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  • Examining for CFPC
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Examining for CFPC

Many family physicians throughout Canada have supported the examination process by volunteering their time to serve as examiners. There are many good reasons to get involved:

• Set a great example for your colleagues simply through your interest and participation.
• Help your colleagues realize their goal of attaining Certification in The College of Family Physicians (CCFP).
• Meet and share ideas with colleagues from across the country.
• Receive up to 15 MAINPRO® M-1 credits for your efforts.
• Option to earn Mainpro-C credits.
• Feel a sense of accomplishment by contributing to a process, which was made possible for you, through those that led the way for you in family medicine.

In order to participate in our exam process, you must be an active member of the College of Family Physicians of Canada with CCFP designation.

Experience in examining is not necessary. Each centre will host an examination team that has both experienced and new examiners and a training day to orient all examiners to their task.

Some of the roles examiners will fill have age and gender restrictions which means that in the selection process, we cannot guarantee that all interested persons will be selected for the examination team.

Centre selection will be based primarily on geographical proximity in order to control operational expenses and the examination fees borne by the candidates.

In most cases, you will be assigned to a university centre closest to you. A few examiners may be asked to travel to ensure all roles in all centres are appropriately filled.

Ways to get involved

The examination has two components -- a written part, comprised of short answer management problems (SAMPs), and an oral part comprising five simulated office orals (SOOs).

Written Exam

Written Coordinators (Thursday and Friday)

The role of the written coordinator is essentially to serve as the CFPC Board of Examiners’ representative at the examination site.  The written examination is comprised entirely of SAMPs and is delivered via secure internet-based technology. The time commitment will be from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., for two days (Thursday and Friday) in most centres. However, some of the smaller centres may only run for one day (Friday). Responsibilities include delivering announcements, liaising with site personnel to enforce CFPC policy and protocols, resolving process irregularities and providing a report to the Board of Examiners.

SAMP marking

The correction of the SAMPs will take place the week following the examination. The time commitment is from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Marking takes two days for the spring examination and one day for the fall, and usually takes place on Friday and/or Saturday.

Oral Exam

SOO Coordinators/Assistant Coordinators and Examiners
(Friday, Saturday and Sunday*)

Friday is a training day and participation is mandatory for all oral examination personnel.

Coordinators and Assistant Coordinators will be responsible for training the examiners in one of the five SOOs, standardization of marking, identifying examiner/candidate scheduling conflicts, supervising and validating examiner performance throughout the examination days.

Examiners will role-play the patient and score the candidate according to a standardized marking scheme. Each simulation is constructed so that only an interview is necessary to define and manage the problem and a physical examination is not required. There will be an opportunity to view training tapes and do actual simulations. The time commitment for the training day will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Oral examinations will be conducted over a two-day period commencing at 8 a.m. each morning. Approximately half of candidates will be examined in the five Oral examinations on Saturday and the remainder will be examined on Sunday. Examination personnel should be free to leave their exam centre by 6 p.m. on Sunday evening.

*NOTE: In all centres, current figures indicate that exam personnel will be required for three days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). However, candidate numbers often decline and a final decision on the necessity for Sunday for some centres will be communicated in our confirmation letter.

Examiner training video tape production (prior to examination dates)

During examiner training, video tapes are used to demonstrate the case and marking scheme (see Oral Exam description above). Volunteers are needed to act as the candidate in order to create two videotaped re-enactments of each SOO case. Taping will occur in Toronto on a flexible schedule. The time commitment for the taping will be approximately two hours. An honorarium will be paid to those who participate in the training tapes and travel expenses will be reimbursed.