Quality control in the Part I F.R.A.C.S. examination.

The conduct of College examinations has seemed a mystery to many candidates. Both candidates and supervisors of training have echoed this concern with the R.A.C.S. new Part 1 examination. This paper describes the work of the Board of Examiners of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and the procedures by which the new Part 1 examination is constructed, administered, analysed and refined. It sets out how the examination has been developed into an educational instrument to provide feedback to candidates, to teachers and to examiners, so that each can improve his performance. In addition, the Board has acquired data from each candidate on his learning opportunities, and from each candidate's mentor on various performance characteristics of the candidate.