International Membership of the Royal College of General
Practitioners - MRCGP[INT]
International assessment to accredit locally developed exams
throughout the world
MRCGP[INT]: The International Assessment to Accredit
Locally Developed Assessment Throughout the World
BACKGROUND: The Royal College
of General Practitioners [RCGP] is aware of the need for high
quality postgraduate assessments to be developed at a national or
regional level in different parts of the world, tailored to local
culture, practice, educational, and health systems. The fundamental
reason for the development of MRCGP[INT] and the creation of a new
category of International Member, is to support the development of
general practice/family medicine world-wide and, by doing so, to
assist in raising standards of the discipline, being of equivalent
academic rigour to the MRCGP in the UK (but does not confer the
right to practice in the UK or any other country). The designation
MRCGP[INT] may be in addition to the qualification awarded by the
relevant national bodies. Studying and preparation by Family
Doctors, and the subsequent assessment, is intended to provide a
focus and impetus for themselves, their academic organisations and
their programmes.
There has been a very positive response to the
development of an internationally recognised postgraduate
qualification for General Practice / Family Medicine, equivalent in
status to qualifications in hospital-based specialities. There are
currently accredited sites for the MRCGP[INT] in Oman, Brunei,
Kuwait, Dubai and South Asia [Nepal, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh
and Sri Lanka]. It is intended that many others will be accredited
in the near future.
AIMS: The MRCGP[INT]
offers:
- Assessment criteria equivalent in academic
rigour to the MRCGP UK;
- Impetus and focus to the educational
aspirations of individuals and organisations;
- Academic support to local Examination Boards
for:
- Their own curriculum
development, appropriate to their own context and not that of a
doctor working as
a General Practitioner in the UK;
- The development of
test design, writing, conduct and standard setting;
- On-going quality
assurance through the accreditation and re-accreditation cycle.
- Support for the philosophy of life-long
learning, continuing professional development, and quality
practice.
METHODS: The academic model
and framework for the examination has been developed by identifying
those aspects of good primary medical care that are truly
international, as well as the significant differences between
countries and regions of the world in terms of culture,
epidemiology, health systems and provision, history and geography.
While the examination package of each accredited MRCGP[INT] will be
somewhat different, reflecting these contextual aspects, the
principles whereby they can be assessed to modern international
standards and the criteria and the template against which
assessment procedures from different health care systems might be
developed, evaluated, endorsed, accredited and quality assured have
been validated.
CONCLUSIONS: The award of the
MRCGP[INT] confirms that the successful candidate has attained a
standard of competence as a Family Doctor, as tested by an
assessment equivalent in rigour to the MRCGP in the UK, but
appropriate for the curriculum of the local context of Primary
Healthcare.