Michael's thoughts on the exam

I wrote it and passed it in 2012. I also did the American exam the same year and passed that.
The pass rate for the FRCPC exam is pretty high.
- 2009-2011 it was 96+/-3.9% for Canadian medical school grads on their first attempt.

I though it was picking at details. Some things are very relevant to practise... other less so.
- The pocketbook version of Robbins covers most of it.

You should know the answer almost immediately.
- If you don't know, write something down and move on.
It is set to broadly cover everything.
If it isn't a spot diagnosis... it should not be on.
Somethings are PGY2/PGY3 stuff. One should not overthink things.
Anecdotally, the first impression is usually the right one.
- I think one should stick with the first impression.

Go with the most probable if you're uncertain.
I worked through the Atlas of Gross Pathology with Histologic Correlation (see Pathology books for the reference).
- I am not sure this is necessary... but I thought it was useful.
Flickr.com/Google images has a lot to offer in this respect.
Gross spot diagnosis.

Some of the cases have several images.
I remember being confused... the first three images were from one case. I remember thinking... I have the same diagnosis three times.
Like the forensics and gross sections - this section isn't too long. From an exam strategy point-of-view, this makes it less likely that a diagnosis is repeated.

I think this is to test if you are safe and useful.
- By "safe" I mean: knowing your limits and consulting with a colleague when appropriate.
- By "useful" I mean: you don't need to consult on everything.
The examiners ask a pre-determined list of questions.
- Questions may depend on one another and, in fairness, they are told to redirect you.
  - Example: You see a lung biopsy with hyaline material... and you go down the fibrosis route-- but it is really amyloidosis.
    - The examiners will say something like "how would one work-up suspected amyloid?" or "lets assume this is amyloid..."
If you're a Canadian resident, you cannot be examined by someone within your residency program.
As far as I know, examiners are told to be stone-faced, i.e. show no emotion.
Some of the cases were very straight forward.
I didn't think anything was really exotic.

Michael (talk) 23:43, 25 October 2014 (EDT)

Short answer questions submitted by Tate