Over the last couple of months, I have had the pleasure of working with the physician trainees at Southern Health as they prepare for their clinical exams. One by one they sat in front of me, reeled of their long case presentations anxiously trying to keep it within 12 minutes and not look at the video camera filming their every move. Together, we then watched their video back. The trainees often groaned and there were a number of “oh no, I can’t believe I did that” moments as their attention was drawn to their body language, eye contact, rate of speech and tone. It was understood that simply having the content of their presentation was not enough, they needed to work on how they said it.
The most common mistakes I noticed were:
- Poor eye contact – with the time constraints and not having long to prepare, trying to maintain eye contact with the examiners was not easy. However, trainees recognised that if they wanted to keep their examiner engaged they needed to look up.
- Speaking too fast – again due to the time constraints, often trainees spoke without pausing (or breathing!). However, the pauses are often just as important as the words as they add variety to the way you speak and can highlight higher level thinking to the examiner that may have otherwise been missed.
- Speaking all in one tone – speaking without any variety in your tone can make it difficult for your examiner to know what are the key bits of information they should be listening to. Adding variety to your pitch keeps it interesting to listen to and also conveys your interest and sincerity in the case.
My top tips for preparing for this exam are to:
- Audio record yourself – listening to your rate and tone will help you know what you need to work on in terms of rate, tone and articulation.
- Video yourself – this will help you notice your body language and eye contact
- Ask others for feedback – get them to to tell you if you say um too much or you don’t make eye contact or you speak too fast. Getting this immediate online feedback can help you change your behaviour straight away.
I wish all the physician trainees out there all the very best of luck with their exam. It is not long now!! Good luck!