The objective is to ensure that as a trainee, you have the required level of knowledge and understanding of the four basic sciences - anatomy, pathology, physiology and pharmacology – as they relate to emergency medicine (EM). This is to ensure you have gained the core knowledge considered necessary towards a career as an EM physician. Please see the FACEM Curriculum.
The examination is criterion-referenced, which means that as a candidate, you must reach a predefined level of performance to pass the examination, rather than a fixed percentage of all candidates being successful.
Important to note: the written component of the Primary Examination contains up to 360 questions in total, made up of Select Choice Questions (SCQ) or specifically, Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) only. It consists of 2 x 3 hour papers of up to 180 questions each, held over the course of one day.