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American Board of Radiology just cancelled/postponed their oral exams due to COVID-19


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13 minutes ago, rmorelan said:

flat out cancelled? or just postponed? Their website is still pretty vague - something out the written exams moved which will impact the orals etc. 

postponed.

There are talks about trying to make the local physicians assess their trainees.

Hmmm. conflict of interest? I don't any program would want to fail their own residents though.

Maybe orals will be cancelled for some programs with the written components taking place somehow.

Also, in Quebec, we will likely have a temporary restrictive license for those who graduate so that people can work as staff physicians. I guess similar measures will take place in the other provinces.

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Just now, Arztin said:

postponed.

There are talks about trying to make the local physicians assess their trainees.

Hmmm. conflict of interest? I don't any program would want to fail their own residents though.

Maybe orals will be cancelled for some programs with the written components taking place somehow.

Also, in Quebec, we will likely have a temporary restrictive license for those who graduate so that people can work as staff physicians. I guess similar measures will take place in the other provinces.

yeah conflict there (both obvious and subtle). I would hope they find a way to get the standard exam components in place when they can asap. 

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52 minutes ago, rmorelan said:

flat out cancelled? or just postponed? Their website is still pretty vague - something out the written exams moved which will impact the orals etc. 

Postponed technically. The latest is they are saying written at the end of April/early May and oral end of summer or in the fall. 

Which is so stupid because now we have to keep studying while also trying to provide care and worrying about getting quarantined and they probably will cancel it again at the end of April. 
 

And even if we do write the written we still can’t practice independently/without supervision without the oral. 

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14 hours ago, ellorie said:

Postponed technically. The latest is they are saying written at the end of April/early May and oral end of summer or in the fall. 

Which is so stupid because now we have to keep studying while also trying to provide care and worrying about getting quarantined and they probably will cancel it again at the end of April. 
 

And even if we do write the written we still can’t practice independently/without supervision without the oral. 

oh yeah it is a mess - no question. I think the worst part is just the "more studying part" - you really do reach a peak with this and then just get into a holding pattern. Staying at that place is really hard to do. You keep studying stuff you know you know just to keep it maximally sharp but it is boring, exhausting, and if you don't do it you will rapidly be in a worse place. Everyone normally has a few weeks of that if they time it right - you cannot aim to have gone over everything the day prior to the exam ha - but to hold it for months? Pain I can barely begin to imagine. 

Some 5th years I know have been put back on the call system to cover for other trainees going missing. That is a big ouch - I cannot tell you how much those call shifts dull your mind until you stop doing them. 

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2 hours ago, Arztin said:

Spring exams probably won't happen.

The Quebec government wrote a letter to the RCPSC today saying it doesn't agree with their decision to hold exams while the priority is to have as much manpower as possible as soon as possible with the Covid situation.

Thank God some official body is being sensible.  Hopefully it bears some fruit.

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On 3/18/2020 at 8:05 PM, Arztin said:

Spring exams probably won't happen.

The Quebec government wrote a letter to the RCPSC today saying it doesn't agree with their decision to hold exams while the priority is to have as much manpower as possible as soon as possible with the Covid situation.

I wouldn't mind it if this crisis along with the CBD transition for residency signaled the end of the Royal College exams...

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33 minutes ago, Snowmen said:

I wouldn't mind it if this crisis along with the CBD transition for residency signaled the end of the Royal College exams...

I agree. In the end, I don’t see a problem with your own program signing off on your credentials without any Final certifying exam whatsoever. Med schools do it for their own, PhD students get the final sign off by their own defence committee etc. We’re a self regulating profession and if a program had an issue with an R5s abilities based on CBD assessments, they and the resident would know about it and then it could be remedied. Really no conflict of interest when it’s simply an ethical question of “is this person ready for practice,” and in my view your own program knows that better than any Royal College committee. Otherwise, I say you served your time, know what you need to know and ongoing CME is going to obviously part of your career. 

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Yeah. Fair enough.

It's just that working a few months and having to restudy is kind of a bummer. Some guidelines will have changed. Some people will be in a different environment.

The annoying part is mainly this: you went from exam knowledge learning mode to practical knowledge learning mode, and now re switch to exam learning mode, and have to cram a bunch of things that will probably be useless in your practice, especially because the fact that we will be thrown in an unfamiliar environment, and having to learn on the spot new practical knowledge. e.g. being thrown in the ICU, or the ED for people not familiar with those.

The CFPC said they want to hold the exams in October.

Nothing is certain for now. We don't know yet how bad things can get. The worst case scenario would be a terrible one.

But quite frankly, timing of RC or CCFP exams, and having to restudy, and having problems with licensing are truly first world problems. There will be many people who will have lost their jobs, with many small business owners going bankrupt.

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One of the most interesting things to me is that there is such a reduced level of impact to applicants to med schools, medical students and clerkship students and junior residents to a degree. Most medical schools have been extremely accommodating with all online lectures, cancelled or slightly postponed exams and clear updates and expectations. It seems the royal college and CFPC have not been even nearly as accommodating despite the greater effect of writing exams 6+ months later and significant restrictions on provisional licensure (can not work in many rural settings or areas without a supervisor). I am hoping that perhaps the college will find ways in this time of need to rethink their current strategy and consider offering full licenses to graduates this year 

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