Exam Preparation
Teaching
Trainees who are on a 2 year contract will rotated on a 6-12-6 month based model; the first 6 months will be spent in Wagga Wagga and Campbelltown, followed by 12 months at St Vincent’s to prepare for the RACP exam, and the last 6 months in Wagga Wagga and Campbelltown. As we are transitioning to a 3 year training program the model with change slightly, but trainees who are preparing for the RACP exams will always be located at St Vincent’s hospital.
Both Wagga Wagga and Campbelltown hospital have a teaching program at the start of the clinical year. A daily lecture program is run at Campbelltown hospital. In contrast, the teaching at Wagga Wagga base hospital is mainly bedside, focusing more on clinical skills and practical knowledge.
St Vincent’s Hospital offers unique and unparalleled clinical training experiences for its basic physician trainees. As well as having all subspecialties in medicine on campus, the hospital is also home to the heart and lung transplant program for New South Wales, and is also a centre for allogenic bone marrow transplantation. The hospital prides itself on the quality of care it strives to offer for those in the community who are disadvantaged and most in need. this unique case mix of patients found at St Vincent’s Hospital ensures that basic physician trainees receive significant training and experience in managing complex medical problems and tailoring treatment plans to an individual patient’s social and personal context.
Written exam program
The written exam preparation starts 6 months before the written exam. A combination of didactic and interactive tutorials are provided by consultant physicians and advanced trainees from the various medicine subspecialties. There are also Q&A session scheduled intermittently where trainees can bring in material or questions that they would like to discuss. The program complements the material offered by the RACP online lecture series program. A weekly trainee-led journal club/case presentation session is run with the DPE. Trainees are also provided with the opportunity to sit 3 state wide written exams and 1-2 local written exams. Start six months prior to the written examination, didactic tutorials are provided by consultant physicians and advanced trainees from the various medicine subspecialties. These lectures aim to complement the material offered by the College online lecture series program. Trainees are also provided with the opportunity to sit up to two trial written examinations.
Since 2019, the written examination lecture program has been delivered in a blended-online format (i.e. attendance is possible either in person as well as online via video teleconferencing). This has allowed trainees across the network to access teaching delivered from all three sites.
Clinical exam program
The clinical exam preparation starts with “how to” sessions end of February. In these sessions ATs will demonstrate “how to” do a long case and short case exam in various specialties. The clinical exam preparation program starts in early March with Monday-Thursday scheduled clinical teaching. A mock exam with a combination long and shorts cases, mimicking the DCE is held every Tuesday in the outpatient clinic to prepare trainees for the exam-situation that can otherwise be very stressful. Regularly scheduled short cases with ATs on Mondays and Wednesdays, and scheduled long cases on Thursdays. In addition, trainees are also rostered for weekly long case presentations with the DPE and NDPE.
The clinical exam program also includes masterclasses in various specialties, such as cardiology, endocrinology, renal/gastro/haematology, neurology and respiratory. These are held at both St Vincent’s and at Campbelltown hospital. A practice clinical exam is held at Wagga Wagga base hospital every year with amazing pathology that provides excellent short case skills and exposure to common and rare pathology. There is also a yearly practice exam held at St Vincent’s hospital and at Campbelltown hospital, which gives the trainees good exposure to pathology and exam-scenario practice.