In the first episode of our 'Demystifying PACES' series, Dr Kat Ralston and Dr Hannah Preston interview Dr Rod Harvey, RCPE Dean of Examinations (at time of recording), and discuss the new PACES exam.

They discuss the rationale and process behind the update to the MRCP(UK) PACES exam and explore the changes to the exam in detail for candidates sitting PACES. Dr Rod Harvey discusses the seven skills that are assessed over the five stations, as well as sharing some useful tips on what examiners are looking for, and advice on preparing for the exam.

Dr Rod Harvey is a Consultant Acute Physician and Endocrinologist, working in Inverness. He was also the Dean of Examinations at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (at the time of recording).

Dr Kat Ralston is a Geriatric Medicine Registrar and member of the Trainees and Members’ Committee, currently working in Edinburgh.

Dr Hannah Preston is a Renal Registrar and Co-Chair of the Trainees and Members’ Committee, also working in Edinburgh.

-- Links --

MRCP(UK) PACES webpage: https://www.mrcpuk.org/PACES

MRCP(UK) Webinar (Introduction to PACES23): https://www.mrcpuk.org/PACES23Webinar

MRCP(UK) PACES Scenario Videos:
https://www.mrcpuk.org/mrcpuk-examinations/paces/sample-scenarios-0

RCPE webpage on PACES: https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/exams/paces23

-- Choose RCPE as your College of Entry for PACES --
We encourage you to sit PACES with our College. We have a friendly and experienced examinations team who expertly support candidates, and we deliver PACES at centres across the UK. Select RCPE as your College of Entry when applying online through your My MRCP(UK) online account.

Disclaimer: Please always refer to the MRCP(UK) PACES website for up-to-date information on the PACES exam, as what is discussed in this episode may change. See: https://www.mrcpuk.org/PACES

Recording date: 5 June 2023

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https://events.rcpe.ac.uk/

Feedback: cme@rcpe.ac.uk

Career Conversations

PACES23 - Introduction (02 Aug 2023)

Demystifying PACES - Introduction (02 Aug 2023)

Dr Hannah Preston discusses the PACES Consultation Stations with Dr Matt King.

Dr King gives an overview and shares top tips and common pitfalls. The two Consultation Stations aim to assess how candidates approach a clinical problem in an integrated manner, using history-taking, examination, and communication with a patient or surrogate.

Dr Matt King is an acute medicine physician in Edinburgh, an experienced PACES examiner, and involved in standards-setting for PACES.

Dr Hannah Preston is a Renal Registrar in Edinburgh and RCPE Trainees and Members' Committee (T&MC) Co-Chair.

-- Link --
https://www.mrcpuk.org/mrcpuk-examinations/paces

-- Choose RCPE as your College of Entry for PACES --
We encourage you to sit PACES with our College. We have a friendly and experienced examinations team who expertly support candidates, and we deliver PACES at centres across the UK. Select RCPE as your College of Entry when applying online through your My MRCP(UK) online account.

Recording date: 4 December 2023

Disclaimer: Please always refer to the MRCP website for up-to-date information on the PACES exam. See: https://www.mrcpuk.org/mrcpuk-examinations/paces

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https://twitter.com/RCPEdinTrainees

-- Upcoming RCPE Events --
https://events.rcpe.ac.uk/

Feedback: cme@rcpe.ac.uk

Demystifying PACES - Consultation [Stations 2 & 5] (21 Dec 2023)

Dr Kirsty Crowe discusses the PACES communication encounters with Dr Nicola Zammitt.

Dr Zammitt gives an overview of the communication encounters, undertaken in Stations 1 and 4, and shares top tips and common pitfalls. The communication encounters assess: Clinical Communication, Clinical Judgement, Managing Patients' Concerns, and Maintaining Patient Welfare. This includes explaining clinical information; applying clinical knowledge, including knowledge of ethics, to the management of the case or situation; providing emotional support; and treating the patient with dignity and respect.

Nicola Zammitt is a consultant endocrinologist at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.  She has been a PACES examiner for around 10 years, has examined in the UK and abroad and is the current Lothian PACES coordinator.  With colleagues, she set and led the Edinburgh PACES course at the Clinical Skills Centre in WGH between 2011 and 2019 and she has also taught on PACES courses overseas.  She has previously served on the PACES Clinical Examining Board and currently sits on the PACES Scenario Editorial Committee.

Kirsty Crowe is a specialty registrar in renal and internal medicine based in the West of Scotland. She is passionate about effective medical education which overcomes barriers to patients interacting with healthcare and undertook a Clinical Teaching Fellowship prior to starting her higher specialty training. She is interested in supporting the inclusivity and wellbeing of trainees and explored this during her Scottish Clinical Leadership Fellowship with the NHS Lothian Medical Education Directorate and the General Medical Council. Additionally she is involved with networks aimed at supporting renal trainees in engaging with quality improvement and research activity.

-- Links --
https://www.mrcpuk.org/mrcpuk-examinations/paces
https://www.mrcpuk.org/mrcpuk-examinations/paces/sample-scenarios-0

-- Choose RCPE as your College of Entry for PACES --

We encourage you to sit PACES with our College. We have a friendly and experienced examinations team who expertly support candidates, and we deliver PACES at centres across the UK. Select RCPE as your College of Entry when applying online through your My MRCP(UK) online account.

Recording date: 1 December 2023

Disclaimer: Please always refer to the MRCP(UK) website for up-to-date information on the PACES exam. See: https://www.mrcpuk.org/mrcpuk-examinations/paces

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https://www.instagram.com/rcpedintrainees
https://twitter.com/RCPEdinTrainees

-- Upcoming RCPE Events --
https://events.rcpe.ac.uk/

Feedback: cme@rcpe.ac.uk

Demystifying PACES - Communication [Stations 1 & 4] (19 Dec 2023)

In this episode of 'Demystifying PACES', Dr Kat Ralston chats to Dr Matt Thomas to draw back the curtain and give you a 'behind the scenes' insight into how the PACES exams are organised. We cover the application process, how patients are selected, who the examiners are, how calibration works and what happens on the exam day and beyond. We include practical tips to help you in your preparation for and experience of MRCP(UK) PACES. 

Dr Matt Thomas has recently taken over as Dean of Examinations at RCPE having nearly 20 years of experience of examining, locally, nationally and internationally. He has previously been Programme Director for Geriatric Training in Wessex and Medical Director for Poole Hospital where he has worked since last century as a Consultant Geriatrician. He enjoys examining and seeing keen clinicians at the start of their specialist career. In his spare time he and his wife keep busy as the Lifeboat Operations Managers for the local RNLI Lifeboat Station.

Dr Kat Ralston is a Geriatric Medicine Registrar and member of the RCPE Trainees and Members’ Committee, currently working in Edinburgh.

-- Link --
https://www.mrcpuk.org/mrcpuk-examinations/paces

-- Choose RCPE as your College of Entry for PACES --
We encourage you to sit PACES with our College. We have a friendly and experienced examinations team who expertly support candidates, and we deliver PACES at centres across the UK. Select RCPE as your College of Entry when applying online through your My MRCP(UK) online account.

Recording date: 9 November 2023

Disclaimer: Please always refer to the MRCP(UK) website for up-to-date information on the PACES exam. See: https://www.mrcpuk.org/mrcpuk-examinations/paces

-- Follow us --
https://www.instagram.com/rcpedintrainees
https://twitter.com/RCPEdinTrainees

-- Upcoming RCPE Events --
https://events.rcpe.ac.uk/

Feedback: cme@rcpe.ac.uk

Demystifying PACES - How the exam is organised (15 Dec 2023)

In this episode, Dr Emma Spencer interviews Dr Kerri Baker about the PACES abdominal system examination encounter (Station 4). Dr Baker gives an overview of the encounter including examiner calibration and skills tested, and shares top tips and common pitfalls.

Dr Kerri Baker is Dean of Education at RCPE, a consultant acute medicine physician in Fife, Scotland, and an experienced PACES examiner.

Dr Emma Spencer is an internal medicine trainee in the South East of Scotland and a member of RCPE's Trainees & Members' Committee (T&MC).

-- Link --
https://www.mrcpuk.org/mrcpuk-examinations/paces

-- Choose RCPE as your College of Entry for PACES --
We encourage you to sit PACES with our College. We have a friendly and experienced examinations team who expertly support candidates, and we deliver PACES at centres across the UK. Select RCPE as your College of Entry when applying online through your My MRCP(UK) online account.

Recording date: 9 January 2024

Disclaimer: Please always refer to the MRCP website for up-to-date information on the PACES exam. See: https://www.mrcpuk.org/mrcpuk-examinations/paces

-- Follow us --
https://www.instagram.com/rcpedintrainees
https://twitter.com/RCPEdinTrainees

-- Upcoming RCPE Events --
https://events.rcpe.ac.uk/

Feedback: cme@rcpe.ac.uk

Demystifying PACES - Abdominal [Station 4] (26 Jan 2024)

In this episode, Dr Anda Bularga interviews Professor Andrew Elder about the PACES cardiovascular system examination encounter (Station 3). Prof Elder first gives a history of and rationale for the improvements made to the PACES exam, which he has been instrumental in. Prof Elder gives an overview of the cardiovascular examination encounter including calibration and skills tested, and shares top tips and common pitfalls.

Professor Andrew Elder is RCPE's President, a Consultant Physician in Medicine of the Elderly, Honorary Professor at The University of Edinburgh, and an experienced PACES examiner. Medical education and teaching, particularly assessment and physical examination and bedside medicine skills, have been an important part of his career. He was Medical Director of MRCP(UK) and Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC), and co-founded the Society of Bedside Medicine. 

Dr Anda Bularga is a Cardiology Registrar in the South East of Scotland and a member of RCPE's Trainees & Members' Committee (T&MC).

-- Link --
https://www.mrcpuk.org/mrcpuk-examinations/paces

-- Choose RCPE as your College of Entry for PACES --
We encourage you to sit PACES with our College. We have a friendly and experienced examinations team who expertly support candidates, and we deliver PACES at centres across the UK. Select RCPE as your College of Entry when applying online through your My MRCP(UK) online account.

Recording date: 9 January 2024

Disclaimer: Please always refer to the MRCP website for up-to-date information on the PACES exam. See: https://www.mrcpuk.org/mrcpuk-examinations/paces

-- Follow us --
https://www.instagram.com/rcpedintrainees
https://twitter.com/RCPEdinTrainees

-- Upcoming RCPE Events --
https://events.rcpe.ac.uk/

Feedback: cme@rcpe.ac.uk

Demystifying PACES - Cardiovascular [Station 3] (29 Jan 2024)

In this brief episode, Dr Marilena Giannoudi, Co-Chair of the Trainees and Members’ Committee, gives an overview of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh's podcasts relevant to doctors-in-training. These include: this podcast, 'Clinical Conversations'; 'Career Conversations' including the new 'Demystifying PACES' series; and the Recently Appointed Consultants' Committee's podcast, 'Consultant Conversations', relevant to senior trainees.

All RCPE podcasts can be found at https://podcasts.rcpe.ac.uk/

The 'Demystifying PACES' podcast series can be found at https://podcasts.rcpe.ac.uk/show/career-conversations/category/paces/ 

Recording date: 23 January 2024

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-- Upcoming RCPE Events --
https://events.rcpe.ac.uk/

-- Become a Member --
https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/membership/join-college

Feedback: cme@rcpe.ac.uk

Clinical Conversations

RCPE podcasts including 'Demystifying PACES' series (17 June 2024)

RCPE's Podcast Series 'Career Conversations' by the Trainees & Members' Committee (T&MC).

RCPE's Podcast Series 'Clinical Conversations' by the Trainees & Members' Committee (T&MC) and 'COVID-19 Conversations'.

New tracks tagged #MRCP(UK)