When it comes to advice for fellow trainees on how to prepare for the Fellowship Clinical Examination (OSCE), Dr Lisa Walker points to activities away from the books.
“I think my secret is hard work and maintaining a balanced life and finding some time to do something other than study, for me this included sport and spending time with my puppy Steve,” she says.
Dr Walker was awarded the Buchanan Prize for her success in the 2019.1 Fellowship OSCE (from Cohort 1). The Buchanan Prize is awarded to the candidate achieving the highest score in the OSCE.
“To be honest I have to put my OSCE success down to the amazing people who helped me through the whole process,” Dr Walker says. “I had an amazing study group coming out of the written (including last year’s Buchanan prize winner) who continued to offer support into the OSCE.
“The consultant group at Royal Melbourne Hospital also put a lot of effort into teaching both on and off the floor, in particular FACEM Dr Emma West who gives up so much of her time to develop our OSCE skills.”
Dr Walker is still coming to terms with her success.
“To be honest I’m still not sure winning the prize has really sunk in. I was so happy to just pass, I never expected to win the prize,” she says.
When asked why she loves emergency medicine, Dr Walker says: “There are so many reasons that I love emergency medicine. The team environment is the best thing about emergency medicine, and the people that I work with are amazing. I also love that no two days are the same and I enjoy not knowing what’s coming through the door next.”
How to prepare for the Fellowship Exams
ACEM provides an extensive range of online resources featuring past papers, past exam reports, and much more. These are all located on eLearning under ‘Resources for Trainees’.