More hot-off-the-press Knowledge Based Assessment news from PMETB follows…
This email provides details of the new Specialty Certificate Examinations (formerly called Knowledge Based Assessments or KBAs), where they will be held, what the enrolment procedures are, and contact details for further information.
If trainees began specialty training in or after August 2007 and is in the following specialty*, they need to take the Specialty Certificate Examination in their specialty as a compulsory component of assessment for the Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) on their way to becoming a Consultant, although these exams can also be taken by those whose training started earlier.
*This applies to the following specialties:
• Acute Medicine
• Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology & Diabetes
• Gastroenterology
• Geriatric Medicine
• Infectious Diseases
• Medical Oncology
• Nephrology
• Neurology
• Respiratory Medicine
• Rheumatology
Role of Specialty Certificate Examinations
After successfully piloting the Specialty Certificate Examinations (SCEs) in several of the above specialties, the Federation of Royal Colleges of Physicians of the UK, in partnership with medical Specialist Societies, has now launched the SCEs. The SCEs play an essential role in the overall educational experience and continuing professional development of trainees in the United Kingdom. They also provide a professional standard against which Physicians working outside the United Kingdom can measure their level of attainment. They are designed to assess a candidate’s knowledge and understanding of the clinical sciences relevant to specialist medical practice, and of common or important disorders, to a level appropriate for a newly appointed Consultant.
The aim of the SCEs is to identify those who, having undertaken a period of specialty training, have acquired the necessary professional knowledge and problem-solving skills essential for independent specialist practice. However, success in the SCE alone is not a sufficient requirement for specialist registration; the SCEs are intended to complement workplace-based assessments of professional competence.
Eligibility
All UK and overseas trainees who have obtained MRCP(UK) are eligible to take an SCE. UK trainees who are in a specialty training post but do not hold the MRCP(UK) are also eligible.
Format
The SCEs follow the MRCP(UK) examination format, comprising two 3-hour papers each containing 100 ‘best-of-five’ questions, and are conducted as computer-based tests (CBT). Each SCE is held once each year, in several centres throughout the UK and overseas.
Certificate
Candidates who pass the examination will be awarded a ‘Certificate’ in the specialty concerned. All those with a Specialty Certificate and MRCP(UK) who are recommended to PMETB by the JRCPTB for a CCT will be entitled to apply for the post-nominal ‘MRCP(Specialty)’.
Specialty Certificate Examination dates
Following on from an SCE in Gastroenterology that took place successfully on 24 June 2008, dates for the following SCEs have now been set:
SCE Geriatric Medicine
Exam Date 04 March 2009
Registration 12 Jan – 09 Feb 2009
SCE Nephrology
Exam Date 18 March 2009
Registration 26 Jan – 23 Feb 2009
SCE Respiratory Medicine
Exam Date 22 April 2009
Registration 02 Mar – 31 Mar 2009
SCE Endocrinology & Diabetes
Exam Date 20 May 2009
Registration 23 Mar – 24 Apr 2009
Dates for SCEs in other specialties will be added as they are confirmed.
For further details on the SCEs, go to: http://www.mrcpuk.org/KBA/Pages/Home.aspx (these pages will be updated with the SCE name shortly) .
To express interest in sitting an SCE, candidates will need to send us:
• their full name
• their email address
• their specialty
• their RCP Code number
to mailto:kba.queries@mrcpuk.org
We would be very grateful if you could disseminate this information to all of your local trainers. Please do contact us if you have any queries: mailto:kba.queries@mrcpuk.org
