I told myself that I was going to sit down and write after exams. So many things in my head…..with me wanting to do this and that and 4 months after exams I am still procrastinating. And yes, with all the help I have been given by my dear seniors, friends and prayers from everyone, I miraculously passed the my last (fingers crossed) exam.
Days and nights of relentless mugging with sleeplessness seem like a distant memory. Before I forgot them all, lemme share a little on how I passed my part 2B exam. The exam is divided into part 2 viva and osce.
Viva shouldn’t be a problem to many of us as it’s literally just reading up guidelines and yeah the blue book by Timothy Fung (thank you1). Osce was the main obstacle for me. Having to pick up all findings and formulate a diagnosis with management all within 6 minutes for one patient (3 patients in an entire station) is gruelling and psychologically challenging.
Practice, practice and practice.
Books I used to pass
- Blue book (Timothy Fung -Viva and OSCE Exams in Ophthalmology: A Revision Study Guide) this book might be slightly dated so I had to update the book along the way with rcophth guidelines as published on the college website.
- Oxford Handbook of Ophthalmology – all the nitty gritty details like percentages of the other eye getting CRVO, RD etc. please they love it and it’s all so random but we just have to know it.
- Training in Ophthalmology (Oxford Specialty Training) -provides latest guidelines and good summary table to supplement blue book. I didn’t read every single one of them it’s more of a supplementary material when I get bored/confused.
- Going through past year candidates (questions from mrcophthchua, kind and selfless seniors) plus actually writing out my spiel for every possible questions and rehearsing it a few times prior to exams was actually useful in preventing me from talking gibberish on the real day.
- Orthoptics – I am so grateful to have Miss KC Chu to practise my orthoptics. I have learned so much from her and am eternally grateful to her teachings! I love orthoptics Miss Chu!
- Good study mates – all the help I have received from consultants, friends and study group mates from across the world. Those were immense and priceless in pushing my closer to the real exam day. Plus a lot of favorite HKL mos you know who you are 😀
- Mock exams – I went for the glasgow preparatory course and was just glad that I actually went there for a 1-week attachment as I have seen enough choroidal melanoma and learned the local management. True enough, it came up on my exam days. For the non-local candidates (who are so lucky to just have to drive or take train to the exam hall), I would strongly recommend everyone to go for a short attachment in the UK prior to the exam as it sets you the tone of the exam.
At the end of the day, passing exams only marks the beginning of my professional career as an ophthalmologist (hopefully getting through my final year before becoming one sp). The journey ahead is still so uncertain and a lot of times I still feel lost and dejected. But at least I made a lot of friends out of preparing for these exams and I have never regretted in this journey of becoming an ophthal person. 🙂 Also trying to learn to spend more time with God (knowing and learning everything in church but still struggling to apply it in real life!)
Doctor on FIRE 