MRCEM SBA/FRCEM Intermediate (Single Best Answer)

 

FRCEM Intermediate/SBA

 

See RCEM Website for exam details

 

Personal Experience:

I sat this exam whilst working in the Mater Emergency Department which is a notably busy ED in Ireland so working my study plan around my roster was tricky. Anyone working in EM has my full admiration as it is incredibly tough on your body changing shift patterns relentlessly. I found I had a lot less energy when studying for this exam as compared to the MCQ in intern year (which was also a very busy and demanding job). I started studying around late November for the sitting in early March. I didn’t get much done over the Christmas period between work and everything else, but it was still mentally reassuring to have started the mammoth task before the new year. I found the volume of work to get through very overwhelming and I definitely didn’t get it all done before the exam (for example I don't think I covered the infectious diseases chapter before the exam). I went in for the strategic approach again which I will discuss in recommendations below. The MRCEM exam prep online questions were also critical in focusing my study and making sure I was going into enough depth and covering the essential topics. When I sat this exam it was written which was brutal as the time you had to complete the paper was blatantly inadequate to cover every answer. However, it’s now become ‘single best answer’ (SBA) so those of you sitting it in due course will be in a much better position.

 

Recommendation:

Time frame: 3-4 months

Study Plan:

 

1.        Buy the MRCEM Exam Prep Bank from Day 1 – this will focus your study and show you where the majority of marks lay

2.      Buy the ‘Revision Notes for the FRCEM Intermediate SAQ Paper’ – Although the paper is now SBA rather than written, the content will remain the same. This was the only text I used (except for the ALS guides) and it is really well laid out and easy to use.

3.      See how long it takes you to complete 10 MCQs – This should guide how many hours it will take you to get through the bank twice, as well as make necessary notes.

4.       Filter the MCQs by topic – Start your study plan by core topics, e.g. Resuscitation -> Cardiology -> Resp…etc

5.      KNOW YOUR ALS ALGORITHMS BY HEART <3

(the list of contents in the Revision Notes for the FRCEM Intermediate - you can see there's a lot to cover)

Questions that came up:

- Hypothermia and cardiac arrest management

- DKA

- Aspirin overdose

It's so long ago now (2018) that I can only recall a handful unfortunately. 



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