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RACGP’s KFP exam report: Tips to improve outcomes
The 2019.2 Key Feature Problem exam report outlines key areas to assist candidates when preparing for and sitting the exam.
The RACGP’s biannual exam reports detail areas of improvement for candidates preparing for and sitting the exams.
The RACGP Fellowship (FRACGP) Key Feature Problem (KFP) exam consists of 26 cases, each of which comprises a number of questions. Each case contributes equally to the overall score, making each worth 3.85% of the total mark.
Reports are released following each KFP exam, detailing statistics of pass rates, mean and standard deviation of the entire cohort that sat the exam, and potential areas for improvement.
The most recent 2019.2 KFP exam revealed an overall pass mark of 55.77% and a mean score of 56.53% from a total of 1378 candidates who sat the exam.
The 2019.2 KFP exam report also provides an overview of each of the 26 cases, as well as common errors seen in candidates’ answers, including:
- providing non-specific responses
- not reading questions thoroughly and missing key information
- providing unrelated diagnoses and/or drug recommendations
- providing further diagnoses rather than a cause for the presentation
- providing history or details not relevant to the case
- not identifying the urgency of the situation, therefore not providing correct management of the case
- providing diagnoses and/or investigations that were repeated in the case.
The RACGP recommends the following advice for candidates when sitting the exam:
- Read each question carefully and ensure their answers address the question
- Keep answers succinct
- Only consider the information provided in the question and avoid developing a collateral history beyond this information
- Be specific in answers that include treatments, prescribing information or further investigations
- Spell out terms in full rather than using abbreviations
- Ensure they are familiar with current key guidelines and any updates
Practice exams are also offered to enrolled candidates. The RACGP highly recommends these to candidates, as there is evidence that those who attempt the online practice exams perform better in the real exam.
Of the 1088 candidates who attempted the practice exam for the 2019.2 KFP, 677 passed the real exam (62%), while 92 out of the 290 candidates who did not attempt the practice exam passed the real exam (31%).
This guidance may also support candidates who are preparing for the other FRACGP exams – the Applied Knowledge Test (AKT) and Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE).
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