Friday, 9 September 2011
There and back again (almost)
Ok so massive hiatus from the blog and website, I know and I apologise profusely. Its not that IWTBAS is not a huge priority for me, but I have had a lot of work to clear. So now that I managed to get into Core Surgery in London, passed USMLE Step 1 (and revising for 2CK), finished a Plastic Surgery Observership in the USA, completed 3 audits, implemented a DVT pathway at West Middlesex University hospital, written two case reports and finished off a meta-analysis, I am READY to get back to what's important! I will be regularly updating this blog and finishing www.iwanttobeasurgeon.com.
So as a treat, the next post will contain some old stations from friends who sat the exam a couple of years ago and I will also scribble a few words on Core Surgery applications. Again, let me know what you would like to see more of in this blog and also on the site.
Amel
Friday, 18 February 2011
Journal Club
We are starting a monthly online journal club to try and stimulate discussion about the latest research in surgery. We will pick one article per month and post it a few days before we post our appraisal of the paper. Then we hope this will stimulate debate amongst our readers. If there are any particular papers you wish to submit then email us and better still if you would like to contribute to journal club then we would also love to hear from you. The reason we are doing this is it is difficult to keep up with what's happening in research on top of all the clinical and extra-curricular activities. We hope this will help in some small way.
The article I have chosen for this month is:
Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2011 Mar;268(3):405-14. Epub 2010 Sep 15.
Laryngeal transplantation in minipigs: vascular, myologic and functional outcomes.
Birchall MA, Kingham PJ, Murison PJ, Ayling SM, Burt R, Mitchard L, Jones A, Lear P, Stokes CR, Terenghi G, Bailey M, Macchiarini P.
You can find it on pubmed and sign in via athens/institutional login to get the full text.
Amel
The article I have chosen for this month is:
Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2011 Mar;268(3):405-14. Epub 2010 Sep 15.
Laryngeal transplantation in minipigs: vascular, myologic and functional outcomes.
Birchall MA, Kingham PJ, Murison PJ, Ayling SM, Burt R, Mitchard L, Jones A, Lear P, Stokes CR, Terenghi G, Bailey M, Macchiarini P.
You can find it on pubmed and sign in via athens/institutional login to get the full text.
Amel
Sunday, 13 February 2011
Website Renovation Part deux...
Hi all
So sorry but moving the website along has proven much more time consuming than I initially anticipated. I can however give you a sneak peak on www.iwanttobeasurgeon.com. There is still so much content to move over including anatomy and videos of clinical skills. However it will all be so much easier to access once its all up there :) You will note that we have added a new research skills section which will contain articles on how to conduct research, how to write up papers and how to get published. We will also be introducing a monthly journal club onto this blog and I hope you will be able to partcipate by adding your comments :)
Anyway, good luck everyone sitting exams and especially those who have been emailing questions to us. Please write back and let everyone know how you get on.
Amel
So sorry but moving the website along has proven much more time consuming than I initially anticipated. I can however give you a sneak peak on www.iwanttobeasurgeon.com. There is still so much content to move over including anatomy and videos of clinical skills. However it will all be so much easier to access once its all up there :) You will note that we have added a new research skills section which will contain articles on how to conduct research, how to write up papers and how to get published. We will also be introducing a monthly journal club onto this blog and I hope you will be able to partcipate by adding your comments :)
Anyway, good luck everyone sitting exams and especially those who have been emailing questions to us. Please write back and let everyone know how you get on.
Amel
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
Website and more
Thanks Amel for improving the website. More contents will be added in the next few weeks.
Good luck to those sitting the MRCS exams, it's a very passable exam.
Few tips to get through the exam:
1. If you don't know the answer to a question; ask the examiner to move on, and come back to that question depending on time. This is because, the marks are allocated per questions, and you do not need to get the questions correct in the order of being asked to progress through the station,
2. Some examiners take your first answer, where as others will permit a few attempts to allow you to get to the correct answer before moving on.
3. Basic finals standard examination, and history taking skills is enough to easily pass the exam.
4. Make sure you are familiar with dry skeletons, and all the points where any significant muscles or bone attaches.
5. Prepare from previous stations as they are likely to repeat stations. At least half of my stations were examined in the previous 2 years.
Good luck, hope you find this useful.
Keep tuned for more updates.
Romesh
Ps: click here for an interesting case report.
Good luck to those sitting the MRCS exams, it's a very passable exam.
Few tips to get through the exam:
1. If you don't know the answer to a question; ask the examiner to move on, and come back to that question depending on time. This is because, the marks are allocated per questions, and you do not need to get the questions correct in the order of being asked to progress through the station,
2. Some examiners take your first answer, where as others will permit a few attempts to allow you to get to the correct answer before moving on.
3. Basic finals standard examination, and history taking skills is enough to easily pass the exam.
4. Make sure you are familiar with dry skeletons, and all the points where any significant muscles or bone attaches.
5. Prepare from previous stations as they are likely to repeat stations. At least half of my stations were examined in the previous 2 years.
Good luck, hope you find this useful.
Keep tuned for more updates.
Romesh
Ps: click here for an interesting case report.
Monday, 31 January 2011
Website Renovation
As I have been promising, www.iwanttobeasurgeon.com is getting a makeover. I've reformatted it and there is a lot new content now including a research skills section. The old website will be down for the next few days and the new site will be relaunched on FRIDAY! So watch this space and let us know what you think of the new look...
Amel
PS
Good luck to everyone sitting Part B this February and I hope you found some of the blog posts relevant.
Amel
PS
Good luck to everyone sitting Part B this February and I hope you found some of the blog posts relevant.
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
Application form
In general, most application form for all the specialties are similar. ACF application form consisted of
1. Listing academic achievements
2. Courses
3. A brief paragraph on audits.
4. Brief paragraph on teaching experience.
5. Brief description about my research projects, and then the next question asked to write in detail about one of the mentioned research projects.
6. Brief description about why I wanted an academic job.
7. Brief paragraph on my commitment to the specialty I am applying for.
8. Extracurricular activities
However, in my interview, I was asked to talk I'm detail about my academic achievements, research projects, and my interest in academia. There is not much emphasis on audits, however it is advisable to have one completed cycle as it is essential to be shortlisted for an interview.
I was lucky enough to have worked in a reputable hospital during my F1 year and with my interest in surgery and research, I was able to undertake a few research projects. Although it was very hard work, during my F1 year I was able to successfully pass MRCS part A exam, nationally present my research project as first author, as well as publish 3 papers (2as first author, and the second as 2nd author). Furthermore, I am in the process of writing 2 further papers for publication.
My advice for aspiring surgeons and academics would be to start early. It requires a lot of hard work, but show your enthusiasm to the consultants in your hospitals, and you will have opportunities to undertake useful projects which will help boost your CV to be successful in your choice of job.
Next post will be about setting up portfolios in preparation for interviews.
Contact me by email iwanttobeasurgeon@gmail.com for further information, or via this blog, and I will aim to answer any queries as soon as I can.
Romesh
1. Listing academic achievements
2. Courses
3. A brief paragraph on audits.
4. Brief paragraph on teaching experience.
5. Brief description about my research projects, and then the next question asked to write in detail about one of the mentioned research projects.
6. Brief description about why I wanted an academic job.
7. Brief paragraph on my commitment to the specialty I am applying for.
8. Extracurricular activities
However, in my interview, I was asked to talk I'm detail about my academic achievements, research projects, and my interest in academia. There is not much emphasis on audits, however it is advisable to have one completed cycle as it is essential to be shortlisted for an interview.
I was lucky enough to have worked in a reputable hospital during my F1 year and with my interest in surgery and research, I was able to undertake a few research projects. Although it was very hard work, during my F1 year I was able to successfully pass MRCS part A exam, nationally present my research project as first author, as well as publish 3 papers (2as first author, and the second as 2nd author). Furthermore, I am in the process of writing 2 further papers for publication.
My advice for aspiring surgeons and academics would be to start early. It requires a lot of hard work, but show your enthusiasm to the consultants in your hospitals, and you will have opportunities to undertake useful projects which will help boost your CV to be successful in your choice of job.
Next post will be about setting up portfolios in preparation for interviews.
Contact me by email iwanttobeasurgeon@gmail.com for further information, or via this blog, and I will aim to answer any queries as soon as I can.
Romesh
Monday, 17 January 2011
Core surgery recruitment and Academic Clinical Fellowship
With the interviews for core surgical training underway, there's a lot of tension at work place.
Having secured an academic clinical fellowship, I have the luxury of sitting back and enjoying the rest of my foundation year 2 training. Sadly I'm not particularly enjoying the care of elderly attachmet as most involves countless paperwork and a lot of babysitting patients while they wait for nursing/residential home placement.
So what is academic clinical fellowship? Many have asked me this and it's surprising how little people know of such oppurtunity.
It is essentially a specialty training programme with protected time for research. Most candidates will spend the first 3 years doing a pre-pilot research with the aim of applying for an externally funded pHd or an MD. On completion of the pHd/MD the candidates will slot back into higher specialty training. It is essentially a run through training in which all candidates entering ST1 training is almost guaranteed a CCT (Certificate of Completion of Training).
Now you may think, then why don't many people apply for it?
The same reason I mentioned above; not many are aware of such opportunities, and it is also only suitable for those who are interested in research and academia. Competition is fierce with less than 10 ACF in surgery available in the whole of UK at ST1 or ST2 level.
My next blog will be about how to prepare your portfolio for ACF/ core surgery, how to fill out applications, and how to utilise the time to get the most out of foundation training.
Stay tuned.
Romesh
Having secured an academic clinical fellowship, I have the luxury of sitting back and enjoying the rest of my foundation year 2 training. Sadly I'm not particularly enjoying the care of elderly attachmet as most involves countless paperwork and a lot of babysitting patients while they wait for nursing/residential home placement.
So what is academic clinical fellowship? Many have asked me this and it's surprising how little people know of such oppurtunity.
It is essentially a specialty training programme with protected time for research. Most candidates will spend the first 3 years doing a pre-pilot research with the aim of applying for an externally funded pHd or an MD. On completion of the pHd/MD the candidates will slot back into higher specialty training. It is essentially a run through training in which all candidates entering ST1 training is almost guaranteed a CCT (Certificate of Completion of Training).
Now you may think, then why don't many people apply for it?
The same reason I mentioned above; not many are aware of such opportunities, and it is also only suitable for those who are interested in research and academia. Competition is fierce with less than 10 ACF in surgery available in the whole of UK at ST1 or ST2 level.
My next blog will be about how to prepare your portfolio for ACF/ core surgery, how to fill out applications, and how to utilise the time to get the most out of foundation training.
Stay tuned.
Romesh
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