EMERGENCY MEDICINE

SAUDI BOARD PROGRAM

SAUDI BOARD FINAL CLINICAL EXAMINATION OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE

( )
 I Objectives
a. Determine the ability of the candidate to practice as a specialist and provide consultation in the general domain
of emergency medicine for other health care professionals or other bodies that may seek assistance and advice.
b. Ensure that the candidate has the necessary clinical competencies relevant to emergency medicine including but
not limited to history taking, physical examination, documentation, procedural skills, communication skills,
bioethics, diagnosis, management, investigation and data interpretation.
c. All competencies contained within the specialty core curriculum are subject to be included in the examination.

II Eligibility
a. Passing Saudi Board Part II (final) written examination.
b. Candidates are allowed a maximum of three attempts to pass final specialty clinical examination within a
period of years provided that evidence of continuing clinical practice is presented and approved by the
Specialty scientific council.
c. If the candidate did not pass the three attempts, an exceptional attempt may be granted upon the approval of
the scientific and executive councils, provided evidence of continuing clinical practice is presented.
d. A candidate who failed to pass the clinical examination including the exceptional attempt has to pass Part II
written examination again, after which he/she is allowed to sit the final specialty clinical examination only
once provided that evidence of continuing clinical practice is presented and approved by the scientific council.
e. After exhausting above attempts candidate is not permitted to sit the Saudi board final specialty clinical
examination.

III General Rules

a. Saudi board final specialty clinical examination will be held once each year within - weeks after Part II
written examination.
b. If the percentage of failure in the clinical examination are % or more the examination shall be repeated after
months. Upon the approval of the General Secretary and at the discretion of the specialty examination
committee, the clinical examination may be repeated even if failure is less than %.
c. Specialty clinical examinations shall be held on the same day and time in all centers, however if
multiple consecutive sessions are used, suitable quarantine arrangements must be in place.
d. If examination is conducted on different days, more than one exam version must be used.

IV Exam Format
a. The Emergency Medicine final clinical examination shall consist of graded stations each with
minute encounters.
b. The stations consist of Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE) stations with examiner each and
Structured Oral Exam (SOE) stations with examiners each.
c. All stations shall be designed to assess integrated clinical encounters.
d. SOE stations are designed with preset questions and ideal answers.
e. Each OSCE station is assessed with a predetermined performance checklist. A scoring rubric for post-
encounter questions is also set in advance.

SAUDI BOARD FINAL CLINICAL EXAMINATION Emergency Medicine ( )

 V Final Clinical Exam Blueprint*

DIMENSIONS OF CARE

Psychosocial
Health Promotion & Acute Chronic
Aspects
Illness Prevention # Stations
Station(s) Station(s) Station(s)
Station(s)

Patient Care
- - -
INTEGRATEEM CLINICAL

Station(s)
Patient Safety &
DOMAINS FOR

Procedural Skills - - -
ENCOUNTER

Station(s)
Communication &
Interpersonal Skills - -
Station(s)
Professional Behaviors
- - - -
Station(s)
Total Stations

*Main blueprint framework adapted from Medical Council of Canada Blueprint Project

VI Definitions
Dimensions of Care Focus of care for the patient, family, community, and/or population
The process of enabling people to increase control over their health & its determinants, & thereby improve their
Health Promotion
health. Illness prevention covers measures not only to prevent the occurrence of illness such as risk factor reduction
& Illness
but also arrest its progress & reduce its consequences once established. This includes but is not limited to screening,
Prevention
periodic health exam, health maintenance, patient education & advocacy, & community & population health.
Brief episode of illness, within the time span defined by initial presentation through to transition of care. This
Acute dimension includes but is not limited to urgent, emergent, & life-threatening conditions, new conditions, &
exacerbation of underlying conditions.
Chronic Illness of long duration that includes but is not limited to illnesses with slow progression.
Psychosocial Presentations rooted in the social & psychological determinants of health that include but are not limited to life
Aspects challenges, income, culture, & the impact of the patient`s social & physical environment.
 Domains
Patient Care
Patient Safety & Procedural Skills
Communication & Interpersonal Skills
Professional Behaviors
Reflects the scope of practice & behaviors of a practicing clinician
Exploration of illness & disease through gathering, interpreting & synthesizing relevant
information that includes but is not limited to history taking, physical examination &
investigation. Management is a process that includes but is not limited to generating,
planning, organizing care in collaboration with patients, families, communities,
populations, & health care professionals (e.g. finding common ground, agreeing on
problems & goals of care, time & resource management, roles to arrive at mutual decisions
for treatment)
Patient safety emphasizes the reporting, analysis, and prevention of medical error that
often leads to adverse healthcare events. Procedural skills encompass the areas of clinical
care that require physical and practical skills of the clinician integrated with other clinical
competencies in order to accomplish a specific and well characterized technical task or
procedure.
Interactions with patients, families, caregivers, other professionals, communities, &
populations. Elements include but are not limited to active listening, relationship
development, education, verbal, non-verbal & written communication (e.g. patient
centered interview, disclosure of error, informed consent).
Attitudes, knowledge, and skills based on clinical &/or medical administrative
competence, ethics, societal, & legal duties resulting in the wise application of behaviors
that demonstrate a commitment to excellence, respect, integrity, accountability & altruism
(e.g. self-awareness, reflection, life-long learning, scholarly habits, & physician health for
sustainable practice).

VII Passing Score

a. The pass/fail cut off for each OSCE/SOE station is determined by the exam committee prior to conducting the
exam using a Minimum Performance Level (MPL) Scoring System.
b. Each station shall be assigned a MPL based on the expected performance of a minimally competent candidate.
The specialty exam committee shall approve station MPLs.
c. At least one examiner marks each OSCE station and two examiners independently mark each part of the SOE.
d. To pass the examination, a candidate must attain a score >/= MPL in at least % of the total stations with
on each component (OSCE & SOE).

VIII Score Report

a. All score reports shall go through a post-hoc item analysis before being issued and approved by the SCFHS Assistant
Secretariat for Postgraduate Studies and SEC within two weeks of the examination.

IX Exemptions
a. SCFHS at present has no reciprocal arrangement with respect to this examination or qualification by any other
college or board, in any specialty.
 X OSCE Station Sample**

Emergency Station
Medicine Clinical
Exam Instructions to Resident

Scene: Emergency Department

You are called to see the patient; Ahmed Abdullah, a -year-old
who presents with shortness of breath and chest pain for hours.

YOU HAVE MINUTES TO DO THE FOLLOWING:

) OBTAIN BRIEF RELEVANT HISTORY.

) PERFORM A FOCUSED PHYSICAL EXAMINATION.
a. think aloud during the physical examination.
b. before performing any maneuver or intervention, inform the
patient of your intentions.
) DISCUSS THE MOST IMPORTANT INVESTIGATIONS.
) DISCUSS THE MOST PROBABLE DIAGNOSIS BASED ON
FINDINGS PROVIDED.
) EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENT OPTIONS FOR MANAGEMENT TO THE
PATIENT.

**Examples are shown to clarify station structure regardless of case details.

 X SOE Station Sample**

Emergency Station
Medicine Clinical
Exam Instructions to Resident
Candidate Number:
Examiner Name:
Instructions to candidate:
EMS calls about a -year-old farm worker with lethargy, vomiting, diaphoresis, difficulty breathing with wheezing. Past history:
Unknown
Vital signs: HR , BP , RR , Temp , O sat on RA
Lethargic, maintaining airway, wet clothes (urine and stool)
HEENT: pinpoint pupils.
Resp: diffuse wheezing
Abdomen: soft, lax no tenderness
Neuro: flaccid muscle tone

Question/Ideal Answers Mark

What toxidrome does this patient have? What pathophysiological mechanism mediates it?
Organophosphate (cholinergic) poisoning. ( )
/
Inhibition of acetylcholinestrase and prevention of the degradation of acetylcholine. ( )
What instruction would you have for the paramedics?
They should avoid self contamination by wearing gloves (PPE), skin should be triple washed with
/
water and water exposed clothes or product should be discarded
List the three important mechanisms of toxicity?
 Muscarinic effect (toxicity)
 Nicotinic effect /
 CNS
What are the typical manifestations of this syndrome?
 Salivation, Diaphoresis
 Lacrimation, Urination
 Gastrointestinal cramps, Emesis/Diarrhea /
 Bradycardia, Bronchorrhea, Bronchospasm
 Myosis, seizures
Patient was decontaminated, arrived unconscious, apneic, with twitching of the face and clonic contractions of the
extremities.
What is the first priority in the management of this patient?
Continue universal precautions
/
Airway control and mechanical ventilation
What is the other treatment to be given?
What is/are their mechanism of action?
 Atropine: antimuscarinic agent that reverse bronchospasm and hypersecretion and its
administration titrated to resolution of bronchospasm (doubling each dose). ( )
 Pralidoxime ( -PAM): Blocks the nicotinic receptors and reverse paralysis (restores
cholinesterase activity). ( )
 Diazepam: to control the seizures. ( )
Total /
 Performance Evaluation: Station
= not done, = attempted but not done correctly/completely, & = done correctly/completely

Patient Care/Assessment

. Obtains a focused history: (if mentions give full mark).

 SOB (severity, orthopnea, PND)
 Chest pain (Site, severity, character, radiation, aggravating and relieving factors)
 Other cardiac/respiratory symptoms (palpitations, Nausea and syncope).
 Fever
 Previous similar complaint
 Social history (Smoking)
 Trauma
. Performs focused cardiovascular / respiratory examination:
 Requests vital signs
 Attempted to examine breath sounds
 Bed side ultrasound
. Mentions the most probable diagnosis:
 Tension pneumothorax
. Mentions the most important immediate investigations:
 CBC
 ECG
 CXR
. Interpretation of ECG: normal sinus rhythm

. Interpretation of CXR: loss of lung markings peripherally and shifting of mediastinum.

. Mentions the common causes: (if mentions give full mark)
 Spontaneous
 Trauma
 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
 Malignancy
 Primary lung cancers

 Others
Management

. Discusses the immediate management:

 ABC’s
 Needle decompression
 Chest tube
. Further management:
 Depends on the cause:

Total marks:
 Questioning Skills (ONE choice only)

Borderline
Somewhat awkward; Borderline satisfactory; At ease; clear
Awkward, exclusive unsatisfactory;
inappropriate terms; moderately at ease; questions; appropriate Confident;
use of closed-ended moderately at ease;
minimal use of appropriate language; use of open and skillful
or leading questions appropriate language;
open-ended uses different types closed-ended questioning
and jargon uses different types
questions of questions questions
of questions

Professional Behavior with Patient (ONE choice only)

Offensive Borderline satisfactory;

Borderline Overall demeanor
or aggressive; manner inoffensive, Attempts
Negative attitude unsatisfactory; of a professional; caring,
frank exhibition of but does not professional manner
toward patient does not truly instill listens, communicates
unprofessional necessarily instill with some success
confidence effectively
conduct confidence

Overall Organization of Patient Encounter (ONE choice only)

No logical flow;
scattered, inattentive
to patient's agenda
Skillful, professional
Counsels patient Appropriate
Minimal organization; Skillful approach approach to patient
before taking history approach
scattered approach to patient and effective use
or doing physical to patient
of time

Facilitation of Informed Decision Making (ONE choice only)

Gives clear information; Organized; optimizes

No attempt or Incomplete and / or Attempts to share Gives some
supports patient patient decision making;
inappropriate attempt biased information; information; omits information on most
decision making significant effort to make
at information sharing overuses jargon; some critical facts; important facts;
(e.g., alternatives, risks information relevant;
(e.g., deception, does not ensure uses some jargon; may use jargon;
/ benefits); appropriate clear language;
slanting of facts, understanding of attempts to ensure attempts to ensure
language; ensures attentive to patient
incorrect information) issues understanding understanding
understanding understanding