Owning Your OSCE and Getting in the K.N.O.W 2025

This is a 2 day educational event incorporating 2 separate courses. Owning Your OSCE focusses on how you could improve your performance in the OSCE and other high pressure communication situations. Facilitated by Dr Jules Willcocks (FACEM, NT Dep Censor, DEMT) and Tony Sloman (High Stakes Executive Coach), this interstate course has been brought to Perth to enable trainees to gain skills to overcome performance anxiety, gain emotional intelligence and improve communication. Getting in the K.N.O.W (“Knowledge Needed for the OSCE’s”) workshop is a more traditional OSCE preparation course facilitated by WA examiners and WA DEMTs. Trainees will gain insight into the OSCE exam process and analyse in detail themed OSCE stations. The course is aimed at trainees planning on sitting the OSCE's within 12 months.

Testimonial

The Owning Your OSCE course is quite unique in the focus on performance in high stakes communication. Given the very small differences in performances that can make or break your OSCE, even if you feel no concerns about your ability to perform in the OSCE, some attention to detail in this area can do no harm. The OCSE is not purely a medical knowledge exam, it challenges you to show consultant level communication skills, prioritisation and decision making. Whilst you need the medical knowledge, if you are focussing on it in the exam, it shows. Tony’s performance advice involves connection with self, examiner, and environment. It’s quite a different approach from the OSCE practice most of us will do within hospital programs, which is heavy on the medical expertise domain. The ability to connect with your values and demonstrate who you are as a clinician and communicator, allows your OSCE performance to demonstrate who you are on the floor.  I encourage all the trainees approaching the exam to take this opportunity to think about performance from an alternate lens. I can’t emphasise enough how important this is, having seen many of my colleagues struggle with ‘getting’ the exam. It’s also really helpful for separating your sense of self from the result of an OSCE practice session (or exam) gone wrong. It complements the College resources on approach to exam and growth mindset. The mindset I developed from the course, set me up to really enjoy the OSCE preparation journey, and a focus on what FACEM meant to me. Its effect has lasted far longer than the exam day, and has centred me in the early days of my consultant career. (New FACEM)