Attend a Study Course
- It is highly recommended that you attend any of the study courses listed here to further increase your chances of passing this exam.
- Remember to book early and work out your study leave as soon as possible. These study courses are very popular and can be hard to get into.
- Try and get the practice papers from the courses that you did not attend and save these to do in the 2 to 3 weeks before the exam.
- Without further ado, below is our list of recommended study courses available throughout Australasia to help you prepare for your FRACP exam:
PhysEd was formed by two physician trainees, both of whom have passed the FRACP written examination in their first attempt. The prep course is a comprehensive 12-day program held at the Royal Melbourne Hospital around October each year and is scheduled to include approximately 70 hours of content (including a weekend MCQ course schedule). It is conducted by experienced consultants chosen for their teaching skills and intimate knowledge of the written exam. The course covers all examinable topics in the FRACP written exam including immunology, genetics, statistics, pharmacology, and obstetrics. The final day of the course will include two trial exams designed to simulate the experience of the real day.
The course offers three types of registration: Full, Weekly or Daily registration. On a full registration, participants will get a set of course notes, MCQ questions to take home as well as a complete physician’s briefcase which will be needed for the clinical examination. A weekly registration allows attendance to all lectures for that week including course notes and MCQ questions. Daily registration allows attendance in all lectures for that day including course notes. Candidates can also choose to register for the trial exam.
The Dunedin Revision Course is an intensive two-week residential programme for individuals intending to sit the written component of the RACP examination. The course has been held annually since 1986, in November (springtime in Dunedin, New Zealand). All medical subs-pecialties are covered in this course, which includes two mock examinations. Speakers include local, national, and international authorities in the areas covered. Candidates who attended this course has been mostly successful in their written exam. For example, in 2010 RACP Written Examination for Adult Medicine pass rate for those who attended the 2009 Dunedin Course was a very pleasing 79% which compares very favourably with the Australasian overall pass rate of 68%.
DeltaMed was formed in 1999 with the aim of providing Physician trainees with a wider range of educational options in their preparation for the FRACP examinations in adult medicine. The courses are overseen by a Consultant Physician who also holds a Post Graduate Certificate in Medical Education and a Master’s degree in Health Professional Education. The course is usually held at the University of Melbourne around late November each year and consists of an intense two weeks programme covering most specialties . Registration for the course also includes access to on-line video lectures and practice MCQs each month, prior to the course.
The RPA BPT Revision course is an intensive, two week programme designed to help basic physician trainees in their preparation for the Adult Medicine FRACP Written Examination. It aims to cover important and topical areas of internal medicine to complement core training in all medical specialty areas. It is held annually in the Kerry Packer Education Centre at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney. The program features lecture updates in all major topic areas, interactive MCQ sessions with audience response system polling and culminates in a 100 question, 3 hour trial examination under exam conditions. Their speakers are highly regarded specialists in their respective fields from a number of different NSW hospitals. The course is co-ordinated by the Basic Physician Training Unit at RPA.
Below are some sub-specialty courses that are available throughout Australasia:
Since 1996, Dr Andrew Chancellor, neurologist had been running the annual Tauranga Neurology Course held in Tauranga, New Zealand. However, from 2018 onward the course will be organized by Dr David Bourke, and the first course is scheduled to be held in Wellington in April 2018. The programme offers physicians in training the opportunity to improve their examination techniques and hone skills for recognition of disorders commonly presented as a ‘neurology short case’ at the FRACP clinical examinations and in clinical practice. It is worth mentioning that only New Zealand FRACP candidates, who have passed their written examination AND are sitting the clinical examination in 2018 are eligible to register. Numbers are usually limited because the course is over-subscribed. Selection is usually done by a random number generator on the final day of registration and not on a first-come-first-served basis.
The Revise Nephrology course is aimed at providing a comprehensive understanding of renal medicine including dialysis and transplantation. The aim of this course is to create a platform on which renal topics which are of interest from a professional and examination point of view will be discussed in a comprehensive and easy language. Lectures will be backed by topic-wise multiple choice questions with discussions around them. It is hoped that the course will help in preparation for fellowship exams but also more importantly help equip trainees, including interns and residents who intend to enter Basic Physician Training with improved knowledge and a practical approach to renal management. The 2018 event will take place on 22nd-23rd September at Westmead Hospital.
The immunology4bpts course aims to provide essential knowledge about the basic science of the immune system, and how this translates into clinical medicine. It will give a thorough coverage of basic immunobiology, and use this background to explain some specific immunological conditions, including immunodeficiency and vasculitis. The course will explain the basic concepts of immunobiology necessary for the Basic Science paper of the RACP part I examination, and build on this knowledge to present immunological diseases in that context, of relevance to the Clinical medicine section of the part I examination.The course will consist of a series of lectures with appropriate breaks and a comprehensive set of colour notes will be provided. The course includes a number of explanatory videos, and will finish with a session of 50 MCQs to test and consolidate the various aspects of the lecture content. Dates to be confirmed: Melbourne: 15th – 16th September 2018 and Sydney: 13 – 14th October 2018.
Genetics For Trainees is a one day course that covers specifically on the topics of genetics relevant to the RACP curriculum and past exam topics. The course is delivered by experienced lecturers to help ‘demystify’ genetics and help you prepare for the FRACP Written Exam. They also welcome advanced trainees and consultants who may be interested in a genetics refresher and update. The course provides 2 RACP CPD credits per hour under the Assessed Learning category. the 2018 course is scheduled to be held in August at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne.
This one day workshop held at the University of Melbourne will focus on the statistical needs of physician trainees, and the topics covered in the FRACP examination. The course aims to provide clear, succinct, written notes on statistics and will conclude with a trial MCQ test on the statistics topics that is worked through with the presenter. Specifically the topics include sampling, inference, P-values, confidence intervals, statistical power, measures used for comparison of groups (absolute risk difference, relative risk, odds ratio, attributable risk, number needed to treat), diagnostic tests (sensitivity and specificity, positive predictive value, area under the curve), design and interpretation of randomized controlled trials, other study designs (case-control studies, cohort studies) and their potential biases, survival analysis.
This is a great website that allows the user to search for specific conferences around the world though this is more relevant for candidates who have passed their exams, ie: advanced trainees and fellow consultants who would like to attend a CME conference in their respective fields.