The Board of Examination and Assessment is pleased to announce the following information on the 2004 Exit Examination of Vocational Training in Family Medicine.

Only Fellows, Full or Associate Members of the Hong Kong College of Family Physicians (HKCFP) who are fully registered with the Hong Kong Medical Council may apply for examination.

Applicants must have a higher qualification in family medicine/general practice that is recognized by the Hong Kong College of Family Physicians and the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine (HKAM).

Applicants must be trainees in Vocational Training in Family Medicine of the HKCFP who have had satisfactory completion of 21 months of higher training or additional training in family medicine by November 30, 2003 approved by the Board of Vocational Training and Standards (BVTS) of the HKCFP. (Or those candidates who have been approved by the nomination committee that they only need to complete and pass the Exit Examination for recommendation for nomination to FHKAM and registered before October 1, 1998)

Applications not satisfying the above criteria will not be accepted. An administration fee of HK$500 will be charged for unsuccessful application.

Deadline of Application: November 28, 2003.

The Clinical Audit Report must be submitted on or before January 2, 2004.

The Practice Assessment and Consultation Skills Assessment will be held on January 2 - March 25, 2004.

The examination will consist of the following three segments:-

Details of the format and contents of each segment can be found in the guidelines on Exit Examination which are available from the HKCFP Secretariat.

A trainee must score a minimum of 65% in each of the three segments to pass the whole Exit Examination. The score of a segment of the Exit Examination can be retained for a maximum of three years if a score of 65% is achieved in that segment. Unsuccessful segments can be retaken in subsequent supplementary or full Exit Examination. Full Exit Examination is held once a year. Supplementary Exit Examination is normally held six months after the full Exit Examination each year. A trainee must pass all segments of the Exit Examination within three years from the year of the first attempt in order to be certified pass in the Exit Examination. Those trainees who are not able to pass all segments within three years would be required to undertake remedial training determined by the BVTS before any re-attempt to re-sit all three segments of the Exit Examination. The results of previous Exit Assessment/Examination(s) cannot be carried in the latter situation.

Application forms are available from the College Secretariat at Room 701, 7/F, HKAM Jockey Club Building, 99 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Aberdeen, Hong Kong. The deadline for application is November 28, 2003.

The full examination fee is $9,800 (including the administrative fee of $2,700) payable in full on first application. The fee for each individual segment is $1,500 for the Clinical Audit Report, $2,800 each for the Practice Assessment and Consultation Skills Assessment segments, plus the administrative fee, for each subsequent attempt. All fees paid are neither refundable nor transferable.

Members should be aware that passing the Exit Examination does not equate to election to Fellowship of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine. Please refer to the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine Fellowship Handbook or consult the Nomination Committee of the HKCFP about the criteria for election to Fellowship of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine (Family Medicine).

Application forms and guidelines for nomination to Fellowship of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine, and a list of all recognized higher qualifications are available from the HKCFP Secretariat.