Sense of Timing ⏰

One of the biggest reasons trainees lose marks in SCA?
Starting management too late.

In the examiner feedback, poor time management / management started too late was one of the most frequent fail themes in clinical management, showing up in 64.8% of cases reviewed. A consistent Clinitalk tip is to aim to start management by 6–7 minutes in an SCA style consultation. In your live consultations that means leaving at least 5 minutes to disuss management.
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Try this this week:
1️⃣ Let the patient speak early
Give them a proper opening minute.

2️⃣ Switch deliberately to focused questions
Don’t stay in data gathering too long.

3️⃣ Aim to transition by 6–7 minutes / leave at least 5 minutes to discuss management
You need enough time to explain, share options, safety-net, and arrange follow-up.

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Useful transition lines:
“So far, I think I’ve got a good picture of what’s been happening.”

“I’m just going to ask a couple of focused questions, then we can talk through what  we should do next.”

“Let me summarise what I’ve heard, and then we’ll make a plan together.”

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Common mistake:
❌ Reaching minute 8 or 9 and only then starting management.
That often leads to rushed explanations, weak shared decision making, and thin safety-netting — all common examiner concerns
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This week’s challenge:
Listen back to 2 consultations.
Did you spend at least 5 minutes on management?
In SCA style cases do you start management by minute 6-7?

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