Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals
NHS
NHS Trust
Tips For MRCpath
Success
Loretta Ford Jonathan Berg
Clinical Biochemistry
City Hospital, Birmingham
What To Expect
• Three hours long
• Afternoon of the second day
• Spectrophotometers -you will be given time
before practical for familiarisation. If ever
used again!
• Told this on day one
What Should You Take?
Essential: Lab coat
Gloves
Pipettes (at least 1 ml and 5 ml)
Pipette tips
Marker pen
Make sure you
Calculator
Ruler
know
how
to
use
Graph paper
the equipment!
Desirable: Parafilm
Stop clock
Plain 10 ml Universal Containers
Plastic test tubes
Pastettes
Thermometer
Box of consumables at front of room (but you should not
really need them)
Books & Notes
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•
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Bring any books/notes into exam
Tietz obvious choice
Little time in exam to read books!
Better off compiling own folder
Google will provide plenty of ready made
notes
Practical Folder Suggested
Contents
• Most past papers involve urine analysis
• Far easier for examiners to provide urine than
blood
• Limits the number of analysis that can be
performed think:
creatinine
proteins
drugs of abuse
• POCT becoming more popular:
glucose meters
Practical Folder Suggested
Contents
• Enzyme kinetics: (km/vmax)
Michaelis-Menten, Lineweaver-Burk
• Reference intervals (especially urine tests)
• Conversion tables for units of common
analytes
• Chemistry of ATP/NADH
• Advantages/disadvantages of POCT
• Equations e.g. A=CL, MDRD
Before you pick up a pipette!
• Spend 10 min reading to the end of
the paper (recommend read twice!)
• Write notes at front of workbook as
you go along
• Underline important points
• Create a Work Plan
• Make sure the work you do answers
all the examiners questions
Before you pick up a pipette!
• Check you have all the reagents listed
• Check you have enough reagents for the work
you propose
• Are reagents in date?
• Observations e.g. if reagents are cold and kit
insert says they should be used at RT point
this out
• Check lot numbers
• For POCT is device CE Marked?
Don’t worry If everyone else has started while
you do this it maybe half hour before you start
-preparation is everything!
Practical work and writing up
For each experiment you will need:
• Title (aim of experiment)
• Methods
• Results
Always present data in a tabulated form
Graphs must have a title and labelled axis
Make a note of any observations e.g. colour
change
• Conclusions
Include further work e.g. what the next
experiment will be
Practical work and writing up
Most practicals require:
Calibration curve (unless stated use min 3 points)
Measurement of standards & unknown samples
Investigation of interference
Use your initiative (only if time & reagents allow!)
What happens if POCT results are read after
5, 10 min instead of 2
Practical work and writing up
Short Report to Consultant
• Popular inclusion in recent practicals
• Create a template for your Practical Folder
(especially for POCT device)
• Discuss contents of report with supervisor
Final Summary
Summarise all results on a single page in
tabulated form
What if it all goes wrong?
• Write down any mistakes
• If you can explain what went wrong even
better
• Try to repeat wrong experiments correctly
• If you have run out of time/reagents write
down what you would of done
Remember….
• Marks can only be given for what you have
written down!
• Write legibly –keep work as neat as possible
• Explain clearly everything you do
• Write down all observations
• Keep an eye on the time
• Even if you have not finished leave at least 15
min at the end to make sure you have written
everything down!
• Always read to the end of the paper before
starting!!!
Don’t cry……..
Examples
Example Questions:
Comparison of 2 POCT glucose devices
Study of the cross-reactivity of a drugs of
abuse POCT device