Examples of Case Scenarios

Communication skills as I have mentioned earlier.. needs a lot of practise.. role play in particular. I will post some of the cases that my friends and I used.. some were directly from Ryder, some from other websites, some are self-written and some are from various books with some editing.

After each scenario, I will try to give some examples on possible approach.. like what my friends and I discussed.. do give some input if you have other ways.

Again, communication skill station is not about testing your knowledge.. this has been tested previously. If not, you would not be able to sit for PACES! It is about your communication skill and how you convey your knowledge to patients/relatives and knowing your limitations. Of course a bit of knowledge will be quite useful.. If not, through out the station, you will say.. "I will have to discuss this with my consultant". I will give some links on how can this useful knowledge can be obtained. It is also good to read some patient-information leaflet to know how a terminology is explained in laymen terms. Try http://www.patient.co.uk. More will be linked to this blog later. And remember... each case usually has hidden agenda - patient's concern.. so try hard to dig into this!

Communication skill

A lot of my senior colleagues said they didn't pay much attention to this station while preparing for PACES and could still pass the exams. More attention was given towards the clinical part. I bag to defer. In my opinion, as a local graduate who didn't have much exposure on this in the undergraduate studies.. a lot of work needed! This is the time to learn good communication skill which is extremely important in real life. This makes MRCPians a little bit different from others. You can even practise it with real patients/relatives.. see if this more tactful way can improve your rapport with patients/relatives?!

No doubt reading every little word in Ryder is important, but what is more important again.... PRACTISE.. PRACTISE.. PRACTISE. Have a good team and have a role-play session. I believe this is the best way to study and learn + ACE the communication skill station. This is the time for you to act.. be the most terrible patient who is aggressive, harsh, violent, cold or the most irritating relatives who want to do decisions for the patient or in denial.. this is THE WAY for you to prepare yourself for the real day. With that, you are ready to tackle any kind of patients and remain calm through out the encounter. I highly recommend this technique!