KFP killer answers – and why they are lethal

 Did you know that KFP exams have killer answers that if provided, result in you losing all your marks no matter what else you write? You do now! 

Killer answers are exactly that – nil marks for the entire question by default.

But why?

The theory goes that they are designed to penalise dangerous answers – answers so dangerous that they might kill a patient.

When do they arise? Well, more frequently than you might think:

• Giving an antibiotic when there is an allergy
• Giving a directly contraindicated drug – like a beta blocker to someone who is asthmatic
• Using a disproportionately large skin flap for someone who required a 2mm excision biopsy
• Not acting on someone who is suicidal
• Using the correct drug but at lethal doses

A similar but slightly different theme is the use of crucial answers – answers you must give in order to score any marks at all.These are less common, but as you might expect, are mostly used in emergency scenarios. For example with an acutely anaphylactic patient - if you don’t give adrenaline as a crucial answer, then the rest of the question scores nothing. 

Thankfully, the expert PassGP examiners are on hand to show you exactly how these tactics are applied, and how best to avoid killing off any chance of success (see what we did there?).