The Intercollegiate Exam

Past Present and Future

ASSOCIATION OF COLOPROCTOLOGY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND

M62 COLOPROCTOLOGY COURSE30th-31st March 2006

Why ?

An examination at this stage in training

Past

• Examination only in General Surgery

• Taken by Senior Registrars

• Almost no one failed

• Examiners largely untrained

• Questions diverse and unregulated

• No sub specialty component

Present Examination

• Taken after satisfactory 4th year RITA

• General Surgery and Subspecialty

• Examiners all trained

• Questions and answers decided on before

• Three attempts before need Post Grad Dean

Present Examination

• Academic Viva -2 papers Gen and specialty

• Emergency surgery and critical care oral

• General surgery and Subspecialty oral

• General Clinical

• Sub Specialty Clinical

Present Examination

• Marking range 4-8

• Academic 2 papers 6

• Emergency surgery /critical care 6

• General Surgery/Subspecialty 6

• General Clinical 6

• Subspecialty Clinical 6

• Must pass the Clinicals with12 Total=30

Challenges

• EWTD and shortened training/Gender

• New curriculum

• Government requirements

• PMETB regulation

• Specialty Associations

• Demands for separate SAC-Breast,Vascular

• Dinosaurs

Future Examination

• Educational Review

• Starts in November

• Test of Knowledge-MCQ and EMI

• Blueprinted on the new curriculum

• Pilot exam 16th of June 2006

• You must pass the MCQ before proceeding to the clinical

Future Examination

• Fully trained examiners

• each section individually and anonymously marked total no.of marks doubled

• Content will be decided before the examination

• Pass mark will be decided by Angoff techniques

GENERAL SPECIALTY

• A clinical paper • Scenario based orals• Critical Care • Surgical process• Emergency surgery• General Clinical

• Classic paper• Tertiary Referral case• Specialty specific

investigations and techniques

• Specialty clinical

Present problem

• No recognition of Specialty legally

• Exam can allow pass and practice even when you fail some of subspecialty you will be working in

• May have been in Specialty for so many years General surgery distant memory

Solution

• Recognise changing training pathways

• Separate the components

• Award different degrees

• Allow flexibility to change course

• increase length of time of the exam

• Move to in house assessment?

Goal

• FRCS General

• FRCS Colorectal