Use a case to make the cards useful
RANZCR Clinical Radiology Examinations assess real-world diagnostic radiology decision-making across modalities and body systems. Case-based image interpretation and structured oral or viva-style questioning call for more than naming a diagnosis: candidates need to describe findings, prioritise differentials, choose further investigation when needed, and address urgency and communication.
This deck uses one common radiology task: assessing a CT pulmonary angiogram (CTPA) for pulmonary embolism. It moves from image quality to the filling defect, signs of right-heart strain, and what to communicate. These cards are not a substitute for learning the full range of cases in your own revision material. They give you a repeatable way to practise the sequence of a case answer.
Study each card as a retrieval task. Read the question, say a short answer before revealing the back, then compare your response with the wording. Choose Again if you could not retrieve the fact; Hard if you needed substantial prompting; Good if you recalled it correctly with effort; or Easy if it came promptly and accurately. Grade what you could say, not what seems familiar after reading the answer.
A focused CTPA board in MySummaries could organise the source notes into image adequacy, embolus appearance, right-heart assessment, differential pitfalls and next steps. The cards below are cut from that kind of board:
What must you assess before deciding whether a CTPA excludes pulmonary embolism?
Technical adequacy — check pulmonary arterial opacification, coverage and motion; state limitations if they impair assessment.
All 16 cards
That is a MySummaries deck, filled with RANZCR Exams material. Yours is written from your own notes. Start free
Turn the cards into a case answer
The deck is most useful when each answer becomes part of a spoken reporting sequence. Start with whether the examination is adequate. Then state the presence or absence of emboli and their distribution. Next describe associated findings that affect interpretation, including right-heart strain, infarction or an alternative diagnosis. Finish with limitations and action: what cannot be excluded, whether further assessment is needed, and who must be informed.
Practise keeping the distinction between an imaging sign and its clinical meaning. An RV/LV ratio greater than 1 is a CT indicator that may support right-heart strain; it is not, on its own, a complete risk assessment. A saddle embolus describes location, not the patient's haemodynamic state. These distinctions help avoid overstated conclusions and keep the report clinically useful.
For each card, use a specific grading rule. If you recalled “filling defect” but missed that the artery must be adequately opacified to assess it, that is not a fully correct answer to the adequacy card. If you identified a possible defect but did not consider motion, grade the mimic card Again or Hard. Revisit difficult cards after a delay rather than repeating them immediately until the answer feels familiar.
The deck should also lead back to your source material. If you missed a point because you do not understand it, reopen the relevant notes or teaching file, check the image, and then try to explain the fact without looking. If you missed it because you rushed, practise the same structured sequence on another case. Flashcards can reinforce a finding or decision point; they cannot replace image interpretation practice.
Build a short core checklist
A core checklist is useful before a viva or a timed case set. Keep it short enough to recall, but specific enough to prevent a vague answer. MySummaries can keep a “Must not miss core” beside the board so you can compare a case response with essential points:
Use the checklist as a final audit, not a script to recite regardless of the image. A normal study should not be made to sound positive just because the checklist mentions emboli. An indeterminate examination should not be called negative. Tailor each point to the images and available clinical information.
Put repeated misses back into rotation
A missed card tells you what to revisit. Two misses on the same concept usually mean the problem needs more than another quick flip: return to the relevant images or source notes, say the explanation in your own words, and test it again later. MySummaries can place a prompt based on a repeatedly missed mark in a remediation tray:
You lost this mark twice: what should you report and do when poor opacification prevents reliable assessment of segmental pulmonary arteries?
Answer the tray prompt as a complete mini-response: name the limitation, say what cannot be assessed confidently, avoid false reassurance, and indicate that next steps depend on the clinical question and local pathway. Then retest the original adequacy card. The aim is not to memorise a fixed phrase, but to make the safe and accurate reasoning available when you meet a different case.
How MySummaries helps
Build a revision board from your own PDFs, slides or photographed notes, then generate cards from its sections and schedule them for spaced repetition. For RANZCR exam preparation, organise a board around findings, differentials, further imaging and communication so repeated misses point back to the material you need to review. Start at portal.mysummaries.app.