NOTES ON THE CLINICAL VIVA

The clinical viva is unique in its organisation. Each of the examiners' information sheets contains three topics; a clinical scenario, a critical incident and a further clinical topic (which is not necessarily related to the previous questions). It is usual to be asked questions on all three areas but occasionally, time will not allow progress onto the third. In the examples that follow, each specimen viva is broken up into its component parts as an illustrative exercise. The examiners' notes on the critical incident are brief and there will therefore be a degree of variability in the way these events are introduced.