CICM First Part viva practice
The CICM First Part vivas test intensive care basic sciences — physiology, pharmacology and measurement applied to the ICU, built out loud under ten minutes of structured questioning. Below is every area you can drill on Viva Station, grouped the way the syllabus is. Each links to a page on how that topic tends to be examined — then you can sit a timed spoken station on it.
Practise this out loud with an AI examiner. Your first 2 stations are free.
Physiology
Respiratory physiology
A common opener. Examiners usually start wide — ventilation, gas exchange, the control of breathing — then push toward the mechanism behind whatever you led with. It helps to have a curve or a diagram you can talk through rather than a list to recite.
Cardiovascular physiology
Heavily examined. Expect a broad opening that narrows fast into control mechanisms — the baroreflex, the determinants of cardiac output, how preload and contractility fit together. A few governing relationships you can reason from are worth more than trying to recall everything.
Renal physiology and acid-base
In a renal physiology and acid-base viva, examiners want an ordered answer built out loud under time — a framework you can defend under prompting beats breadth recited flat.
Neurophysiology
Easier to handle if you separate the levels — cellular, pathway, whole-system — and say which one you're answering at. Autonomic control, cerebral blood flow and pain pathways come up often. A framework matters more than breadth.
Fluids and electrolytes
Often examined through a disturbance — a sodium or potassium problem — and how the body defends against it. The examiner is usually checking whether your reasoning is ordered and safe, not whether you can list every cause.
Gastrointestinal, hepatic and nutrition physiology
In a gastrointestinal, hepatic and nutrition physiology viva, examiners want an ordered answer built out loud under time — a framework you can defend under prompting beats breadth recited flat.
Endocrine and metabolic physiology
In a endocrine and metabolic physiology viva, examiners want an ordered answer built out loud under time — a framework you can defend under prompting beats breadth recited flat.
Haematology and immunology
In a haematology and immunology viva, examiners want an ordered answer built out loud under time — a framework you can defend under prompting beats breadth recited flat.
Thermoregulation and cellular physiology
In a thermoregulation and cellular physiology viva, examiners want an ordered answer built out loud under time — a framework you can defend under prompting beats breadth recited flat.
Pharmacology
Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics
In a pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics viva, examiners want an ordered answer built out loud under time — a framework you can defend under prompting beats breadth recited flat.
Sedatives and analgesics in ICU
In a sedatives and analgesics in icu viva, examiners want an ordered answer built out loud under time — a framework you can defend under prompting beats breadth recited flat.
Neuromuscular blocking agents
In a neuromuscular blocking agents viva, examiners want an ordered answer built out loud under time — a framework you can defend under prompting beats breadth recited flat.
Vasoactive and inotropic drugs
In a vasoactive and inotropic drugs viva, examiners want an ordered answer built out loud under time — a framework you can defend under prompting beats breadth recited flat.
Antimicrobials
In a antimicrobials viva, examiners want an ordered answer built out loud under time — a framework you can defend under prompting beats breadth recited flat.
Anticoagulants and antiplatelet drugs
In a anticoagulants and antiplatelet drugs viva, examiners want an ordered answer built out loud under time — a framework you can defend under prompting beats breadth recited flat.
Miscellaneous ICU pharmacology
In a miscellaneous icu pharmacology viva, examiners want an ordered answer built out loud under time — a framework you can defend under prompting beats breadth recited flat.
Measurement & equipment
Monitoring and clinical measurement
In a monitoring and clinical measurement viva, examiners want an ordered answer built out loud under time — a framework you can defend under prompting beats breadth recited flat.
Ventilators and respiratory equipment
In a ventilators and respiratory equipment viva, examiners want an ordered answer built out loud under time — a framework you can defend under prompting beats breadth recited flat.
Renal replacement technology
In a renal replacement technology viva, examiners want an ordered answer built out loud under time — a framework you can defend under prompting beats breadth recited flat.
Statistics and research methods
Study design, reading data, and the basis of evidence. A steady way of interpreting a result — what it shows and what it doesn't — turns this into marks.
Sit a CICM First Part station.
Your first 2 stations are free. Email sign-in, no password, no card — just you and the examiner.
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