The new exam will better reflect contemporary assessment principles for GPs working towards Fellowship.
A transitional assessment is already in development for November’s exam period, before an entirely new clinical exam more closely aligned with contemporary assessment frameworks and theories is revealed in 2021.
The RACGP has also indicated it is considering enhancements to the delivery of the Applied Knowledge Test (AKT) and Key Feature Problem (KFP) exam. However, while the mode of exam delivery may change, the content and format of the AKT and KFP will remain the same.
The RACGP has been coordinating the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) for almost 25 years, with the format and delivery of 14 highly structured clinical cases conducted with examiners and role-players not fundamentally changing in that time.
But restrictions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic have made it impossible to reliably hold the OSCE in its current format, with the requirement for several hundred examiners, candidates and support staff to gather in confined spaces no longer feasible.
As such, the RACGP has taken the opportunity to prioritise existing plans to replace the OSCE to ensure a new clinical exam focuses on competency and is more educationally aligned to what GPs working towards Fellowship are learning.
A working group was set up in 2019 to help with the project, and advisory committees and external stakeholders have long been providing their input into what future clinical exams should look like.
The process is being spearheaded by the RACGP’s General Manager of Education Services, Dr Genevieve Yates, who has considerable experience as an RACGP examiner and censor. Dr Yates is supported by the inaugural Chair of the National Faculty for GPs in Training, Dr Krystyna de Lange, Acting Censor-in-Chief, Dr Tess Van Duuren, and National Clinical Lead of Assessment, Dr Gary Butler.
The Practice Experience Program Entrance Assessment and the Candidate Assessment Applied Knowledge Test (CAAKT) – for PEP and AGPT entry, respectively – are planned to be delivered remotely in 2020.
The RACGP acknowledges the significant impact these changes will have on GPs in training and indicates it will work with Training Organisations (TOs) and those affected directly.
Plans for the November assessment will be confirmed in the coming weeks, and the RACGP has said its priority will be to communicate changes to all those enrolled or looking to enrol in the forthcoming clinical exam.
The article was originally published by newsGP and is reproduced with its permission.
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