The trial exams
Dr Cutbush took part in the National Trial Exams for the orthopaedic registrars in Cairns in October 2016.
Trial exams give registrars a realistic rehearsal of the fellowship examination under conditions close to the real thing, which is useful preparation and requires a good number of consultants to volunteer their time as examiners.
Orthopaedic training and the fellowship examination
In Australia and New Zealand, orthopaedic surgical training is conducted through the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in conjunction with the Australian Orthopaedic Association. A doctor accepted onto the programme is called a registrar and spends several years rotating through hospital units, operating under supervision with increasing independence as training progresses.
The programme ends in the fellowship examination, which has written and clinical components and covers the whole of orthopaedics rather than any one area of it. Passing it is what allows a doctor to be recognised as a specialist orthopaedic surgeon. It is a demanding examination, and it is the point at which a trainee has to demonstrate not only knowledge but the ability to assess a patient and then defend a plan under questioning.
What a trial examination is
A trial examination reproduces the format of the real one: timed stations, patients or standardised cases, and examiners questioning the candidate as they would on the day. Candidates sit it some months beforehand, which leaves time to act on what it exposes.
- It shows candidates how their knowledge holds up under time pressure rather than at a desk.
- It identifies gaps while there is still time to close them.
- It gives feedback from examiners who are not their own supervisors.
- It removes some of the unfamiliarity of the format itself, which is part of what makes the real examination difficult.
Why consultants volunteer as examiners
The exercise only works if enough consultant surgeons give up a weekend to examine. There is no substitute for being questioned by a surgeon you have never met, on a case you have not seen, with the clock running. Most surgeons who examine at trial exams sat the same examination themselves, and the practice continues largely for that reason. Running them in regional centres such as Cairns also means registrars posted outside the capital cities are not disadvantaged by their location.
Related information
See also our posts on the RACS examination committee and the AORA shoulder session in Cairns, and our shoulder fellowship page.