FFICM Examination Report March 2021

We understand that some candidates find the online experience more stressful, such as having concerns about whether their internet connection will fail or find the online oral exam experience unfamiliar. We provided a recorded webinar, online guides, a video demonstrating an online OSCE exam question and sample artefacts on the FICM website, as well as advising candidates to undertake online exam practice, to mitigate against this.

Other candidates told us that they preferred the online experience, as it removes the need to travel a long distance, removes the stress of public transport delays on the morning of the exam or of staying in a hotel away from home.

The increased overall time of the online OSCE and SOE compared to face-to-face examination may impact performance, with candidates or examiners becoming tired. To mitigate this, we introduced the rest break in the middle of the OSCE. It is important to ensure that the breadth of curriculum covered, and number of individual examiners seen, remains the same between face to face and online exams, and therefore reducing the number of questions was not felt to be appropriate. 

Almost all online OSCE stations use the same exam material as the face-to-face exam. An exception to this is the simulation station, which has been redesigned into e-simulation for the on-line exam, where the candidate talks to an examiner about what they would do, rather than actually doing it. In October 2021 most of the e-simulation stations were designated as the ‘test’ station in the OSCE (see above) so did not contribute to the candidates’ overall mark. Some candidates commented that the communication station ‘feels’ different when done online. We understand this viewpoint, and also recognise that telephone and online communication with relatives of ICU patients has become very common during the pandemic when hospital visiting has been severely restricted. Despite the concern, the average candidate scores on three of the four communication questions in October 2021 were above the Angoff mark for these questions.

The Angoff of OSCE questions is undertaken virtually, with examiners looking at images, where used, over the internet and the questions assessed and chosen therefore according to what examiners feel is reasonable to see in this way.  Radiology images in questions are displayed on large monitors in the face-to-face exam. In the virtual exam, the screen size and resolution are dependent on the hardware available to the candidate, together with any loss of resolution inherent in the videoconferencing platform. Candidates are advised on the minimum screen size to use for the virtual exam, to be able to see these images satisfactorily; handheld devices and small portable screens are not recommended. The choice of hardware and location (including lighting) must necessarily remain the candidates’ responsibility.

The online SOE uses the same exam material as the face-to-face exam.