MRCPsych Examination Research Articles

Guidelines on Formulating a case for the MRCPsych Examination

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Guidelines on formulating a case for the MRCPsych Examination

Guidelines on formulating a case for the MRCPsych Examination

Objectives in Psychiatric Teaching

There has been a recent upsurge of ‘educationalism’ in the field of psychiatry which, as a trainee, I would like to comment upon. The Cambridge conference on education and training (Bulletin, June 1982, 6, 105; 107) briefly considered the option of educational objectives as a way of planning, monitoring and assessing a training scheme. Others have called on the College to issue a syllabus for the MRCPsych Examination (Bulletin, November 1981, 5, 215), and Dr R. Symonds of the Southern Division has presented a syllabus for in-service training which is adapted from a Canadian model. All these suggestions suffer from drawbacks, but some are more appropriate to the needs of trainees than others. Each is trying to tackle the same problem: to fill in the educational gaps which all trainees have, some more than others, and which frequently go undetected until the exam. Such elementary skills as mental state examination and interview skills are often poorly taught.

Objectives in Psychiatric Teaching

There has been a recent upsurge of ‘educationalism’ in the field of psychiatry which, as a trainee, I would like to comment upon. The Cambridge conference on education and training (Bulletin, June 1982, 6, 105; 107) briefly considered the option of educational objectives as a way of planning, monitoring and assessing a training scheme. Others have called on the College to issue a syllabus for the MRCPsych Examination (Bulletin, November 1981, 5, 215), and Dr R. Symonds of the Southern Division has presented a syllabus for in-service training which is adapted from a Canadian model. All these suggestions suffer from drawbacks, but some are more appropriate to the needs of trainees than others. Each is trying to tackle the same problem: to fill in the educational gaps which all trainees have, some more than others, and which frequently go undetected until the exam. Such elementary skills as mental state examination and interview skills are often poorly taught.

The Collegiate Trainees Committee and the MRCPsych Examination

Since its inception in the late summer of 1979 the Collegiate Trainees Committee has devoted considerable time to discussing the present and future status and organization of the MRCPsych Examination. The following is a summary of the views of the Committee as collated by its Examination Working Party.

The Collegiate Trainees Committee and the MRCPsych Examination

Since its inception in the late summer of 1979 the Collegiate Trainees Committee has devoted considerable time to discussing the present and future status and organization of the MRCPsych Examination. The following is a summary of the views of the Committee as collated by its Examination Working Party.

The MRCPsych Examination—A Consumer Survey

Few postgraduate medical examinations have attracted so much comment and criticism as the MRCPsych. The main participants in the debate have been the College and its various training sub-committees, and APIT which has always been opposed to the MRCPsych examination in principle (Bulletin, April 1979). In a recent Newsletter (March, 1980) APIT stated that only 5 out of 90 trainees in their 1979 survey felt that passing the MRCPsych examination proved that one is a competent psychiatrist. It felt that the examination had ‘crystallized’, with no fundamental changes despite a number of Examination Forums held by the College. Radical changes in order to improve the examination were therefore advocated.

General professional training in psychiatry in the South-west Thames Region.

General professional training in psychiatry usually requires a minimum of three years' in-service training in senior house officer and registrar posts, leading to membership of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (MRCPsych) by examination. In 1974 the postgraduate dean of this region and his adviser from the Royal College of Psychiatrists set up a psychiatric subcommittee of the regional postgraduate medical committee, to consider and advise on the planning of training in psychiatry in the region. At that time, four clinical tutors ran well-known weekend and week-long block release courses which took place every six months, either at Brookwood psychiatric hospital or at the University of Surrey, in addition to their local teaching responsibilities. These courses were intended to prepare candidates for the professional examination, which occurred twice yearly. In addition one of the tutors had organised a two-term day release basic medical science course for Part A of the Diploma of Psychological Medicine (which be came also suitable for the preliminary MRCPsych examination). Early on, the subcommittee recommended the setting up of a regional two-year day release course (consisting of six seven-week terms), which was designed to equip candidates for the final part of the MRCPsych examination. After two years the entire course was held at St George's Hospital Medical

Diagnostic Formulation in the MRCPsych Examination

Diagnostic Formulation in the MRCPsych Examination

Diagnostic Formulation in the MRCPsych Examination

Diagnostic Formulation in the MRCPsych Examination

The Scribe's Column

There have been some complaints that the term ‘diagnostic formulation’ has caused difficulties to examiners and candidates for the MRCPsych Examination, and APIT have recently written an open letter to the chief examiner about this (Bulletin, April, p. 67). This has caused me to think about the problem, and to jot down a few thoughts (most of which I may say I have stolen from other people). Initially examination candidates were expected to submit a formulation in writing, but this is no longer the case. Examiners, however, still expect a brief diagnostic formulation. I have therefore summarized four accounts of ‘formulation’.