But we can tell you exactly which cases come up most commonly in MRCP PACES, based on the most comprehensive survey ever conducted of previous candidates. Our sources Now in full colour, it features new case material, updated content on ethics and law, and revised brief clinical consultations that better reflect the current exam. Cases for PACES also includes hints and tips for preparing for the exam, and what to expect on the day. Like it? Love it? Why not help out your colleagues by sharing this post? Just use the share buttons in the popup or on the side of your screen.

There is very significant selection bias inherent in the cases that show up on exam day. If you have insight into this selection bias you can use it to more effectively target your revision. If you are not a UK native, then you should watch some videos online to familiarise yourself with the regional accents. A lot of non-UK born candidates struggle with the regional accents that are within the UK. Then we’ll move onto rare conditions that are disproportionately likely to appear in the MRCP PACES exam. What you could get is bronchiectasis as a complication of a previous severe pneumonia. Even though that is less common in day to day hospital medicine, it is more likely to come up in an exam. Listen on the go to candidates presenting their examination findings, and case critiques provided by examinersAfter the announcement that MRCP(UK) were re-configuring the format of the MRCP 2 PACES exam, we started to film brand new Patient Cases.

In fact, there’s a good chance none of these things will present on your wards at all between you applying for MRCP PACES and turning up for your exam.

Station one: respiratory cases

Fluids, antibiotics, potentially inotropes – you know the drill. It’s the sort of thing all medical doctors will definitely encounter repeatedly before they even get close to taking their MRCP PACES. If you’ve worked in hospital medicine, you’ll have very likely seen alcoholics, intravenous drug users, and other people with a history of substance abuse. Acute hepatitis. A bright yellow patient secondary, perhaps, to a drug reaction or poisoning. Amazing clinical signs while the patient is unwell. That’s a lot of work. Which is why your fees are so high, even though the examiners are unpaid volunteers. There are a bunch of things that are common in real life, but uncommon in MRCP PACES due to selection bias. Here’s the list, plus two examples for each one:

It is completely understandable to try to find out other people’s previous experiences of a specific exam centre, or other exams. It can give rise to bronchial breathing, crepitations in the chest or even a parapneumonic effusion – all great clinical signs. Common questions for MRCP PACES candidates are “does anyone have any experience of XX hospital?” and “what is likely to come up in my MRCP PACES exam?” Each hospital in the UK has a dedicated postgraduate education unit and the MRCP PACES exam at that centre will be organised locally through this department. As such they will be able to inform you whether they can provide you with accommodation and how much it would cost or otherwise give you local advice about hotels that are nearby and travelling options. It’s also not very likely to come up. The patient’s clinical signs would be expected to have recovered in between being recruited and the exam day.The MRCP PACES exam consists of a ‘carousel’ containing five clinical stations. Each station is 20 minutes long and there is a 5 minute interval between stations. Two independent examiners oversee each PACES station where there is a patient with a given condition, or a surrogate patient. We have found over 3,000 different accounts of MRCP PACES exams, and what cases came up for various candidates. You are better off spending your time practising your examination skills, practising history and communication scenarios and making sure that you have covered the entire curriculum. Demonstrations on how to examine real patients with evident clinical signs really helped. Also I love how many cases of the same disease were demonstrated just to show the spectrum of a disease's presentation.