Had our first NCPP mock OSCE today. Total 4 stations - 2 history taking, 1 communication, 1 physical examination. Different from our practice sessions, this is the first time we had it face-to-face. I was very nervous just standing outside the doorway, waiting to enter the room.
My first station was the station on abdominal physical examination. It is not difficult, but I was not used to the exam format. And the the use of the PA system confused me further. When the buzzer sounded, I was under the impression that I had more time and continued with the physical examination. Instead, I should have summaried my findings and presented the case. Running out of time, I failed to complete the station. As a result, I was marked down quite heavily, scoring only 30%.
Next was the history taking station on chest pain. I thought I did quite well, even getting the differential diagnosis correct. So I was surprised to see that I only managed to clinch 50% of the marks. Is it because I did not get the near syncope red flag? 🤔
I did much better for the other history taking station on shortness of breath and the communication station on seizure. But overall, the mock OSCE was much more challenging than expected. Starting to worry for my summative OSCE....

