Introducing the new Certification Examination in Family Medicine

Cal Gutkin

It has been many years in the making, but the CFPC and the Medical Council of Canada (MCC) are pleased to announce that the new Certification Examination in Family Medicine, which harmonizes the CFPC’s Certification examination with the MCC’s Qualifying Examination (MCCQE) Part II, will be launched in the spring of 2013 and will be offered in the spring and fall of each year thereafter. The examination will include a written component—short-answer management problems (SAMPs)—and 2 clinical skills testing components—simulated office orals (SOOs) and objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs). Candidates who challenge and pass this examination and who meet all the other requirements of both organizations will be granted Certification by the CFPC (CCFP) and the Licentiate of the MCC (LMCC).

The new examination provides an opportunity for family medicine candidates to complete the requirements for Part II of the LMCC by sitting 1 rather than 2 examinations. The MCC will still offer the MCCQE Part II as an independent examination for physicians in other disciplines.

Currently, family medicine residents take the MCCQE Part II examination in the fall of their second year and the CCFP examination the following spring. The new examination responds to long-standing requests from those eligible for Certification in Family Medicine in Canada to have our 2 examination bodies try to bring our examination instruments together to help decrease the burden related to cost, travel, time away from training experiences, and the stress related to preparing for and sitting 2 separate examinations. The new examination will achieve these objectives.

The MCC and CFPC must each continue to carry out their responsibilities to ensure that candidates meet their requirements for licensure and Certification, respectively. In keeping with this responsibility, the following policies will help guide the new process.

All candidates will be required to meet the eligibility requirements of both the CFPC and the MCC, including a pass standing on the MCCQE Part I and source verification of required medical credentials. For more information visit www.cfpc.ca/FMExam.
Those residency or practice-eligible candidates seeking CCFP designation who passed the MCCQE Part II in or before spring 2011 will have the opportunity to sit the traditional Certification examination (SAMPs and SOOs with no OSCEs) in the spring and fall of 2013 only. After 2013, all candidates for Certification in Family Medicine will be required to sit the new enhanced examination even if they have previously passed the MCCQE Part II. Candidates who entered residency training in the summer of 2011 without having passed their MCCQE Part II will be required to sit the new Certification examination.
Candidates must pass both the written and clinical skills components of the new examination to be eligible for Certification. Over the years it has become clear that almost all who succeed on the CCFP examination also pass the MCCQE Part II. If a candidate on the new examination is unsuccessful in meeting the standard for Certification, the MCC’s Central Examination Committee will review the candidate’s performance on the clinical skills components to determine if it meets the pass standard of the MCCQE Part II and will decide if the physician can be awarded the LMCC.

The examination fee for candidates in 2013 will be $4600, which meets the commitment of the CFPC and MCC to ensure that the fee for the new harmonized Certification examination does not exceed the total of the combined fees of the CFPC’s Certification examination and the MCCQE Part II when delivered separately. While maintaining this fee, the CFPC and MCC continue to enhance the examination by increasing the number of examination instruments, developing new content, introducing advanced technology to deliver the examination and evaluate and report the results, and committing to hold the examination in as many centres across Canada as are able to accommodate it in order to keep it as close to home for as many candidates as possible. Candidates who sit the new examination will of course experience cost savings by not having to incur travel and other expenses on 2 occasions. As well, a tuition tax credit will now be available for candidates sitting the new Certification examination.

An initial list of the 2013 examination sites is available at www.cfpc.ca/2013_CCFP and will be updated as additional sites are confirmed.

This initiative has been a wonderful opportunity for the MCC and the CFPC to collaborate and build on each other’s strengths. Thanks to the effort, commitment, and skill of the committee and staff members of both organizations, we will soon realize the vision of a new and enhanced examination for family medicine candidates seeking to achieve both their LMCC and their CCFP.

For further information, please visit the website of either the CFPC (www.cfpc.ca) or the MCC (www.mcc.ca).