RCA Mini-Course

Hi Erwin here,

Welcome to RCA mini-course. This mini-course is ideal for GPSTs getting started with the Recorded Consultation Assessment.

Drawing from my experience (over 100 of hours coaching GPSTs), I’ve observed what separates successful candidates from those who fail.

An important component of success is cultivating a growth mindset. Successful candidates are not chasing for perfect cases. However, they focus on consistently refining their consultation skills.

As you go through the iterative cycle and constantly re-iterate, you refine your consultation skills. It is useful to team up with a couple of GP trainees in your VTS sitting the exam for support and to seek feedback from each other.

1% improvement every day might seem little but over time, the effect compounds such that the quality of your consultation will drastically improve.

Pre-consult

Desk setup

1. Come in early and set your consulting room for recording
2. Set up your webcam, camcorder or microphone
3. Have a stop clock and the RCA Marksheet on your desk
4. Open NICE CKS, SIGN, Pulse Reference and BNF on your desktop
5. Put a recording in progress sign on your door

Optimise your clinic for RCA

1. Seek permission from your ES to book your own patients in advance
2. Aim to book similar cases back to back to optimise for better recordings
3. Seek permission to swap cases that may be unsuitable for RCA
4. Select & book potential RCA cases from incoming requests
5. Remind receptionists of suitable RCA cases to book in your clinic every day
6. Download and print a copy of the Blueprint case list you can hand to the receptionists

Prepare your consultation

1. Look up patient’s note and read the last 3 entries
2. Refine your knowledge of medical condition you anticipate on NICE
3. Consider what you definitely need to cover during a consultation
4. Jot 3 key points on a fresh sheet of paper as an aide memoire
5. Download the Blueprint crib sheet which you can use during consultation

Demonstration (Negotiation)

Learning from observation is helpful. The following demonstration will give you an insight in the level of challenge and capabilities candidates ought to demonstrate in their recordings.

Guest Workshop

Time Management

Clinical Management

Clinical management is a domain that registrars need to get right to crack RCA. In this lesson, we cover the fundamentals of clinical management.

How to review an RCA case?

Watch RCA in Focus series

Join our Facebook RCA Support Group