Surgical training

[Skills]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hey there, I am a medical student who admittedly thinks too far in advance... but I like to avert catastrophes before they happen. So... A few questions if you could kindly answer them....

1) I was just wondering - are there certain unis that dominate the MCQ/OSCE of the surgical primaries and ones that are useless and hardly get a handful of candidates through?

2) I panic as we are hardly taught any anatomy anymore... We have dissected, did a decent upper and lower limb but only briefly glanced over head and neck and then thorax and abdomen was very simplistic and superficial indeed. Of course, I attempt to familiarize myself with parts I feel I am lacking in, but there is only so much time and so much I can do.
What were your experiences in this regard - had you forgotten all anatomy by end of your course and had to relearn it? Did you feel prepared - this is especially worrying with the PBL system!

3) Relates to number two, but how much microbiology, immunology and pathology is expected as knowledge in BST exams?

4) Do contacts really help - honestly?

 

[sjkpark]

Hey there, I am a medical student who admittedly thinks too far in advance... but I like to avert catastrophes before they happen. So... A few questions if you could kindly answer them....

1) I was just wondering - are there certain unis that dominate the MCQ/OSCE of the surgical primaries and ones that are useless and hardly get a handful of candidates through?

2) I panic as we are hardly taught any anatomy anymore... We have dissected, did a decent upper and lower limb but only briefly glanced over head and neck and then thorax and abdomen was very simplistic and superficial indeed. Of course, I attempt to familiarize myself with parts I feel I am lacking in, but there is only so much time and so much I can do.
What were your experiences in this regard - had you forgotten all anatomy by end of your course and had to relearn it? Did you feel prepared - this is especially worrying with the PBL system!

3) Relates to number two, but how much microbiology, immunology and pathology is expected as knowledge in BST exams?

4) Do contacts really help - honestly?

😱 What year are you???????

If you are a pre-clinical student, I suggest you do a summer studentship in anatomy. My school (Auckland, NZ) has one. I personally haven't done this (future non-surgeon), but heaps of my friends have.

I'd forgotten most of the anatomy but I re-learned it during orthopaedics run.

You can always do elective in anatomical pathology, anatomy, surgical anatomy etc. if you are too worried.

 

[Purifyer]

I'll preface by saying I probably know as little on the subject as anyone else in this thread.

1) No idea. I doubt it.

2) I don't really understand why everyone thinks they need to be taught to learn something. Buy a few textbooks and learn from them. I skipped nearly all of my dissection classes but I'd say I'm at least well above average in anatomy.

SJK suggested an anatomy summership. I disagree (although I don't know what an anatomy summership is🙂. Is an anatomy summership actual research or just classes learning anatomy? I think you should learn anatomy in your own time, spend the summer doing publishable research that will help you a lot more than some anatomy prep course.

4) I think contacts help alot (although I know as little as you do, this is my opinion). I think that even _if_ they can't do the 'secret handshake' with the selectors, you can still use them for the character references etc. Research summerships are great for this imo as you can develop a good relationship with a consultant that you can then build on during your later clinical years.

 

[sjkpark]

SJK suggested an anatomy summership. I disagree (although I don't know what an anatomy summership is🙂. Is an anatomy summership actual research or just classes learning anatomy? I think you should learn anatomy in your own time, spend the summer doing publishable research that will help you a lot more than some anatomy prep course.

At Auckland people can elect (very competitive) to work in anatomy lab for summer. They usually make prosections of body parts. One of my friends did pelvic anatomy. They look absolutely beautiful at the end. A lot of surgeons went through the programme.

Summer studentship is good but most of the time you won't learn any anatomy.

 

[Pianoman]

You will learn, forget and relearn everything you learn in pre-clinical and clinical medicine numerous times thoughout your career.

Also, a lot of pre-clinical medicine is totally irelevant to the real world and is best forgotten

My advice - chill out and enjoy being a student