Scenario
A 26 year old woman on maintenance steroids for ulcerative colitis presents to the emergency department with a 12 hour history of abdominal pain.
Question
Describe your assessment of this woman. (100%)
Answer
FACEM SAQ Exam 2005.2 – Question 7
- The overall pass rate for this question was 47/56 (83.9%)
- Pass Criteria
- Better answers opened with the specific issues related to the context of this patient (eg recognized complications of ulcerative colitis, immune modification by steroids) before describing assessment for causes of abdominal pain unrelated to ulcerative colitis.
- A description of what to seek on history, physical examination and investigation displayed a greater depth of knowledge if it was preceded by the rationale for each of these.
- Features of unsuccessful answers
- Failing answers give limited detail on the reasons for different aspects of assessment and did not touch on alternate diagnoses such as pregnancy related problems.
ACEM Fellowship Short Answer Questions (SAQ)
About Mike Cadogan
