For PS21 the college gave us one
week study break before the exam, but depends on your last postings if the faculty
in charge conducts the end posting exam earlier, you can get extra one week of
study break. For the P2S1 exam there are 2 components, theory part which
comprises the 120 MCQ questions and 5 Modified Essay Questions, and for the
clinical part it comprises 10 OSCE stations and 1 long case.
Day 1, we sat for the MEQ papers
which cover 5 subjects, Medicine, Surgery, OBG, Pediatric, and Community
Medicine. For each subject there are 5 parts and the format is, they will
project the questions using PowerPoint slide on the white screen in the hall and
you have to answer the questions within the time limit of 5-7 minutes. When the
time is up, the slide will change automatically and you have to put your answer
paper for that part in a box and use a new paper for the second part of the
question, in other words you cannot change your answer once the slide has
changed.
Day 2, we had the 120 MCQ questions.
We have to sit for a period of 2 hours answering 120 MCQ questions that cover
all subjects from medicine, surgery, OBG, pediatric, orthopedic, psychiatry,
ENT, ophthalmology and also community medicine, not to mention we were not
allowed to go out from the hall during that 2 hours period. It was mentally and
physically exhausting.
Day 3, first day of the clinical
part of the exam. We start with OSCE stations. For OSCE usually it comprises
either active station or passive station or it can be a combination of both
active and passive. For active station, you have to perform a clinical
examination skill to a patient or mannequin, and for the passive station you
have to write the answer on the paper. They can give you an X-ray, ECG, a
picture, partogram or even a video and you have to write down your findings and
answer few questions related to the item being given. During the OSCE we
probably didn’t do well in one of the stations and it is important for us not
to be carried away with that and continue fresh for the next station. That is
why we have to be mentally prepared for that.
The last day was our long case.
Before the day of exam, I believe most of us cannot sleep well that night. So
many things to cover for the long case, so many things to memorize, you will
feel anxious, nauseated, palpitation and everything that will make you feel
uncomfortable. At one time, I said this to myself “that’s enough, I have do my
part and now I leave everything to Allah.” I went into my room took wudhu, pray for 2 rakaats and pull myself to bed and
hope when I woke up the next day, I’ll be in a positive mind and attitude.
Alhamdulillah, I got a pediatric case even though I was not confident enough
with the case, but the patient and his mother was very cooperative providing me
with all the information that I need. When I presented the case, I tried to do
it as calm as possible like I was presenting a case during our regular day, and
personally I think that is the key to present a good long case for exam. I did
learnt a lot from this exam, and will continue to learn more and do well in the
future.
A.Khairul