Update on the fellowship exam and its relation to modern educational principles and clinical competency

The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine is committed to a long term process of quality improvement in the fellowship examination and the training programme leading up to it. The process of quality improvement and the rationale for current and future processes are not always clear to the fellowship as a whole. The present article attempts to update the fellowship on the current thinking with regard to the fellowship exam and the work that is being done surrounding this and relevant areas. This is related to some modern educational assessment principles and terminology. More research is required into the relevance of each component of the fellowship exam and its relation to clinical competency, key competencies and good clinical practice. Any subsequent changes to the exam structure must take into account the evidence and be balanced by what is practicable, reasonable and deliverable.