The CICM Primary exam has a bit of a fearsome reputation, partly becasue it is still fairly new and there is not a lot of prior experience of it to know where the benchmark is. Most candidates use the ANZCA and ACEM primary exam material to prepare for it, but these exams are not tailored for ICU trainees. Chris Andersen, an ICU registrar working in St Vincents Hospital, Sydney, has sat and past his CICM Primary (Well done Chris!) and has done the noble thing with his study notes. He’s posted them online and made them freely available to anyone who wants to use them. His site is called ICUPrimaryPrep and if you are planning to sit the CICM Primary, it’s worth a visit. |
Chris has posted his notes as easy-to-read pdf files and covers the essentials of each topic in a single page. He uses coloured text and diagrams to get the key learning points across efficiently. There are 6 main topic headings:
- Cardiovascular
- Respiratory
- Neurology
- Renal
- Basic pharmacology
- Miscellaneous
Each heading, except Basic pharmacology, covers the relevant anatomy, physiology and pathology as needed.
In addition, Chris has provided suggested asnwers to Primary SAQs for 2007 and 2008 papers.
Hopefully, he’s planning on growing the site and maybe encouraging others to contribute as it’s a great resource and sorely needed for a fledgling exam.
Well done Chris. We like it