Preparing for MRCOG part 1 is like preparing for a long journey as it does not stop here..It takes throguh to MRCOG part 2 theory and then to the OSCE!
So, having decided that you are traveling, it is essential that we are prepared for the tour.
'Being prepared is equivalent to Success'.
How & What do you prepare? I have written this , from my experience of the exam a decade ago and from friends who wrote it recently. (If anyone has more details, please add to the comment boxes below this post).
The clinch is this is an exclusive MCQ exam rather than a clinical exam like MRCOG part 2. So, it is essential you go through as many MCQs as possible, read only sufficient theory (not extensive), grasp necessary MCQ points... and then come back to working out MCQs .
Practice the MCQS in MCQ books and in websites like
I have seen many brilliant candidates failing in MRCOG part 1 exam and some average students clearing it. The reason is that they have not changed their focus to this Exam. It is purely testing your knowledge of basics RELEVANT to Obs & Gyn, but NOT all of the books in undergraduation.
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Mostly the questions are from the following 12 subjects :
Anatomy- Anatomy of female genital tract, Abdomen, Breast, Thyroid, Pituitary & Hypothalamus
Embryology- Some topics would be covered from reproductive medicine books. But it would be wise to read and cover most topics from a embryology book like Inderbir Singh(It is a nice and simple book). If you have access to library, you can go through books like langman or Larson’s embryology.
Physiology- don’t read CVS/CNS deeply…..
Read relevant topics like Muscle, Nerve, Cell membrane function, Circulation, o”& CO2 transport, Foetal circulation, Physiology of respiration at birth.
Reproductive Endocrinology- This is an important part of the exam.You need to be thorough with this. Preferred book would be Spheroff endocrinology first 9 chapters. And you could go through relevant topics from The Recent advances in Obs & Gyn(John Bonnar).
Pharmacology- This is one subject where they can ask you anything from first to last. Particularly be thorough with . Any book like Katzung or whichever standard book you have got would be sufficient. Cover the topics of Contraceptive pills, treatment of STI, drugs related to Nutrition.
Biochem- Be thorough with Metabolism of Carbohydrates, Protein, Fat and Nucleic acids, O2-Co2 transport. You can go through Lippincott’s Illustrated book of Biochemistry. It would be easier.
Pathology- Pathology of female genital tract is something you can cover from a standard Gynaecology book like SHAW which you must have read from undergraduation. Particularly, Cover the topics of gynae oncology (pathology of cancers of female genital tract).
Immunology- Be thorough with topics like agammaglobulinemia. ..etc..,. Topics can be covered with Immunology topics in Microbiology book like Panicker and Medicine book like Davidson.
Genetics- The chapters extensively covered in Robin’s pathology and Davidson are sufficient. If you have access to library, get sometime reading ABC genetics.
Microbiology- Be thorough with relevant topics like STI, trichomonas vaginalis, Candida, Bacterial vaginoses. parasites causing anaemia may surprise you at exam as anaemia in pregnancy is a topic in obstetrics though not common in UK. A basic book like Panicker or similar one you studied during undergraduation is sufficient.
Biophysics- Read about USG, Doppler, CT scan, MRI. USG and Doppler physics are very essential in Obs & Gyn. Any radiology book in the library will give you the necessary articles. Ultraosund in Obs & Gyn by Callen will give you a good idea about the physics
Statistics- Parker is a book you must have read for community medicine in India. It contains an elaborative chapter on Biostatistics.
If you go through Google, you find articles on Biostatistics like t test, probability, etc... As well.
This is an article of how to read a paper; statistics for a non-statistician.
Try to work out some sums similar to those from MCQ books. You have five questions, i.e. 25 stems in total on statistics.
See sample MCQs in the following link:
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The above list is not exhaustive. The real touch is how you pick up the relevant topics from each subject. For example, an anatomy of ureter , physiology of pituitary, biochem of lipid/steroid metabolism are relevant to Obs&Gyn.. So, the timesaving tactic is to read the relevant topics in the subjects..
This is just few tips for MRCOG part1.
Try to complete the following from the books you already have studied during your undergraduation. You Dont have to buy new text books for this exam.
However, You may need to go through some MRCOG part 1 books like
i) MCQ books for Part 1 from RCOG bookshop and
ii) Books like Tim chard
iii) Basics for MRCOG part 1 by Michael De Swiet.
There is a reading list in the RCOG website : http://www.rcog.org.uk/catalog/mrcog-part-1-reading-list
Anyone, after having faced undergraduation exams or All India Entrance, can somehow attend the questions on usual topics from Microbiology, Pathology, anatomy, Pharm, etc…as these are common subjects for exam preparation. However, (a bit dry) subjects like Biophysics, Biostatistics need preparation. .and these are treasures, where you score more than others...! Likewise you can score more than others if you prepare the Immunology and genetics very well.
From September 2007 the MRCOG Part 1 Exam also has EMQs.
Try to go through EMQs for the MRCOG Part 1 by John Duthie.
Ask those collegues who wrote the exam recently, about the topics covered in EMQs.
As new patterns of exams could come out, always keep updated with RCOG website and with those who have written the exam recently..
Time management during exam is essential. As you need to complete 300 stems (60 questions with five stems each) in 2 hours, you need to practice. You need to be faster than in All India Entrance exams where it is 300 questions in 3 hours. ( So, Practice as much as MCQS possible and during your revision, try to do them quickly).
Then, MY MANTRA for any exam, particularly a MCQ based exam is DAY-PERFORMANCE. The Day performance on examday depends on how much you slept the nights before, the relaxed mind, the proper intake of food/fluids on the day, well-prepared travel, avoidance of tension-creating atmospheres,etc.
It is essential we dont read on the day of exam! Keeping cool is an art.
This is from my experience of MRCOG part1 exam.
Best of Luck!
