EDAIC Part 1 Paper B: Topics, Format and Study Plan

EDAIC Part 1 Paper B is the clinical half of the written examination, but “clinical” does not mean a collection of local protocols. The current ESAIC Diploma Guide says Paper B includes internal and emergency medicine, general anaesthesia, regional anaesthesia, special anaesthesia including pain, and intensive care medicine.

The paper uses the same multiple true/false structure as Paper A: 60 stems under the current guide, each followed by five statements that must be judged independently. The Part I examination page states that there is no negative marking and candidates should answer all responses.

This article provides a study framework without giving clinical management advice, inventing topic weights or turning a practice score into a guaranteed result. Current guidelines and your official ESAIC materials should decide changing clinical facts.

What makes Paper B difficult

Paper B combines breadth with precision. A candidate may recognise a scenario from work but still miss:

• a population or timing qualifier;
• the distinction between association and recommendation;
• a mechanism shared with Paper A;
• a contraindication or limitation;
• an exception in a special population;
• the difference between an international principle and a local workflow.

Clinical experience is valuable context, but it is not a complete study method. What happens routinely in one hospital can reflect local resources or policy. Build exam knowledge from authoritative sources and use clinical cases to organise it.

The Paper A and Paper B format guide explains the shared mechanics. The MTF strategy guide shows how to separate the five decisions.

The official Paper B map

ESAIC names broad categories rather than guaranteeing a fixed number of questions in each. Use them as top-level folders and create subtopics from the current curriculum, reading list, training requirements and your error data.

Internal and emergency medicine

This domain connects perioperative assessment with acute and chronic disease. Organise learning by physiological system and by the implications of disease, rather than memorising disconnected diagnoses.

A study prompt might ask you to compare:

• stable disease and acute deterioration;
• physiological finding and clinical consequence;
• diagnostic characteristic and management principle;
• organ dysfunction and anaesthetic implication;
• time-sensitive emergency and routine preparation.

Use current authoritative guidance for facts that change. This article does not prescribe treatment.

General anaesthesia

Build a continuous perioperative map: assessment, planning, induction, maintenance, monitoring, emergence, recovery and postoperative complications. Connect each stage to physiology, pharmacology, equipment and patient factors.

For every topic, be able to state:

1. the purpose of the intervention or decision;
2. the relevant mechanism;
3. the important patient or procedural modifiers;
4. the major limitation or risk;
5. the evidence or guideline source where currency matters.

This structure prevents revision from becoming a long list of drug doses or local routines.

Regional anaesthesia

Link functional anatomy, pharmacology, technique principles, monitoring, indications, limitations and complications at the examination level. Paper A knowledge should support Paper B decisions here.

Study with diagrams and comparisons. Reconstruct anatomy without the page, explain how a block concept relates to distribution and identify which condition changes a statement. Do not reproduce a memorised procedural recipe without understanding.

Special anaesthesia and pain

“Special” areas can include different age groups, physiological states, surgical settings and pain topics within the breadth expected of an anaesthesiologist. Avoid studying them as isolated mini-specialties.

Use a consistent comparison template:

• altered physiology;
• altered pharmacology;
• assessment priorities;
• procedural context;
• monitoring considerations;
• common conceptual traps;
• current authoritative source.

The template reduces cognitive load while keeping important differences visible.

Intensive care medicine

Intensive care connects organ support, acute physiology, monitoring, infection, nutrition, communication and outcome concepts. Study it as an integrated system rather than a catalogue of protocols.

The Paper B intensive-care guide maps this area in greater detail. When a guideline or definition can change, check the issuing organisation and version rather than learning an undated summary.

Use cases as indexing tools

A case can organise many syllabus concepts, but it should not become a rehearsal of one hospital's management.

After reading a case, create four lists:

1. known facts: information explicitly given;
2. mechanisms: physiology and pharmacology that explain the state;
3. decision variables: features that would change an assertion;
4. linked domains: other Paper B and Paper A subjects involved.

Then write retrieval prompts. For example, rather than recording “read chapter on thoracic anaesthesia”, ask which physiological relationships, monitoring principles and patient factors must be explained from memory.

Cases also help with interleaving. One scenario may connect respiratory physiology, drugs, monitoring, equipment and intensive care. That integration resembles clinical reasoning while preserving the independent MTF judgement required by the exam.

Start with a Paper B diagnostic

Use a short mixed set covering several broad domains. Do not revise specifically for it and do not look up answers during the attempt.

For every statement, record:

• domain and subtopic;
• answer and confidence;
• correct or incorrect;
• why the statement is true or false;
• source used for verification;
• error cause;
• next review date.

Classify errors:

• missing knowledge;
• outdated knowledge;
• confused populations or contexts;
• mechanism not understood;
• qualifier missed;
• imported local protocol;
• unsupported answer change;
• fatigue or pacing.

A diagnostic is a sampling tool, not a pass forecast. Try 10 EDAIC questions free — no card required — through AnesCORE registration, then use the explanations to identify what needs authoritative follow-up.

Build a Paper B source hierarchy

Clinical information varies in stability. Use sources accordingly.

Level 1: official examination framework

Use the current ESAIC Guide and Part I page for paper structure, broad scope, entry rules and examination instructions.

Level 2: comprehensive clinical reference

Use an established anaesthesia or intensive-care reference to explain concepts, relationships and context.

Level 3: current authoritative guidance

For guidelines, definitions and recommendations that evolve, use the relevant professional society or official publisher. Record the version and date.

Level 4: concise revision material

Use summaries to retrieve and compare established concepts, not to override current primary guidance.

Level 5: question explanations

Use them to expose gaps and direct study. Investigate when they conflict with a stronger or newer source.

The best books and resources guide can help assign these jobs. The ESAIC preparation page lists official support tools and samples.

A 12-week Paper B framework

This is a flexible study pattern, not an official timetable. Continue Paper A work throughout.

Weeks 1–2: inventory and diagnostic

• map the official broad categories;
• list existing sources and their roles;
• complete several small mixed sets;
• identify neglected and high-error domains;
• build an error taxonomy;
• reserve weekly Paper A time.

Do not choose topics solely by comfort or clinical rotation.

Weeks 3–5: general anaesthesia and medicine links

Use perioperative stages to organise concepts. Integrate internal-medicine implications and emergency principles. Pair every reading block with closed-book retrieval and a short MTF set.

At the end of each week, mix older topics into the questions. Focused-set improvement can disappear when the topic label is removed.

Weeks 6–8: regional, special areas and pain

Use comparison tables and case-linked prompts. Connect anatomy and pharmacology from Paper A. Rotate populations and contexts so that one interesting subspecialty does not consume the entire block.

Weeks 9–10: intensive care integration

Map acute physiology, monitoring and support concepts across organ systems. Use current sources for definitions and recommendations. Include clinical scenarios without writing prescriptive treatment notes.

Week 11: mixed timed work

Use longer Paper B sets under the timing for your delivery format. Track domain balance, unanswered responses, confidence and repeated errors.

Week 12: consolidation

Reduce new reading. Revisit difficult comparisons, delayed retrieval, high-confidence errors and mixed sets. Coordinate both papers through the final-month revision guide.

A sustainable weekly pattern

For a resident working clinical shifts, a week might contain:

• one general-anaesthesia concept session;
• one internal or emergency-medicine connection;
• one regional or special-anaesthesia session;
• one intensive-care session;
• one mixed Paper B question-and-review block;
• one cumulative error review;
• protected Paper A sessions elsewhere in the schedule.

Duration matters less than repeatability and quality. A 30-minute session can be useful when it contains retrieval, five to ten carefully reviewed statements and a scheduled revisit. Passive reading after a long call may create little durable learning.

The busy EDAIC study-plan guide offers a wider planning framework. Adjust around real rota constraints rather than borrowing an unrealistic online timetable.

Integrate guidelines without drowning in updates

Candidates need awareness of important current literature, as the Diploma Guide notes, but “read every guideline” is not a plan.

Use a guideline ledger:

Do not copy large recommendation tables into notes. Extract the conceptual distinction you need, then verify it against the source during review.

Connect Paper A and Paper B

The two-paper division is administrative; knowledge is connected.

Examples of useful bridges include:

• physiology to perioperative risk and organ support;
• pharmacokinetics to altered patient states;
• anatomy to regional concepts;
• physics to monitoring and equipment;
• statistics to interpreting clinical evidence.

Create a “bridge” field in the error log. When a Paper B error is caused by missing Paper A knowledge, schedule the mechanism before repeating similar clinical statements.

This also prevents a false sense of security from familiar clinical words. If you cannot explain the underlying principle, nuanced statements remain vulnerable.

Practise each statement independently

For each statement:

1. combine it with the stem;
2. translate it into a precise proposition;
3. identify the deciding fact or mechanism;
4. test the qualifier and context;
5. answer true or false;
6. move on without forcing a pattern across A–E.

All five statements can share the same truth value under the official format. Do not change a reasoned answer because the row “looks unlikely”.

The current Part I page says candidates should answer all responses because there is no negative marking. Your active-year instructions still prevail.

Measure breadth, not just averages

An overall practice percentage can hide untouched domains. Track:

• fresh mixed performance by broad category;
• number of domains sampled recently;
• repeated high-confidence errors;
• delayed retrieval success;
• guideline currency checks completed;
• pacing stability;
• Paper A/Paper B balance.

Use the EDAIC question bank to filter and mix domains, but avoid interpreting one platform's score as an ESAIC pass mark. ESAIC explains that its paper pass marks are determined through the examination process.

When evaluating AnesCORE plans, look for the functions your system needs: explanations, realistic MTF practice, weak-area signals, spaced review and mock conditions. No subscription can guarantee a pass.

Common Paper B mistakes

Studying only from local protocols

Protocols are designed for local care, resources and governance. They may not map directly to an international knowledge examination.

Treating clinical exposure as retrieval

Seeing a condition does not prove that definitions, mechanisms and qualifiers can be stated accurately.

Ignoring current-source dates

An old summary may preserve a superseded definition or recommendation. Record versions where currency matters.

Focusing only on intensive care or only on anaesthesia

Paper B is broad. Your rotation should not decide the whole study plan.

Reviewing only wrong questions

Correct low-confidence responses can be guesses. Review them before they become false confidence.

Forgetting Paper A

Both papers must be passed and many clinical statements depend on basic science.

Frequently asked questions

What subjects are in EDAIC Paper B?

The current Diploma Guide names internal and emergency medicine, general anaesthesia, regional anaesthesia, special anaesthesia including pain, and intensive care medicine.

How many questions are in Paper B?

The current Guide describes 60 MTF stems, each with five independently true-or-false responses. Verify the active-year format and regulations.

Should I study from clinical guidelines?

Use current authoritative guidance where recommendations or definitions evolve, but connect each document to a syllabus concept and retrieval prompt rather than collecting files.

Is intensive care the whole of Paper B?

No. Intensive care is one broad category alongside general, regional and special anaesthesia, pain, internal medicine and emergency medicine.

Can my clinical experience replace question practice?

No. Experience provides context, while MTF practice trains precise independent judgements, qualifier detection, retrieval and pacing.

Can Paper B compensate for Paper A?

No. The current Diploma Guide states that both papers must be passed to pass Part I.

Sources and official links

• ESAIC Diploma Guide
• ESAIC Part I examination page
• ESAIC: How to prepare for the exam
• ESAIC: Study like a Pro

Use cases to connect the syllabus, then test every statement independently. Browse the AnesCORE blog or try 10 EDAIC questions free — no card required.