TY - JOUR T1 - Licensing exams and judicial review: the closing of one door and opening of others? JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 8 LP - 9 DO - 10.3399/bjgp15X683029 VL - 65 IS - 630 AU - Sue Rendel AU - Pauline Foreman AU - Adrian Freeman Y1 - 2015/01/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/65/630/8.abstract N2 - The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has the responsibility to provide a curriculum and suitable assessments to license doctors to work as GP specialists in the UK. The General Medical Council (GMC), as the Regulator, holds the RCGP to account for the delivery of these functions.As with all health care, the workload of a GP has become more complex. They are responsible for providing primary care to an ageing population with multimorbidity. Increasingly more of that care is delivered within the community rather than in hospitals. Licensed GPs need to have the knowledge and skills to feel capable of this work and patients have a right to safe and effective care. The MRCGP examination seeks to establish the readiness of candidates to look after patients in unsupervised practice. A recent study has demonstrated the relationship between scores on licensing examinations and patient health outcomes.1The GP specialty training programme is only 3 years in duration. The MRCGP examination, which must be passed to obtain a certificate of completion of training (CCT), has three components: the applied knowledge test (AKT) attempted from Year 2, the clinical skills assessment (CSA) attempted in Year 3, and workplace based assessment which runs throughout the entire 3-year programme. The CSA is an assessment of a doctor’s ability to integrate and apply clinical, professional, communication and practical skills appropriate for general practice. It is an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) style examination of 13 stations. Using professional role players, the exam assesses candidates’ clinical skills in standardised … ER -