Alison Bell, The Queen's University Belfast

Crash course OSCEs in medicine and surgery – I wish I’d got this years ago! It makes everything so simple and explains what examination findings actually mean. There are handy tables that explain what your doing, what eg: ‘nerves and muscles’ your testing by doing that and simple instructions you can give the patient to explain what you want them to do – so you can look like you’ve been practising for weeks even if you only learnt the examination the day before the OSCE! Chapters start with possible conditions you could see in the exam then work through the examination with handy comments on etiquette of performing some exams and how to position yourself in relation to the patient when doing certain examinations. They usually finish with a suggestion of how to present your findings to the examiner and what investigations you might want to order. This is all you need to pass your OSCEs with flying colours and a MUST HAVE in my opinion!

Posted 7th May 2011

Vaibhav Gupta, The University of Nottingham

For a first year student clueless about what an OSCE entails, the book gives a great breakdown of this assessment style, and includes useful tips along the way that are helpful for even senior medical students. The second part of the book is conveniently divided into the different systems of the body, and includes possible stations within those topics. The book has a good mix of basic stations you learn in the lower years, as well as more advanced stations introduced later, and is careful not to leave out the communication skills stations that students sometimes place lower on the priority list. Going through individual topics, the book can come across as quite detailed, so more junior students should remember that basic examinations are often built upon in later years and that they should only focus on the points their lecturers have covered. The book is a good reference tool to have on the shelf as you go through learning about different examinations; it supplements your learning and gives you tips that you can apply in future patient encounters to improve your clinical skills and ultimately help you do better in OSCEs!

Posted 27th Jan 2011

Jen Jardine, University of Newcastle

This is the gold standard of OSCE revision, covering not only every conceivable station but also general tips for the exam. Every skill you need is explained comprehensively, and there is also for each system a list of possible stations/cases, and MCQs at the back, so that once you've worked your way through you cannot fail to ace the exam.

Posted 18th Jan 2011

Fions Place, University of Southampton

This book is easily navigated via its detailed contents page at the front of the book which divides OSCE stations up by system and also flags up particular clinical skills. This is then followed by a useful glossary page which includes some laws and rules too. The first chapter is a helpful overview of the OSCE, how to take a history and examination techniques. The books covers major OSCE stations in respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, neurological, anaesthesia, rheumatology and orthopaedics, ENT, vascular, urology and breast specialities. There is also a miscellaneous section covering things such as ‘Examine this patient’s hands…’ Paediatrics, psychiatry and obstetrics and gynaecology are not covered in is this book, as to be expected from the title ‘Medicine and Surgery’, but this means this is not a one-stop compendium for OSCE revision. Each chapter follows the pattern: history, examination, specific clinical skills, specific diseases and possible questions for each system. Within the chapter these separate sections are well laid out with explanations, diagrams, examples, photographs and tables. There are lots of highlighted tips and mnemonics for remembering sequences. The final chapter includes lots of self-assessment questions to see how much you have picked up. There is quite a lot of reading involved in this book so it isn’t really a last minute resource. It is however a brilliant book for preparation, in conjunction with patients on the wards and your colleagues, for many possible OSCE stations.

Posted 18th Jan 2011

Vibhuti Gupta, University of Southampton

OSCE’s in Medicine and Surgery covers a breadth of topics in all specialities. However, it lacks topics on obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, and psychiatry. If these topics were also present, I think the book could be a one stop shop for all the major stations one expects on their examinations. Nevertheless, I really like the contents page at the front of the book. It lists OSCE topics based on different subjects which make it very easy to find in the book. Each chapter thoroughly goes through the history (as required) and the examination technique. The chapters are very comprehensive and also incorporate quite a bit of teaching. The downside of the book is that it is far too wordy. I am a very visual learner and like lots of tables, lists, and diagrams. My eyes get lost on these pages because I do not know what to read. I’m totally overwhelmed with the amount of information. As well, because the book is only in black and green fonts, the lack of colour and design makes the text difficult to read and follow. So, although the book is quite detailed and has a tonne of information which some people may really appreciate, I would not pick the book as it does not fit my personal learning style.

Posted 13th Jan 2011

Dominic Haigh, University of Birmingham

The author states in the introduction that the key to passing the OSCE is preparation. Although nowadays it feels like OSCEs have been around forever, they are relatively modern. They were introduced in order to standardise examinations between medical schools and make stations more fair for different candidates. Finals cover all different kinds of specialities. With obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics and psychiatry, it is reasonably easy to anticipate what will come up in OSCEs. There are a fairly finite number of stations which can possibly come up, so it is a good strategy to make a list of them and practise them. With Medicine and Surgery, it is more tricky. As the book states in the title, it aims to prepare the reader for stations in Medicine and Surgery stations, rather than specialities. Reading comes with a sense of relief as potential topics are broken down into areas and become less threatening. Advice is given about every aspect, from arranging clinical sessions in preparation to generic OSCE skills. The book is rounded off with example MCQs, SAQs and EMQs. The book’s main strength is its unambiguous clarity in stating the best approach to a patient. Sections begin with possible cases, explain what to expect, state how to perform the examination and then gives example questions. This is a great resource to be used in conjuction with going to the ward and examining patients.

Posted 13th Jan 2011

George Collins, University College London

At first glance I doubted that this book could fulfil its objectives, which are “to provide everything you could be asked in the OSCE exam in one place”. Well, it does that - and more. As is so often the case in books with similar aims, this book is not a monotonous collection of lists. It provides concise, straight talking and genuine advice prepared by junior doctors on what you need to know in your OSCE exam. It doesn’t simply give the “what” (ie. What to look for in examinations, what to ask about in the history) but also the “why”. Why ask about diuretic therapy in the neurological exam? Why examine the conjunctivae in the respiratory exam? It gives advice on how to prepare for an OSCE as well as a system by system breakdown of the most common OSCE cases to expect and how you should approach them. This includes information on how to perform the history, examinations, clinical procedures and investigations for each system, as well as a miscellaneous sections for common titbits that don’t fit in elsewhere, such as the causes of clubbing and how to examine a diabetic patient. Overall it’s a hugely valuable book for revision and for use during the clinical course to supplement experiences from clerking real patients. I'll use it over and over again throughout my clinical years.

Posted 12th Jan 2011

Emma Jackson, University of Manchester

I think the Crash Course series are a brilliant idea and I have used them extensively, I was therefore looking forward to reviewing this book. The book in itself is very thorough and covers most of the major systems. I particularly liked the way for each chapter it had a list of the most common topics that could come up in OSCE and then went onto detail how to tackle an OSCE station involving this topic. Like all the other Crash Course books it has lots of questions at the back, which is what I think makes the Crash Course series stand out from other books, the layout is easy to read and there are lots of suitable diagrams and pictures. There is nothing overall wrong with the book, but I was slightly disappointed. Having just done my families and children module there was no chapter on obstetric skills or how to approach paediatric examinations. There is also no information on taking psychiatry histories, a common OSCE station. I felt the layout of the book was rather odd, with the chapters not following in a logical order and stations that didn’t seem to fit just tacked onto the end of chapters e.g. breaking bad news tacked onto the end of the gastrointestinal chapter. Overall the book is very useful and I will use it to help me study for OSCE, I just didn’t think it was up to the usual high standard of the Crash Course series.

Posted 7th Dec 2010