Hi everybody..

Can anyone tell me how it will be the medicine practical exam...they say it will
be short case...if anyone can help me in this subject...i will be very pleased
to hear his/her experience ...



And g0d belss You!!

dear muhanned...i'll answer u according to my own experience,at first i was so confused coz i really didn't know how to read but then i found out that every book u read will be useful if u know how to study it...Mcleod..hamed iljanabi book (which i read ) and many other books but as i said it's the matter of how do u read it not what r u reading....about the exam yes it is short case and the problem is that it depends on the senior who will exam u some of them will ask u about your lectures some will ask u (as2ila 6afra) like a bonus!! but there must be a major part of questions which r about what u learned during your course....i hope i wrote what could be useful to u bye and goodluck

dear Muhanned

The most important thing is that you must know how to perform the physical examination correctly and confidently. Here are some tips for you:

1) don’t forget to stand on the left side (your left) of the patient, this is very important.

2) You must know 2 things before examining any system which are the exposure and position. The exposure means how much you’ll expose of the patient and the position means to know when to tell the patient to lie supine and when to sit, to examine from behind or from the front and so on.

3) Tell the examiner what you’re doing every step so that he knows that you’re aware of what you’re doing. E.g. if you’re doing shifting dullness, say, “I start in the middle, it’s resonant here then I move laterally until percussion gives a dull note then I tell the patient to turn to the side while keeping my hand on his/her abdomen in the same place then I wait few seconds and then percuss again if it’s resonant then it’s a +ve shifting dullness indicating the presence of fluid”.

4) don’t forget the outline which is inspection, palpation, percussion and finally auscultation in order. Like if you were asked to examine the cardiovascular system, don’t jump immediately to auscultation, you have to start with looking for cyanosis, xanthelasma, corneal arcus, splinter hemmorage and others then you move to looking for ankle edema, the pulses, the jugular pressure then you start with the heart and again you start with inspection (for the apex beat) and all the other stuff, these are just examples don’t rely on them to examine, you’ll have to study the whole cardiovascular system.

5) avoid giving diagnosis but just mention the signs (unless of course if the examiner asked for a diagnosis). For example, don’t say anemia, say “pallor”.


I recommend Macleod but it’s up to you. Again I say it’s very essential to know the procedure of examination and when you find a sign, you must know it’s interpretation.

You will not be asked about the diagnosis but some professors will ask for a differential diagnosis.

If you have any questions, please ask.

One last thing, Feel cool and don’t be afraid, think of it as a walk in a park.

Best wishes

Very good tips mohammed ......3ashet eeedek...but i have to say something here...i don't want to get ur spirits down guys but this clinical exam has some bulk on LUCK , unfortunately...it really depends on the prof going be ur examiner...i really had a bad experiment regarding that ...although i studied for that exam really hard as i needed a good mark but.....the prof examined me asked me to examine a system (in general and gave me not more than 2 minutes) then jumped to ask on another system ...then he jumped to ask me pure theoritical question ( all was missing me are some MCQs )..anyway if this prof wasn't so famous for his way i would have said it was personal ...after all that exam got me down in the finals ...

sorry for this kinda bad news but here is a good one... the number of such professors is around 4 to 5 so they r the minority... still a big chance to have a benign one where u get ur exact evaluation ...good luck...

Hey brother, don't worry. It's easier than you think.

First, it's short case, and for those who don't know what does that mean; it's about making physical examination without taking history.

There are 20 marks on the exam. Passing mark (10-12) will be given if you can do proper physical examination even if you stumble and don't answer all of their questions properly. The rest 8 marks is for you and how good the impression you made in the examiners.
They will ask you to do something, then observe how you do it (and I don't totally agree about talking while doing so, coz it can make you lose your concentration. If they see you doing it properly they will know that you know what you're doing).

Then they will ask you about the findings, it's important that you can establish the clinical findings, but never create signs that are not there, miss them but NEVER elicit false signs. Like for example you couldn't notice a palpable spleen although it's enlarged enough; missing a sign that is there can be corrected by experience later on (and they totally understand that) but making up physical signs will make you lose the diagnosis (and important marks). Always be honest with the examiner.


Some tips:

Sunlight, it's important that the examination of anything related to colors (like pallor and jaundice) be done in sunlight, so make sure there's enough and don't hesitate to ask for whatever needed to make the sunlight reach your patient.

Stay cool, it's only an exam, and if you have studied enough; you can answer. Even if you don't know the answer, there's always a chance that you can conclude & improvise (and that's the beauty of medicine) so never fear and always trust yourself.

If you use one; break the tongue depressor and get rid of it (and show them that you broke it).

Tap on the stethoscope to make sure it's on the right side, looks like acting but imagine that you don't do it and when u want to listen; you find it on the other side!!!.

They say "never back off your opinions" but I dunno, If you only say what you're sure of then it's ok to stay stubborn. Otherwise; be reasonable and if they show you that you're wrong and you get convinced, say something like "sorry, maybe I missed it coz I don't have the good experience, inshalla I'll never forget it"
(They like to play the role of teachers even in the examination).

Practice as much as you can, don't get all messed up into reading and studying and forget the real thing; the manouver. Passing depends on it, extra studying will get you the extra marks.

They will SURELY make you reach a stage where you say "I dunno". So don't worry if you say it once or twice.

As a dear friend of mine used to say: "There's nothing to lose, only money & pride, being a medical student there's no money, and you have already lost your pride; so there's nothing to lose!" funny, sad but true. (Effective in removing nervousness if you think of it this way; there's nothing to lose)


sorry for talking too much


Bil muwafa8iya

Thanx You all guys..for sharing with me your experience..

Thanx for ur help..
you were soo helpful walla i needed these info. (although they were not 4 me)
thank u soo much!

Ya3nee really ty guys for ur helpful notes ( yezen, kadem, hamoodie, and billal)
although my exam is still in April ...
i LIKED THAT STATEment