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NAC OSCE A Comprehensive Review WWW Nacoscereview Com PDF
NAC OSCE A Comprehensive Review WWW Nacoscereview Com PDF
A Comprehensive Review
First Edition
Copyright @ 2011, Canadaprep.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Reproducing passages from this book without such
written permission is an infringement of copyright law.
Care has been taken to confirm the accuracy of the information presented and to describe generally accepted
practices. However, the authors, editors, and publishers are not responsible for errors or omissions or for any
consequences from application of the information in this book and make no warranty, expressed or implied,
with respect to the contents of the publication. The authors, editors, and publishers have exerted every effort
to ensure that drug selection and dosage set forth in this text are in accordance with the current
recommendations and practices at the time of publication. However, in view of ongoing research, changes in
government regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to drug therapy and drug reactions,
the reader is urged to check the package insert for each drug for any change in indications and dosage and
for added warnings and precautions. This is particularly important when the recommended agent is a new or
infrequently employed drug.
This publication has not been authored, reviewed or supported by the Medical Council of Canada, nor is it
endorsed by the Medical Council as a review material for the NAC OSCE.
PREFACE
This book was written due to the lack of preparation material available for the National Assessment
Collaboration (NAC) Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). As an International Medical
Graduate (IMG) preparing for clinical and written exams in Canada, there is no comprehensive review
textbook available for the NAC OSCE. Due to the lack of resource materials, many students are forced to
study from sources that are not relevant to the NAC OSCE. This eventually hampers the candidate's score
in the examination.
This book aims to guide you through the steps of the NAC OSCE and ensures that you are well prepared
and a step ahead of the competition. A great effort has been put into collecting and organizing relevant
content for both the clinical OSCE stations and the written therapeutic exam.
Written by medical graduates who are oriented to the NAC OSCE, this comprehensive review can be used
as a framework, complementing your clinical skills and therapeutic knowledge as you prepare for the
examination.
This book is dedicated to all the IMGs preparing for the medical licensing examinations in Canada.
“And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you
truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” - Steve Jobs
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
General Information
The National Assessment Collaboration, or NAC OSCE, was established to provide a system that streamlines
the assessment of IMG medical knowledge and clinical skills throughout Canada. Many international medical
graduates (IMGs) find that the path to obtaining a medical license in Canada challenging and difficult to
navigate. Different provinces and territories have their own system for assessing IMG medical knowledge and
clinical skills.
Comprised of a number of federal and provincial assessment and educational stakeholders, the NAC OSCE
aims to streamline the evaluation process through which an IMG must navigate to obtain a license to practice
medicine in Canada. Through such a system, an IMG’s path to licensure would be the same, regardless of the
jurisdiction in which he or she is being assessed. The NAC OSCE has replaced CEHPEA’s Clinical
Examination 1 (CE1), which was unique to Ontario.
Fees
Application Fee: $200 which is non-refundable, NAC OSCE Fee in Ontario: $1850 and Exam Date Change
Fee: $100
All fees are in (CAD) Canadian Dollars.
Examination station
The format for the National Assessment Collaboration (NAC) Objective Structured Clinical Examination
(OSCE) consists of 12 stations based on presentations of clinical scenarios. For a given administration, each
candidate rotates through the same series of stations. Each station is 10 minutes in length with two minutes
between stations.
At each station, a brief written statement introduces a clinical problem and outlines the candidate’s tasks (e.g.
take a history, do a physical examination, etc.). In each station, there is at least one standardized patient and a
physician examiner. Standardized patients have been trained to consistently portray a patient problem.
Candidates should interact with standardized patients as they would with their own patients.
The physician examiner observes the patient encounter. For most stations, the candidate will be asked to
respond to a series of standardized oral questions posed by the physician examiner after seven minutes with the
standardized patient. There are no rest stations.
Orientation videos http://www.mcc.ca/en/video/QEII-Orientation/index.html
2 NAC OSCE | A Comprehensive Review
The examination includes a separate written test of candidates’ therapeutic knowledge. This component lasts
45 minutes and consists of 24 short-answer questions testing the candidates’ knowledge of therapeutics for
patients across the age spectrum and related to pharmacotherapy, adverse effects, disease prevention and health
promotion.
Question: An otherwise healthy 55 year old male with a history of childhood “chickenpox”
presents with a 2 day history of painful unilateral vesicular eruption in a restricted
dermatomal distribution. You make a diagnosis of HERPES ZOSTER (shingles).
What would you choose as the drug of first choice to promote healing and lessen the
neuropathic pain? (Drug, dose, route of administration and duration are required.)
Answer:___________________________________________________________
Answer key the marker receives:
VALACYCLOVIR (VALTREX ®) 1000 mg PO tid X 7 days OR
FAMCICLOVIR (FAMVIR ®) 500 - 750 mg PO tid X 7 days OR
ACYCLOVIR (ZORIVAX ®) 800 mg PO 5X / day X 7 days)
Introduction to NAC OSCE | General Info 3
Q1. The abdominal examination of David Thompson revealed no organ enlargement, no masses and no
tenderness. What radiologic investigation would you first order to help discriminate the cause of the
jaundice?
Q2. If the investigations revealed that this patient likely had a post-hepatic obstruction, what are
the two principal diagnostic considerations?
Q3. What radiologic procedure would you consider to elucidate the level and nature of the
obstruction?
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Therapeutic Guidelines
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Therapeutic Guidelines | Medicine 7
Therapeutic Guidelines
Medicine
1. Cardiology
Acute Myocardial Infarction : Immediate management in ER
ACUTE MI TREATMENT
1. Beta blockers: Inj Metoprolol 2.5-5 mg rapid IV q2-5 min, upto MNEMONIC
15 mg over 10-15 minutes, then 15 minutes after receiving 15 mg IV. B : Beta Blockers
2. Then 50 mg PO q6h x 48 hours, then 50-100 mg PO BID. M : Morphine Sulphate
3. Inj Morphine Sulfate IV 2-5 mg every 5-30 min prn O : Oxygen
N : Nitroglycerin
(If pain not relieved with 3 Sublingual Nitroglycerins) A : Aspirin
4. Oxygen by nasal cannula at 4 liters per minute
5. Sublingual Nitroglycerin 0.3-0.6 mg q5min up to 3 times.
6. Non-enteric coated Aspirin 325 mg PO.
7. Cardiology Consultation
Post MI drugs
Statins ↓ mortality in post MI patients GI upset, muscle aches, Active liver disease,
Atorvastatin – 10mg od with high cholesterol myopathy, rhabdomyo- alcoholics, pregnancy
lysis, Impotence
Simvastatin – 20-40mg od
Anti-platelets ↓ vascular events GI upset, Recent/active
ASA – 80-162mg od hypersensitivity bleeding
Clopidogrel – 75mg od GI bleed GI intolerance or ASA
allergy
Warfarin – 1-10mg od
8 NAC OSCE | A Comprehensive Review
Atrial Fibrillation
1. To control rate:
• Inj Metoprolol 5 mg bolus IV, followed by infusion at 0.05 mg/kg/min, increasing as needed
to 0.2 mg/kg/min.
• Inj Diltiazem 20 mg bolus. Maintenance infusion of 5-15 mg/hr.
• Inj Verapamil 5-10 mg IV over 2-3 min, repeated once after 30 mins.
• Tab Amiodarone (in case of heart failure):
• Loading dose: 800 – 1600 mg PO in divided doses until response; till max 1000
mg/day divided bid-tid.
• Maintenance: 200 mg PO od.
2. To prevent thromboembolism: Assess with CHADS 2 score
• No risk: Tab Aspirin 81-325 mg PO od.
• 1 moderate risk: Tab Aspirin 81-325 mg PO od or Tab Warfarin 2-15 mg PO od to maintain
INR 2-3.
• > 1 moderate risk or very high risk: Tab Warfarin 2-15 mg PO od to maintain INR 2-3.
3. To control rhythm:
• Tab Flecainide 300-400 mg PO bolus dose, maintenance: 50-150 mg PO bid. (First choice)
• Tab Sotalol 80-160 mg PO bid. ( Second choice)
• Tab Amiodarone (in case of heart failure):
• Loading dose: 800 – 1600 mg PO in divided doses until response; till max 1000
mg/day divided bid-tid.
• Maintenance: 200 mg PO od.
• Electrical Cardioversion: 100-360 joules.
Thyroid Examination
• Introduce yourself : “I am Dr. ________, your attending physician and I'll be examining you today. At
any point of the examination you feel uncomfortable, please let me know and I'll stop the examination
right there.”
• Wash/Sanitize hands
• Explain to the patient what you are about to do and gain informed consent.
• Ensure patient is adequately exposed.
• Look for medical equipment/therapies
• Show empathy.
• Verbalize the steps of the examination and your findings.
2. Inspection
• Swallow tests – Ask patient to swallow water and observe for movement of any masses.
• Tongue protrusion – Thyroglossal cyst moves on tongue protrusion.
• Stand behind the patient and palpate. Assess size, texture, smoothness, margins and mobility of the
thyroid gland (including when swallowing). Note the temperature over gland and adjacent skin.
• Palpate cervical lymph nodes.
• Percuss over sternum – Retrosternal goitre.
• Auscultate for thyroid bruit – Grave's disease.
4. Examination of legs.
• Pretibial myxoedema
• Peripheral edema due to congestive cardiac failure.
• Delayed relaxation of ankle reflex in hypothyroidism.
A candidate gets 2 minutes outside the station to read the clinical case senario on the door before entering. It is
essential to get yourself organised in these 2 minutes.
• Read the question properly, understand the requirement and follow instructions (e.g. if you are asked
to do a physical examination, do not start taking history. You will be losing valuable time)
• You will be given a pencil and a booklet with blank pages. It is a good practice to jot down notes.
• Write the name, age, sex and chief complaint of the patient.
• For history of present illness, you can use the mnemonic OCDPQRSTUV+AAA.
• Past and Social History : PAM HUGS FOSS
• Write down your differential diagnosis.
• Knock the door before entering, relax, take a deep breath, smile and enter the room with confidence.
Hand over the stickers to the physician examiner.
Tammy Robbins, a 48 years old lady presented with heart racing and chest discomfort for the past 3 days.
Take a focused history and perform focused physical examination.
Vitals: BP - 90/70 mm Hg, HR - 146/min, irregular, RR - 12/min, Temp - 37.5°C
Clinical Info: Ms Tammy Robbins is a known hypertensive with CAD for the past 10 years, who presented
with sudden onset of palpitations and chest discomfort for the past 3 days. Her symptoms are worsening for
the past 24 hours. She has dyspnea. She has dizziness for the past 12 hours. Pedal edema is 2 +. She had 2
vessel angioplasty done 5 years ago. ECG shows absent P waves with irregular narrow QRS complexes.
Bilateral basal rales present on lung auscultation.
Clinical Case : Atrial Fibrillation (examination on page 65)
Nancy Alfredo, a 30 years old woman presented to your clinic with a black eye and multiple bruises on her
arms. Take history and address her concerns.
Counseling Case : Domestic violence