PakMediNet Discussion Forum : Medical Education inside Pakistan : IMM TOACS Medicine
If someone who has gone though IMM TOACS in General Medicine could share in detail about:
i) number of stations;
ii) details about various stations;
iii) tips about how to attempt it.
An early reply will be most appreciated bacuase I intend to appear inforthcoming TOACS exam.
Posted by: drmasef Posts: 2 :: 31-03-2011 :: | Reply to this Message
IMM General Med TOACS
I am sharing my experience from IMM TOACS of March 16th 2011 to help candidates
Number of stations varies between 15-20
some stations static ( means only command given in written format without any examiner and u have to write answer on a sheet )
some stations interactive ( means examiner gives u command and observes u and then asks u few viva questions. )
How many interactive & how many static stations varies in each examination
u shud be prepared for both...
Time on each station is 5mins
its quite short time
u have to be vigilant, active, confident and have to show presence of mind
ONLY one tip I will give
JUST DONT PANIC....
VIVA is not difficult, rather its easy basic, but candidates usually panic and fail
be quick on static stations as they ask 10-12 points to be written in 5 mins
interactive stations include
GIT... examine abdomen... think abt common things...ok... no rare syndromes...dont screw up by panicking
Resp... examine chest from front or back
CVS ... examine apex of heart
CNS ... examine Muscle tone, do neurological examination of limbs, illicit reflexes, cranial nerves, visual fields & ocular movements, all common things.... so nothing to panic abt
examin the neck.... our pt had raised JVP... but u shud know thyroid & cervical lymph nodes too
do the general physical and proceed
the static stations were more difficult
very unfair too as time is short
ECGs quite tough due to less time
they give 2 ecgs , ask u write 6 abnormalities in each, wats diagnosis, wats treatment... all in 5 min for 2 ecgs... imagine how panicy u can be by seeing Lt ant hemiblock, junctional escap, bifascicular or trifascicular block , or pseudonormalization of st-t wave changes.... people fail in these stations due to only 5 mins
practice 150 cases of ecgs...thats alll... our ecgs were scanned 100% from this book... i found both ecgs in it... so u do 150 cases..u willfind ecg station like a piece of cake
sanjay sharma in really helpful in helping u solve scenarios... so do it 5 times
we had pisc of skin rash tenia facii, (unfair question for IMM)
pic of sickle cell p.smear
Xrays hyper PTH, ccf, ct abdomen, ct brain, various scenarios... instruments trucut biopsy....double lumen central line, peak flow meter...ABGs,
in short they can ask anything.... so practice well... MCQs solving opens ur mind
long books not much helpful... but u need a sound base of medical knowlege to solve MCQs
I will post the list of all cases i had in IMM and the CPSP mock so u get an idea...later on wen i find time...
do attend CPSP mock exam if arranged... it gives u good idea abt exam... dont worry even if u fail in mock... its worth an experience..
good luck
if need any help, do ask on this blog
Dr.JB
Posted by: dr.jawad Posts: 2 :: 27-05-2011 :: | Reply to this Message
Dear Jawad Bhai Your information regarding IMM was very useful.Plz provide previous IMM MCQs and TOACS stations.Thanks
Posted by: shabirshah Posts: 4 :: 22-07-2011 :: | Reply to this Message
Usually 15 stations
7/8 interactive 7/8 static
INTERACTIVE:
1. History taking
2. Counselling
3. Case Scenario
4. Emergency medicine Scenario
5. Instrument
6. Short Case one
7. Short Case two
8. Short Case three
STATIC
1. Case scenario
2. ECG Station
3. X ray / CXR / CT scan / Barium / MRI
4. Pictoral station
5. Pictoral station
6. Investigation interpretation
7. Case scenario
I think that examination stays more or less around these lines.
Most dangerous and nerve wrecking stations are those of interactive nature.
Static ones are easy as no examiner is in front of you but in these there is no margin of error.
Seemingly easy but history taking and counselling are the toughest and fail them and recovery is pretty difficult.
Each station is having 10 marks. Total 150, 1.5 marks = 1 %, so 60% = 90 marks and you d pass. If you get 6, 6 you d pass. If 5, 7, 5, ,5, 7, 7 you d pass. Getting zero, 9, 9 and very very difficult so keep that in mind that a single zero can be the difference in passing and failing.
Regards.
Posted by: doctoc Posts: 20 :: 31-07-2011 :: | Reply to this Message
Thanks for Your Nice guidelines
Posted by: shabirshah Posts: 4 :: 10-08-2011 :: | Reply to this Message