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Eligibility

To be eligible to sit the examination, you must be an AFOEM trainee in Stage B training with:

• current general AMC/MCNZ medical registration
• approved registration for the current training period
• an Educational Supervisor
• a minimum of 18 months completed and certified active Stage B training (3 training period)
• your most recent training period certified with all teaching and learning activities and assessments complete
• a relevant University Graduate Diploma (or equivalent) and proof of completion received by the Faculty

You must also have:

• paid all College training fees
• applied by the exam due date

If you have outstanding training fees, you’re ineligible to sit the exam. See College Fees Terms and Conditions.

Exam attempt limit

You cannot continue Advanced Training if you exceed the examination attempt limit based on when you commenced training.

See Progression Through Training Policy for more information about examination attempts.

Overseas trained physicians: Check eligibility requirements with your overseas trained physicians case officer before applying.

Application process

Submit your application

The form will be available here closer to the application date.

Application confirmation

After submitting your application from, we email you to confirm it’s been received. If you don’t get a confirmation email, check your junk/spam folders and contact us if it’s not there.

Payment

Once applications have closed, we email you a link to pay the exam fee and any other outstanding fees.

Final confirmation

You receive a candidate allocation letter via email when your eligibility has been finalised. This confirms your exam registration and venue.

Withdrawal

Withdrawals are not counted as exam attempts. Contact us to withdraw up until the start of the exam. Refund rules apply. See College Fees Terms and Conditions for more information.

To request a refund for withdrawal on medical or compassionate grounds, submit an application form under the Special Consideration for Assessment Policy.

If you withdraw, you can re-apply to sit the exam the following year if you meet the eligibility criteria. Application fees will not be rolled over from one year to another.

Special consideration

During RACP training, unexpected events may affect a trainee’s ability to complete assessments. These events are rare, beyond a trainee’s control, and could impact attending an exam, performing at their best, or undertaking a work-based assessment.

We support trainees by making reasonable adjustments to ensure fair access to assessments. You can apply for special consideration before the exam if you’re affected by:

• permanent or long-term disability
• temporary disability due to medical or other relevant conditions
• pregnancy, lactation and infant feeding needs
• compassionate grounds or serious disruptions
• essential commitments (religious, cultural, societal or legal obligations)

Once an exam starts, we’ll only consider technical or unexpected issues that happen during the exam.

If your preparation’s been affected, it’s best to withdraw - special consideration isn’t available after results are released.

Your exam result won’t be changed due to special circumstances. For details on how to apply and possible outcomes, see the Special Consideration for Assessment Policy.

Submit your request before the deadline using the Special Consideration form (PDF).

Prepare

Exam format

The exam is a summative assessment that tests your clinical skills across domains 10, 20, 50, 60, 80 and 90 of the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Advanced Training Curriculum (PDF).

It consists of:

• 2 x 20-minute Exhibit-Based Assessment (EBA) Stations
• 2 x 15-minute Clinical Stations
• 2 x 30-minute Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) Stations

You are expected to:

• perform a competent clinical examination
• demonstrate competence in taking an occupational health history
• interpret general medical and surgical conditions in the context of occupational settings
• demonstrate competence in areas specific to OEM, such as workplace assessment, health surveillance and industrial hygiene.

Academic integrity

Some actions are seen as attempting to gain an unfair advantage. For example, attempts to:

• find out who examiners are
• contact potential examiners and seek guidance on improving performance
• contact examiners on exam day

These actions are a breach of the Academic Integrity in Training Policy, could lead to your disqualification and affect your progress through training.

Contact us with enquiries before or after the exam.

Exam day

Timetables

The exam timetable is dependent on the number of candidates. 

We'll notify the candidates of the exam timetables as soon as possible after applications close.

Exact times are confirmed in your candidate allocation letter. 

For exam confidentiality, early session candidates will remain on-site until the next group arrives, which may take up to 30 minutes. Mobile phones or any communication device must be off during this time. The Chief Examiner will inform you when you can leave.

Bring

• printed or digital copy of your candidate allocation letter confirming your name, candidate number, session time and venue
• current photo ID with your full name and signature, for example a passport or driver licence – digital IDs are not accepted
• blue or black ballpoint pens (no pencils, gel or felt-tip pens)
• 1 x stethoscope
• 1 x basic analogue watch

Tip: Dress appropriately. Consider the weather conditions, the venue and your comfort while examining patients. You don’t need to wear a suit, but you should look professional.

On sign-in, you receive an ID badge and ID stickers. You'll also get a notepad and pen for note-taking for the OSCE Stations.

Not permitted during the exam

• written material (other than your candidate allocation letter)
• calculators
• electronic devices (including ‘smart’ watches and communication devices)
• food or beverages
• all other belongings (for example, bags)

Clinical assessment equipment is provided at each station. You can't bring your own equipment or aids into the assessment area unless you were granted special consideration before the exam.

During the exam, all mobile phones, smart watches, electronic devices etc must be switched off and placed in your bag. Your bag will be securely stored on-site. If you’re found with one of these devices on you during the exam, an incident report will be completed, you’ll be automatically disqualified and immediately escorted out of the venue.

Completing the exam

You rotate through the stations, each one in a separate room. Invigilators will guide you from station to station. Stations may occur in any order.

An invigilator instructs you when reading time starts and ends, and when to enter the room. Examiners time the overall station length however you should not rely on them to keep pace of your progress.

OSCE stations

The clinical scenario is printed on a laminated sheet, attached by a lanyard under your seat. After this announcement: 'You may now begin reading', you have 5 minutes to read it and familiarise yourself with the scenario. You can make notes on the notepad provided. The same information is also available inside the station. 

The examiners introduce themselves and the simulated patient and provide instructions on the station before starting the timer.

At the 18-minute mark, if you have not already finished the history-taking section, the examiners will indicate for you to stop and move on to their follow-up questions.

At the 26-minute mark, the examiners will move on to the final section of the assessment. This may be presented by the examiners or the simulated patient.

When leaving the station, hand your notes to the examiners and take the notepad with you. The notepad must be handed back to RACP staff at the conclusion of the examination.

Clinical stations

A brief patient description is printed on a laminated sheet, attached by a lanyard under your seat. After this announcement: 'You may now begin reading', you have 2 minutes to read it. The same information is available inside the station.

The examiners introduce themselves and the patient before starting the timer.

At the 10-minute mark, if you haven't already finished examining the patient, the examiners will indicate for you to stop and move on to their follow-up questions.

EBA stations

There is no pre-reading material.

The examiners introduce themselves and provide instructions on the station before starting the timer.

Dependant on your progression through the questions, examiners may move you along in accordance with their instructions to ensure you have time to complete all the questions within the allocated time.

Completing a station early

If you complete a station in under the designated time, an examiner will ask if you have anything to add. If not, you can leave and sit outside the same station until the invigilator instructs you to move on.

You can’t re-enter a station once you’ve left.

Schedule breaks

There are regular breaks in your exam schedule. An invigilator will lead you to a break room. The room contains some mindfulness activities which you may engage with, if desired. 

Inappropriate clinical exams

If you perform an inappropriate physical examination and the patient is at risk of being hurt, the examiners will warn you to modify your technique. If you continue to conduct an inappropriate exam, they'll stop you and move on to the next question.

The examiners can give the physical examination component of the station a 0 score. All other questions are marked on their own merit.

Hand hygiene

To maintain health and safety standards, you must wash or sanitise your hands before and after physical examinations. Alcohol-based hand sanitiser gel is provided either outside or inside the stations.

Roles

Leaving the exam

After the exam is finished and before you depart, the Chief Examiner provides a debrief and notes technical or procedural issues.

Notebooks are collected and personal belongings returned, and you are allowed to leave.

Misadventure

If you arrive up to 30 minutes late, you can attempt the exam, but you won’t get additional time.

If you arrive more than 30 minutes late, you won’t be permitted to enter the exam.

Variation in the exam day procedure is advised in the Chief Examiner’s pre-exam brief. If circumstances require a procedure change during the exam, we give clear instructions.

Issues on exam day

If you experience issues leading up to the exam or on exam day that prevent you from attending, contact us. This may include illness, natural disasters or personal/family issues.

If you arrive up to 30 minutes late, you can attempt the exam but you won’t get additional time.

If you arrive more than 30 minutes late, you won’t be permitted to enter the exam.

Variation in the exam day procedure is advised in the Chief Examiner’s pre-exam brief. If circumstances require a procedure change during the exam, we give clear instructions.

Note: hospitals aren't soundproof, so sound may pass through walls and doors. Efforts are made to minimise impact, and exam staff monitor and address noise levels as needed.

Conduct

Exam materials and content are confidential. You must sign a confidentiality agreement before the exam.

The following is considered academic misconduct:

• removing exam materials from the venue
• wilfully damaging or interfering with a station or equipment
• reproducing or distributing the contents of exam material
• discussing your performance or details of the exam with the ‘patients’, observers, examiners or exam organising member during or after the exam
• communicating exam content with candidates still to sit the exam

For more information, see the Academic Integrity in Training Policy

Results

Marking

Passing a station

For each station, a score is awarded by consensus of 2 examiners.

Clinical Stations scores are determined using the Professional Competencies Rating Scale rubric which incorporates clinical skills and professional behaviours assessment domains.  

The 5 assessment domains are:

• interaction with patient
• examination technique
• examination accuracy
• interpretation and synthesis of physical findings
• investigations

Professional Competencies Rating Scale (Clinical) (PDF)

To pass, candidates must:

• score 15/25 or higher across all domains and
• achieve a minimum score of 3/5 for 'interaction with patient' and at least 2 other domains.

OSCE Stations are assessed using a pre-determined marking guide.

The stations also include a professional competencies rating based on the Professional Competencies Rating Scale rubric. Professional qualities ratings contribute to 30% of the overall station score.  

Professional competencies ratings are determined using a pre-set rating scale our of 25 for:  

• interaction with patient
• history taking technique
• history taking accuracy
• interpretation and synthesis of history findings
• investigations/management

Professional Competencies Rating Scale (OSCE) (PDF)

The pass marks for the questions are determined using the Modified Angoff method which is based on the assessment of the exam by subject matter experts.

The pass mark for each OSCE Station varies according to the difficulty of the station.

EBA Stations are assessed using a pre-determined marking guide. 

The pass marks for the questions are determined using the Modified Angoff method which is based on the assessment of the exam by subject matter experts.

The pass mark for each EBA Station varies according to the difficulty of the station

Passing the exam

To pass the exam, you must pass at least 4 stations, including:

• 1 x Exhibit-Based Assessment (EBA) Station
• 1 x Clinical Station
• 1 x Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) Station

The RACP reviews the examination performance statistics prior to the release of results. The performance of the examination stations is analysed, and the pass mark reviewed to determine each candidate’s result. During this process, one or more questions may be removed from the examination and the pass mark adjusted accordingly.

See previous exam pass rates.

Results email

You receive an email with your exam result. Results include a general summary of the candidate performance for each question. Ensure we have your current email address and contact number. Contact us if you don’t receive the email.

All candidates also receive a copy of the general feedback which provides an overview of key strengths and weaknesses of responses to each question across the entire cohort. See:

Feedback Report 2022 (PDF)
Feedback Report 2023 (PDF)
Feedback Report 2024 (PDF)

In addition to the feedback, we now provide more personalised feedback to unsuccessful candidates to help them prepare for a re-attempt. They receive a summary of their strengths and weaknesses on the stations they didn't pass, based on examiner feedback.

Next steps

To progress to Stage C Training, you must pass this exam and:

• pass the AFOEM Stage B Written Examination
• complete your year of training including all other training requirements in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Training Program handbook

Refer to the eligibility criteria and exam attempts set out in the Progression through Training Policy and the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Training Program handbook