• Treat it like a shift at work – this is common advice but very sound. If you already work at a Consultant performance level on the floor, taking the same approach to the exam will pay rich dividends.
  • Obey the 4 and 30 rule – you get 4 minutes outside the room to develop an approach to the station and it’s very important to have a method to the madness. There is no set way that works for everyone but important to read the tasks and address the Domains being examined. Remember that each domain is scored out of 7 so potential marks are 21 for each station. The ’30’ relates to the first 30 seconds after you enter the room – this is your first impression to the confederate and examiners. You want this to be impactful and set the tone with both speech and body language.
  • Wear what you would at work so you are comfortable – The exam allows for you to wear scrubs or smart clothing. If you choose scrubs, ensure they are clean, neat and ironed. Wearing your usual attire adds to the familiarity of the situation and it will reflect in your performance.
  • Address the tasks and domains – the examiners mark to a set criteria which relate to the domains and tasks in every station so you could potentially do a great job but not addressing particular tasks will mark you down. For example: ‘Scholarship and Teaching’ – you always need to address the level of the doctor (Intern or HMO or Reg etc), you always need to give them chances to ask questions, you always need to close the education loop.
  • Be an active listener – this means if your confederate or examiner says something, you need to address it. Listen to the question and answer it rather than say what you think the answer should be. The confederates especially have a script to follow and prompts, you will go a long way by playing the game.
  • Clarity and Structure always wins – this is especially true when asked questions in the SCBD stations. You do not want to appear jumbled or confused or unstructured. Develop a set method of answering different type of questions so the examiners can follow your thought processes like following a route on google maps.
  • Practise Consultant level Phraseology – there are certain words specific to a FACEM that essentially spell out confidence, boss energy and calm. This will only come by practicising with other FACEMs and picking their brains on how this is done. Watch out for our ‘Phraseology Primer’ coming soon!!
  • Practise Administration situations – check out our Frankston Admin Primer
  • Develop the ability to mentally move on from a station or situation – The exam is 12 stations over 2 days, in particular 6 back to back. They go by so fast, you have little time to move on from one to another mentally. The mistake for young players is they ruminate on the previous station performance and take that energy into the next station which ends up being ruined also. Develop a technique to move on! This can be as simple as taking a few deep breaths and telling yourself to focus once again. This also requires tonnes of practice esp mock/trial osces.
  • Trust in your preparation (which means you need to put in the work) – You want to be at a point nearing the real exam, where you can hand on heart say – “Hey i did my best, I went through all stations available out there, I practiced with tonnes of different examiners and did all the trial exams i could”. This gives you more confidence than anything.