Katy Miller's Primary FRCA guide
Part 1: MCQ/SBA
My revision
Start your revision early and make it relevant to what you are learning. I know that you will feel that 6 months is a long time but putting the effort in early really helps later on with the rest of the primary and the final. If you do not have 6 months to revise in then you need to put the same amount of work in, just more intense. There is no short cut to passing this exam.
Books
Pinnock: Fundamentals of Anaesthesia
Good basis, although short in a few areas. Definitely need supplementary texts.
Power & Kam: Principles of Physiology for the Anaesthetist
Good supplementation to Pinnock
Davis & Kenny: Basic Physics and Measurement in Anaesthesia
Often referred to as Parbrook. Essential reading. Read as much as possible of this book
West: Respiratory Physiology
Essential reading. Deceptively long time to read despite size. Several important principles well explained.
Peck, Hill Williams: Pharmacology for Anaesthesia and Intensive care
Good book for all aspects of pharmacology
Sasada & Smith: Drugs in Anaesthesia and Intensive care
Great for comparing drugs
MCQ/SBA practice
Various MCQ books are out there. All I can say is practice, practice and more practice. Questions really do become easier if you have seen them before or have an idea where the question is heading. Make sure that you do the college questions just before the exam as usually a couple of the ones from the website (eLA) make it onto the paper.
Courses
Mersey:
Week long intensive course on MCQs. Based on the assumption that there is only a finite number of questions that can be asked in physics to help you get top marks.
Spilt into groups based on a grading MCQ on the first day (don’t get to know actual result or how you faired against peers) – this means that the small group you are with for the week are at a very similar stage knowledge wise. This really helps as the course is you directed with very little input from course directors.
Great if you are short of time.
Coventry:
Need to have worked well before course. If you are quick at doing MCQs then they allow a reasonably long period of time for each short paper, my advice take extra MCQ books with you to fill the time and make the most of it.
Part 2: OSCE/Viva
My revision
You really don’t want the pleasure of sitting this exam more than once (especially due to its cost). This is a continuation of your written primary and a chance for you to show examiners what you know. The examiners are on your side and will help you get back on tract wherever possible. The more confident you are the better as this gives an impression of experience and knowledge even if you are not feeling this on the inside. Practice drawing and talking at the same time.
Don’t forget about the OSCE. It is more often than not that people will offer to viva you and actually you need to practice both. Make sure that you get someone to show you a proper machine check (not the one that most of us do day to day) as this often comes up.
Books
Balasubramanian: The structured oral Examination in Anaesthesia
Closest book I found to the college style of questions when I sat it.
Cross and Plunkett: Physics, Pharmacology and Physiology for Anaesthetists
Whilst not offering anything new this is a concise book with the important graphs and diagrams in one place.
Courses
Coventry:
Do not book onto this course unless you are ready. It is too near the exam to be a kick up the arse.
This is a practice exam and will really only benefit you if you have already done the work.
Additional insight: studying with a little one
Studying is hard enough let alone trying to do it with a child. I found that using them as my incentive to work really helped. What do I mean by this? I found it really hard to take myself away from my child and therefore decided that I would try and do this for the least amount of time possible and make my first attempt at the exam my best shot. It is really helpful if you can find others who are studying with children. Who better to understand being up the weekend before the final written with a febrile child. I made sure that the revision that I did was intensive and useful. You have to be realistic about how much you can fit into a day. If your child does not go down early then you will not necessarily have all evening to revise, no matter how good your partner is.
By now we all have an idea how we best work and therefore should use this to our advantage. Whenever the little one goes down for a nap then use that time to study and not tidy / clean the house, this can easily add valuable time to revision total.
Your childcare arrangements can also really help. Having a day when you are not at work but your child is at nursery/with childminder/grandparents etc can allow you to have a full day studying. Doing this once a week really helps if it is possible.
I found that I was going to be struggling to get back to see my child before bed and therefore to save sitting in rush-hour traffic trying to listen to dr podcast but actually thinking about whether I am going to make it home in time for story time I stayed in the library and did an effective couple of hours work and then drove the shorter time home actually listening to dr podcast.
Make sure that you plan time with your child. You need then to help you often as much as they need you. I made sure that I had at least one morning a week where it was just me and my child and this really helped. It helped my study and my child knowing that mummy was still around.
Depending on when you take leave / work less than full time there is often longer between exams. You do need to factor this in. I found that attending a course in the run up to the exam enabled me to do three days intensive study when otherwise I would not have been able to. The basics are tested but often in a more applied way and therefore it is really important to review the basic principles that the primary asked.
There are lots of us out there who have successfully studied for the exams with little ones and we will all have things that helped us. Please do not hesitate in asking.