Created a timetable with my revision group to ensure we covered all clinical areas. We tweaked this as we went on to ensure we revisited areas we felt particularly weak on. We aimed for one revision session a week (aprox 2 hours), then increased these to twice a week in the weeks leading up to the exam.

I used mainly the SCA revision website as I felt it covered a wide range of topics and found the learning notes at the end of each case very helpful.

I supplemented this with NICE CKS when I came across a topic I was unfamiliar with the management for.

Yes – I had a small study group with 2-3 of my colleagues who were also sitting the same diet of the exam. This worked well as we were all wanting to step up intensity and frequency of revision at the same time. These sessions formed the majority of my revision as it is very difficult to practice alone. I would recommend a minimum of 3 people in a study group to ensure there is always one person dedicated to marking/feedback to ensure you get the most out of each case.

I found a structure that worked for me and tried to stick to that as much as possible. Starting with ICE is helpful as it can guide the direction of your consultation and ensure you’re not caught out with a hidden agenda in the last 2 minutes of the consultation!

As someone who frequently struggles with shorter consultations, I found it helpful to keep an eye on the timer and at 5 minutes, force myself to move on from data gathering to ensure there is enough time to get good marks in clinical management.

Using ICE was a helpful approach to get to understand the patients agenda, you can then use this to help explain your management plan.

Where appropriate it is also good to give the patient a couple of options with their management to encourage autonomy.

My practice already had a room set up to exam standards with no clinical information on the walls etc. I ensured I went to log in and run through the exam platform on multiple occasions prior to exam day. This included trying out the headphone and microphone that I was intending on using.

I would recommend a double headphone headset with mic (rather than a single ear piece), to minimize any external noise distractions.

I used a few seconds of the reading time for the next station to wipe my whiteboard, close my eyes and take a few slow deep breaths to reset between each case.

I think the worst part was the waiting around at the start and the end of the exam before they release you. No real tips for this other than bring some water and a snack if you can. I turned away from the computer slightly (still ensuring you are visible to the invigilator) to just look out the window until the 45 min quarantine time was over!

For me personally, it was timing and managing revision alongside other life commitments. I was in a very stressful process of moving house and moved 6 days before the exam!

I ensured that even if I could not make a revision session with my study group, I was using every consultation at work to practice my consultation techniques.

Try to think of it as a normal day of work, and with that in mind, use every consultation at work to practice your structure and consultation skills. This will carry through to the exam and make it feel much more natural, even if it does feel strange as you start to implement it. Remember the exam is not trying to check that you know every minute detail of every condition, it is making sure you are an effective communicator and can develop a safe management plan with the patient.

Try not to just practice scenarios or cases that you know and make you feel good! Deliberately pick the ones that put you outside your comfort zone.

Occasionally re-ran the same scenario straight away afterwards to implement the feedback. Or asked my peer group to focus on a certain thing moving forward.

In an ideal world, I may have started sooner with revision but it is tough with work-life balance and being mindful of exam burnout.