This book presents a pragmatic approach to clinical method that is suitable for day-to-day practice and for professional examinations both undergraduate and postgraduate.

It provides a comprehensive method of history taking, physical examination and communication.

It also provides a classification of pathological states that may involve the major organ systems of the body so that one may collate knowledge in order to facilitate recall.

Next, it lists the major findings that may be encountered during history taking and physical examination and lists the causes of these findings. This will enable the student to visualise clinical scenarios and use this to learn clinical medicine and prepare for examinations and clinical practice.

This book is primarily intended for candidates undertaking the MRCP part 2 clinical examination; the MRCP PACES.  The approach taken by this book is different to the approach taken by the books currently available for the MRCP PACES and would compliment these books very nicely.

The standard approach taken by most books that are designed for the MRCP PACES examination is a case based approach. These books list the cases that are likely to appear in the MRCP PACES examination and then describe the clinical features that occur in these cases and discuss the questions that are likely to be asked and provide suitable answers.

This book differs from other books designed for the MRCP PACES examination. It first discusses the examination then goes through clinical methods in extensive detail and finally lists the likely abnormalities that may be detected in cases appearing in the MRCP PACES examination and discusses their causes. This will help the candidate to replicate the situation faced in the MRCP PACES examination and allow virtual practice for the MRCP PACES examination.

In addition to candidates undertaking the MRCP PACES examination, candidates undertaking other clinical examinations such as medical finals, M.B., B.S., M.B., Ch.B., PLAB, USMLE, MD, DM, FCPS will find this book useful.

Clinicians hoping to improve their clinical skills will also find this book an useful addition to their personal libraries.

© Dr. B.A.S. Jayasekera 2005

Contents of the Website

This website is a supplement to the book:

A.C.E.S for P.A.C.E.S. Advanced Clinical Evaluation System for Practical Assessment of Clinical Examination Skills

DR. AJITH JAYASEKERA M.B., B.S. (Colombo, Sri Lanka) M.R.C.P. (U.K.)

The website should be used in conjunction with the book.

This book is a book on clinical skills. It will help you to understand and learn clinical methods and thereby help you to develop your clinical skills. Its purpose is to provide you with profound knowledge of clinical methods and a system of analysis of clinical features thus enabling you to develop your clinical skills.

It may be used by candidates undertaking the MRCP PACES examination and will also be helpful to candidates undertaking other clinical examinations such as OSCES, long cases, short cases and viva voce examinations.

How to use ACES for PACES

An outline of how to use the book

Cover

Cover picture

Contents

Contents of the book

Extracts

Extracts from the book

Appendix

The appendix

Guidelines for MRCP PACES

A summary of the guidelines from the Royal College of Physicians ( the expected  gold standard for MRCP PACES) and a summary from a relevant paper in the BMJ

Examples of Cases

These examples will help you to understand how to use ACES for PACES to analyse the features that may be obtained on history taking, physical examination and reach a diagnosis. It will also help in planning strategy for communication.

This will help in preparing for clinical exams such as MRCP PACES, OSCES, long cases, short cases and viva voce examinations.

Preparation and revision for MRCP PACES

Once you understand and learn the clinical methods described in the book, use these clinical methods to practice on as many patients as possible and supplement this by using these methods to analyse the cases and scenarios found in MRCP PACES books, MRCP PACES course materials and MRCP PACES websites.

The methods of communication used in the book may be used to practice on the cases and scenarios described in MRCP PACES books, MRCP PACES course materials and MRCP PACES websites.

Forum

Forum to discuss medical issues in particular issues related to MRCP part 1 MRCP part 2 MRCP PACES

Useful Links

Links to medical websites and websites related to the MRCP examination

Best of Five

Best of five questions, useful for preparation for the MRCP part 1 and MRCP part 2 examinations

ACES for PACES

• Analysis of clinical methods

• Detailed description of clinical methods

• Detailed explanation on how to carry out:

History taking

Physical examination

Communication

• Lists of common diseases affecting the systems of the body

• Findings that may be encountered at each step of history taking and physical examination

• Lists of causes of each of these findings

• Tips on presentation

• Summaries for easy reference when taking exams

•  Improve clinical skills and achieve the required gold standard for MRCP PACES, other postgraduate examinations , medical school finals

•  Ideal reading material to complement bedside teaching for MRCP PACES and other clinical examinations