[Ciaran88]

I just switched from OnExamination to PassMedicine after being told it was more similar to our exams here at Peninsula.

.. Holy crap, this thing is about 10x harder than OnExamination, and 90% of questions are basically "have you memorised the guidelines?", the other 10% being "do you happens to know which of these obscure diseases is most associated with this random condition?".

OnExamination is certainly a lot easier and questions tend to be more along the lines of spot diagnoses and first line treatments for fairly common conditions.

Is it worth sticking with PassMedicine or does it dwell too much on details that are mostly not useful for a medical student? Or is OnExamination perhaps just too easy and PassMedicine more reflective of 5th year/F1/F2?

[fairy spangles]

Really??
I have both and I find passmedicine so much easier than onexamination. On examination seems to be about so many random facts, so i cant work through the question. Maybe its just a matter of choice.

Or maybe im completely freaked out by this:
Based on your recent performance your chances of doing well in the exam is LOW!

[Ciaran88]

Haha yeah that's never comforting to see.

Maybe it is just horses for courses, but I really find PM frustrating: what is the third line treatment in a patient with about 5 co-morbidities and who is allergic to your first choice, based on the guidelines NICE published about 5 minutes ago... LOL.

[fairy spangles]

But surely thats good?
In real life thats what happens. I got told off and a massive lecture and was forced to read the trust guidelines because i said i would give oxygen in an MI. If only i had listened to passmedicine, thats 30 minutes of my life im never getting back.

Im worried my exams are going to be like onexamination.

[Ciaran88]

Yeah I remember that question, that was a relevant one, but many aren't. The same is true of OnExam though so I guess it's horses for courses, it's just more difficult to "work out" PassMedicine questions because you either know the guideline or not.

[nas7232]

For me, onexamination really helps with technique.. passmedicine does the opposite. They word the questions so bad in passmedicine imo. I think passmedicine is good to learn facts from guidelines that may come up but passmedicine and onexamination for me, are so much better.

[graemematt]

I've only used onexamination, and for the most part, I find it useful. Unfortunately, there's a lack of decent paeds/O&G questions on it though, so I've now finished all of them and can memorise the answers instead of actually working it out by thinking.

Side note slightly...anyone know any good places to practice SAQs? I've got a distinct lack of places to practice them, and I fear I can't work out an answer for myself without having it on the screen for me to click...

[Ciaran88]

Agree with above, I actually feel like PassMedicine was teaching me bad MCQ habits.

Then again it does tend to chuck lots of questions at you about new protocols you need to know, stuff like the new NICE guidelines for hypertension that are all over this years exams.

Another side note, anyone know of anywhere to practice SJTs?

[graemematt]

(Original post by Ciaran88)
Agree with above, I actually feel like PassMedicine was teaching me bad MCQ habits.

Then again it does tend to chuck lots of questions at you about new protocols you need to know, stuff like the new NICE guidelines for hypertension that are all over this years exams.

Another side note, anyone know of anywhere to practice SJTs?

^^Unfortunately not, although I'd anticipate resources becoming available for practising/studying SJT techniques. I also like how your medical school actually incorporates new NICE guidelines into your exams, whereas ours actually told us that the new HTN guidelines were not going to be assessed because the papers had already been written. That's just lethargy on our part

[Esmeralda B.]

What about pastest?

[nas7232]

I find pastest v.similar to onexamination which is good and gives a bit more variety of questions.

[fairy spangles]

(Original post by Ciaran88)
Agree with above, I actually feel like PassMedicine was teaching me bad MCQ habits.

Then again it does tend to chuck lots of questions at you about new protocols you need to know, stuff like the new NICE guidelines for hypertension that are all over this years exams.

Another side note, anyone know of anywhere to practice SJTs?

They have just put up questions on passmedicine funnily enough!

[fairy spangles]

(Original post by Esmeralda B.)
What about pastest?

I dont like it for finals because its not year specific.
Im not too bothered about the embryology of things - unless maybe its spinal bifida.

[Ciaran88]

(Original post by fairy spangles)
They have just put up questions on passmedicine funnily enough!

I can't seem to find these?

EDIT: Ignore me, found it :P

Do we know if this is the format the SJTs will take this year?:

[xXxBaby-BooxXx]

Just out of interest, what would people put for the above?

I'd go C, D, B, E and then A I think.

[Ciaran88]

I put CEBAD and was correct.

[Tyraell]

(Original post by xXxBaby-BooxXx)
Just out of interest, what would people put for the above?

I'd go C, D, B, E and then A I think.

Eager to sedate, there!

[xXxBaby-BooxXx]

(Original post by Tyraell)
Eager to sedate, there!

Just realised I got most of the letters the wrong way round

Didn't get it completely right, but was not what I actually put! Meant to go CEBDA. No idea what happened...

[Wangers]

(Original post by Ciaran88)
I put CEBAD and was correct.

E is not true though is it? the ethics of that are far from clear, particularly since he happens to appear Gillick competent.

[Helenia]

(Original post by Wangers)
E is not true though is it? the ethics of that are far from clear, particularly since he happens to appear Gillick competent.

Gillick competence only applies to giving consent, not refusing. A parent can still give consent in the face of refusal from an otherwise competent under 16. Though the practicalities of this may be tricky.