Get Involved in the Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine Examinations

Certification Examination in Family Medicine

Written examination

There are opportunities to mark short-answer management problems (SAMPs), within two weeks after the examination. The time commitment required is from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (ET). Marking usually requires two days for the spring examination and one day for the fall examination. Markers must be comfortable using computers.

Simulated office oral (SOO) examination

Volunteers are needed at the spring and fall examinations on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Mandatory training occurs all day on Friday and includes calibration training and practice simulations. The SOOs take place on Saturday and Sunday with the time commitment varying depending on the number of candidates. The time commitment will be communicated in a confirmation letter.

SOO 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; a physical examination is not required.
SOO Leads and Assistant SOO Leads are responsible for training the examiners, standardizing marking, and supervising and validating examiner performance throughout the examination days
For more information, please watch this helpful webinar on the SOO examiner role

Examiner training video production (prior to examination dates)

During pre-examiner training, videos are used to demonstrate the case and marking scheme. Volunteers are needed to act as the candidates in order to create two recorded re-enactments of each SOO case. Recording occurs virtually on a flexible schedule. The time commitment for the recording is approximately two hours.

Examination of Added Competence in Emergency Medicine

Written examination

There are opportunities to mark short-answer management problems (SAMPs), within two weeks after the examination. The time commitment required is from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (ET) for two days. Markers must be comfortable using computers.

Structured orals

Volunteers are needed for structured orals on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Mandatory training occurs all day on Friday and includes calibration training and practice simulations. New examiners and examiners who have not taken part in two or more years will also participate in a compulsory pre-training workshop on Thursday before the examiner training session. The oral exam takes place on Saturday and Sunday with the time commitment varying depending on the number of candidates. The time commitment will be communicated in a confirmation letter.

Oral examiners will conduct a structured oral interview and score the candidate according to pre-determined marking scheme
Coordinators and Assistant Coordinators are responsible for training the examiners, standardizing marking, and supervising and validating examiner performance throughout the examination days