MasterPACES 2015

I was invited to take part in the MRCP teaching session at Sungai Buloh. I had to give it a miss last year due to other commitments but was more than happy to help out again this year.

The format of the exam remained the same although the organisation appeared better compared to yesteryear. The course also appeared to be very popular, being oversubscribed despite running at full swing for a couple of days.

I didn't attend the first day of the course since I had clinic yesterday. The Sunday program was purely a mock exam, two sessions running in the morning before lunch, and another one after. That meant I had to start early, after sorting out my ward round.

Left really early to get the rounds doneLuckily I didn't have that many to see, being able to stop by at Ara Damansara as well on the way there, reaching Hospital Sungai Buloh before 8.

Got my cases sorted out and calibrated, starting the first run before 9. Time flies as we go through the motion, me handling the abdominal and respiratory station in the morning.

It was great to catch up with a few other examiners during lunch before starting the afternoon station. That was a bit more relaxing as it was about Communications. That meant that I get to sit down while grilling the candidates.

The course went through the carousel similar to the real PACES examination with the exact timing and marking system. The candidates would then be offered feedback both by the examiners in writing as well as verbally during debriefing. That itself was worth the course fee. They also get to hear what a more junior specialist who had been tagging them throughout their stations had to say. Those tended to be more personal and intimate. Maybe their bad habits could be pointed out for future remedy.

Would definitely be attending next year if invited although I had to sort out my schedule first as things could be unpredictable at times. ‎

Going down memory lane, here are the entries from 2011 and 2012.

MasterPaces Is Back

This was the third edition. The third edition of the MasterPaces program organised by Hospital Sungai Buloh. And the fact that I was invited the third time around as a faculty member was always a good thing.

The organiser was also nice enough to not put me on the Saturday morning slot, as I had clinic and ward round to do. Right after sorting out an admission, I rushed across to Sungai Buloh - only a 20 minutes drive via the NKVE, and got there in time for lunch and then straight to business.

Saturday was a mock day, where the candidates were divided into groups of four of five and they rotate across eight stations, allowing everybody to be assessed and thought by the faculty members. I had two sessions, an abdominal station, followed by station 5, the integrated clinical station where the candidates interact and examine a patient during a 10 minutes exchange. Fast and furious.

Sunday would be the mock exam day. Personally, I had to drive to Subang first, see my few patients, and then be at Sungai Buloh by 8.30. Early start .....

MasterPACES Day Two

The second day was done. And it was a very fruitful one. I woke up rather late after waking up to catch the United match last night. Yes, we got beat. That dampened the enthusiasm a wee bit, but I guessed I must soldier on. I slept through the alarm and only headed for the shower at 7.15.

Managed to reach Hospital Sungai Buloh by 8. It was easy as there were hardly any traffic. It turned out that I did not have to be in until 8.30. Well, it was betters to be early than late. The briefing took us to just before 9, and we kicked things off with a teaching round practicing the new Station 5 format.

After a quick tea, we started our mock exam. For the day, I was given a station 5 stop. The case was Hereditary Haemorrhaic Telangiectasia. Not everybody's cup of tea I was sure. But most of the candidate spotted the diagnosis and on the whole, all did betters than expected. As the station was the most tricky of the lot in teens of mark distribution, experiencing the station for the participants were very important. As I has been organizing the MRCP at UMMC for the past 7 years, I hope the tips I gave were useful. not everyone realised that Station 5 carried almost a third of the total PACES mark. Definitely disproportionate, making it doubly important to ace the station.

Some potassium to keep me goingThe Faculty Members at the endAfter everything was done, it was just past 4. We gave a quick round-up of our general impression to the candidates right after and everybody, at least I hoped went home happy. For those PACES candidates, in Malaysia, there was still a death of courses such as this. The only alternative I could think locally was the one run by IMU. Since they would be hosting the next PACES diet, I don't think that they would be running a course anytime soon.

Update on Sunday, April 17, 2011 at 11:40PM by Haris Abdul Rahman

Many thanks to readers who took the trouble to read this entry. I am truly humbled. At the same time, I have recieved a few emails from the participants to put down in writing some of the tips I have given to the group who I had the pleasure to take in the last couple of days. As it was kind of late in the evening, I will do the entry on another day and hopefully you all would be kind enough to return and check. If you need to contact me further, please do so through personal email. My email is haris.rahman@gmail.com

MasterPACES Day One

As mentioned, it was a working weekend this time around. The occasion, MasterPACES MRCP course in Sungai Buloh Hospital. It would be the second time j was involved and as the name suggest, it was a preparatory course for the MRCP Clinical exam n

Ariff giving it as good as it gets

Today was the teaching day, where I spend the best part of threat taking the students in groups of four, who rotate around to my station for around 20 minutes. It was a long slog, starting from 9 am, only to finish around 5 pm. I was shattered when I arrived home. And tomorrow, I shall be back for another day. The second day however would be mainly a mock exam. Looking at the schedule, I should finish a bit earlier at just after 4 pm.

Will write some more after tomorrow's session.