Product Description

The book is an essential revision guide for all students about to take their OSCE or PLAB exams. Written by final year medical students for their peers, this book covers all relevant topics in a consistent and user-friendly style and should therefore be an invaluable revision aid.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #362780 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

Review
This excellent book on clinical skills for OSCEs is concise, informative, and comprehensive. I have no doubt whatsoever that anyone who has mastered its content will sail through the final OSCE and indeed enjoy the experience. --Professor Sir Cyril Chantler

Ecclesiastes' comment that 'Of making many books there is no end and much study is a weariness of the flesh' is as true as ever, but this book is so brilliant and useful that it is well worth all the hard work that went into its production. --Professor Lord McColl

An invaluable guide to clinical skills for OSCEs ... A must have for all students. --The International Journal of Clinical Skills

Professor Sir Cyril Chantler
This excellent book on clinical skills for OSCEs is concise, informative, and comprehensive. I have no doubt whatsoever that anyone who has mastered its content will sail through the final OSCE and indeed enjoy the experience.

Professor Lord McColl
Ecclesiastes' comment that `Of making many books there is no end and much study is a weariness of the flesh' is as true as ever, but this book is so brilliant and useful that it is well worth all the hard work that went into its production.

Customer Reviews

A must for all students preparing for OSCEs
I am a forth year medic preparing for my OSCEs and have found this book to be by far the best from the wide selection available.

All of the likely stations for third, forth and fifth year OSCEs are included in the book, including the unexpected ones that can really take you by surprise if you get them unprepared. The stations are put into sections by the system/speciality that they come under, with stations ranging from history taking and the standard examinations to practical procedures and “strange” assessments.

The layout of the book is simple and easy to follow, with each aspect of the stations given subheadings that make them easier to remember (e.g. inspection, palpation, percussion, auscultation).

The style is concise and to the point, meaning that it is easy to refer back to if you get stuck during your practice. This does mean that there are some points in the text where a little more explanation would be appreciated, and you may find yourself referring to a clinical examination text occasionally. Students from GKT will find this book especially useful as it has been written by some of our own ex-students, hence the examples should follow the kinds of stations that you will get during your actual OSCEs.

Overall: A very useful book, and the best one that I have found.

Review by Joel Newman in the GKT Gazette
Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are the type of exam that all students fear greatly. Unlike written exams, in OSCEs examiners can ask questions for which they need the answers immediately. You can't leave the answers to the end of the exam when you have time to think about them. For this reason revision for OSCEs involves a lot of rehearsals and drilling so that the information is virtually bubbling from your cerebral cortex when entering the Clinical Skills Centre.

A number of OSCE books have been written recently, and these appear to form one of the fastest growing areas of medical textbook types. The book under review here is written by a number of graduates from GKT, which makes the book all the more interesting to students still studying at GKT.

The book takes the form of systems based approach, with 90 scenarios broadly based in areas such as paediatrics, geriatrics or dermatology. Each of the scenarios contains an introductory statement of the task for that station, followed by a brief overview with tips, and a step-by-step guide of how to carry out the station.

Rather than explaining exactly how to do each step, the book assumes you already know how to, for example, test muscle tone and reflexes, and acts more as a guide to what needs to be included for each scenario and the order in which to do them.

One of the most useful aspects of the book is the box at the end of most OSCE scenarios stating the most common conditions examined in that particular OSCE. This is ideal for revision guidance when trying to impress the examiner with your medical knowledge.

This is a very good book covering virtually all the possible OSCE stations that you are likely to find yourself in for MBBS. Other than the price, I can find very little to criticise the book of, and I will definitely be using it for my OSCE revision this summer.

Joel Newman.

Worth its weight in gold, and no inaccuracies!
The previous customer review claimed that there was a discrepancy between stations 4 and 6. However, station 4 discusses cannula sizes whereas station 6 discusses NEEDLE sizes, and these ARE actually different. So please beware of inaccuracies when telling people to "beware of inaccuracies"!