Mehdizadeh Leila, Sturrock Alison, Myers Gil, Khatib Yasmin, Dacre Jane
Division of University College London Medical School, University College London, London, UK.
Centre for Psychiatry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
Postgrad Med J. 2014 Dec;90(1070):675-9. doi: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2013-132324. Epub 2014 Oct 14.
Doctors who are investigated by the General Medical Council for performance concerns may be required to take a Test of Competence (ToC). The tests are piloted on volunteer doctors before they are used in Fitness to Practise (FtP) investigations.
To find out who volunteers to take a pilot ToC and why.
This was a retrospective cohort study. Between February 2011 and October 2012 we asked doctors who volunteered for a test to complete a questionnaire about their reasons for volunteering and recruitment. We analysed the data using descriptive statistics and Pearson's χ(2) test.
301 doctors completed the questionnaire. Doctors who took a ToC voluntarily were mostly women, of white ethnicity, of junior grades, working in general practice and who held a Primary Medical Qualification (PMQ) from the UK. This was a different population to doctors under investigation and all registered doctors in the UK. Most volunteers heard about the General Medical Council's pilot events through email from a colleague and used the experience to gain exam practice for forthcoming postgraduate exams.
The reference groups of volunteers are not representative of doctors under FtP investigation. Our findings will be used to inform future recruitment strategies with the aim to encourage better matching of groups who voluntarily pilot a ToC with those under FtP investigation.
因执业表现问题受到英国医学总会调查的医生可能需要参加能力测试（ToC）。这些测试在用于执业适合性（FtP）调查之前，会先在志愿医生身上进行试点。
了解哪些医生自愿参加试点ToC以及原因。
这是一项回顾性队列研究。在2011年2月至2012年10月期间，我们要求自愿参加测试的医生填写一份关于他们自愿参与及招募原因的问卷。我们使用描述性统计和Pearson卡方检验分析数据。
301名医生完成了问卷。自愿参加ToC的医生大多为女性，白人，初级职称，从事全科医疗工作，拥有英国初级医学资格（PMQ）。这与接受调查的医生以及英国所有注册医生的群体不同。大多数志愿者通过同事的电子邮件听说了英国医学总会的试点活动，并利用这次经历为即将到来的研究生考试进行考试练习。
志愿者的参照群体并不代表接受FtP调查的医生。我们的研究结果将用于为未来的招募策略提供信息，目的是鼓励自愿参加ToC试点的群体与接受FtP调查的群体更好地匹配。
