MCQs and SBAs in Intensive Care Medicine (Oxford Higher Special Training)

I got this to revise for the January 2022 FFICM MCQ exam. Being a new book, I had high hopes for it!Pros:- Covers a great breath of intensive care particularly things not found in other books e.g. questions on ICNARC, fire safety, autoimmune encephalitis, HLH, troubleshooting LVADs/DLTs & ruminococcal bacteremia- Questions are less straightforward than other books so makes you think a bit more laterally which requires a better understanding of basic concepts e.g. adrenal insufficiency developing in antiphospholipid syndrome & ‘ox-phos’ shuttles- Explanations are focused and refined e.g. reasons for co-existing raised & normal AG acidosis in the same patient (starvation ketosis + hyperchloremic acidosis)
Cons:- Some answers are either controversial e.g. indications for hypertonic saline in SIADH or citrate anticoagulation in liver failure, or incorrect e.g. fluid management in DKA- There are inconsistencies in some answers e.g. one place it scores for renal failure causing a raised AG metabolic acidosis and in another place would score for it causing a normal anion gap- For a book published in 2021, some referenced guidance is outdated e.g. SIRS still being tested as a definition for sepsis- Some typos exist which are largely minor but can influence answers e.g. when you have to calculate a CURB score with a BP of 110/4Summary:- All in all it is a good book for revision but would not be sufficient on its own to pass- Only a few questions mirror the actual FFICM exam- I would recommend getting it after you have made good headway in other MCQ books as you need a good grasp of basic ICM concepts to pass FFICM- Then get this book for an additional level of scope and to appreciate the layers of complexity and lateral thinking required for some of these questions - which would help with some of the more challenging SBAs

Only part way through the book. Most questions well written with good explanations. But there are multiple mistakes (as the authors have used sources from >10 years ago in some places).

Hard questions but I felt it prepared me well for FICM exam. Questions were generally well explained