First Prize in Primary health care in the 2017 BMA Medical Book Awards

Written by a team of practising GPs and CSA examiners, in collaboration with the recent CSA Role-Player Lead responsible for training and quality-assuring the work of the simulated patients in the exam, The CSA Exam: Maximizing your Success is a key resource for trainees and their trainers, in preparing for this component of the MRCGP assessment. Designed to help readers prepare and master the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to pass, it focuses on what is truly expected by examiners and demystifies all aspects of the exam.

Giving insight into how candidates and trainers can maximize their potential, The CSA Exam: Maximizing your Success includes:
• Essential Learning Points, and Hints and Tips on ‘Getting Started’, ‘The Consultation’ and ‘On the Day’
• Advice on applying an ethical approach to consultations and dealing with possible areas of concern
• A variety of cases, to help practise exam technique and to aid candidates in the creation of their own cases
• A companion website at www.wiley.com/go/Roberts/CSAExam featuring 18 video clips to accompany the written cases and marking schemes

Taking an approach to preparation which looks at the candidate, simulated patients and the assessment itself, The CSA Exam: Maximizing your Success provides MRCGP candidates and GP trainers with an invaluable and unique resource for success in the exam.

Rachel Roberts is a GP, trainer, CSA Examiner, and is a Patch Associate Director for General Practice, London. She is also the Associate director for trainees in difficulty for North East and Central London.

David Russell is as a retired teacher and has a strong educational and examining background. Appointed Lay Adviser to the RCGP, he worked on the Simulated Surgery Exams, and subsequently on the development of the CSA exam. He has been the CSA Role-Player Lead, responsible for the training and quality assurance of the simulated patients, and has published several papers about his work with the simulated ‘patients’ in the CSA.

Simon Ormerod is a GP with a special interest in General Practice. He has been a trainer since 1996, and a member of the MRCGP examiners panel since 2010. He is currently Honorary Secretary of the North East London Faculty RCGP.

Anjum Iqbal qualified from the Royal Free Hospital and worked as a GP for five years in Stepney, East London. In 1996, he moved GP practice to Enfield, North London. He remains committed to Education and Training as a Trainer and Programme Director in Enfield. He has also been a CSA examiner since 2008.

About the companion website vii

About the authors ix

Acknowledgements xi

Foreword xiii

PART ONE Introduction 3

Chapter 1 Maximizing your potential in the CSA 5

Chapter 2 What you can learn from the ‘patients’ 16

Chapter 3 What to expect in the CSA 28

Chapter 4 Dealing with challenging situations 48

Chapter 5 Creating and role-playing your own CSA-type case 59

Chapter 6 Maximizing your potential with feedback from examiners 65

Chapter 7 Strategies for candidate concerns with the CSA 80

Chapter 8 Learning points 88

PART TWO A ‘PALETTE‘ OF 16 CSA-TYPE CASES AND 6 ETHICAL CASES

Introduction to the sample cases 101

Case 1 Alan Arterton 105

Case 2 Jane Smith re Isabel Chalk 113

Case 3 Jason Brown 120

Case 4 Ian Marsden 127

Case 5 Gavin South 135

Case 6 Louise Bradley 142

Case 7 Jenny Stanley 149

Case 8 Harry Evans 156

Case 9 Shona Baker 163

Case 10 Amelia Kowalski 170

Case 11 Thomas Smith 177

Case 12 Debbie Wells 184

Case 13 Ashia Pollock 191

Case 14 Olu Wa-Simba 198

Case 15 Nilesh Patel 205

Case 16 Stephanie Caldwell 212

Index 219