nMRCGP - finding your way through the maze!

 

nMRCGP has come with a whole new load of acronyms, assessments and deadlines, which you have to master.

 

There are three formative and summative elements (click to download):

• Workplace-Based Assessment (WPBA)
• Applied Knowledge Test (AKT)
• Clinical Skills Assessment (CSA)

 

 

Each of these is independent and tests different skills but together they cover the curriculum for specialty training in general practice.  Evidence for the workplace-based assessment is collected in the e-portfolio of each GP Registrar.

 

The Applied Knowledge Test (AKT) is a summative assessment of the knowledge base. The test takes the form of a three-hour multiple-choice test of 200 items. 

Approximately 80% of question items will be on clinical medicine, 10% on critical appraisal and evidence based clinical practice and 10% on health informatics and administrative issues. Questions focus mainly on higher order problem solving rather than just the simple recall of basic facts.

 

The Clinical Skills Assessment (CSA) is ‘an assessment of a doctor’s ability to integrate and apply clinical, professional, communication and practical skills appropriate for general practice’. Each candidate is allocated a consulting room and has 13 consultations, each of 10 minutes. Twelve of these are assessed; the 13th is a pilot case. Patients are played by role-players who have been trained and calibrated to perform their role in a consistent manner. Candidates’ performance on each consultation is graded Clear Pass, Marginal Pass, Marginal Fail or Clear Fail by assessors who observe the consultations.

 

Workplace based assessment (WPBA) is defined as the evaluation of a doctor’s progress over time in their performance in those areas of professional practice best tested in the workplace. It is a process through which evidence of competence in independent practice is gathered in a structured and systematic framework. Evidence is collected over all three years of training. The evidence is recorded in a web-based portfolio (the e-Portfolio) and used to inform six monthly reviews and, at the end of training, to make a holistic, qualitative judgement about the readiness of the GPStR for independent practice.

 

The WPBA tools are (click to download):

• Case-based Discussion
• Consultation Observation Tool (in primary care only)
• Multi-Source Feedback
• Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire  (in primary care only)
• Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (in hospital posts)
• Clinical Evaluation Exercise (Mini-CEX)   (in hospital posts)
• Clinical Supervisors Report (in hospital posts).