Pharmacological management options vs actions β arenβt they all the same?
Jan 11, 2025
Not all lead in questions are created the same and this one is no different! Two subtle words will change your world in how to approach management questions.
Let’s take a closer look.
What pharmacological management options are appropriate?
Did you spot the key words?
What pharmacological management options are appropriate?
Pharmacological = medications. If you write a non-medication answer, you don’t score. Even if it is correct.
Options and actions we have previously discussed, but for recap:
Options means just that – options. You might not do them all the same time – so it broadens you range of options available. Think of your answers as a menu – you won’t select all of them, but you might select a couple.
Actions means that your answers must be mutually compatible – i.e., they cannot interact, and that you might do all of them at the same time.
So, when you see the above question, you now know what to focus on – a list of drug options.
One comment about pharmacological questions – dosages. Dosages are NOT required unless they are directly specified – the question makes this clear.
Examiners like testing specific dosages because it increases the academic construct of the question. We are however aware that one College has moved to stopping testing specific dosages.
At PassGP, we have taken the deliberate decision to continue to include some questions with specific dosages (and some without), for two reasons:
- Many other Colleges still use the testing of specific dosages
- To cover the possibility that the College in mention might move back to testing specific dosages.
Answering these are an art, so we would rather show you so that you are prepared rather than not. But if you are confident that at the time of your exam you do not need to know how to give specific dosages, feel free to ignore these sections.
