CSA EXAM FEEDBACK, APRIL 2012.

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What does our RCGP say about our performance in CSA April 2012?
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                CSA EXAM FEEDBACK  - APRIL 2012.

This feedback is designed to help both GP Educators and candidates in their preparation for the CSA.  Areas addressed include examination statistics, specific candidate issues and feedback from the case management group

1) Examination statistics

The Spring CSA diet remains the most popular diet of the year, particularly for first time exam takers.  The CSA ran for a record 28 days in January, February and March 2012.   2074 candidates were examined in total, 92.5% of whom were first time takers. 

The overall pass rate for all candidates was 71.8%.  

Some technical problems were encountered with the booking process for the Spring diet due to the high volume of bookings in the initial few hours.  A new methodology has been piloted for the May 2012 diet, and these problems appear to have been ironed out.

A detailed annual report on examinations held during 2011/12 will be available later in the year

2) Specific Candidate Issues

Case leakage 

During the Spring CSA diet it became apparent to examiners that there was some leakage of case details between candidates sitting the exam on subsequent days.  This was entirely detrimental to the performance of those candidates involved.  A unique palette of 13 cases is chosen for every day of the exam diet.  

Candidates sitting on subsequent days are NOT going to see the same selection of cases. However, there are several cases within the case bank in the same clinical area, each with a slightly different focus or challenge.  Candidates who ‘guess’ the case rather than responding to the concerns of the role player often get the focus of the case wrong and perform badly.

Please do not discuss the details of your cases with your colleagues as it likely to put them at a disadvantage and it is contrary to the Examination Regulations. 

The penalties for candidates who disregard this warning are described in a document entitled Guidance on the Conduct of Assessments and may result in disqualification: http://www.rcgp-curriculum.org.uk/docs/Exams_Guidance%20on%20the%20conduct%20of%20assessments%20for%20MRCGP.doc 

  

3) Feedback from the case management group

The CSA case bank contains approximately 600 live cases so providing feedback on individual cases would not be practical.  However, it is possible to provide global feedback on cases based on their Curriculum area and we hope you will find this useful for preparation. 

Genetics in Primary Care:

Despite the fact that at least 1 in 10 patients seen in UK primary care has a disorder with a genetic component, genetics cases consistently pose a high level of challenge to candidates.  

Examples might include: 

·         Prenatal counselling where a couple believe they are at risk of having a child with a single gene disorder such as Sickle cell disease.

·         A woman concerned about the significance of a family history of colon cancer requesting a colonoscopy.

   Most of the cases require the ability to construct a simple family tree, recognise basic patterns of inheritance, communicate risk effectively and refer onto additional specialist services when required. Extensive knowledge of individual rare genetic disorders is not needed to pass.

Examination cases:

Examination skills are tested within the data gathering domain of the CSA.  Not all CSA cases require an examination, so candidates should only offer to perform one where it is clinically indicated.  In cases where an examination is appropriate the candidate may be assessed in 1 or 2 ways; 

1) Choice of examination

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To Your Success,

Hema xoxo.