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Eligibility

With this limited roll out, if you were eligible for the February 2021 DWE, you're eligible to sit in October. If you were eligible but did not attempt the February exam, you can still apply for the October sitting.

To be eligible to sit the exam, you must:

• be registered with the College (for training or interruption) by 28 February
• have 24 months FTE of certified Basic Training before the beginning of the clinical year in which the exam is held
• have completed all necessary training requirements as specified in the handbook
• have not exceeded the exam attempt limits and comply with all other requirements in the Progression Through Training Policy
• comply with the relevant Divisional Written Examination application closing date
• be fully current with all College training fees

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

Overseas Trained Physicians: Check eligibility requirements with your Overseas Trained Physicians Case Officer before applying.

Application process

Submit your application

Applications open Wednesday 28 April 2021. Login to MyRACP to apply by 12pm AEDT, Monday 17 May 2021. Click the 'Apply Now' button on the new exam tile. You must pay the exam fee when you apply.

Application confirmation

After applying, you get an email confirmation. If you don't receive this, check your junk/spam folders and contact us if you can't find it.

Your exam venue

After your eligibility is confirmed, we email you instructions to book into your exam venue, including additional steps you must take. This will be approximately 4 to 6 weeks before the exam.

Final allocation letter

After booking into your venue, we'll email you a final confirmation allocation letter. You must bring this with you on exam day.

Attempts

This exam does not count towards your official attempt limit.

From 2017 onwards, the number of examination attempts have been reduced from 5 to 3. To view your exam attempts to date, go to the Basic Training Portal.

Transitional arrangements

The transitional arrangements provide additional time to complete exam attempts and don't extend the time limit to complete other Basic Training requirements as set out in the Progression Through Training Policy (see Item 3). They are in place to ensure current Basic Trainees aren't disadvantaged. 

Note: Time requirements exclude parental leave as set out in the Flexible Training Policy.

Withdrawal

Withdrawals are not counted as exam attempts. To withdraw up until the start of the exam, contact us.

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

Special consideration

Submit your special consideration request by the closing date using the Special Consideration for Assessment application form and guide.

We consider these circumstances before the exam:

• permanent and longstanding impairment
• temporary impairment with medical grounds
• non-medical compassionate grounds or serious disruption
• essential commitments (religious, cultural, societal or legal obligations)

Once you start, only technical or other issues occurring during the exam will be considered.

Your mark or result will not be adjusted due to any special circumstances. For more information on application requirements and the possible outcomes, see the Special Consideration for Assessment Policy.

Prepare

The purpose of the exam is to:

• assess the depth and breadth of your understanding of basic science and clinical knowledge
• allow you to demonstrate the standard of clinical knowledge needed to complete Basic Training and progress to the Divisional Clinical Examination

The exam covers a broad sample of medical specialties following the Knowledge Guides, as outlined in the relevant examination blueprint.

Current issues necessary for physician practice will be addressed, including how you demonstrate an understanding of:

• impacts of patients’ comorbidities on their overall health
• specifics of disease and treatment interactions

The examination process determines if you’re safe to complete Basic Training and progress to the Divisional Clinical Examination.

Exam format

The exam will be delivered via computer-based testing in exam venues.

The exam for both Adult Medicine and Paediatrics & Child Health is made up of 2 sections:

• Clinical Applications examines your understanding of the practice of medicine and therapeutics.
• Medical Sciences examines your understanding of the principles of medicine and the basic sciences applicable to clinical medicine.

Each section consists of a combination of multiple choice questions (MCQs) and extended matching questions (EMQs):

Quality assurance

All our exams are designed and developed by senior Fellows and educational experts in line with the curriculum. Robust quality assurance processes are in place to ensure the exam and results processes are in line with international best practice.

All results undergo detailed analysis to ensure they accurately reflect your performance and that trainees have been given the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and ability in the exam process.

Visual material

Some questions require you to interpret visual material, such as:

• plain x-rays
• CT scans
• MRI scans
• ECGs
• radioisotope scans
• respiratory function tests
• sleep study patterns

Other visual materials may be included in the exam sections, but you won’t be required to interpret them to answer the question. Generally, they’ll be accompanied by the type of report you would see from the laboratory:

• blood films
• bone marrow films
• echocardiograms
• electromyograms
• electroencephalograms
• histology sections

Multiple-choice questions

Multiple choice questions (MCQs) cover a range of sub-specialties. Each question has 4 options. The CBT system allows you to choose only 1 option as your response.

Extended matching questions

The exam includes a small number of extended matching questions (EMQs). They have a similar reliability and validity to single-best-answer MCQs but are more effective at assessing problem solving and clinical reasoning.

Choose the most appropriate option for each stem/clinical scenario.

Find out more about how exams are marked.

Resources

The exam is based on the Basic Training and Professional Qualities Curricula.

The Knowledge Guides detail the topics and concepts you need to understand to pass your assessments and progress your training.

Use the Workplace Learning Planner tool to create a customised study resource to familiarise yourself with the Knowledge Guides.

Practice CBT exam and webinar

We’ll host a webinar for all candidates to demonstrate the exam system and answer questions related to the exam. A recording will be available.

Online practice exams and a user guide will be available a few weeks before the exam. This demonstrates computer-based testing so you can familiarise yourself with the system.

Readings

You’re expected to be familiar with:

• current textbooks
• relevant aspects of basic science in your division (Adult Medicine or Paediatrics & Child Health)
• topics covered during in-service training programs
• general coverage of review articles, annotations and editorial comment in medical journals
• diseases relevant to medical practice in our region (South West Pacific region)
• advances in physiology and biochemistry applicable to adult medicine/paediatrics

Texts on the major subspecialties may be useful but not essential.

In line with changes made to the names of medicine ingredients by the Therapeutic Drugs Administration (TGA) from 2016, drug names on the Exam reflect the new name followed by the old name enclosed in parentheses, such as:

• furosemide (frusemide)
• adrenaline (epinephrine)
• noradrenaline (norepinephrine)
• amoxicillin (amoxycillin)

Exam day

Timetable

Items on the day

Personal items

• printed or digital copy of your allocation letter confirming your name, number and venue
• current photo ID with your full name and signature, for example your passport or driver licence — digital IDs are not accepted
• blue or black ballpoint pens (no pencils, gel or felt-tipped pens)
• 1 x ruler (optional)
• 1 x highlighter (optional)
• basic analogue watch (optional)
• water (optional)

Tip: Wear additional clothing layers to adjust to the room temperature.

Not permitted

• written material (other than your allocation letter)
• calculators
• food or drink (other than water)
• all other belongings

Tip: Recording devices on your person, including mobile phones, lead to automatic disqualification. Unauthorised materials may also lead to disqualification.

All mobile phones, digital watches, sport watches, smart watches (including but not limited to Apple watch, Garmin, Fitbit, Samsung), pagers and electronic communication devices must be switched off, placed on the floor under your desk and visible to the invigilators.

Devices that sound during the exam will be subject to an incident report.

Apply for special consideration by the required date.

Seating arrangements

Seating is allocated to you when you arrive at the venue.

Discuss seating enquiries with the Chief Invigilator as early as possible on exam day. Apply for special consideration by the required date.

Completing the exam

Your exam invigilator provides your username and password to log into the exam system. Once you log in, they start your exam remotely at the appropriate time.

When the exam begins, there is a pre-question section with a Non-Disclosure Agreement and instructions. You have a short period of time to read this before you progress and start answering exam questions.

Leaving the exam room

Don’t leave the exam room without the invigilator’s approval. If you need the toilet, the invigilator will escort you.

If you want to leave before the end of the exam, stay seated and raise your hand. An invigilator will check your materials and release you.

When you finish the exam, any paper you have used during the exam will be collected. You can leave 30 minutes after the exam has started, but not in the last 10 minutes.

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.

Results

To be successful, you must demonstrate the standard expected of a doctor who’s completed all generalist physician training.

Computer-based testing responses will be digitally captured for results processing.

Our normal quality assurance processes for verification of exam results will apply.

Marking

The exam consists of 170 questions. Correct answers are worth one mark. Marks are not deducted for incorrect answers. The papers are computer-marked.

Twenty questions from recent exams will be re-used as ‘marker’ questions to compare the standard of cohorts from one year to the next. Scores on these questions don’t count towards your total mark.

Your pass score is the sum of the scores for each paper. You do not need to pass each paper separately.

The exam is ‘criterion referenced’. This means there’s a standard set to determine passing and failing candidates. There is no set pass rate and candidate scores are not compared to each other. There is no set quota to the number of candidates that can pass.

Results email

You’ll receive an email to let you know if you've passed the exam or been unsuccessful. Ensure we have your current email and postal address.

Contact us if you don’t receive the email.

Within 4 weeks, you'll receive a second email with more detailed feedback including:

• the pass mark for the 2021 exam
• your overall mark
• your mark for each paper

DPEs at each hospital receive emails with candidates’ names and whether they've passed the exam or not.

When detailed feedback is provided, they'll receive a report showing aggregated performance of their hospital against national averages. No report is supplied where there are insufficient candidate numbers at the hospital to provide de-identified scores.

The Reconsideration Review and Appeals Process doesn’t apply to the outcome or results.

Divisional Clinical Examination

Once you satisfy the requirements of the Divisional Written Examination, you can apply for the Divisional Clinical Examination.