Another successful P2P workshop held on the weekend

Greetings to all, and to the participants at our Melbourne workshop on the weekend, apologies once again for our dismal weather!
As the rain pelted down outside, our participants from local and interstate regions worked hard to master the skills needed to interview and present cases with flair.
We modified our agenda this time to reflect the recent changes to the marking proforma, and included an opportunity to write and present a succinct MSE using cases performed by professional actors. This session was rated very highly.
As usual, our participants came along eager to work, and should be congratualted for how far they had already come in their examination preparation. We wish them every success in October!

AND

Keep tuned for updates regarding our OSCE webcasts that will occur in September.
What is a webcast you ask?
Well, its a live video presentation that you can access on your own computer once you register and obtain a password. We will run through two full OSCE stations each night, with 'examiners' present to critique and provide feedback. If you are in Melbourne, you can come into our office and participate. If you aren't, you can watch the tutorial LIVE and type your questions in using your own keyboard, for real time responses. These webcasts were very successful last year and we are committed to developing them on an ongong basis. Its our way to help registrars no matter where they are access quality medical education.
If you would like to learn more, please send an email to info@cpdformulations.com.au.
Keep in touch, and best of luck with your examination preparation!

The team at CPD Formulations.

PS Stay tuned for the launch of our new website offering a more user friendly way to access all our information and resources at CPD. It is due to launch in September. Thanks Con, Aaron and DIG Creative!

Announcing our new course!

You asked for it, you got it!

We have been busy creating our new course to help you get through the RANZCP written exams.

After 3 years of creating and updating our Present2Pass course for the clinical examinations, our Write2Pass course is ready to be launched on 20 and 21 November 2010, in Melbourne, Australia.

Our course will take place over two days, culminating in a mock examination on the Sunday, with results posted back to you after the event. We won't just give you examples of questions, we'll walk through the questions and answers in an interactive and fun environment that enhances learning.

This year, the Christchurch writtten examination preparation course will not take place so diarise our course instead.

And if you are interested in coming on board as a facilitator or curriculum development committee member, please let us know at info@cpdformulations.com.au.

Please let all your colleauges know who are in first or second year, and might not have heard about CPD Formulations

Best wishes,

The CPD Team.

Dr Schultz to present at the 2010 Prevocational Medical Education Forum

We have just been notified that Dr Helen Schultz will be presenting at the 2010 Prevocational Medical Education Forum, to be held in Melbourne from November 7 to 10, 2010. Helen will present findings taken from 3 years of training local and international medical graduates and will discuss how the training needs for these two groups differ. This will hopefully generate discussion on how clinical schools, teaching hospitals and colleges should address the requirements of each group of doctors. Helen has been passionate about supporting this crucial area of the medical workforce for a number of years.
If you are an international medical graduate, and have met Helen through attending the Present2Pass courses, we'd love to hear from you. We would love to compile a short showreel of interviews with IMGs discussing the unique challenges they face. Please contact us on info@cpdformulations.com.au if you would like to be involved anonymously or on interview.
For more information on the forum, follow the link below;

http://www.pmcv.com.au/forum-home

Best wishes,
The CPD Team

Off and racing??

So it's clicked into August, and that means the last month of winter, and one month closer to the second round of the RANZCP clinical examinations for 2010.
We have had a lot of response from registrars, pre and post exams about the recent pass rates and their concerns about sitting while these appear low. Our advice has been consistent and measured. When you choose to sit the clincial examinations is entirely up to YOU; not the teaching hospitals, not your colleagues, but when you and your support crew decide you are ready. It may be because you want to get them done before starting a family (like me), or before you pursue a break from training (also me). This is your race, and you need everything in place to give you the best chance of success.
Need some help or one on one coaching? I have been getting busy with appointments for exam coaching and our courses are filling up as well. We have a few vacancies left for the our next Present2Pass course in Melbourne on 14 and 15 August. Come along and meet some fellow registrars from around Australia and New Zealand!

ECE results are disappointing

Hi there,
Our watchful eye has been tuned to the college website to see how the exemption candidates fared with changes to the marking criteria, after the local candidates results in May 2010 came in at around 47%. We're sad to see the result for the June 2010 ECE exam to be 31%, the lowest ever since the exemption candidates had their own exams to sit. Not only that, most of the candidates that failed, failed both their OCI and OSCE, which differs from the local candidates recently, many of which have to only resit the OCI.
For those of you that got through, well done, stellar effort and may you go on celebrating for weeks to come. For those of you who need to resit, take stock and be proud of your hard work and achievements. Let us know if there is anything we could do differently at CPD. We are already planning to make sure our courses have even more assistance with preparing the mental state examination. In the past, registrars were mostly concerned about formulating cases, but this seems to have changed with the recent changes to the marking criteria.
If you had a good/bad/otherwise experience regarding the ECE exams, reply to this blog, and get a discussion going. We wnat to know about your experiences.
Take care, and best regards,
Helen

Present to Pass participants nears 100!

Hi all,
I'm wondering how the vibe is out there, after the recent exam results in May 2010. We heard back from a lot of our strong candidates who passed the OSCE but now need to resit the OCI. Now that the dust has settled, I'd love to hear how people are prearing to move forward, and if they have decided to sit again this year or wait to 2011.
We have our three courses for Present 2 Pass beginning to fill up. It's so exciting; this round we will enrol our 100th participant! If that is you, we will be awarding you with a lovely gift voucher to spend on your self, as well as a suite of all our training DVDs.
WE have post up two dates for our OCI refresher series; a one day workshop which will be entirely different from P2P, and designed for those who need to re sit the OCI. Come along for lots of practice and feedback on performance, with the new marking criteria in mind.
And stay tuned; we have something very special to launch for all of you that have been asking for a course to help prepare for the writtens!
If you need further information, please call Georga at our office on (03) 9427 8176 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (03) 9427 8176      end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (03) 9427 8176      end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (03) 9427 8176      end_of_the_skype_highlighting or email at g.oneill@cpdformulations.com.au
Once again, best wishes for your exam preparation!
Take care,
Helen

May 2010 RANZCP exam results

I have just had a look at the latest results for the RANZCP clinical exams, as I always do, to see how the registrar group has fared. It is disappointing to see a pass rate below 50% when I know how hard all the attendees at this round of P2P studied and prepared. I wonder how much of this is the changes to the new marking structure; I am sure a drop of around 15 % in the average pass rate can not be solely attributed to problems with the registrars who sat the exams. Hoping those who failed only have to do the OI next time.
Let me know what you think,
Best wishes,
Helen