I passed my Paper 3 exam in November 2014 and enrolled for this learning resource in the 6 weeks prior to the exam. The video library is excellent and helped me to hone my approach in the exam. The notes are succinct and ideal for quick revision. In addition to preparing me for the exam it also helped tailor my clinical practice which is ultimately the key goal in any exam. I would definitely recommend this to any candidate who is planning on sitting the CASC exam.
The website provides a comprehensive coverage of several topics in the CASC. The written transcripts were useful to get a sense of structure, time management, appropriate depth and prioritisation in the exam. The actors in the videos were realistic and were helpful to think about what range of responses I might have to a given cue.
PasstheCASC.com (now on birminghamcourse.co.uk) was a valuable resource for my preparatory work, much more useful than books. The main format is simple: you watch Dr Mishra doing various CASC stations with a 45-second display of the scenario’s instructions, then a timer runs as he works. The reassuring and straightforward structure Dr Mishra applies to all of the stations, gave me confidence when approaching topics I knew very little about. There is also a manageable amount of content to get through, unlike pages and pages of information you get from other resources. I used the scenario videos to make small flash cards of essential content to get into various stations, and we went over these in group sessions (as in, what would you have to ask in scenario X? etc.), as well as role-playing sessions too. Watching his videos also helped us to pick up some useful hooks and phrases to steer the simulated patients or extract information. Using the site helped make my revision focused and manageable in the time I had. I would recommend that candidates do a mock-CASC to get a sense of theatre of the whole thing and get personalised feedback, but I am going to be recommending this site to any trainees I come across who are approaching CASC. A brilliant and easy to use resource!
I genuinely feel that your course helped me pass this exam for a variety of reasons. Firstly, the content of the course is very relevant to current exam. There were additional topics e.g financial capacity assessment etc. that have appeared in the most recent exams. I’ve done a lot of research about some of these topics and can confirm that there isn’t a place on the web where it is explained as clearly as you do. Secondly, the different ways of accessing the videos/tutorials has been particularly useful. I have seen your videos (with headphones) in the hospital, during my walks and even on the morning of the exam itself. This is a great feature of your course that it can accessed on a smartphones and iPad etc. Your email support has been also been helpful. Additionally, the tutorials piece meal content into clear understandable segments. Finally, ‘Knowing your Exam-self’ helped me in managing my exam anxieties effectively. All I did when I went into the exam hall was remember what you said-“think that these 16 people need your help” and so my behaviour and reactions were not made up. Dr. Mishra, thank you for your help.
Thank you very much Dr Mishra for this great website. I have passed the CASC first attempt because this website helped me in many ways. First, it had videos for even the rare stations (e.g financial capacity, TLE etc.) and they ended up coming in the exam. Second, providing the actual sentences to be asked to the patient was very important to someone like me, an overseas graduate. Third, your reply to the emails and your detailed answers to my questions and support was really of great help. The fact that I’m an oversees graduate, my first language is not English and I’m not a trainee and I passed the first attempt means that the CASC is not impossible, but easily achievable with the right support. Thanks again.