What is the Bristol PACES Project?
The Bristol PACES Project are designing a series of educational sessions, featuring real patients, in January / February 2027.
Background
The researchers are supporting Bristol-based doctors preparing for their PACES examination – the final membership exam for the Royal College of Physicians.
This is a daunting, two-hour exam, featuring real patients with real conditions. The exam features four examination stations, including one for "Abdominal" where candidates must examine, and correctly detect the signs of, patients with a variety of abdominal conditions. This often features kidney conditions, such as polycystic kidneys, kidney transplants, or those receiving renal replacement therapy such as dialysis.
How will it work?
- The researchers are aiming to have 5-10 patients with a variety of kidney conditions, including polycystic kidneys, kidney transplants and people receiving renal replacement therapy, attend for a half-day of examination practice with our resident doctors who are sitting their exam in March/April 2027. These will be qualified medical doctors in higher medical training within the NHS.
- The sessions will be overseen by Consultants/Registrars and members of the postgraduate medical education team, with an emphasis on feedback/teaching and hearing from our volunteers.
- Candidates will be in pairs, with a tutor observing their examination and feeding back.
When will the project take place?
The researchers are hoping to hold the pilot “Abdominal” session on 25th January 2027, in the morning, in the Learning and Research building in Southmead Hospital, Bristol. They may also invite you to an ad-hoc session before this if you are local and happy to volunteer your time.
Will I be paid?
As a non-commercial course, this is a purely voluntary invitation, however, the researchers can cover travel/parking and will provide refreshments for volunteers as a token of their appreciation for this invaluable contribution towards local medical education.
What is being asked of me?
The half-day session, lasting from around 9am to midday, will feature pairs of candidates performing examinations of the volunteer's abdominal systems. This will be palpation of the abdomen and back, and may involve examination of other body systems depending on their specific condition. Pairs will examine each volunteer for 5-10 minutes, before rotating through the other volunteers. There will likely be 5-10 pairs of candidates. If you decide to volunteer, you will be examined between 5-10 times during the half day session. Clearly, volunteer welfare is essential and so the team will aim to be sensitive to specific volunteer needs; for example if a particular movement is uncomfortable, the researchers will accommodate the examination accordingly.
How to get involved
Email Dr Duncan Steed – Postgraduate Medical Education Fellow – [email protected]