FRCAQ.com, the new online testing resource for the Primary FRCA exam, includes Single Best Answer questions…

‘I love the two levels of reading you can do if you get a question wrong. And, importantly, it’s made by anaesthetists for anaesthetists…a brilliant resource.’ Alan Race, anaesthesia trainee

FRCAQ.com, the new online testing resource for the Primary FRCA exam, is the only website offering SBA (Single Best Answer) questions.

Why are SBAs important?
SBAs are included in the Primary exam from the 13th September 2011 onwards. Are you taking the Primary FRCA exam after 13th September 2011, or do you know someone who is? If so, find out more about FRCAQ.com

What does the Primary FRCA MCQ paper consist of?
We can say with some certainty what the MCQ paper will consist of in September 2011 and for a few cycles thereafter. In the exams prior to and including the June 2011 exam, the paper consisted of 90 MTF questions to be answered in three hours. This gave 450 knowledge point tests.

From September 2011, the College will replace 30 of the MTF questions with SBAs. This will provide 300 knowledge point tests from MTF and 30 from SBAs. The two styles will run in a combined paper for some time while the College gathers data comparing performance across the two paper styles. This will allow a standard to be created for the SBA question bank.

How do I answer SBAs?
Hints and Tips to help you in the exam…
This will sound like an echo from your earliest days of education, but it doesn’t hurt for us to say ‘make sure you read the question carefully‘!

A good tactic is to read the stem and lead-in, cover up the options and ask yourself what the correct answer would be. If you are 100% confident of the answer and this answer appears in the options, it is most likely to be correct.

If you are not in the lucky position of definitely knowing the answer and are trying to work it out, it is very important to not just settle on the first option you see that looks correct. Read all the options against the lead-in and ask yourself: ‘Which one fits best?’

In trials of SBAs with trainees we have noticed that they often find that two of the options can be discounted immediately, leaving two or three options to whittle down to one. If this happens to you, go back and read the stem, looking to see if there is anything within the detail that will allow you to reduce the options further. It may end up with a wild guess between two final options, but at least your odds of guessing correctly have increased from 20% to 50%.

Even if you only have the vaguest notion about the subject area, apply any knowledge you have and make an educated guess. Do not leave a blank. It is also important to state that only one mark per question should be made on the answer sheet. More than one mark and the candidate will score zero for that question.

Make sure you have the edge in your exam…
Try a free demo of FRCAQ
Subscribe to FRCAQ

The Ongoing Challenges with the Peri-operative Care of the Morbidly Obese Patient

Blog Post by Jay B. Brodsky, MD and Harry J.M. Lemmens, MD, PhD, and Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305

We are all aware that the world is experiencing an obesity epidemic. Given the great numbers of morbidly obese patients currently undergoing surgery and the predicted increases in those numbers for the future, every health care professional must be familiar with the unique management concerns of these potentially complex patients.          

The morbidly obese patient can be especially challenging for their anesthesiologist and surgeon.  There are physiologic changes to almost every organ system, numerous associated medical co-morbidities, altered uptake and distribution of anesthetic agents and other drugs, potentially difficult airways, as well as technical difficulties related to the large size of these patients.

Post-thoracotomy regional analgesia

Blog Post by Dr Darcy M Pearson FRCA, Specialty Trainee in Anaesthesia & Intensive Care, Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Papworth Everard, Cambridge, UK and Dr Stephen T Webb MB BCh BAO FRCA EDIC, Consultant in Anaesthesia & Intensive Care Medicine, Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Papworth Everard, Cambridge, UK

Inadequate postoperative pain relief after thoracotomy increases the risk of respiratory complications and chronic post-surgical pain. A number of regional analgesic techniques may be used for post-thoracotomy analgesia including intercostal,intrapleural, extrapleural, paravertebral, intrathecal and epidural analgesia. Extrapleural and paravertebral techniques may be performed by percutaneously or under direct vision and may involve single injections or continuous infusions.