Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

SENECA

Timing

Candidates should begin studying for the exam sooner rather than later and ideally with a year’s run up to the event. In reality, preparation starts with your first training position. This is not as onerous as it sounds, as it will help you to learn how to do your job well. It is much easier to attempt the exam while you are working in an intensive care medicine post rather than trying to do it from another rotation such as anaesthetics or medicine. Do not be pressured into sitting the exam too early. The only way to learn the tricks of the trade is to learn the trade properly. If you have not learnt enough or seen enough patients then you will not pass. It is recommended that candidates study for all parts of the exam at the same time, rather than leaving the clinical and oral sections until after the written exam. That time is for finessing and polishing your personal style, not deciding what it is.

It is easy to feel quite overwhelmed by the amount of studying required when you first begin contemplating the exam. Preparing an exam study timetable will break the process down into manageable portions so that you can avoid feeling swamped. This way you can systematically cover the material required without panicking at the extent of the task. Systematic learning in this way will raise your confidence and morale as you look back over the areas you have successfully covered in the past, knowing that you can apply the same process to the topics that lie ahead.

There is an absolute goldmine of information to be found on various websites and you would be most unwise not to be familiar with the resources available, especially those associated with the examining bodies (see Chapter 1).

Preparation courses

There are several courses available for trainees in ICM who want to progress towards becoming a specialist intensivist. There are many benefits in attending some of these as they not only contain a high level of educational content, but more importantly provide an opportunity to meet and mix with other trainees. They also provide the chance to meet and be taught by senior specialists in the field, many of whom are also examiners.

Sydney Intensive Care Equipment course

This new course aims to provide trainees with an up-to-date practical refresher on ICU equipment.

Textbooks, journals and online resources

Investing in a comprehensive textbook to establish a broad basic knowledge of intensive care cannot be overemphasised. Suggestions include Oh’s Intensive Care Manual; Irwin and Rippe’s Intensive Care Medicine; Critical Care Secrets; Key Topics in Critical Care (less detailed); Intensive Care: A Concise Textbook (less detailed); and Core Cases in...