‘A professional peak’: Being a Fellowship examiner

Clinical knowledge, focus, thoroughness, effective communication.
 
Those are the four areas candidates can demonstrate to increase their chance of success when sitting the final exam on the pathway to Fellowship of the RACGP (FRACGP), and to then apply in every future patient consult, says Dr Scott Pearson.
 
With a range of roles under his belt, Dr Pearson has never looked back on his general practice career – in particular, the ‘deeply satisfying’ experience his newest role as examiner for the Clinical Competency Exam (CCE) brings.
 
‘I personally view being a CCE examiner as a professional peak in my career,’ he told newsGP.
 
‘It is a wonderful opportunity to intimately understand the RACGP standard which I aim to practice myself, but more importantly, to guide my registrars to strive towards.
 
‘I am often humbled by the level of skill and knowledge demonstrated by registrars during the cases I examine. It is a testament not only to their hard work and dedication, but also to the broader GP training ecosystems that have shaped them in the years leading up to the brief 15 minutes I spend with them during their examination.’
 
Starting out as a paediatrics registrar, Dr Pearson then settled into his new role as a GP in Kingscliff, coastal New South Wales, working in a family practice with a specialist interest in children’s health.
 
Soon after completing his RACGP Fellowship exams in 2019, he became a GP supervisor and clinical teaching (CT) visitor. He then ‘naturally progressed’ towards wanting to become an examiner as his experience grew.
 
‘I was attracted to the role of examiner and submitted an application – this was too early in my career, and quite appropriately, I was rejected,’ Dr Pearson said.
 
‘I gained some more experience personally, and also as a supervisor, so I reapplied and was accepted about two years later and have been an examiner ever since.’
 
For the past 10 months Dr Pearson has been living and working as a medical educator in Far North Queensland with his family, while on a short venture away from clinical general practice in Kingscliff. His current tally as a CT visitor stands at more than 100 visits, which works collaboratively with the examiner role.
 
‘Being an examiner enables me to command more focused attention from my registrars during my teaching sessions, and also in my role as a medical educator,’ he said.
 
‘I can apply this on a daily basis – for example, during clinical teaching visits, particularly in GPT2 and beyond, I can advise the registrars how they would have fared had their consultation been a clinical encounter exam case.
 
‘Any advice on passing the CCE is advice on how to be a good GP at Fellowship standard, and how to deliver comprehensive, high-quality, patient-centred care.’
 
The best preparation advice he has for future exam candidates is to consistently see patients in a general practice setting and be reflective in their practice.
 
‘Clinical competencies are not mysterious college-kept secrets,’ he said.
 
‘They are what we expect of our registrars before they are deemed to be at Fellowship standard and are achievable during every 15-minute exam case.
 
‘The best registrars finish the case with time to spare by showing me four elements: focus, clinical knowledge, thoroughness and effective communication.
 
‘Through consistent CCE preparation, they intimately understand the need to apply these elements to their case to make me believe they have spent the past 18 months consulting at a high standard and improving their skills by actively reflecting on how they demonstrate core competencies.
 
‘The exam cases are an opportunity to prove how you consult with a patient who will very likely see each and every one of our Fellowed GPs all around Australia, every single day of the week.’
 
Dr Pearson also urges candidates to thoroughly read the public reports published after each exam, to help them ‘identify the traps and pitfalls’ to guide their preparation with these in mind.
 
‘For example, registrars may excel in basic sciences during a case but miss the important point that the case is a young patient presenting alone, with low health literacy and lacking reliable access to transport,’ he said.
 
‘Therefore, follow-up plans need to actively account for this, factoring in the real-world limitations the patient faces.’
 
Encouraging GPs to consider the role, he says it is ‘always inspiring’ to work alongside other highly skilled examiners.
 
‘I particularly enjoy the case standardisation meetings, which occur prior to the exams, where we all road test the marking criteria and critically apply it to a case, with robust discussion about how registrars can demonstrate competencies,’ he said.
 
‘I am always proud to be a GP after these meetings, as the standard we expect is incredibly high, but also very achievable by registrars simply applying their accumulated knowledge during the RACGP training program.
 
‘I am also proud ... knowing I belong to a profession that truly cares about the standard we are setting for our registrars to practice competently.
 
‘Anybody interested in becoming a CCE examiner would benefit from a stepwise approach: start by doing some CT visits with registrars, consider becoming a supervisor, then becoming an examiner is a natural progression.’
 
More information for members interested in becoming a CCE examiner is available on the RACGP website.
 
Day one of the 2026.1 CCE was held across 13–14 June, with day two across 20–21 June. The 2026.1 CCE public exam report will be released on 22 July.
 
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CCE Clinical Competency Exam clinical examiner FRACGP general practice registrar medical educator RACGP exams RACGP Fellowship