title: An evaluation of the first time performance of international medical graduates in the MRCOG Part 1 and Part 2 written examinations.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the performance of international medical graduates in the MRCOG Part 1 and Part 2 written examinations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using the database of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, a retrospective analysis was performed of the performance of overseas candidates who appeared for the first time in the Part 1 (n=11,863) and Part 2 written (n=5336) MRCOG examinations between 2000 and 2010. Candidates were grouped according to the RCOG geographical bands.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the Part 1 MRCOG examination the graduates of band E (India and Pakistan) and band B (Australia, New Zealand and Canada) performed well (pass rate 41.2% and 39.3% respectively) but the candidates of band C (East Africa 27.1%) and bands J and A (Europe 29.9%, Ireland 17.9%) underperformed. In the MRCOG Part 2 written examination the medical graduates of band D (Singapore and Hong Kong) and band B (Australia, New Zealand and Canada) performed well (pass rates 65.9% and 54.8%), but the candidates of band H (Middle East, pass rate 8.5%) and band C (Africa West, pass rate 12.7%) performed worse than the remaining cohort. The greatest number of candidates in the Part 2 written examinations appeared from India and Pakistan (n=2999, pass rate 22.2%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results have shown that there is variation in performance among the IMG from different geographical regions in the Part 1 and Part 2 written MRCOG examinations.
authors.affiliation: Women and Children's Hospital, Hull Royal Infirmary, Hull HU3 2JZ, United Kingdom. sofia_rushd@yahoo.co.uk
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rushd
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Landau
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Lindow
mesh_terms: D005550:Foreign Medical Graduates / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006176:Gynecology / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D009774:Obstetrics / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards*; D011361:Professional Competence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012955:Societies, Medical / Q000592:standards*; D006113:United Kingdom