Written by a team of practising GPs and CSA examiners, in collaboration with the recent CSA Role-Player Lead responsible for training and quality-assuring the work of the simulated patients in the exam, The CSA Exam: Maximizing your Success is a key resource for trainees and their trainers, in preparing for this component of the MRCGP assessment. Designed to help readers prepare and master the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to pass, it focuses on what is truly expected by examiners and demystifies all aspects of the exam. Giving insight into how candidates and trainers can maximize their potential, The CSA Exam: Maximizing your Success includes: * Essential Learning Points, and Hints and Tips on 'Getting Started', 'The Consultation' and 'On the Day' * Advice on applying an ethical approach to consultations and dealing with possible areas of concern * A variety of cases, to help practise exam technique and to aid candidates in the creation of their own cases * A companion website at www.wiley.com/go/Roberts/CSAExam featuring 18 video clips to accompany the written cases and marking schemes Taking an approach to preparation which looks at the candidate, simulated patients and the assessment itself, The CSA Exam: Maximizing your Success provides MRCGP candidates and GP trainers with an invaluable and unique resource for success in the exam.

Rachel Roberts is a GP, trainer, CSA Examiner, and is a Patch Associate Director for General Practice, London. She is also the Associate director for trainees in difficulty for North East and Central London. David Russell is as a retired teacher and has a strong educational and examining background. Appointed Lay Adviser to the RCGP, he worked on the Simulated Surgery Exams, and subsequently on the development of the CSA exam. He has been the CSA Role-Player Lead, responsible for the training and quality assurance of the simulated patients, and has published several papers about his work with the simulated 'patients' in the CSA. Simon Ormerod is a GP with a special interest in General Practice. He has been a trainer since 1996, and a member of the MRCGP examiners panel since 2010. He is currently Honorary Secretary of the North East London Faculty RCGP. Anjum Iqbal qualified from the Royal Free Hospital and worked as a GP for five years in Stepney, East London. In 1996, he moved GP practice to Enfield, North London. He remains committed to Education and Training as a Trainer and Programme Director in Enfield. He has also been a CSA examiner since 2008.

About the companion website vii About the authors ix Acknowledgements xi Foreword xiii PART ONE Introduction 3 Chapter 1 Maximizing your potential in the CSA 5 Chapter 2 What you can learn from the 'patients' 16 Chapter 3 What to expect in the CSA 28 Chapter 4 Dealing with challenging situations 48 Chapter 5 Creating and role-playing your own CSA-type case 59 Chapter 6 Maximizing your potential with feedback from examiners 65 Chapter 7 Strategies for candidate concerns with the CSA 80 Chapter 8 Learning points 88 PART TWO A 'PALETTE' OF 16 CSA-TYPE CASES AND 6 ETHICAL CASES Introduction to the sample cases 101 Case 1 Alan Arterton 105 Case 2 Jane Smith re Isabel Chalk 113 Case 3 Jason Brown 120 Case 4 Ian Marsden 127 Case 5 Gavin South 135 Case 6 Louise Bradley 142 Case 7 Jenny Stanley 149 Case 8 Harry Evans 156 Case 9 Shona Baker 163 Case 10 Amelia Kowalski 170 Case 11 Thomas Smith 177 Case 12 Debbie Wells 184 Case 13 Ashia Pollock 191 Case 14 Olu Wa-Simba 198 Case 15 Nilesh Patel 205 Case 16 Stephanie Caldwell 212 Index 219