[Surgery] MRCS Part B OSCEs: Essential Revision Notes 2e (2010)

MRCS Part B OSCEs: Essential Revision Notes 2e (2010)
Price: $611

講起點解會買呢本書其實都係機緣巧合，有一次我喺med4嘅時候去麥包王閒逛，唔知點解撞到一個師姐，講起買咩書，佢就推薦咗呢本比我（不過佢就話係喺library借）。當其時我一搵到本書，正當我拎本書出來之際，就見到個價錢牌......我真係心諗使咪咁貴呀，所以當時我無買到。

It just so happened that I bumped into one of our seniors when I was window shopping in MB when I was in med4, she recommended this surgical text for short case preparations. I was a bit shocked when I saw the price tag, so I wasn't really interested in buying when I didn't need it in year 4 (well she only recommended borrowing it from the library).

直到med5時，day surg朝朝都好似地鐵站外面派免費報紙咁排晒長龍（其實我真係好感謝同佩服啲病人願意為醫學教育付出咁多，比著我見到有30人等住扎我隻VV腳，我都未必會制），我就覺得係時候要幫補下啲short case skills，所以我就節衣縮食買咗呢本考試書。

Until the day I realised it was very competitive to practise short case physical examination skills in the day surgery suite due to the queue...yeah it was quite amazing to have such generous and kind patients who were willing to sacrifice their own comfort and time for our education. Imagine 30 students are queueing to tie up your legs for varicose veins, and another 10 waiting for your varicocele (trust me if you have them both you will be asked if they could examine both). This is why I saved my lunch money to buy this book to compensate.

本書總共有1066頁，主要有三部分，包括有臨床技巧（問病歷同short case檢查，又有分頭頸，胸腹，四肢同神經外科），溝通技巧，同埋手術技巧及安全。以醫學生用嘅外科書來講，其實真係唔多會提及臨床溝通同手術技巧，而呢啲又係我哋OSCE必定會出嘅題目。溝通方面，例子有information giving，簽同意書，break bad news, 仲有同僚間溝通等；而手術技巧方面，例子有點樣揀線做suture，打結，使用diathermy或鐳射，手術室設計，消毒，術後傷口感染，麻醉都有！

This book has 1066 pages and in three major parts, including clinical skills in history taking and physical examination as short cases (e.g. head and neck, trunk and thorax, limbs and neuroscience), communication skills and surgical skills and safety. Examples of communications include information giving, taking consent, breaking bad news as well as communication between colleagues; while examples of surgical skills and safety include suture and knot tying, use of diathermy and laser, design of theatres, sterilisation, surgical site infections and anaesthesia.

當然啦呢本書嘅重點其實係short cases。佢有齊history同PE兩部分，如果你遇著一啲鍾意叫你問兩句history先嘅professor你都頂得住呀！同埋佢都係似白書，會用footnote去講解同埋補充返內文嘅重點。另一個特點就係佢每個case都有書料附送，甚至連手術細節都有提及，例如甲狀腺切除，簡直係防抽書極品！

Of course the main focus of this book is on clinical short cases. It covers both history and physical examination so that you won't be shocked when your professor asks you to ask a few questions before you start examining the patient in the short case exam. The format is similar to OST Clinical Medicine for the MRCP PACES with footnotes explaining and supplementing the contents in the main text. Another good point is that the information follows each case is quite comprehensive and even covers details of the surgery e.g. thyroidectomy.

好處 Pros：

• 上面都講咗啦，除咗short case外，仲有手術嘅知識同埋其他書好少會講嘅外科知識
• as mentioned above, apart from short cases, there is also info on practical surgical knowledge which is rarely mentioned in other textbooks. 
• 大多數case都有真實病人嘅臨床相片比你見下
• most cases will be followed by actual clinical photos 
• 讀咗先入OT就唔怕俾人抽啦
• makes you look smart and impressive in the theatre when you answered all the questions
• 佢後面仲有啲revision card比你剪落嚟溫PE用
• revision cards are provided for quick revision of examination routines

壞處 Cons： 

• 佢個history同PE都分得幾開下，唔係自己mark咗都會揭得幾辛苦
• the history section and examination sections are separated so that for the same topic such sections will be quite far apart 
• 貴咗少少啦，但係其實我覺得物有所值
• slightly expensive but I think it is worth the money
• 佢自己聲稱有大部份嘅書料係喺另一本書入面......
• maybe as an advertisement, the author claims there is another book which contains the majority book knowledge...

推薦 Recommendation：9／10

• 高度推薦！
• highly recommend!
• 雖然外科真係要上ward同入OT先學得好，但係有番本好書去backup下啲知識都唔錯呀，特別係考試前封ward時都有啲揸拿呀嘛
• I strongly agree that you need to go to the wards and into the theatre to learn surgery well, but it is always a good idea to have a book to provide you with the basic knowledge, especially when the wards are closed before the exams.
• 真係唔多書會寫啲咁實戰嘅知識
• such practical knowledge is not commonly found in other surgical textbooks