersmostifnotallqueriesaboutpacesandIreallyappreciateand

agreewitheverywardinitsokeepitinyrheartandinfrontofyreyes

IhavejustgotmyPACES"pass"resultandIjustwantedtosaythankyoutothemembersofthisgroup.I

havebeenfollowingitformorethanonenowonlyasanobserverandithashelpedmegetthroughPACES.

Thecommentsalwayshelpedmetofocus,reflectandsometimesmademelaughoutloudbutalways

inspiredme.

Recommendationshavebeendonetodeathonthisgroupandothers,butthisiswhathelpedmeforPACES:

1.TakeeverysingleopportunityoneverysinglepatienttoreviseforPACES.Althoughitisextremely

importanttogotothewardswithcolleaguesfor"goodcases,"itcansometimesbetimeconsumingwhen

"goodcases"areactuallyinfrontofyourverynoseatclinic/onthetake/incasualty/inoutpatients.Hallway

discussionswithcolleaguesaboutcaseswasveryhelpfulaswasreadinguprandomlyondifferenttopics.

2.spendacouplehoursrevisingafterworkeverydayforabout4months.Maybethatseemslikealotof

time,butthat'swhatIneeded.Peoplewillsay"youonlyneedafewweeks"etc.whichmaybetrueforsome

luckyfew,buttobeveryslickyouneed24months.Thefirstfewweeksareneededtogetaplanofaction

anditmaynotseemthatmuchisgoingin.Thelast10weeksgetsreallyfocussed.Respectthisexamby

puttingintheeffort.

3.OxfordSpecialtyTrainingbook(amust)clinicalandethicsbooksbutLONG.Startonthisassoonas

possible.Thisreallyhelpedmeon"whattosay"initiallytotheexaminersonceIfinishedexaminingthe

patientandturnedtofacethem.Practiceoutloud.

4.GoldandSilverRyderbooks(importantbutlikeOST).Don'twaittoreadtheorybeforestartingthese

books.Thesetwobookscanseemdiscouragingatfirst,theyreallyareatthestandardoftheexamandare

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notoutmoded.Iranoutoftimebutflippedthroughitattheend.

5.Courses:theyallcostaboutthesame,andinmyopinionareallaboutthesame,withapparentlysomeof

thesamepatientsfromwhatIhavegatheredfromthecourseIdidinLondonandmyfriends'sUKcourses.I

dothinkthatyoushoulddoonecoursebutdon'tgoin"justtosee"asitcanbeverydiscouragingassomeof

theothercandidatesarequitegoodandyoumaygetoverlookedbytheregistrarswhoprovideveryimportant

tipsandcommentsonyourperformance.It'sgoodtodoamock.

6.Pastestvideos:Ican'tdescribehowimportantthesevideosare.Gothroughagoodfewofthembefore

goingtoacourse.Theytakealongtimetogothroughsodon'twaittoolongtostarttheseeither.Dowatch

themwithacriticaleyeassomeoftheexaminationsandreasoningscanbevariable.Itmusthavebeen

somefeatforpastesttomaketheseandItakemyhatofftothem.

7.TimHallbluebookgoodforthetheorypartonlybutit'sreallyallintheOST.Ididnothaveagoodvibe

fromthisbookasIthinkIwastedalotoftimeonthetheory.YetI'vehadcolleagueswhoswearbythisbook.

Itmademeabetterdoctor,butnohelp(Ithink)inpassingtheexam!

8.250casesownit,lookedatitonce

9.YourfirstMRCPbookIlikedthepictureofthebabyonthecover,lookedatitonce

10.Pacesebooksupposedtobeverygood,Ineverreadit

11.Theexaminersreallyliketoseeyouthinkandtryingtoworkthingsout.It'snotjustgettingthediagnosis

astheymaynotevenknowasthey'vejustcalibratedthepatientjustbeforeyou.Ifyousaysomethinglike:

"Mr.Brownhasthefollowingclinicalsigns...AlthoughI'mnotabletofindaunifyingdiagnosis,mydifferential

diagnosisis....."theyreallylikethatasitmeansthatyoucanthinkonthespotandyetgatherupthesigns.If

youdothisthenyouwon'tpanicifyou'renotsurewhat'sgoingonwiththepatient.

12.Nailstation5asit'sworthsomuch.Bereallyfastinpickingupthediagnosisalmostasaspotand

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chattingtothepatientandthenmentioningtheirconcensandimpactondailyliving,sotheexaminershear

you.Sometimestheycanbeactorsandsodon'treallygiveagoodhistorysodon'tmissabasicstepinthe

examination.

13.Youneverfeelyou'verevisedenoughandwishyoucouldhaveanothermonth.

14.However,itallreallydoes"cometogether"inthelastfewdaysbeforetheexam!

15.It'sacompletelydoableexam.Therearealwaysdistractionsinlifeleadinguptotheexam(e.g.afriend's

wedding,family,difficultworkrota).Ultimately,it'showyoudoontheday.Don'tthinkthatyou'renot

preparedenough.Youprobablyaren'tasyoucanneverbe.Beconfidentandcompletelyfocussedduringthe

exam.Doeverysinglestationtothebestofyourabilityasyoumayenduppassingbyonepointsoyouneed

everything.

HopefullyIhavepassedonsometipstotherestofyou.AllthebesttotheMRCPcandidates.

Regards,

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