I have the second part of my nMRCGP coming up soon. The last exam before I’m finally a fully qualified GP.
It involves seeing 13 fake patients in a row over 2 1/2 hours.
The exam is in London- a plane ride and an overnight stay away for me.
I’m freaking out a bit about what to wear.
Now, I know you’d automatically think “corporate”- right?
Pencil skirt, buttoned shirt, pumps, etc.
Well, that option has some drawbacks for me.
I’m a very petite person- most work-wear is too big and too long for me- I look like a child playing dress up.
Family doctors don’t wear skirt suits on a daily basis- it would be major overkill in terms of formality, and something I would buy specially and never wear again.
I don’t want to have to iron anything that morning.
Part of the exam involves examining patients- bending, stretching, getting up close and personal with people- I want to be able to move freely.
It needs to have above the elbow sleeves and not flash anything, and I’m not confident in buttons staying buttoned without gaping, and split skirts not splitting further.
What I’m actually thinking about is a smart, knee length, short sleeved shift or tunic dress, in a block colour, worn with opaque black tights, maybe a cardigan and low heels.
I’ve actually been on the other side of this exam acting as a ‘Standardized Patient’. FWIW, most of the women wear smart trousers and a nice blouse. Add a sweater if it’s chilly out. I don’t think a skirt or dress is necessary or appropriate - the examiner is going to get an eyeful of irishgirl backside if you need to bend over in the dress you linked to, despite how cute it is.
Humm, well that’s a drag. That is what just about all the gals seem to wear though. I think in all the years I’ve been doing it (and it’s YEARS) I’ve only seen a handful of women in skirts. Once you’re in practice do you not think you’ll bust out a trouser once and a while? On cold days maybe?
Benefits of general practice- short walk from car to desk, sit behind desk most of day, wear what you like, drink lots of tea.
I wear knee-length jersey wrap dresses over long sleeve t-shirts or turtle necks with tights and flat knee high boots on cold days, and over camisoles with bare legs and ballet pump style flats on warm days.
I have one pair of black trousers (which, to be honest I usually wear with a sweater or long-sleeve t-shirt and black converse high-tops), but they’re in the definitely not smart pile.
The other female GPs I’ve worked with have varied in their dress sense from super formal corporate work wear, to leggings, flip-flips and tunics. It’s more or less anything goes in terms of a dress code.
Friends who’ve done the exam have told me most of the guys wear cords or khakis and open necked short-sleeved shirts, and most of the girls wear cardigans over plain t-shirts and trousers (which is not what I feel most comfortable in).
Yah, you want to be comfortable, but you also need to be realistic. Some of the cases can be emergency room (trauma?) cases - if you have to jump on someone to do CPR (a real case I witnessed with a CPR dummy, not a SP) you probably don’t want to have to do it in a slim fitting skirt. Or any skirt for that matter.
Oh no- not that kind of exam.
No dummies, no trauma, no CPR.
Professional actors play the patients (which is partly why the bloody thing costs so much to do) and the examiners are silent witnesses.
This is Primary Care- touchy feely patient-centred stuff.
Scenarios are about contraception, diabetes, asthma, arthritis, high blood pressure, that type of thing- but usually with some sort of weird hidden agenda or ethical dilemma that can only be resolved with good listening skills and sensitive questioning.
They throw in the odd shoulder or neurological examination to keep you on your toes and check you can actually examine people.
The first part of the exam (which I took last January) tests knowledge, this bit is about communication skills and clinical acumen.
One of my friends managed to do it 30 weeks pregnant in heels and a pencil skirt (her fashion comfort zone is Jimmy Choos and Prada skirts- she wasn’t letting pregnancy change that).
Ah - gotcha. Yes, that is the type of exam that I work at as the ‘professional actor’, and I only do histories which is what it sounds like your exam is focused on. In that case your first outfit sounds lovely. As long as you’re comfortable I think it’s professional looking and you should be fine.
FWIW, usually over here all the cases are as you describe but then they throw one heart attack or fall from height in there just to shake things up. If you don’t have to worry about that, then no need to worry about leaping around like a ninny!
I think as long as you’re comfortable and your dress is not wildly inappropriate (which it is of course not), you should wear what you’re most comfortable in. You want to forget yourself and concentrate on your exam. Be yourself!
What do working female GPs in your location wear every day to work? Wear that.
Here in the middle US I generally see female physicians (GP or otherwise) dressed in pants suit-type clothing & wearing sensible shoes, minimal jewelry, and a clinic / lab coat to top it off.
Why not be eccentric and memorable, so you can get some recommendations later? Go old-fashioned - wear a “Victorian schoolma’am” ensemble (long skirt paired with a blouse and men’s jacket-inspired coat.
I am not a GP nor a Doctor. But I did in fact (in Bar School) undertake something similar to the live exams you are doing, only with us it was witnesses and clients instead of patients. Rule of the thumb for dress code was to wear something one step more formal and conservative then what you would normally wear. What do GP’s in Ulster normally wear?
I will say this though. In Bar School when my turn came the rather bored actress knew the scriot sideways and (its was the cross exam) knew exactly what I was going to ask. I suppose it would be different in a medical setting.
Nope, not really. All the candidates ask about the same things - they may get there differently, the interview may not be focused, they may faff around a bit, but it’s pretty unusual to get an question that you don’t have an automatic answer for.
