Assessment

**Medobs** · 29-08-2006, 12:36 PM

hey everyone,

Looking at uni sites before applying and was just curious about the methods of assessment at B'ham.

Could any current medic enlighten me as to how you are assessed? Do you have to pass each module as well as the summer exam to pass the year? And what are the exams/pass rates like?

Also what happens if you were to fail the resits - do you repeat the year or are you kicked off the course?

Cheers, any input would be appreciated and help satisfy my random curiousity

**kittykat025** · 29-08-2006, 04:10 PM

i can tell you what it was like for our year, the course is changing slightly, but i would assume it will still be pretty much the same format.
the course is split into biological science and medicine in society (eugh)
we had 4 modules for biological sciences for each there was a written paper, a spotter exam, an MCQ and an in-course assessment (MCQ or a presentation)
medicine in society was split into behavioural science, public health and ethics and law
for each there was a written paper, which was mainly short answers (pub. health had an MCQ section)
most of the exams are in the summer (all the writtens)
in jan we had the ethics and law paper, the 2 MCQs and 2spotters
the in-course assessments are in term time
you have to get at least a C (50%) in every module to pass the year
if you are a few marks off a C in one module you can pass this by compensation and still pass the year
if you do not pass everything in the summer you can re-sit
if you don't pass the re-sits and have had no mitigation for either set of exams then usually that's it (there may have been people in the past allowed to re-do the year without mitigation, but not too likely)
if you have mitigation you may be allowed to re-sit the year

not sure on pass rates but i think i fair few passed everything 1st time this year and we were told that most with re-sits only had to re-sit one or 2 modules

**kittykat025** · 29-08-2006, 04:16 PM

oh and 2 more things, our year had to do a learning medicine "essay" which wasn't really an essay, just read a paper and answered questions on it. i think this module is being got rid of for the next years because it is pointless.
we also had to do a firm 1 essay, which was a proper essay, i think 2500 words (correct if wrong,was a long time ago!) where you write about a medical condition you have seen in the GP surgery, really wasn't as bad as it sounds!
oh yeah, also there's basic life support, the usual CPR and choking type stuff, have to go for 4 weeks on a mon night and then there's an exam at the end which you have to pass, i think you can re-do it but you have to pass eventually to pass the year. they're very mean to you if you miss one of the sessions, you have to start again from the beginning!

**Medobs** · 29-08-2006, 09:40 PM

Thanks vm kittykat025....that was v helpful.

**Captain_Carrot** · 30-08-2006, 12:04 AM

Also presentations to do, which count for more in the second year; neuro II and firm 1.

**Medobs** · 30-08-2006, 06:29 AM

I read somewhere on a forum that due to the large intake around 15-20 "disappear" after the first year (dropouts and failures). Seems a huge number. Is this correct?

**Gio** · 30-08-2006, 04:59 PM

Originally Posted by kittykat025

oh and 2 more things, our year had to do a learning medicine "essay" which wasn't really an essay, just read a paper and answered questions on it. i think this module is being got rid of for the next years because it is pointless.
we also had to do a firm 1 essay, which was a proper essay, i think 2500 words (correct if wrong,was a long time ago!) where you write about a medical condition you have seen in the GP surgery, really wasn't as bad as it sounds!
oh yeah, also there's basic life support, the usual CPR and choking type stuff, have to go for 4 weeks on a mon night and then there's an exam at the end which you have to pass, i think you can re-do it but you have to pass eventually to pass the year. they're very mean to you if you miss one of the sessions, you have to start again from the beginning!

I take it for the 'essay' on the medical condition you see in the GPs,you just choose one while you're there and take notes whilst you're at the surgery?

**Hybrid** · 30-08-2006, 05:21 PM

Well, the questions change every year. Rumour has it that the Firm 1 essay has been scrapped next year in favour of more tutor assessment (which it was before, but for us it was 100% on the essay).

Our choices were:

1) Medline searching (soon you will learn the joys of medline!) and do a critical appraisal of a journal paper based on a "learning prescription" that arose from a consultation you sat in on at some point in the year. E.g. if you saw someone with a throat infection and the GP chose not to prescribe antibiotics, the learning prescription could have been "Do antibioitics make a difference to a sore throat" and then you do a presentation about this the next time you go to Firm 1. For the essay, you had to choose one of these from across the year and find a relevant paper to appraise.

2) The other choice was - writing in the style of a "Personal View" from the BMJ as a patient with a chronic illness and then writing about as a GP you would go about advising a patient diagnosed with the chronic illness about the disease - what information you'd give, what skills you'd use, what support the primary health care team could offer.

To add to the other assessment stuff - sometimes you have the legendary True/False test. These were on the public health exam and the CardioRespiratory in course assessment - can be harder than they sound! Anatomy minitests also have a True/False section - but you need to expand on the statement if it's true or correct it if it's false.

**BigC** · 30-08-2006, 07:54 PM

For the Firm1 essay, we were just given a choice of 2 titles. I chose "Does giving flu vaccinations to ‘at risk’ groups decrease mortality and morbidity, and how do General Practices organise their Influenza vaccination campaign." It was alright.