Useful sources of

information
SCE Revision Course 2016

Dr Nigel Lane
Consultant in Acute Internal Medicine

@dr_nigel_lane
 Who am I?
•  I am a Consultant in Acute Internal Medicine and
General Internal Medicine

•  I passed the Acute Medicine SCE exam in December

2012

•  I co-edited a textbook entitled – “Best of Five MCQs for

the Acute Medicine SCE (Oxford Higher Specialty
Training - Higher Revision)” (March 2016)

•  I still teach, mentor and actively support Junior doctors in

training
 Objectives
•  Understand what the AIM SCE is

•  List useful Guideline resources

•  Signpost useful websites

•  List textbooks useful for the AIM SCE

•  Tips about the Best of five format

 Be prepared
•  What is the SCE?

•  Why am I taking the Acute Internal Medicine SCE?

•  Why am I taking the exam now?

 The SCE exam
•  2 “papers” on the same day in a Pearson Vue centre

•  100 questions per exam

•  Best of five format with clinical scenarios

•  Each “paper” lasts 3 hours with a 1 hour break between

them
o  For each question 1 minute 45 seconds with 5 minutes spare for checking
h#p://phoenixts.com/it-­‐‑certification-­‐‑testing-­‐‑center-­‐‑in-­‐‑
columbia-­‐‑md/
 Resources – where to
start?
“Preparation for the SCE requires a wide breadth of
knowledge around the curriculum and should involve
reading of textbooks, journals and guidelines.

Experience of the MRCP(UK) examination provides an

excellent background to the format of the examination.”

https://www.mrcpuk.org/mrcpuk-examinations/specialty-certificate-examinations/specialties/acute-medicine
 Resources – where to
start?
•  Acute Internal Medicine Curriculum (2012)
o  If it’s not in the Curriculum then it won’t be in the exam!

•  http://www.acutemedicine.org.uk/what-we-do/training-
and-education/sce-2/

•  https://www.mrcpuk.org/mrcpuk-examinations/specialty-
certificate-examinations

•  http://www.pearsonvue.com/sce/
Guidelines
Where do I start??
Practice questions
Try a book?
Read the journals
http://acutemedjournal.co.uk/
Points to remember when
taking the examination
•  Mark the answer box carefully
•  Skip difficult questions (these can be
electronically flagged to go back to)
•  Go through those not done second time round
•  Answer all questions
•  Keep checking the clock (100 questions in 3
hours)

h#ps://www.mrcpuk.org/mrcpuk-­‐‑examinations/specialty-­‐‑certificate-­‐‑examinations/exam-­‐‑
format-­‐‑and-­‐‑delivery
 Tips for MCQs
•  Like most multiple choice test problems, once you know
the content, the real issue is the test format itself

•  Multiple choice questions are a different way of looking

at the material compared to how you learned it, and
that’s tricky for some people

•  The answer? More practice with the test format

•  You need to do as many sample multiple choice tests

and questions as possible in the time leading up to the
SCE
 Best of Five
•  Read the question then try to answer it without looking at
the 5 options given

•  If your anticipated answer is there then mark it but do

check that none of the other answers is better
Do more questions!
Any questions?
 Objectives
•  Understand what the AIM SCE is

•  List useful Guideline resources

•  Signpost useful websites

•  List textbooks useful for the AIM SCE

•  Tips about the Best of Five format

Thank you for
listening and
good luck!

@dr_nigel_lane