Exam preparation
GSSE
- Multiple choice
- Australia
- Medicine
- Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
2 guides for this exam — how to prepare, what to practise, and how to know it has gone in.
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A written answer, marked
A question from a GSSE mock paper, answered and marked. From GSSE Practice Questions: 10 Worked Single-Best-Answer Examples.
A patient has Hb 7 g/dL, SaO₂ 98% and PaO₂ 100 mmHg. Estimate CaO₂ using CaO₂ = (1.34 × Hb × SaO₂) + (0.003 × PaO₂), then state one implication.
3/4CaO₂ = (1.34 × 7 × 0.98) + (0.003 × 100) = about 9.5 mL/dL. Most oxygen is carried bound to haemoglobin, so low Hb reduces oxygen content despite the high saturation.
Correct calculation, units and main clinical implication. The answer could make the small dissolved component explicit and avoid implying that saturation alone measures total oxygen delivery.
Missed
−State that the dissolved oxygen contribution is approximately 0.3 mL/dL and is small compared with the haemoglobin-bound component.
Model answerCaO₂ = (1.34 × 7 × 0.98) + (0.003 × 100), or about 9.5 mL O₂/dL. Approximately 9.2 mL/dL is haemoglobin-bound and 0.3 mL/dL is dissolved. The low haemoglobin therefore reduces arterial oxygen content despite a saturation of 98%. Oxygen delivery also depends on cardiac output, so CaO₂ alone does not describe total tissue oxygen delivery.
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Guides
- GSSE Flashcards: A Practical Deck for Surgical SciencesWork through 16 GSSE flashcards on perioperative physiology, acute care and pharmacology, with a method for grading recall and fixing weak points.
- GSSE Practice Questions: 10 Worked Single-Best-Answer ExamplesPractise GSSE-style questions in anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology and critical care, with worked answers and explanations.
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