Appendix 3 - The MRCPsych examination

Summary

The MRCPsych examination consists of three written papers and a Clinical Assessment of Skills and Competencies (CASC) examination. The eligibility criteria and other regulations for each paper can be found on the College website (www.rcpsych.ac.uk/exams.aspx). The different examination components are briefly outlined below.

The MRCPsych written papers

All three MRCPsych written papers are 3 hours’ long and contain 200 questions. Each paper includes both ‘best answer 1 of 5’ style multiple choice questions (MCQs) and extended matching items (EMIs).

The following subject areas are tested in each of the written papers:

MRCPsych Paper 1

• General adult psychiatry

• History and mental state examination

• Cognitive assessment

• Neurological examination

• Assessment

• Aetiology

• Diagnosis

• Classification

• Basic psychopharmacology

• Basic psychological processes

• Human psychological development

• Social psychology

• Description and measurement

• Basic psychological treatments

• Prevention of psychiatric disorder

• Descriptive psychopathology

• Dynamic psychopathology

• History of psychiatry

• Basic ethics and philosophy of psychiatry

• Stigma and culture

MRCPsych Paper 2

• General adult psychiatry

• General principles of psychopharmacology (pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics)

• Psychotropic drugs

• Adverse reactions

• Evaluation of treatments

• Neuropsychiatry (physiology, endocrinology, chemistry, anatomy, pathology)

• Genetics

• Epidemiology

• Advanced psychological processes and treatments

MRCPsych Paper 3

• General adult psychiatry

• Research methods

• Evidence-based practice

• Statistics

• Critical appraisal

• Clinical topics

• Liaison psychiatry

• Forensic psychiatry

• Addiction psychiatry

• Child and adolescent psychiatry

• Psychotherapy

• Learning disability psychiatry

• Rehabilitation psychiatry

• Old age psychiatry

MRCPsych CASC

The CASC assesses a range of skills and competencies across six specialties of psychiatry (general adult, old age, child and adolescent, learning disabilities, psychotherapy and forensic psychiatry). The domains assessed are:

• history

• mental state examination

• risk assessment

• cognitive examination

• physical examination

• case discussion

• difficult communication.

The examination format consists of two circuits completed on the same day. One circuit consists of eight individual stations of 7 min each. The other circuit consists of four pairs of linked stations. Here the stations each last 10 min. Each station is marked individually and overall the CASC is marked over 16 individual stations.