MCCQE part I

Now that I am finally sure of having passed the NAC, let me document here how I have prepared to the other part of getting one’s diploma evaluated as an equivalent of a Canadian one — MCCQE I (Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination part I). I have mentioned in the previous post that first and foremost one has to visit the website of MCC and give it a thorough read, then register an account with physiciansapply.ca to be able to apply for any exam and to do business, as it were.

After applying and paying the fees, you’ll be given a twelfth months window period to schedule your exam in. The exam is administered by Prometric, and might be taken in one of Prometric centers in person or via remote proctoring system at your place. See their website to check the availability in centers near you, to schedule the test date, reschedule, etc. I’ve chosen to do it in person so as not to be subject to capricious domestic WiFi and irregularly irregular loud neighbor. The offset is, of course, an increased risk of getting infected with Covid, but one has to make choices and wearing a mask is not a problem even to people with serious lung diseases, so it is a non-issue for me. Plus, having had Step 1 and Step 2 CK in Prometric in Bangkok, the whole “going to do it in the official setting” was not discouraging. Quite the contrary — it was nice and appropriate not to sit in one’s home attire i.e. pajamas and woolen socks.

The exam itself is a nine hour event with an optional forty-five minute break in the middle. The first half is comprised of multiple choice questions (MCQ), the second one of write-in type of questions, which are called clinical decision-making (CDM).

One can have more breaks, but that will come at a price of the main test time. I’ve used my main break almost to the full — had a walk in a corridor, ate both of bananas I brought and had had half a liter of an awfully sweet Starbucks coffee in a glass bottle (wouldn’t recommend it, plain water would have been better).

I think that the consensus of opinion in medical student community is that this exam is somewhat similar to USMLE Step 2 CK, with a dash of Step 1 content. Thus the resources I’ve used:

• UWorld question bank for Step 2 CK (no comment here, as in my opinion there is nothing to beat UWorld to date)
• Master the Boards Step 2 CK (for some references, not much use)
• Toronto Notes (for local flavour, as it were, and newer material, again it is a BIG read and I wouldn’t claim to have read it all, but there is useful stuff in there)
• my notes from Step 2 CK prep
• preparatory test from MCC’s website to have a taste of what’s to come, I found the CDM unit especially helpful as there are no analogs for this type of task; I’ve had purchased and used one set of each type and decided not to waste my time on the full exam simulation

I’ve spent around one month and a half in 4–5 hours per day on average, and I was building on my previous experience with Step 2 CK, which definitely helped.

Update: I’ve passed with a score of 268 (passing score is 226).