We have exciting news to share with you that was announced on June 13th by the Medical Council of Canada, changes are coming to the MCCQE Part 1 exam in 2025. Here you will find a summary of the changes, you can also check out the news release from The Medical Council of Canada website.

The Medical Council of Canada are working on grant funded projects that will improve access to both services and assessments for Canadian and International Medical Graduates as well as Internationally Educated Physicians.

Their priority focus is to improve the candidate's experience and how the MCCQE1 Part 1 Qualifying examination is delivered.

After months of research, collecting of data, operational considerations and seeking expert consultation changes will be implemented for the MCCQE1 by April 2025.

Below is some of the key adjustments being implemented:

• The overall length of the examination will be shortened.
• Timing - Currently, this is set as 4.5 hours without a scheduled break in the morning. There will be break time allocations added and candidates will not go more than 3 hours before a scheduled break.
• Multiple choice questions will continue to be used to assess critical medical knowledge and decision-making skills.
• Removal of the 38 case studies used to assess the clinical decision-making component of the exam that include a short menu and short answer write-in questions.
• The MCQ will be broken down into 2 sections, instead of 1 section this will offer balance and better experience for the candidates on the exam day.
• There will be more time for the candidates to answer all questions allowing for continued fairness and valid representations of their knowledge throughout the exam.

The adjustments being made should allow exam results to be generated and made available for all candidates in a timely manner.

The changes being introduced will not have an impact on how the exams are taken, it will still be delivered globally up to 4 times a year through Prometric both at test centres and via remote proctoring and will continue to assess critical knowledge and clinical decision making.

There will be no changes to the exam or the preparatory offers until changes are implemented in 2025.

The Medical Council of Canada is still committed to maintaining integrity, validity, and reliability with assessments of the MCQE1, to ensure that there is a safe and high quality of health care provided to everyone living in Canada.