Day 2

The second day of SCIPY is all about practice. The group is divided into 2 with one group practicing OSCEs in the morning and SOEs in the afternoon and the other group vice versa. This is a chance to use the skills you have learnt on Day 1, to show how much you have improved and to consolidate your knowledge. We aim to have College examiners with us on the course as they provide valuable insight into the exam process and are highly skilled in showing areas that need more practice before sitting the exam for real.

Candidates are asked to dress for Day 2 the same as they will be when attending the College for their actual exam.

Day 2 OSCEs

Candidates will sit 2 full OSCEs, each in the style of the actual exam and under similar conditions. The mixture of questions is as per the exam, including the obligatory statistics, history and communication stations. A sample answer sheet can be reviewed at the end of this session. The stations are based on feedback about style and content of the College exam from previous candidates of the SCIP course. They are generally thought to be at least as difficult as the College stations.

Day 2 SOEs

The SOE practice is also made as realistic as possible, with 2 'examiners' per table who will swap over as examiner and marker halfway through just as at the College. Each candidate will face 4 SOEs, with 2 Physics/Clinical and 2 Physiology/Pharmacology. You will also observe the other candidates from the group being examined. This is often an eye-opening experience in terms of the presentation and appearance of a candidate to the examiners and most candidates agree it is highly beneficial.

At the end of each session the examiners will talk through your performance and provide feedback about improving style, presentation and answer structure. They will also be frank and point out any habits you may have that could annoy examiners.