Written Exam Preparation Program
IMN Lecture Series
Our Written Exam Lecture series runs from February to December each Clinical Year, which is a comprehensive program of over 100 lectures incorporating all aspects of internal medicine. This forms the basis of preparation for the RACP Written Examination.
Trainees have weekly protected time from 3:00-5:00pm on Wednesdays to attend structured teaching sessions.
Trainees on rotation at secondment sites are able to dial into lectures using video-conferencing facilities.
Written Examination Preparation Programs
All IMN trainees eligible to sit their first divisional written examination are given access to 10 days of study leave to attend a formal written examination program. Preferences are taken at the commencement of the clinical year and trainees are allocated to a course.
MCQ sessions
In December and January, in the lead-up to the RACP Divisional Written Examination, MCQ sessions are held for each speciality as an opportunity to cover practice questions with senior sub-specialty clinicians and to enhance knowledge of common topic areas for exam preparation.
Trial Written Examination
Each year, the Illawarra Network produces a 100 question internal trial written examination held under examination conditions.
Clinical Exam Preparation Program
Long Case Workshop
The Long Case workshop is held towards the end of the BPT-2 year, with the aim of introducing the Long Case to the trainees preparing for their divisional examination in the following year. It is run by one of the Wollongong Hospital National Examination Panel Members and supported by the year's Lead Examination Organiser (LEO) and recent BPT clinical examination candidates.
Clinical Examination Logbook
The IMN has developed a clinical examination logbook that enables trainees to record their progress over time. It is used for all clinical examination sessions such as Saturday Morning Sessions and SCORPIOS.
Clinical Exam preparation week
After the Written Results are released we host a comprehensive week on the structure of the Clinical Exam program. This includes series on "How to do a Long Case" as well as an "Introduction to Short Cases" by each system.
Saturday Morning Cases
Practice exams are held each Saturday for 3 months leading up to the exam. Trainees in their examination year are guaranteed at least two Saturday Trial Exam practice sessions. Each candidate sits a long case and two short cases under official exam conditions. Trainees in their non-examination year are expected to assist at these sessions as examination assistants.
Short and Long Rosters
There are multiple weekly consultant led short cases. Many of the subspecialties take time to sit with trainees and teach them how to approach an examination in their speciality. Consultants within IMN generously donate a lot of their time for multiple short and long case practices both one on one and in group settings.
Each trainee receives an individualised roster, allocating them weekly group short cases, as well as individual long and short case practice with consultants and advanced trainees.
SCORPIOS ("Structured, Clinical, Objective Referenced, Problem-based, Integrated and Organized")
Scorpios' subspecialty-based short cases to demonstrate focused clinical examination are held for:
- Cardiology
- Neurology
- Gastroenterology
- Respiratory