Following a comprehensive review of its training programmes, the College believes it is now necessary to have a knowledge-based assessment as part of its BST programme in General Internal Medicine – to preserve the international standing of the BST certificate of completion, and to ensure that all trainees have the necessary knowledge and clinical skills on completion of the programme.
The MRCPI examination, already an internationally-recognised qualification, will become the examination on which the awarding of a BST certificate of completion is based, along with existing BST requirements, such as clinical training in supervised posts and attendance at professional development courses.
Knowledge-based examinations are already an essential component of comparable basic specialist training programmes worldwide.
Dr Geoff Chadwick, Associate Dean of Basic Specialist Training, believes this is a positive and pragmatic development: ‘We recognise there is a need for formal assessment of biomedical knowledge and clinical skill as part of the BST curriculum. We recognise that this assessment already exists in the MRCPI examination and we have therefore moved formally to link BST with MRCPI.’
In recent years, the BST curriculum has been updated to reflect more closely the syllabus for the MRCPI examination, and following the addition of the exam to the list of requirements for BST, the MRCPI examination itself will also undergo some changes, to bring it more into line with the BST curriculum.
The College recognises that this is a significant development from the point of view of trainees who will be entering BST in General Internal Medicine this coming July. To increase the number of times trainees can sit the MRCPI examinations while on the BST programme, the College has agreed that from July 2011, doctors will be able to apply to sit Part 1 of the exam twelve months after obtaining their primary medical degree, i.e. as soon as they enter BST. Previously, all applicants had to have obtained their medical degree at least eighteen months beforehand. The first Part 1 examination will take place in September 2011.
Some trainees entering BST this year will satisfactorily complete their clinical training and professional development courses after two years, without passing the MRCPI examination. The Irish Committee on Higher Medical Training has agreed that these trainees will have a further two years in which pass all parts of the MRCPI examination. On successfully passing their final MRCPI examination, within this two-year extension period, trainees will be awarded the BST certificate of completion.
A Frequently Asked Questions document is available here.
It is important to note these developments apply only to trainees entering BST in General Internal Medicine from July 2011.