Year Guide: Fourth Year: RHCN

Despite knowing I have no desire to become an obstetrician or gynaecologist this has been my favourite unit this year by far! It is really well organized with excellent teaching.

Portfolio

Infamous and rumoured to be a more than a mouthful. However, even though initially it seems very daunting, it is well structured and all the components are those which you would generally complete anyway (even though it does get a tad tedious REMEMBER to get everything signed off as you go along because you don’t want to be chasing consultants around wanting their autograph).

Semi-structured cases…

• Do take quite a bit of time to complete
• I had to type them up first and then write them out. Which even though took a long time, it meant that I had thought about them and overall did quite well.
• You don’t have to fill in every question.
• I found it really helpful to discuss each of my cases over with a doctor that knows that patient before writing them up (also a good opportunity for teaching).
• There is a massive area for you to reflect on what you have learnt. I broke this question up into sections like: What I did well, what I did badly, what I could improve, knowledge I learnt, the patients experience and got really good feedback with that approach.

SSC

You have to do a presentation.

Look at the markscheme carefully, and make sure you include the vertical themes. There is a point for original thought/research – I took this opportunity to do an audit (which also didn’t take much time!) but I did have to hassle doctors about it.

Exam

In the portfolio there is a section on Learning Aspects, which form a really good basis for revision. I just went over these (and they also count for a couple of marks towards your portfolio).

Cahill does a mock exam which is helpful (but is easier than the real one)

Overall, the exam is fair and what you have revised will come up. The Obs and Gynae MCQs that David Cahill puts on QMP are really good and there are also lots of MCQs on On Examination website.

So, the biggest tip would be get started on the portfolio immediately and work consistently throughout the whole unit, as the good thing about working consistently in this unit is that when it comes to revision you feel that you know lots already!