FFICM Education and Training 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following is an example of formative assessment in ICM training?
- The FFICM Part One written examination
- An end-of-year ARCP panel decision
- A mini-CEX completed mid-rotation with immediate feedback (Correct answer)
- Submission of the final e-portfolio to FICM
Correct answer: A mini-CEX completed mid-rotation with immediate feedback
A mini-CEX conducted during training with immediate developmental feedback is a formative assessment because it is designed to support learning rather than make a pass/fail decision.
Question 2: During an ARCP, a trainee's e-portfolio shows insufficient evidence of training despite adequate clinical exposure. What outcome is MOST appropriate?
- Outcome 1 — satisfactory progress
- Outcome 2 — development of a specific action plan with a targeted review
- Outcome 3 — inadequate progress requiring an extension of training
- Outcome 5 — incomplete information requiring further assessment (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Outcome 5 — incomplete information requiring further assessment
Outcome 5 is given when the ARCP panel lacks sufficient information to make a judgment, prompting the trainee to provide the missing evidence before a final decision.
Question 3: What is the key principle of 'curriculum mapping' in postgraduate medical education?
- Assigning trainees to geographic regions based on hospital location
- Ensuring that learning objectives, teaching activities, and assessments are explicitly aligned (Correct answer)
- Publishing a list of ICU consultants available for supervision
- Scheduling annual simulation days across training deaneries
Correct answer: Ensuring that learning objectives, teaching activities, and assessments are explicitly aligned
Curriculum mapping ensures coherence between what is intended to be taught, how it is taught, and how it is assessed, preventing gaps and misalignment.
Question 4: A trainee performing well technically receives poor scores on professional behaviour from nursing colleagues. Under FICM's competency framework, this would MOST likely affect which domain?
- Clinical assessment and management
- Leadership and management
- Professional behaviour and research (Correct answer)
- Resuscitation and patient safety
Correct answer: Professional behaviour and research
Professional behaviour, including interprofessional communication and conduct, is a specific and separately assessed domain in the FICM competency framework.
Question 5: Which psychometric property of a workplace-based assessment tool refers to its ability to consistently produce the same results across different assessors?
- Validity
- Feasibility
- Inter-rater reliability (Correct answer)
- Responsiveness
Correct answer: Inter-rater reliability
Inter-rater reliability measures how consistently different assessors using the same tool score the same performance, which is critical for fair trainee evaluation.
Question 6: In ICM education, what does 'experiential learning' (Kolb's cycle) emphasize as the starting point for learning?
- Abstract conceptualisation through reading textbooks
- Concrete experience from a real or simulated clinical encounter (Correct answer)
- Active experimentation with new medications
- Reflective observation from watching video recordings only
Correct answer: Concrete experience from a real or simulated clinical encounter
Kolb's experiential learning cycle begins with a concrete experience, which is then reflected upon, conceptualised, and tested in new situations.
Question 7: A program director notices trainees are not completing SLEs with sufficient variety. What is the MOST effective systemic intervention?
- Mandate only one type of SLE to simplify completion
- Implement structured rotation timetables that expose trainees to diverse clinical scenarios and explicitly remind supervisors of SLE responsibilities (Correct answer)
- Remove SLE requirements from the curriculum
- Ask trainees to self-certify competence without supervisor input
Correct answer: Implement structured rotation timetables that expose trainees to diverse clinical scenarios and explicitly remind supervisors of SLE responsibilities
Structured rotations with supervisor engagement address both exposure breadth and assessment completion, tackling the root cause of the gap.
FFICM Education and Training 3
Which of the following is an example of formative assessment in ICM training?