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Preparing for MRCPSCYH CASC

• December 23, 2021

MRCPsych CASC (Clinical Assessment of Skills and Competencies) is the final part of the MRCPsych examination series. More specifically, the CASC tests your clinical skills in a range of clinical situations.
 

What is the format of the CASC examination?

The CASC format is like an OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination).

The CASC is made up of two circuits of individual stations which will test your clinical skills:

• The morning circuit will allow you 4 minutes to read the instructions (PDF) and 7 minutes to complete the consultation task
• The afternoon circuit will allow you 90 seconds to read the instructions and 7 minutes to complete the consultation task.

The sixteen CASC station exam is made up of:

• five stations focused on History Taking, including risk assessment
• five stations focused on Examination - both physical and mental state, including capacity assessment
• six stations focused on patient Management.
   

What do the Circuits consist of?

Circuit 1 (the morning section) consists of the following:

• 6 stations focused on Management
• 1 x station focused on Examination
• 1 x station focused on History Taking
• 4 minutes reading time prior to entering each station
• 7 minutes to perform the task

Circuit 2 (the afternoon section) consists of the following:

• 4 x stations focused on Examination
• 4 x stations focused on History Taking
• 90 seconds reading time prior to entering each station
• 7 minutes to perform the task
   

What should I revise?

CASC Candidates should be able to demonstrate the skills of history taking, examination and management in scenarios with patients of any age or developmental ability in the following categories:
 

• Organic, including symptomatic, mental disorders (includes dementias and delirium)

• Mental and Behavioural Disorders due to psychoactive substance use

• Schizophrenia, schizotypal or delusional disorders

• Mood (affective) Disorders

• Neurotic, stress related and somatoform disorders (includes anxiety disorders, OCD, dissociative
   (conversion) and somatoform disorders)

• Behavioural syndromes associated with physiological disturbances and physical factors (includes
   Eating Disorders and disorders associated with the puerperium)

• Disorders of adult personality and behaviour (includes personality disorder and gender identity
   disorder and disorders of sexual preference)

• Disorders of psychological development (including pervasive developmental disorders, autism)

• Behavioural and emotional disorders with onset usually occurring in childhood and adolescence
   (includes Hyperkinetic disorders and tic disorders)

How is the CASC marked?

Please see updated CASC marksheets:

• History Marksheet (PDF)
• Management Marksheet (PDF)
• Examination Marksheet (PDF)

 

Useful Resources for CASC Candidates

For some useful information about the stations, the role players and how you will be assessed, see the CASC candidate guide.

• Videos showing sample stations

To see a CASC station brought to life, watch videos of sample stations from a face-to-face examination. The principles will remain the same for online exams. 

• Checking the CASC process

Read about the measures we take to ensure CASC provides a valid and reliable assessment of your knowledge and clinical skills – see the CASC quality assurance process (PDF).

• CASC Candidate Questionnaire

After taking CASC, candidates are invited to complete a questionnaire providing feedback. Read a round-up of recent feedback.

• CASC Blueprint

See the CASC Blueprint (PDF).

• IT requirements

Download the IT requirements to take the CASC online (PDF)

Relocation/Finding a Job

If you are an international Psychiatrist with MRCPSYCH who would like to relocate to the UK, email your CV to [email protected] and we can support you in securing an NHS post and on your relocation journey to the UK.

Are you a member of our Facebook group? When you join IMG Advisor, you join a community of doctors all looking to relocate to the UK and join the NHS. We post a series of blogs and vlogs to the group each day. We will also be on hand to answer all of your relocation queries.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel! We have over 60 videos covering everything you need to know about relocating to the UK and joining the NHS.

Listen to BDI Resourcing on the go with IMG Advisor the Podcast! You can listen to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher and Buzzsprout. We have a number of episodes with tips and advice on relocating to the UK and the routes you can take to achieve this.

Finally, we also have Instagram, so if you are a member, feel free to follow us to view our posts and IGTV: @bdiresourcing