‘Relax. Be yourself. Be present’: Tips for sitting your FRACGP

‘Relax. Be yourself. Be present.’
 
These simple rules helped Dr Jordan Young achieve tops marks for his RACGP Fellowship exams.
 
‘It’s important to be yourself and remain genuine in your approach to exams by treating each scenario as you would on a daily basis,’ he told newsGP.
 
‘This allows you to focus on the task at hand instead of diverting valuable attention away second guessing what you think the examiner wants to see or hear.’
 
Dr Young was the recipient of the Monty Kent-Hughes Memorial Medal for the 2018.2 exam cycle, awarded to the candidate achieving the highest marks in each Fellowship examination.
 
Upon receiving his award at GP19 in October, Dr Young declared it an honour and a true recognition for all his hard work gone into completing his Fellowship of the RACGP (FRACGP).
 
‘It reassures me that the style and approach to medicine I’ve developed over the years is seen as both competent and confident,’ he said. 

It may seem like an obvious piece of advice, but preparation is key, and self-care equally as important, according to Dr Young.
 
‘I’ve always taken the approach that if you don’t know something the night before an exam, no amount of cramming is going to change it and excessive worry is almost always counter-productive. Instead, try to relax and get plenty of sleep the night before an exam,’ he said. 
 
‘Finally, don’t let your nerves distract you from being mentally present. Have a practiced and polished approach towards OSCE [Objective Structured Clinical Examination] questions and be genuinely interested in how the patient or examiner responds.
 
‘Almost everything they say will be important and if you can register this information properly, you’re less likely to miss important cues, and trust me, they’re there if you’re paying attention.’
 
Now that he has achieved recognition for his dedication and hard work, Dr Young is pondering his career.

‘I’m not sure what my future career holds, but I expect it will involve a mix of things in addition to clinical practice, such as education and leadership,’ he said.
 
‘Regardless, general practice has given me a solid grounding in clinical medicine and instilled in me a real appreciation for the generalist.’ 
 
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