Oxford Specialty Training: Revision Texts

The professional interview is a charged psychological encounter and hurdle, necessary for all of us to traverse in order to move on in our lives and careers. The interviewer is the gatekeeper who holds the keys to our brighter future. This book is a detailed examination of the interview experience and our role as the interviewee within it. This book does not consider the content required for any given interview; instead, it looks in detail at the interview processes and performance from a psychological perspective in order to be the best we can be. Deconstructing the Interview teaches a way of mindfully connecting with the interview space, operating externally in the room, and guiding our answers and performance with situational awareness and an enhanced understanding of the psychological factors at play. As well as communication skills, both verbal and non-verbal, this book considers in detail our interface with the external world around us; to improve and refine our interview skills, and to operate in the room as our true authentic selves. Here we accept and embrace anxiety as an essential part of this process, and we choose to be ‘mindfully anxious’. This book breaks down the interview stage and its players from a psychological perspective, and helps the reader build interview skills from the ground up. This is a new and novel approach in helping the reader prepare for the interview process, and builds on the author’s previous book in this series (Deconstructing the OSCE, 2014, OUP).Less

The OSCE forms the practical part of educational and professional medical examinations and is often challenging and expensive. Deconstructing the OSCE takes a fresh approach to passing OSCE exams, teaching how to tackle the exam in a new way. It doesn't provide checklists of information needed for specific OSCE stations; instead it helps to develop generic strategies and skills that will lead to success in any OSCE exam, regardless of specialty or level. Featuring advice, practical tips, real life examples and exercises, this resource will prepare candidates with the skills to prepare for effective OSCE study and strategies for overcoming common psychological hurdles and baggage. It also explores how to overcome past failures in the OSCE by overhauling previous study routines and suggesting new strategies for the road ahead. Less

This resource combines practical information with invaluable suggestions of how one might phrase particular questions and direct the conversation during the client interview. It confidently summarises history-taking, mental state examination, clinical management, risk management, diagnostic criteria as well as key clinical guidelines. It also includes a large bank of mock examination scenarios for candidates to practice. As part of the Oxford Specialty Training series, it complements and cross-references to key titles in the field of psychiatry.Less

Studying and exam preparation are not the same thing and many well-read anaesthetists cannot pass the FRCA. The reason for this is twofold. Knowledge of the curriculum assessed by exam must be accessed quickly, packaged according to instructions, and presented clearly in the format required by each element of the exam. Such exam technique is rarely taught, learned, or practised. Secondly, the FRCA is a test of life management and organizational skills which do not always come naturally. This book details practical and novel ways to make knowledge memorable and to fit exam preparation around other commitments including work and family. Further, it describes how to maintain motivation, keep going, and succeed in passing the FRCA.Less

The growing complexity of intensive care medicine (ICM) has required the development of a number of related educational syllabi. Doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, pharmacists, dieticians, and other healthcare personnel working with critically ill patients often undergo a period of postgraduate specialist training and must demonstrate competence by means of examinations or other assessment tool. This book has been written to support professionals undertaking specialist training in ICM. The format is guided by the curricula of the Australasian Fellowship of the College of Intensive Care Medicine (FCICM), the European Diploma of Intensive Care Medicine (EDIC), and the United Kingdom Fellowship of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FFICM); the comprehensive nature of these syllabi extend the suitability of this book to participants in virtually all postgraduate intensive care programmes. It will also be of interest to those training in the specialties closely related to ICM: anaesthesia, the surgical specialties, acute, respiratory and emergency medicine. Revision Notes in Intensive Care Medicine follows a systems-based format. Each chapter explores key physiological and pathophysiological concepts relating to a given organ system. The assessment, monitoring, and support (both pharmacological and physical) of the system are examined. Underpinning evidence and key publications are discussed. The authors hope this text will serve as a companion to training programmes in ICM, by introducing key concepts to those new to the specialty, reinforcing knowledge and understanding to the more experienced practitioner, and acting as an aide memoire to all in the exam waiting room or at the bedside.Less