| PROJECT TITLE |
RELIABILITY, VALIDITY AND FAIRNESS IN THE MRCGP LICENSING EXAMINATION |
| Funding body |
Royal College of General Practitioners, Health Education England, College of Social Science Research Fund |
| Total funding |
£120,000 |
| Team |
- Professor A Niroshan Siriwardena, CaHRU, University of Lincoln
- Dr Zahid Asghar, CaHRU, University of Lincoln
- Dr Julie Pattinson, CaHRU, University of Lincoln
- Dr Vanessa Botan, CaHRU and Nottingham Trent University
- Dr Joseph Akanuwe, CaHRU, University of Lincoln
- Prof Graham Law, CaHRU, University of Lincoln
- Dr Chris Elfes, Dr Susan Bodgener, Dr Kim Emerson, Dr Carol Blow, Dr Jo Richardson, Dr James Larcombe, Dr Katherine A Neden, Dr Amer Salim, Dr David Smalley, Dr Meiling Denney, Prof Rich Withnall, MRCGP examinations
- Dr Nicki Williams, GP National Reruitment Office
- Prof Adrian Freeman, Exeter University
- Prof Lindsey Pope, University of Glasgow
- Victoria Tzortziou Brown, Garima Priyadarshini, Riya George, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London
- Prof Simon Gregory, NHS England
- Richard Wakeford, University of Cambridge
|
| Team/consortium |
- University of Lincoln
- Royal College of General Practitioners, London
- Health Education England GP National Reruitment Office
- Exeter University
- University of Glasgow
- Queen Mary University of London
- NHS England
- University of Cambridge
|
| Overarching aim |
This is a programme of research in collaboration with MRCGP examinations, Health Education England, NHS England and other academic institutions which seeks to investigate its reliability, validity and fairness, including the extent of differential attainment in the examination and its causes. |
| Objectives |
- To explore the reliability and validity of the MRCGP examination.
- To explore the extent and causes of differential attainment by sex, ethnicity and disability status of doctors taking the MRCGP examination.
- To review the literature on differential attainment related to the MRCGP examination
|
| Methods |
Systematic review, cross sectional data linkage, questionnaire and qualitative studies. |
| Outcomes |
- Extent of differential attainment by sex, ethnicity, country of primary medical training, disability or other protected characteristic.
- Determinants of differential attainment.
|
| Outputs |
Peer reviewed publications, conference presentations and recommendations for the MRCGP examination and candidates.
Peer reviewed publications
- Siriwardena AN, Botan V, Williams N, Emerson K, Kameen F, Pope L, Freeman A, Law GR (2023). Academic performance of ethnic minority versus White doctors in the MRCGP assessment 2016-2021: cross sectional study. British Journal of General Practice 73: e284-e293.
- Botan V, Laparidou D, Phung VH, Cheung P, Freeman A, Wakeford R, Denney M, Law GR, Siriwardena AN (2021). Candidate perceptions of the UK Recorded Consultation Assessment for general practice licensing during COVID-19: cross-sectional data linkage study. Education for Primary Care (online first).
- Botan V, Laparidou D, Phung VH, Cheung P, Freeman A, Wakeford R, Denney ML, Law GR, Siriwardena AN (2023). Examiner perceptions of the MRCGP Recorded Consultation Assessment for general practice licensing during COVID-19: cross-sectional study. BMC Medical Education 23:65.
- Botan V, Williams N, Siriwardena AN, Law GR (2023). The effect of specific learning difficulties on GP written and clinical assessments. Medical Education 57:548–555).
- Botan V, Laparidou D, Phung VH, Cheung P, Freeman A, Wakeford R, Denney ML, Law GR, Siriwardena AN (2023). Examiner perceptions of the MRCGP Recorded Consultation Assessment for general practice licensing during COVID-19: cross-sectional study. BMC Medical Education 23:65.
- Botan V, Williams N, Law GR, Siriwardena AN (2022). How is performance at selection to general practice related to performance at the endpoint of GP training? Report to Health Education England. University of Lincoln: Lincoln.
- Botan V, Laparidou D, Phung VH, Cheung P, Freeman A, Wakeford R, Denney M, Law GR, Siriwardena AN (2022). Candidate perceptions of the UK Recorded Consultation Assessment for general practice licensing during COVID-19: cross-sectional data linkage study. Education for Primary Care 33 (1):32-40.
- Siriwardena AN (2020). Understanding and remedying the performance of doctors in training. Medical Education 54 (12): 1090-1092.
- Asghar Z, Williams N, Denney ML, Siriwardena AN (2019). Performance in candidates declaring vs not declaring dyslexia in a licensing clinical exam. Medical Education: 53: 1243–1252.
- Pattinson J, Blow C, Sinha B, Siriwardena AN (2019). Exploring reasons for differences in performance between UK and international medical graduates in the Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners Applied Knowledge Test: a cognitive interview study. BMJ Open ; 9:e030341.
- Asghar Z, Siriwardena AN, Elfes C, Richardson J, Larcombe J, Neden K, Salim A, Smalley D, Blow C (2018). Performance of candidates disclosing dyslexia with other candidates in a UK medical licensing examination: cross-sectional study. Postgraduate Medical Journal 94:198–203.
- Dixon H, Blow C, Milne P, Siriwardena AN, Milne H, Elfes C (2015). Quality assurance of the Applied Knowledge Test (AKT) of the MRCGP examination – an immediate post-test questionnaire evaluation of the candidates’ views. Education for Primary Care 26, 4: 223-232.
- Dixon H,Blow C, Milne P, Siriwardena AN (2014) Reliability of non-pretested versus pretested questions in the applied knowledge test (AKT) of the MRCGP: evidence of quality assurance. Education for Primary Care, 25 (3):149-154.
- Siriwardena AN, Irish B, Asghar Z, Milne P, Dixon H, Neden C, Richardson J, Blow C (2012) Comparing performance among male and female candidates in sex- specific clinical knowledge in the MRCGP. British Journal of General Practice, 62 (599): e446-e450.
- Siriwardena AN, Dixon H, Blow C, Irish B, Milne P (2009) Performance and views of examiners in the Applied Knowledge Test for the nMRCGP licensing examination. British Journal of General Practice, 59 (559):110-113.
- Dixon H, Blow C, Irish B, Milne P, Siriwardena AN (2007) Evaluation of a postgraduate examination for primary care: perceptions and performance of general practitioner trainers in the multiple choice paper of the Membership Examination of the Royal College of General Practitioners. Education for Primary Care, 18: 165-172.
Conference presentations
- Siriwardena AN, Botan V, Laparidou D, Phung VH, Cheung P, Freeman A, Wakeford R, Denney M, Law GR. Candidate perceptions of the UK Recorded Consultation Assessment introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic: cross-sectional study. Oral presentation online at Society for Academic Primary Care, Annual Scientific Meeting 30 June-1 July 2021, University of Leeds.
- Siriwardena AN, Botan V, Laparidou D, Phung VH, Cheung P, Freeman A, Wakeford R, Denney M, Law GR. Examiner perceptions of the UK Recorded Consultation Assessment introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic: cross-sectional study. Poster presentation online at Society for Academic Primary Care, Annual Scientific Meeting 30 June-1 July 2021, University of Leeds.
- Siriwardena AN, Botan V, Laparidou D, Phung VH, Cheung P, Freeman A, Wakeford R, Denney M, Law GR. Examiner perceptions of the UK Recorded Consultation Assessment introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic: cross-sectional study. Oral presentation online at AMEE 27 -30 August 2021.
Podcasts and videos
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| Impact |
These studies seek to understand how the reliability and validity of the examination can be maintained or improved, why differential attainment exists and what we can do to address it. |
