A study led by Dr Julie Pattinson and Prof Niro Siriwardena in collaboration with MRCGP examinations (Dr Carol Blow) and the Lincolnshire GP Speciality Training Programme (Dr Bijoy Sinha) was awarded RCGP Research Paper of the Year (RPY) for 2019 in the Medical Education category.
The study, ‘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’, published in BMJ Open in May 2019, was the first to use cognitive interviews to explore reasons for differences in attainment in a medical licensing exam for UK and overseas trained doctors. The study was funded by the College of Social Science Research Fund at the University of Lincoln.
The RCGP Research Paper of the Year award recognises an individual or group of researchers who have conducted and published an exceptional piece of research relating to general practice or primary care in three categories, including medical education.
The study is part of a wider programme of research, investigating the reliability, fairness and validity of the MRCGP exam, involving members of the team including Dr Julie Pattinson, Dr Vanessa Botan, Despina Laparidou, Viet-Hai Phung, Profs Graham Law and Niro Siriwardena working with the MRCGP exams and the GP National Recruitment Office funded by the RCGP and Health Education England