mrcpi part 1 IRELAND

[shehzad topiwala]

i m scheduled for the mrcp ireland part 1 exam in manipal in may this year.

do i have company? any1 out there interested in joining me, and sharing tips, books, q banks?

is there any1 who has taken the xam last year, regardless of the result, willing to share his /her experiences.

i will be grateful

cheers

[Dr. O A]

dear topiwala..............i appeared in the last september 2004 examination ..........the pass mark was almost 70 ........only 25 % passed ( 80 out of 360 candidates appeared in that examination " .
it is a combination of 50 MCQs and 50 BOFs with 10 Slides printed in colors covering many topics .
good luck

[drtopiwala]

thanks a bunch, mate. i am indeed grateful for the information.

sounds very scary , i must say; a pass mark of 70 %, and that only 1 in 5 passes the exm.
well, i have jumped the gun, and am due for it on the 10th of may, 2005.

i have exhaustively browsed their website, and spoke personally too, but there is no mention of any slides.

but since u took the exam, may i request u to tell me more bout the slides please. are they referring to picture diagnosis, or the kind of questions that come in mrcp uk part2 , or even for that matter in the USMLE's.

intimidating xam, for sure. thanks for the warning. i was getting lax.
must get my act together.

i m ordering the official mrcp uk publications for the part 1. waste of money, i agree , but i need em. any way out, dr OA

[drtopiwala]

dr OA, may i bother u one more time please.

regarding the mrcp ireland, which i am scheduled to take in less than a month( 1o th may), would they provide the laboratory values or not?
like in the mrcp uk they have this impressive detailed labs provided in the exam and on their website.

weer u given such a thing when u took it last sept?

also,is there a facility to make rough notes/calculations....say a rough page or something?

thanks in advance

[Dr. O A]

Dear drtpoiwalwa
First ,good luck with your May Examination .
Remember few things :
1-always expect SLIDES including X rays .CT scans , Blood films ( there were 10 ...in general 8 were difficult to many )
2-the Statistics ,only 4 BOFs appeared and one of them was with a slide about the HIV epidemiology...
3-the topics in general are much more difficult than the MRCP UK ....and concenterate on clinical things much more than pure basics.
4-concenterate on the some RARE things ...eg ..there was a BOF about BRYTELIUM !!!( this mediction is now outdated !!) ,also a BOF about Vibrio Vulnificus poisoning ,also MCQs about autonomic function tests ( 5 marks ) ,also MODY type II , MCQs about pyruvate Kinase, .
5-Excpect DATA interpretations...eg there was BOF of Respiratory values of PFTs and KCO ....(the answer was compesatory emphysema after unilateral pneumonectomy ...that was difficult to many ).
6-the problem solving BOFs were in genreral much more DIFFICULT the the superfcial MRCP UK BOFs .....keep that in kind .
7-you have only 3 hours ......the MCQs paper and the BOF paper and a (separate paper conrtaining the slides for the BOFs ) ....my recommendation is that ....start with the MCQs paper first ...then go to the BOFs paper then TRANSFERE your answers to the answer paper ....dont be confused ..the time is enough if YOU ARE PREPARED WELL .

last thing ......if you are prepared well ....you will fins all of these things simple and with in 2 hours only every thing wil be finished .....
You may say that ....oh my god ..it is difficult ....i agree .......but again .....if you are WELL prepared ...THEN EVERYTHING WILL BE EASY .
GOOD luch again
please dont hesitate in contacting me again for any query ....and any way your may examination may be simpler than mine .

[drtopiwala]

gosh,thanks drOA. looking forward to meeting u in flesh and blood some day.and i dont mind coming over to iraq,mate

appreciate ur comprehensive advise. will keep every bit in mind.

can i make rough notes on the question paper?

will they provide lab values?

so, they dont test basic sciences too much, do they? (like anat,physio,biochem,path)

regards
shehzad topiwala

[Dr. O A]

dear drtopiwala...thank you for your post .
yes you can put notes on the examination paper....some questions contains normal lab values others are not ( according to the question )..the basics in the mrcpi examination i think much more reasonable ie not deep ....eg there was a question on the autonomic function tests, pyruvate kinase ..etc..
if you want i may write down the questions i remember ...
by the way...what is the date of the examination ?
thank you

[drtopiwala]

dr oa, thanks for the prompt corresspondence.

the exam is a fortnight away on the 10 th of may at manipal india.

i have bought bout 10 books...finished half of em........jaypee,pastest,beynon,ramrakha,

i dont think i would like to read the extremely popular kalra book.

i m practicing essentially the exam format....bof and mcqs.

like a fool i bought that Qbase ,Qnotes book which has only answers!!!!

they say it has to be used in conjunction with the questions released by the rcp uk in 2000. i tried mobilising it from uk, cos that book is not available in the market as its an official piblication of the rcp uk..

but time is short, and the uk guys take months to deliver the book. so here i am hatching on the answers alone!!

dont tel me u can pull off a miracle and get me those goddamned questions from somewhere. also

i was keen on laying my hands on the second official book of the rcp, released 2003.....bof .couldnt get that too for similar reasons

in my humble opinion dear dr oa, these bks are in some way better than the hordes of series available over the counter.

i got a rare copy of the 1998 book by ramrakha from q base

will brush up slides, and radio pics , like u advised me. thanks

any tips on further preparation?

regards

shehzad topiwala

[Dr. O A]

dear drtopiwala....thank you for your post.
I have a good collection for the MRCPI part 1 ..i think they are very useful to you before the examination ....please put your e mail ID and ensure a good space is there .
If you have a medical atlas ..it is worthy to review it rapidly before the examination .
Spend 1-2 hours to review the normal values for common lab things ESPECIALLY the cardiac cath values and Immunoglobulin levels .
thank you .

[drtopiwala]

now thats as fast as it gets...lightning fast replies..thanks dr oa

sure will brush up labs. and pictures from harrisons...i dont have any particular atlas though.whaddaya recommend?

please kindly email me the questions at drtopiwala@yahoo.com

i m certain they will be very useful to me.

may i ask how u fared in the exam last year.

dr oa, in the question banks that i m practising now, i score bout 68%

i have 2 weeks of intensive prep yet to go. considering 70% might be requiired like u said...... i guess i must target at least 72 to 74 % in these practice exams. or do u thnk aiming at 75% would be unrealistic?

honestly, i think its unreasonable to expect to reach 75%. i am juggling a busy residensy.but have taken 2 weeks study leave.

i presume these q banks are often a tad difficult than the real xam. my experience of usmle step 1 and 2 , and plab 1 tels me that.
unfortunately, i cant afford to get complacent with the mrcpi, cos its notoriouly more rigorous and robust than other xams.

so i really dunno if i shud be happy cracking 70 % in these q uestion series.

thanks dear dr oa

[Dr. O A]

dear drtopiwala...
sorry for the delay.....i just sent the Questions to your email .
Beleive me ...75% is not a dream .......mine was MUCH MUCH above this ..so again if you are well prepared ..be sure that you will pass with an excllent success ....
A medical Atlas is better that the pictures of Harrisons ,as it contains almost all topics including the rare things .
Dont let these question banks drag you down .....it is just a review of your knowllage ....believe me , the examination is much easier IF YOU ARE WELL PREPARED .
The MRCPI was different form the style of plab or uslme .
Honestly ......during the examination i was afraid from the statistics as i SACRIFICED it form the start ie did not study it at all till now !!! otherwise everything else was easy...apart from a BOF on Brytellium but thanks God my answer right .
Good luck and study hard partner ....

[drtopiwala]

thanks,got the questions . thnak u dr oa

[drtopiwala]

oops,dr oa i jus checked the question bank, mock exams u sent me.... they got saved but i cant open em on my comp...they flash over seconds ...i might try a better comp....or very likely i might miss out on em altogether.

guess what, i am practising some mrcp 2 questions too...consideing there is a lot of data interpretation and photo questions expected.

ur thoughts?

thanks

[drtopiwala]

dear dr oa.....will photographs in the mrcpi part 1 be coloured? i guess they will be balck and white.......what was ur experience

thanks

[khk]

Dear Topiwala!

Im supposed to take the same exam from Dublin this month. I guess this picture stuff mentioned by Dr OA is either wrong or not updated coz a fren of mine took the exam just recently and he never has such q'z. Yes, the pattern of exam is kinda difficult and pass percentage even low but still its a general perception by all means that its easier than MRCP. Ithink onexamination is the best site for all exams

[drtopiwala]

with due respect to ur opinion khk, i take dr oa 's word as gospel.

i m sure dr oa will generously sort out this for us.

got the question bank of rcp 1997 98 papers. i have posted the requirement on this website's marketplace forum.

good luck for the exam.

hard to believe it will be easier than th mrcp uk, cos the pass percentage last year in india was a meagre 20%.......so u can imagine.


i m curious to know ur friends feedback...and ur preparation. u can view mine in all my previous posts. feel free to write

[khk]

dear topiwala!

Im not challenging mr oa's opinion. Im jus telling u the general perception. Basically there r a few reasons y the pass percentage is low...ayways, don wanna go into that. could u kindly send me the pool?my email address is as under:

khurum_hayat@hotmail.com

very kind regard

[khk]

how did ur xam go? remember any qz?

[drtopiwala]

dear friends , i am extremely hapto share with all of u, that i passed the mrcp ireland part 1 general medicine on 10 th may 2005 , held at manipal india. i thank u all for ur kind wishes..thay work for us

i scored 82%, the minimum passing being 69%. the overall pass was only 25 %, about 100 out of 400 passed.

i must profusely thank dr oa for his expert guidance....he was very generous indeed

however, dr oa, due to time constraints, and tecnical computer problems i could NOT ACCESS EVEN A SINGLE QUESTION THAT U SO KINDLY SENT.

but never mind, ur moral support and the exam orientation was certainly very helpful.

those wanting to know bout this exam, should only go thru this bunch of interactions between me and dr oa , jus preceeding this last post

dr oa, thanks indeed

now i am greedy for more

i intend to take the mrcp ireland part 2 general medicine written in december this year

i am starting preparations right away

i plan to join onexam plus 123 doc online courses, besides ordering several rcp books.

ur guidance 1 more time will be truly appreciated.

if i recall coreectly, ur done with evn ur part 2 , arent u?

love and regards

[drtopiwala]

hey isnt there an mrcp part 2 written forum please?

it could be helpful for sure......this is a request to the moderator and the 5 star member dr oa

regards