Passing the RANZCP Written Exams: A Personal Story
Time to read: 5 minutes
Pass rates of most professional exams, including the RANZCP written exams continue to remain low in recent times. More and more candidates are finding it stressful to pass the exams. Some argue that mere knowledge about the subject will fetch you success.
This may not be the case at all times, since some of the better and more knowledgeable candidates do fail their exams (unfortunately!). So, what else does it take to be successful in the exams? I’d like to share my personal experience with you.
Let us start off by examining the factors influencing the ability to change in a doctor-patient therapeutic relationship. After all the exams are measuring your ability to effect positive change. Click image below to enlarge.
Research confirms that positive therapeutic relationship between a therapist and a client has a helpful impact. However, from the above figure only 15% of therapist’s techniques and skills influence the client’s ability to change. In other words, there are a range of other factors which contribute to the positive therapeutic relationship with the client.
To an extent, the above analogy holds true for exams as well. It is well known that a sound knowledge of the subject forms a strong foundation for success in exams. There are also other factors which contribute to success in exams including attitude, confidence, maturity, experience, self-reflection, openness to constructive feedback, some level of discipline closer to exam times, amongst many others.
Different strategies work for different candidates. Unfortunately, “One size fits all” won’t be applicable to achieve success in the written exams. The strategy to pass may need to be tailored on an individual basis, depending on one’s strengths and weaknesses. However, some common ground rules apply for most candidates.
FEW MONTHS BEFORE THE EXAM
This stage is the starting step for exam preparation. Know your preparation style and decide how much time you may need to prepare for the exams. Minimum recommended time would be 3 months. Discuss this with your supervisor, colleagues, family members, and friends. Plan your study and annual leave to suit your preparation needs.
Having a study group is good, and gives you a platform to exchange ideas among your other colleagues. Though recommended, a study group is not a prerequisite to pass the writtens. If studying in a group does not suit your style, you will be better off preparing on your own.
Analyse the previous college exam papers to get a feel of the questions tested in the exams. This would probably guide you to understand how much time you may need to prepare to pass that exam.
Larger textbooks are best used for reference purposes during the months prior to the exam. Shorter textbooks are handy, and easier to read at most places, including while travelling in public transport.
There are plenty of resources available on the internet to assist with exam preparations. Past college mock exam papers from the Auckland Programme is an excellent resource for Essay style exam.
There are lots of resources for MCQ style exam preparation as well. There are few paid and free UK sites which provide fundamental basis of psychiatry. However, these are mainly tailored for candidates preparing for MRCPsych exams, and may not be ideal for RANZCP exams
MCQ STYLE EXAM
Be prepared to read the fundamentals of critical analysis numerous times. Most candidates struggle in the critical analysis section of the MCQ exam, and it is worth focusing your attention on it from the beginning. Reading real research papers is a must to get a feel for results, tables and graphs.
ESSAY STYLE EXAM
Passing the Critical Essay Question (CEQ) has become mandatory. Read and familiarize yourself with the marking criteria. If possible, memorize them!
Read through interesting debates/articles in journals such as Australasian Psychiatry, ANZJP, British Journal of Psychiatry. Get assistance from your supervisor in finding right articles which might help you in preparing for the critical essay.
Try to understand how critical essays are meant to be written. Reading through editorials will help you understand that. Make notes of interesting quotes from the paper, which you might use in the exam.
Try to write few essays, and get them marked by your supervisors, according to the college expectations. It is also useful to get it reviewed by your colleagues, friends, and even your spouse/partner. Try to write as legibly as possible, and work on your hand writing if time permits.
Modified Essay Questions (MEQ’s) have become more challenging in recent exams, as they are marked at the level of Junior Consultant. It would of benefit to have completed the core mandatory college rotations such as CL and Child Psychiatry when sitting the essay exam.
These core rotations give you the opportunity to gain greater experience and become more efficient in domains such as Scholar, Advocacy, Collaborator, Communicator and others, which are pivotal skills required at the level of a Junior Consultant. Be broad when answering MEQ’s.
WEEKS BEFORE THE EXAM
Read through the past exam papers carefully, and critically. Read the stems in the MCQ’s and understand the pattern, and don’t just memorize the answers in MCQ’s. Go through as many past exam papers, as possible. Make notes and revise them. It is advisable not to focus too much on reading topics in textbooks, rather, refer back to textbooks while reading through these past papers.
Subscribing to online MCQ and Critical analysis questions from online resources would be quite beneficial at this stage. Remember, you need high yield facts at this stage.
Attend one or two mock exams, if possible. Remember, time has always been a big enemy in these exams, and is a very important predictor to both success and failure in the exam. So, be very mindful of time keeping when preparing for the exams, especially the essay style based exam.
Consider allotting more revision time on your weaker domains.
Remain focussed and confident. Make sure you have good night’s sleep over the last few nights prior to the exam.
DAY OF THE EXAM
Remember, you have done all the hard work for this day. Don’t worry about the questions you may not know. Attempt all questions, and keep an eye on the timing. There will be a big clock in the exam hall, and the exam preceptors usually keep providing updates on timeline.
For the MCQ style exam, it’s advisable to spend 1 min per every question. However, for CAP questions it’s wise to allocate few extra minutes since understanding the study methodology for research article becomes more hectic and time consuming during exams (due to added stress !)
For Essay style exam, passing the Critical essay has become mandatory. With practice, one must be able to write a decent essay. Don’t panic when you don’t understand the topic or the question. Remember, when you find the topic to be hard, your colleagues would also feel the same. Also, don’t get too carried away when attempting MEQ’s, especially on the topics which you are familiar with. Again stick to time, and make sure you complete the entire paper on time.
AFTER THE EXAM
There is usually a waiting period of 3 months before the results are released. It’s normal to be stressed for the first few days after the exam, and few days before the results are released. Remember, nothing is under your control at the moment. So, don’t stress too much!!
Make sure you spend quality time with your friends and family. There is definitely life after exams!!