The medical exams involved in the GP fellowship pathway are difficult and costly and you can only sit them a limited number of times, so it’s essential that you are prepared and ready to take the exams when the time comes. RuralMedEd promotes and advances rural and remote health practice through training, research and collaboration with government and strategic health agencies. Let’s take a deeper look into the fellowship exams and a few ways you can best prepare yourself to achieve great results.
What Are the Exams in the Fellowship Pathway?
There GP fellowship pathway includes 3 examinations:
- KFP (Key Feature Problem) – A 3.5-hour online exam comprising of 26 cases which reflect the RACGP curriculum. This exam focuses on assessing a GP registrar’s clinical reasoning to ensure the individual can recognise or determine the most important features of a clinical problem and choose the most appropriate and effective management strategies for that problem.
- AKT (Applied Knowledge Test) – A three-hour online exam, comprising 150 questions incorporating two different questions types, single best answer questions and extended matching questions. It aims to test the “Knows” part of a candidate’s competency.
- OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Exam) – A practical clinical exam that assesses clinical competencies across a range of practice areas.
All candidates must pass the AKT and KFP before they can do the OSCE.
How to Prepare
Allow yourself sufficient time to prepare and study, around 6-12 months of solid preparation is required. It’s impossible to get ready in the last month before the exam. In the 12 months prior to sitting your exams you should:
Discuss the exams with your practice
This will help to ensure that you will be able to take study leave and have reduced on-call time. Keep in mind however, that seeing patients is one of the best ways to practise for the exams, especially the OSCE.
Set a realistic study plan
Spread out your studies evenly across all areas, don’t focus solely on the areas that you enjoy most. You also need to allow leisure time so you don’t burn out. Once you have set your study goals ensure you stick to them.
Form a study group
Studying with a small group of colleagues enables you to support, motivate and inspire each other, share resources and help each other to improve.
Take advantage of available resources
Murtagh’s books, Therapeutic Guidelines and RACGP guidelines such as the ‘red book’ are essential to have on hand at all times. You can also refer to:
- RACGP public report – these exam reports provide feedback for candidates. This is a useful resource which details where candidates performed well and where they struggled.
- RACGP examinations guide – an overview on how to approach exam questions, and includes examples from previous exams.
- Practice Exams – enrolled candidates have the ability to do an online practice exam.
Attend preparation courses
There are many pre-exam preparation courses you can take which help you become familiar with the structure of the exams, identify areas for improvement and practise your techniques.
At RuralMedEd, we support rural doctors, hospitals, general practices and health students in their learning with a range of exam preparation courses and professional development programs such as advanced life support courses. Home to a team of highly skilled and experienced clinical educators, our aim is to improve health for rural communities through education. For more information on any of our courses get in touch with us online or call us today on (07) 4638 7999.
