CV- How to write a CV

Writing a C.V, Curriculum Vitae or Resume could sometimes be a very difficult task specially for medical persons as medical CV is quite different from that of other professions. Keeping this in mind I've tried to solve this problem for my readers, i won't go in with tips and tricks and details of writing CV, i have just uploaded a professional CV of a doctor as a format. Just replace the terms (XXXXXX) with your details and you will have your professional CV ready in a minute

Download it here

USMLE-- Licensing Exam for U.S.A

USMLE

Total cost as of 2010-Rs 800,000-10,00000

Study material: Kaplan notes and BRS.

The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) is a multi-part professional exam sponsored by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME). Medical doctors are required to pass this examination before being permitted to practice medicine in the United States of AmericaThe USMLE assesses a physician's ability to apply knowledge, concepts, and principles, and to determine fundamental patient-centered skills that are important in health and disease and that constitute the basis of safe and effective patient care.Examination committees composed of medical educators and clinicians from across the United States and its territories prepare the examination materials each year.Students and graduates of medical schools outside the United States or Canada register for Step 1 and Step 2 with the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG)

To find out if your desired center has available seats for the upcoming step 1 please visit www.prometric.com

The EXAM Format: The USMLE first started out as a paper examination, converting in 2004 to a computer based multiple choice examination. The test can be taken at Thomson Prometric test centers worldwide. However, the Step 2 CS and the Step 3 can only be taken in the USA.The Exam consists of three parts or the famous "STEPS" . Step 1, step 2 and step 3.

USMLE Step 1: Assesses whether medical school students or graduates understand and can apply important concepts of the sciences basic to the practice of medicine. As of 2007 it covers the following subjects, in both systemic (general and individual anatomical characteristics) and procedural (functional, therapeutic, environmental, and abnormality) themes:
Anatomy,
Physiology,
Biochemistry,
Pharmacology,
Pathology,
Microbiology,
Behavioral sciences,
Interdisciplinary topics, such as nutrition, genetics, and aging Step 1 is an eight-hour computer-based exam consisting of 336 multiple-choice questions (MCQs) divided into seven blocks each consisting of 48 questions. As of summer 2008, some questions include audio and video. Each block must be finished within an hour. The remaining hour is break time. An optional tutorial about how to use the computer program of the exam is offered at the beginning of the exam and takes 15 minutes. This time is deducted from the hour of allotted break time. A quality assurance survey is presented at the end, provided some of the original eight hours is left over.The scores are reported with a three digit score and a two digit score. As of January 1, 2010, the passing score has been raised to 188 from a previous score of 185.The average score is approximately 221 and the standard deviation is 23. If the student passes the exam, he or she may not repeat the exam to achieve a higher score.The Step 1 score is frequently used in medical residency applications as a measure of a candidate's likelihood to succeed in that particular residency (and on that specialty's board exams). More competitive residency programs such as Radiology, Ophthalmology, Plastic Surgery, and Dermatology usually only accept applicants with high Step 1 scores The USMLE score is just one of many factors considered by residency programs in selecting applicants.Overall pass rates for first time USMLE Step 1 test takers is 73% for international medical graduates.

USMLE Step 2: Is designed to assess whether medical school students or graduates can apply medical knowledge, skills and understanding of clinical science essential for provision of patient care under supervision. Step 2 is further divided into two separate exams.
USMLE Step 2 CK

is designed to assess clinical knowledge through a traditional, multiple-choice examination. It is a 9 hour exam consisting of 8 blocks of 44 questions each. One hour is given for each block of questions. The subjects included in this exam are clinical sciences like
Medicine
Surgery
Pediatrics
Psychiatry
Obstetrics & Gynecology.

USMLE Step 2 CS: is designed to assess clinical skills through simulated patient interactions, in which the examinee interacts with standardized patients portrayed by actors. Each examinee faces 12 Standardized Patients (SPs) and has 15 minutes to complete history taking and clinical examination for each patient, and then 10 more minutes to write a patient note describing the findings, initial differential diagnosis list and a list of initial tests. Administration of the Step 2-CS began in 2004. The cost for this test is approx. $1200, plus added expenses related to travel, lodging, and food to and in the one of only five cities in which the test is offered. The examination is offered in five cities across the country:
Philadelphia
Chicago
Atlanta
Houston
Los Angeles

Before 2004, a similar exam, the Clinical Skills Assessment (CSA) was used to assess the clinical skills of foreign medical graduates.USMLE Step 3: Is the final exam in the USMLE series designed to assess whether a medical school graduate can apply medical knowledge and understanding of biomedical and clinical science essential for the unsupervised practice of medicine. Foreign medical graduates can take Step 3 before starting residency in about ten U.S. states.Step 3 is 16 hour examination divided over two-days. Each day of testing must be completed within eight hours. The first day of testing includes 336 multiple-choice items divided into 7 blocks, each consisting of 48 items. Examinees must complete each block within sixty minutes.The second day of testing includes 144 multiple-choice items, divided into 4 blocks of 36 items. Examinees are required to complete each block within forty-five minutes. Approximately 3 hours are allowed for these multiple-choice item blocks. Also on the second day are nine Clinical Case Simulations, where the examinees are required to 'manage' patients in real-time case simulations. Examinees enter orders for medications and/or investigations into the simulation software, and the condition of the patient changes accordingly. Each case must be managed in a maximum of 25 minutes of actual time.Approximately forty-five minutes to one hour is available for break time on each of the two days of testing.

For more details and other Post Graduation programmes please visit my Post Graduation page

MRCP- Postgraduation in U.K

• A Brief detail of MRCP:
  
  
  
  The membership exams of the Royal Colleges have multiple parts that are given over a space of a few years. Every Royal College responsible for its specialty publishes a Regulation and Information Manual every year that contains details on the different parts of the Membership exam, their formats, the centers where they can be taken, application forms, fees, rules of exemption from different parts of the exam - and a lot more.
  Currently the first part of the MRCP(UK) exam can only be given when 18 months have elapsed from the date of graduation. This prerequisite may or may not change. As we shall see, the NHS is overseeing extensive reforms in the SHO grade and it is quite possible that the membership exam details may be affected by these reforms. One must use only the most current Exam manual from the relevant Royal College to keep abreast of the changing situation.
  The MRCP(UK) Part 1 exam consists of two papers in an MCQ format containing 100 questions each. The composition of the different subjects tested in this exam is as follows; the number refers to the number of questions in both papers that will come from that subject.

• Cardiology 15
  
• Clinical hematology and oncology 15
  
• Clinical pharmacology, therapeutics and toxicology 20
  
• Clinical Sciences 25
  
• Dermatology 8
  
• Endocrinology 15
  
• Gastroenterology 15
  
• Infectious diseases and tropical medicine and sexually transmitted diseases 15
  
• Nephrology 15
  
• Neurology 15
  
• Ophthalmology 4
  
• Psychiatry 8
  
• Respiratory medicine 15
  
• Rheumatology 15
  

Clinical sciences comprise:

• Cell, molecular and membrane biology 2
  
• Clinical anatomy 3
  
• Clinical biochemistry and metabolism 4
  
• Clinical physiology 4
  
• Genetics 3
  
• Immunology 4
  
• Statistics, epidemiology and evidence-based medicine 5
  

After passing the Part I exam (the result is mailed 4 weeks after the exam). The candidate is eligible to sit for the MRCP(UK) Part 2 exam. The Part 2 exam can be given 6 months after the Part I exam if the candidate feels he is ready.

The MRCP(UK) Part 2 exam also consists of 2 MCQ papers of 100 questions each. The composition of the exam is as follows:

• Cardiology 20
  
• Dermatology 8
  
• Endocrinology and metabolic medicine 20
  
• Gastroenterology 20
  
• Hematology/ Immunology 10
  
• Infectious diseases and GUM 18
  
• Neurology/ Ophthalmology/ Psychiatry 22
  
• Oncology and palliative medicine 10
  
• Renal medicine 20
  
• Respiratory medicine 20
  
• Rheumatology 12
  
• Therapeutics and toxicology 20
  

If the candidate fails the Part 2 exam, he is free to try again. The only restriction to the number of attempts he can make is that he must pass this exam within 7 years of passing the Part I exam.

The pass result of the Part 2 exam is valid for only two and a half years. The candidate must sit for the 3rd and last part of the membership exam before these two and a half years expire. He is eligible to sit for the third part of the exam 6 months after passing his Part 2. Therefore, the window of time available to him to pass the third part of the exam is 2 years. This 2 year period is called the Period of Eligibility and begins 6 months after the part 2 is passed. To illustrate: if a candidate passed his Part 2 in April 2005, then his period of eligibility for the third part will start from October 2005 and last till October 2007. If he has not taken the last part within the Period of Eligibility, he will be compelled to retake the Part 2 exam.

The last part of the membership exam is called PACES, the Practical Assessment of Clinical Examination Skills. To quote from the 2004 Regulations and Information to Candidates Manual:

“The MRCP(UK) Part 2 Clinical Examination (PACES) is composed of five stations (three ‘clinical’ and two ‘talking’), each assessed by two independent examiners. Candidates will start at any one of the five stations and then move round the carousel of stations at 20-minute intervals until the cycle has been completed. The stations are:

Station 1

• Respiratory System Examination (10 minutes)
  
• Abdominal System Examination(10 minutes)
  

Station 2

• History Taking Skills (20 minutes)
  

Station 3

• Cardiovascular System Examination (10 minutes)
  
• Central Nervous System Examination (10 minutes)
  

Station 4

• Communication Skills and Ethics (20 minutes)
  

Station 5

• Skin / Locomotor / Endocrine / Eye Examination (20 minutes)
  

The MRCP(UK) Part 2 Clinical Examination (PACES) lasts a total of 120 minutes (including four 5-minute breaks between stations).”

If the candidate passes, he will be awarded the MRCP(UK) diploma.

It should be mentioned here that the MRC diploma, particularly the MRCP(UK) diploma has become internationalized. Training in the UK is not an essential prerequisite to taking any of the 3 parts of the exam. There are MRC exam centers established in 14 countries around the world (Saudi Arabia, Oman, Singapore, Kuwait, and Sri Lanka, to name a few). Pakistan has no such centers, and if Pakistani doctors are training and studying for the MRCP in Pakistan, they must travel to the UK to give them (they cannot go to a non-UK center – those centers are established only for those doctors training there).

There are thousands of MRCs across the world who only go to the UK to take the exam and after passing, return to work in their home countries or seek jobs elsewhere. Obtaining the MRCP(UK) demonstrates a competitive level of competence and can help to further the careers of overseas doctors in their own home countries as well as creating opportunities for them to find jobs in other countries. Many MRCP(UK) doctors, for example, use this qualification to seek jobs in the Gulf states, where this degree is highly valued.

PLAB- U.K Licensing Exam

PLAB

The Professional Linguistic Assessment Board exam, or PLAB. The plab does not have a linguistic component, for this they use IELTS. IELTS is a pre requisite to plab.

IELTS:

The IELTS is a test of the candidate’s English skills. It stands for International English Language Testing System. People are required to take this exam to prove they have the minimum acceptable level of proficiency in the English language needed to engage in their academic or work pursuits in the UK, so its not just for doctors. This exam can be taken in many countries, including Pakistan. Currently, it costs around 80 Pounds Sterling and is held twice a month every month throughout the year.

The exam has four sections: Speaking, Listening, Writing and Reading. The result of the test is given as a number on a scale (called band) from 1 to 9. Each band, or scale represents a certain level of competency in English. A score of 1 means that the candidate has only a rudimentary grasp of the language. A score of 9 means the candidate is as proficient as a native English speaker.

Each of the four sections are scored separately on the band of 1 to 9. The individual band scores in the different sections are then added up to give an average. For example, if a candidate gets 8 in Speaking, 8 in Listening, 7 in Writing and 7 in Reading it will give him an overall band score of 7.5.

In order to be eligible to take the PLAB exam, the candidate must have an overall score of at least 7. However, an imposition is made on the individual scores as well. The candidate must have at least 7 in the Speaking section and at least 6 in the other sections. So if a candidate gets 6.5 in speaking, he will not be eligible to take the PLAB exam - even if his overall score is 7 or above.

The IELTS can be taken even while the candidate is still a medical student, although it should be keep in mind that the IELTS result is valid for two years. The candidate must go on to take his PLAB exam within this two year validity period.

THE PLAB EXAMINATION:

The Professional Linguistic Assessment Board exam, or PLAB doesn’t actually have a linguistic component, otherwise the IELTS would not be required. Nevertheless, the ‘misnomer’ remains to describe an exam of a difficulty level between that of final year and post-graduate (i.e., MRC) examinations. It has two parts -

PLAB Part 1 & PLAB Part 2.

The PLAB is basically a registration examination that allows you to practice medicine in the UK. In that sense it is similar to the USMLE Steps of the US system. However, there are three important differences between the PLAB and USMLE exams:

• The PLAB exam is considered to be far easier, and less costly than the USMLE exams.
  
  
• There are only 2 parts to the PLAB exam, not 3 like in the USMLE Steps (or 4 if you count USMLE Step 3).
  
  
• The PLAB is a pass/fail exam. It makes absolutely no difference to your credentials if you pass the PLAB by an extremely wide margin or just manage to get through by a single mark. This is in contrast to the USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK exams, in which a candidate’s scores affects the strength of his CV.
  

PLAB Part I
The first part of the PLAB exam, the Part 1 is administered in a number of countries, including Pakistan where it is held three times a year: in March, July, and November. Currently, the exam cost 145 Pounds Sterling.

In order to be eligible to take the exam, the candidate must be a medical graduate (he cannot give it before graduation) from a WHO-recognized medical college and also have the minimum required IELTS score in hand during the time of application.

The exam consists of a 3 hour paper containing 200 questions. The questions are called “Extended Matching Questions” or EMQs - which simply means they are multiple choice questions with a variable number of possible answers to the questions posed of which the best one is selected. The exam concentrates on the clinical subjects, not on basic sciences. There are also a few questions regarding medical ethics, evidence based medicine, epidemiology, and public health.

PLAB Part II

This part can only be taken in the UK. Recently, the capacity of the PLAB 2 center in London has been expanded enormously, and now the exam will be held several times a month every month, throughout the year. Currently, the exam costs 430 Pounds Sterling.

The Part 2 is a examination of clinical skills - not a paper-based EMQ exam. The system devised for testing the candidate’s clinical skills is called the Objective Structured Clinical Examination, or OSCE.

When you start the examination, you will go to your first “station” in which you will be given some instructions. It could be taking history from a patient there, performing an clinical examination, or a number of other things. You will have 5 minutes to accomplish your task and 1 minute of pause to think before each station. There are 14 stations in all, with two “rest” stations – so the exam lasts a total of 96 minutes. The primarily skills tested for are:

• History taking and diagnosis based on history alone.
  
• Proficiency at physical examination.
  
• Communication skills with patients.
• Management of emergency cases.
  
  
  These days it is very difficult for people to get a job in UK. Almost impossible. Therefore PLAB is only used to be eligible to get a job in middle east.
  
  
  Note that this is a licensing type exam NOT a postgraduate degree of UK. Those are FRCS FRCP and diploma's are MRCP etc.

MCPS- Post Graduation in Pakistan

For more details and other Post Graduation programmes please visit my Post Graduation page

MCPS

Its is Member of College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan. It is basically a two year training programme, it's value is respectable but certainly lower than that of FCPS

The specialization fields of MCPS

	Anaesthesiology		Clinical Pathology
	Community Medicine		Dermatology
	Diagnostic Radiology		Family Dentistry
	Family Medicine		Obstetrics & Gynaecology
	Operative Dentistry		Ophthalmology
	Oral Surgery		Orthodontics
	Otorhinolaryngology(ENT)		Paediatrics
	Periodontology		Prosthodontics
	Psychiatry		Pulmonology (Including

Format of examination

The MCPS examination comprises of

Theory (two essay type papers)
Clinical and viva voce

Only those candidates who qualify in theory will be called for clinical and viva examination. THE COLLEGE RESERVES THE RIGHT TO ALTER/AMEND ANY RULES/REGULATIONS. Any decision taken by the College on the interpretation of these regulations will be binding on the applicant.

Examination schedule

The MCPS theory examination is held twice a year in months of MARCH and SEPTEMBER.

For more info contact CPSP