Scenario
A 47 year old man presents to your emergency department with a two day history of a painful rash on the back of his neck.
Question
a. Describe and interpret his photograph (70%) b. List the investigations you would perform (30%)
Answer
FACEM VAQ Exam 2008.2 – Question 8
- The overall pass rate for this question was 56/81 (69.1%).
- Clinical photograph showing a large area of clustered vesicles with associated erythema. Rash crosses the midline.
- The examiners felt that this was a good question based on a high quality image.
- Good answers identified a vesicular rash with a reasonable differential of causes plus a focussed investigation of these causes.
- Failed answers misdiagnosed non vesicular rashes (eg carbuncle).
- It appeared that some candidates did not allocate their time as per the question recommendation leading to inadequate detail in one or other section.
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