RCoA response to GMC on attainment in medical education and training

In response to the annual data and new research published today by the General Medical Council on doctors’ progression through medical education and training, Dr Liam Brennan, President of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCoA), said:

“The College’s anaesthetic training programme develops doctors from around the world with the skills, knowledge and attitudes to deal with service needs, and the flexibility to manage increasingly complex patient conditions.

“Our examinations are internationally recognised for their fairness and high standards, and have evolved over time to reflect best educational and assessment practice as well as developments in anaesthesia, intensive care and pain medicine. We welcome the important work undertaken by the GMC in looking into the complex issue of differential attainment, and the ongoing commitment to developing high quality assessments through the standards set out in Promoting Excellence.

“Despite recently recording the highest pass rates for separate components of the FRCA for seven years, we are committed to maintaining our renowned standards of practice and regularly identify areas of learning and improvement. Our biennial Examinations Review identified a number of trends indicating where a more longitudinal analysis of examination results is required. We have monitored these areas for a number of years and performed detailed statistical analyses of all exam components to examine independent predictors of exam outcomes, and our own review confirms many of the GMC’s findings. 

“We will continue to monitor and improve understanding of differential attainment and investigate changes in pass rates to understand the underlying cause. Going forward, our work in this area will analyse exam preparation techniques employed by candidates across demographic groups and whether some curriculum areas have a greater degree of differential attainment than others. 

As a College, we remain committed to ensuring that every doctor who enters the anaesthetics specialty has the opportunity and support necessary to fulfil their potential.”

Notes to editors:
For further information or to arrange interviews contact:
Gavin Dallas, RCoA Communications Manager
020 7092 1696 gdallas@rcoa.ac.uk

Mehdi Juma, RCoA Communications Officer
020 7092 1698 mjuma@rcoa.ac.uk

RCoA out of hours mobile: +44 (0) 7711 767377