Thursday 29 May 2008

I’m feeling focused

At the start of the year, I made a promise to myself. I promised that I would spare myself the trauma of applying for jobs this year, and I would focus on passing the Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA) Primary Examination instead.

That was the talk, now it’s time for action. The first (MCQ) exam is next Tuesday, meaning I have only a few days left of study to go. I’ve not been blogging much recently because I’ve been working really hard over this past month or so – sometimes putting in nine or ten hours study per day. To be honest with you, this exam is rock hard and very soon, I’ll find out if I’ve done enough work.

Though my study period so far, I’ve been through self-delusion, pontification and despair, but in the last fortnight I’ve developed a sort of gritty focus that will hopefully see me through.

The exam is negatively marked and the FRCA website says that to pass you need to score about 53%. In the last week or so, I’ve been scoring 48-58% so, as things stand, my chances of passing are about 50-50. I’ve had lots of advice from the other SHOs and SpRs who have been through it and medical staffing have been very understanding. Now it’s all down to me and I’m determined to pass if only because I’ve invested far too much of my time and mental energy on this exam. Failure is not an option.

Right, now I’m off to learn which of the neuromuscular blocking drugs have active metabolites.

Wish me luck.

10 comments:

Elaine said...

Oh, yes. Good luck.

Jo said...

Wishing you all the best - keeping my fingers tightly crossed for you!

The Little Medic said...

Argh, I'm never going to pass post-grad exams. That is if i've even passed finals!

Anonymous said...

Good Luck!

You should be a master at study now given you've gone through Med School!

Anonymous said...

Onwards and upwards!

It'll all be worth it when you see those letters after your name.

Good luck next Tuesday!

Ms Medic said...

Good luck. I sympathise, being in the throws of revision myself.

Canuckian's Evil Twin said...

GOOD LUCK! We're all rooting for you. :o)

SSS said...

Good luck!

Anonymous said...

bon chance and all that.

Anonymous said...

Good luck! Be focused.

I think I spent as much time working out the odds of which of the 'probably know' questions to answer as I did actually answering the questions!

Let us know how you get on.
P