MCCQENephrology
Hyponatraemia: A Working Approach — MCCQE Notes
Volume status plus urine sodium and osmolality gets you to the cause, and the rate of correction is what keeps the patient safe.
6 min readTopic Note
Exam hub
MCCQE
The Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination Part I — a full day of clinical decision-making and multiple-choice questions across the whole of medicine.
Question banks
By specialty
MCCQE revision notes
MCCQECardiology
Hypertension: Diagnosis and Targets — MCCQE Notes
Diagnostic thresholds depend on how the pressure was measured, and the treatment target depends on the patient. Both are commonly examined.
5 min readTopic Note
MCCQECardiology
Acute Coronary Syndrome: MCCQE Notes
The first decision is STEMI or not, because it changes the clock. Everything else follows from that fork.
6 min readTopic Note
MCCQECardiology
Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction: MCCQE Notes
Four drug classes change mortality and everything else treats symptoms. Knowing which is which answers most questions.
5 min readTopic Note
MCCQERespiratory
Asthma: Diagnosis and Control — MCCQE Notes
Diagnosis needs demonstrated variable airflow obstruction, and escalation decisions are driven by a short list of control questions.
5 min readTopic Note
MCCQERespiratory
COPD: Diagnosis and Exacerbations — MCCQE Notes
Post-bronchodilator spirometry makes the diagnosis, and only three interventions change mortality.
5 min readTopic Note
MCCQERespiratory
Pulmonary Embolism: Work-Up — MCCQE Notes
Pretest probability comes first. Order a D-dimer without it and you have made the problem worse.
5 min readTopic Note
MCCQENeurology
Acute Stroke and TIA: MCCQE Notes
Non-contrast CT first, then the two time windows — thrombolysis and thrombectomy — and the secondary prevention that starts the same admission.
6 min readTopic Note
MCCQEEndocrinology
Type 2 Diabetes: Diagnosis and Management — MCCQE Notes
Four diagnostic tests, an individualised A1C target, and drug choice driven by cardiovascular and renal disease rather than by glucose alone.
6 min readTopic Note
MCCQEEndocrinology
Diabetic Ketoacidosis: MCCQE Notes
Fluid first, then insulin, and never start insulin before you know the potassium.
5 min readTopic Note
MCCQEEndocrinology
Interpreting Thyroid Function Tests: MCCQE Notes
TSH plus free T4 resolves nearly every stem — once you know the four patterns and the two traps.
5 min readTopic Note
MCCQEGastroenterology
Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding: MCCQE Notes
Resuscitate, risk-stratify, scope within 24 hours — and know which patients get antibiotics and a vasoactive drug before the endoscope.
5 min readTopic Note
MCCQEGastroenterology
Complications of Cirrhosis: MCCQE Notes
Ascites, SBP, encephalopathy, varices and hepatorenal syndrome — each with a treatment the exam expects verbatim.
6 min readTopic Note
MCCQEEthics & Public Health
Consent and Capacity: MCCQE Notes
Capacity is decision-specific, not a label on a patient — and in Canada a capable minor can consent for themselves. The two ideas the exam tests hardest.
5 min readTopic Note
MCCQEEthics & Public Health
Confidentiality and the Duty to Warn: MCCQE Notes
Confidentiality is the rule; the exceptions are a short, memorisable list. Knowing which are mandatory and which are discretionary is the whole question.
5 min readTopic Note
MCCQEEthics & Public Health
Preventive Screening in Canada: MCCQE Notes
The CTFPHC recommendations differ from the American ones in ways the exam deliberately targets — breast, cervical and prostate especially.
6 min readTopic Note
MCCQENephrology
Acute Kidney Injury: MCCQE Notes
Pre-renal, renal, post-renal — and an ultrasound plus a urinalysis will usually tell you which.
5 min readTopic Note
MCCQENeurology
First Seizure and Status Epilepticus: MCCQE Notes
A first unprovoked seizure does not automatically mean antiepileptic drugs; status is a timed protocol you should know by heart.
5 min readTopic Note
MCCQEPsychiatry
Delirium versus Dementia: MCCQE Notes
Acute onset with fluctuating attention is delirium until proven otherwise — and it is a medical emergency, not a behavioural problem.
5 min readTopic Note
MCCQEPsychiatry
Depression and Suicide Risk Assessment: MCCQE Notes
Diagnosis by criteria, treatment by evidence, and a risk assessment that asks directly rather than inferring.
5 min readTopic Note
MCCQEObstetrics & Gynaecology
Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: MCCQE Notes
Preeclampsia no longer requires proteinuria, magnesium is for seizures rather than blood pressure, and delivery is the only cure.
6 min readTopic Note
MCCQEObstetrics & Gynaecology
Contraception: Choosing and Counselling — MCCQE Notes
Efficacy in typical use, the absolute contraindications to oestrogen, and emergency contraception — the three things reliably examined.
5 min readTopic Note
MCCQEPaediatrics
Fever in the Young Infant: MCCQE Notes
Under 28 days, fever means a full septic work-up and admission — no exceptions, however well the baby looks.
5 min readTopic Note
MCCQEEmergency Medicine
Acetaminophen Overdose: MCCQE Notes
The nomogram, the eight-hour window, and the King's College criteria — and why a normal patient at four hours proves nothing.
5 min readTopic Note
MCCQEHaematology
Approach to Anaemia: MCCQE Notes
The MCV splits the differential three ways, and the reticulocyte count tells you whether the marrow is trying.
5 min readTopic Note
MCCQEEthics & Public Health
Biostatistics You Actually Need: MCCQE Notes
Sensitivity and specificity, predictive values that move with prevalence, and the difference between relative and absolute risk.
6 min readTopic Note