Stay calm: I vividly remember seeing fellow candidates in the queue at the exam centre busy cramming with their paper/electronic notes and telling me that they’d only slept for 2-3 hours the night before. Unsurprisingly, these were the candidates who struggled to complete the exam (you need to remain focused for 3 hours!) and score as well. Calmness is truly key! Avoid last-minute studying if you can. If you’re applying for a Specialty Training (ST) post in 2024, you may need to undertake the Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment (MSRA) as part of the recruitment process. Our MSRA exam revision guide will provide you with advice and tips on preparing effectively, as well as information about the ‘exam difficulty’ and ‘what is a good score?’. The very focused way of studying made it possible for me to feel like I was making progress and gain some confidence which was definitely needed and also to study in the little time I had available. Anyone with other commitments, especially small children will know how hard it is to study (at all or to combine this with feeling like a good enough parent) and I found keeping to a set structure the best way to do this over the summer holidays: My mum to whom I am eternally grateful, would look after the children after lunchtime for an hour or a little longer on a good day and I would furiously work my way through another section. If I had the energy in the evenings once the children were asleep I would do a further hour. I found it crucial to have my revision mapped out for the next few days ahead of time so that I could just sit down and work rather than waste time “planning”.

Shortly after the MSRA testing window has closed, your MSRA result will be available within your Oriel account against your application shortlist scores. For the January 2024 exam, results are expected by 9 February 2024. How is the MSRA scored? Over 2,500 Single Best Answer and Extended Matching Questions for the Clinical Problem Solving paper Many specialties – namely community sexual and reproductive health, general practice, neurosurgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, ophthalmology, psychiatry (core and child and adolescent), and radiology – use the MSRA in selection processes for specialty training. 1 Negative marking is not utilised. Consequently, candidates are encouraged to answer all questions. 1 You may also find it helpful to revisit the following documents, given their influence on the MSRA exam, as mentioned previously: Thisisabigexamthatneedsalotofstudy,butIfounditmuchmorestraightforwardthanTAS.Iusedacoupleofbiggertextbooks– Nelson’s,andtherecent GOSHpaediatricstextbook,butmainlythe “EssentialrevisionnotesinpaediatricsfortheMRCPCH”and MRCPCHMasterclassbooks,goingthroughthecurriculum.IusedPastestagain.Ialsoused “Theessentialrevisionguidetopaediatriccardiology”and “ImagingpicturetestsforMRCPCH”–bothfromthelibrary.Aspertheotherwrittenexams,RCPCHhavewrittenaclinicalcasesbook,butthiscameoutafterIsatthisexam.Some prefer visual learning – for example our MSRA Clinical and SJT Online Courses allows you to follow syllabus-based teaching on screen – in more depth than the audiobooks. ClinicalcasesforMRCPCHTAS–usefulcases.Igotalibrarycopyanddidstudythebookcovertocover.Probablywouldn’thavebeenworthbuyingbutdefinitelyagoodbook. As well as exploring the exam topics, incorporating practice questions is essential for your MSRA preparations. This allows you to become familiar with the different types of questions and scenarios you’ll encounter during the exam, and provides opportunities to practise applying your knowledge and problem solving skills, which are important elements that will be assessed within the MSRA exam.

If you really don’t know an answer then try to narrow it down by ruling out options that are definitely incorrect. Remember, there is no negative marking so don’t hesitate to make an educated guess if you have to. Also, try not to pre-judge questions, make sure you read them thoroughly. Assuming the answer will be the same as a similar question when really the details are slightly different, is a sure fire way to get it wrong. Strategy: Learn how to approach the professional dilemmas questions – this was a real game-changer for me For some specialties, if you score highly on the MSRA, you can bypass the interview stage of recruitment, meaning there are huge advantages of preparing effectively and performing well in the MSRA. Furthermore, General Practice ST1 and Core Psychiatry CT1 assess and rank applicants based solely on their MSRA performance; therefore, if you’re applying for these, it’s more important than ever to ensure that you’re as prepared as possible for the exam. Although not strictly related to revision, it’s always worth remembering that neither paper in the MSRA exam is negatively marked, so it’s worth attempting to answer all questions as it may just get you an extra few marks on the exam.

Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment / MSRA Exam

Additionally, the scores for each paper are banded 1 to 4. Band 1 means that the minimum score has not been achieved. Candidates who score band 1 in either, or both, papers are unable to proceed with their applications. Diagnosis– Evaluating the symptoms presented by a patient to identify a possible condition, disease or injury. In 2016 the GP ST Stage 2 resource was renamed the Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment (MSRA). It is now also used for doctors applying to other specialties such as radiology, psychiatry, obstetrics/gynaecology, neurosurgery and ophthalmology.