Viva

1. Viva

2. Structure of viva • Two 15 minute stations with a different set of examiners and different viva topic chosen • Usually two themes covered per viva • Examiners have a copy of your portfolio in advance

3. Questions • There is a question bank available on eemec with over 300 example questions • Some examiners stick to only asking questions from this bank while others will ask their own questions • Either way it is helpful to be familiar with the questions and have at least thought of an answer for them

4. How to answer questions • Having a structure can be helpful such as this 4 stage approach

5. 1. select your patient • Begin by selecting a patient who is relevent to the question. • While it’s best to use a patient from your portfolio if you don’t have one who is relevant then you can use a patient you’ve met during clinical placements. Tell the examiner you’re doing this – just in case they’ve carefully read your portfolio

6. 2. background of patient • Give some background information on the patient but keep it brief • E.g. On my cardiology placement I met a 50 year old gentleman who had been admitted with a STEMI

7. 3. how is the patient relevant • Explain how the patient helped you to answer the question

8. 4. what did you learn and how will it changed your practice • Explain what you’ve learned from the patient and how it will change your practice • This is the part students forget to do but is where the extra marks come in

9. The most useful thing you can do for the viva is practice…and make sure you know your portfolio! • Turning up and just waffling about a portfolio you clearly are not familiar with is never going to look very good!

10. Example questions - discuss in groups of 2-3 • can you think of a patient who did not take their medication as prescribed? Why was that? Were there factors about the way the treatment was discussed that contributed to a lack of concordance

11. Can you tell me about a patient where there was a firm guideline, almost a protocol for assessment and therapy? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the use of guidelines and protocols?

12. Can you explain what is meant by disability?

13. ‘the elderly are a burden on society’ - what do you think of this statement?

14. Can you give some examples about his ill-health affects people differently at different times in their life?

15. Did you come across any dietary or nutritional problems in elderly patients?

16. have you come across any patients where pain control was a major issue?

17. Managing uncertainty is an integral part of being a doctor - can you use your portfolio to show how you responded to a challenging experience?

18. What are functional symptoms? Have you encountered any patients with these?

19. If you were given £x million to spend on health, how would you spend it?

20. Summary • the most important thing is to know your portfolio and practise with friends • there isn’t always a right and a wrong answer to the questions - it’s all based on the experience you have!

21. This presentation was written by Isla Cameron (FY2) as part of PULSE Preparation for Finals 2016