Are your consultations running late? Time management is a major challenge in the MRCGP SCA.
Tom is a GP Registrar, preparing to take the MRCGP SCA in three months. He is currently on a 20-minute appointment slot. He has started revising for SCA. Tom often finds himself running late. He struggles to fit everything within 12 minutes.
He is okay with straightforward cases but things don’t go so well for challenging cases. Poor time management is usually a symptom. It is vital to diagnose the underlying causes.
Some candidates take more time due to a lack of structure, not committing to a diagnosis or excessive use of summary. GP trainees often dwell on data gathering past 7-8 minutes due to a fear of missing important information. The first step is to audit your time in the consultation. This is where recording your consultation is helpful.
1. Use a timer
Do you keep track of time? Many trainees don’t keep an eye on time and only start clinical management eight minutes into the consultation. As a result, they don’t have sufficient time to conclude the consultation. You can’t manage your time efficiently without gauging yourself.
Use a timer and keep track of the length of time you spend in data gathering and clinical management. Aim to move to clinical management after six minutes.
2. Strategic priming
How do you prepare before starting a consultation? It’s vital to use the information provided in the patient’s record to plan the consultation. Priming a case beforehand will help you prepare and anticipate what to do in the consultation.
In the three minutes of reading time, read the case carefully and write down key questions you shouldn’t miss to enable a safe assessment. Consider management you might like to discuss.
3. Structure your consultation
Do you find yourself going back to history-taking and asking disjointed questions? Without a structure, trainees may appear to take a history haphazardly. Trainees can miss important clinical issues because the consultation is chaotic.
Organising a consultation is vital to take a history systematically. It is helpful to revisit consultation models to learn how to structure your consultation. By using a structure, trainees can take a targeted history.
4. Avoid over summary
Do you find yourself summarising excessively? It’s a common mistake. Many trainees tend to recount everything which is an inefficient use of time. Remember, summarising the consultation extensively doesn’t earn you any points. It is more effective to focus your efforts elsewhere to make better use of your consultation time.
If you find this tips useful so far and want more in-depth resources, get 7-day SCA Blueprint for free
5. Pace your speech
Have you ever found yourself searching for words? Some trainees might speak more slowly since English is not their native language. This may affect the pacing of the conversation.
Preparation helps you maintain a steady flow without unnecessary pauses or deviations. Organise your thoughts and main points before the explanation. Practice delivering your content several times to get comfortable with the flow and timing.
Time management is key in the SCA. After implementing these changes, you will notice an improvement in your consultation without rushing clinical management. Moreover, you will have time to provide safety netting advice, an important component of the consultation first introduced by Neighbour.
How Dr Lawrence passed SCA?
After a failed SCA attempt with a score of 69, Dr Lawrence’s confidence was crushed. Check out how Dr Lawrence conquered SCA after this major setback.
