Member of the Diploma in Geriatric Medicine Question Paper Review Group

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is seeking to appoint a number of healthcare professionals to the Diploma in Geriatric Medicine (DGM) Question Paper Review Group (QPRG). The DGM is developed and delivered by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) Assessment Unit on behalf of the RCP and British Geriatrics Society (BGS).

The DGM knowledge-based assessment (KBA) takes place annually and consist of 100 single best answer questions, delivered via one three-hour assessment. The KBA is delivered online, enabling candidates to take the assessment at home or in the workplace.

The objectives of the group

The DGM QPRG has the responsibility to ensure that the DGM KBA contain questions that fall within the current DGM syllabus.

Responsibilities

Ensuring the overall assessment includes a reasonable balance of clinical presentations
Ensuring questions include a good mixture of primary, secondary and community care settings
Reviewing questions within a KBA for clinical relevance
Ensuring questions test knowledge in line with current guidelines across all four nations of the United Kingdom
Generating the standard setting score for each question*
Identifying questions that do not meet the required standards, and referring these for review by the DGM question writing group (QWG)**
Advising the QWG on future areas for generation of content.

*Initial review and standard setting are both to be done individually prior to the clinical review.
**The QWG meets separately to the QPRG and is responsible for generating and reviewing content.

Benefits

We offer the opportunity to network with colleagues, keep your knowledge up to date, take part in challenging discussions, be involved with shaping the future of care of older people, promote multidisciplinary working and continuing professional development.

By getting involved you can shape the future of the DGM KBA.

This is a non-salaried position, though all reasonable expenses and travel costs will be met by the Education Department in line with the RCP expenses policy.

The tenure of the appointment is three years, with the potential for extension as appropriate, particularly in cases of long-term absence (illness or maternity leave, for example), or to ensure orderly succession planning. Any extensions will be at the discretion of the RCP Assessment Unit.

All successful applicants will be required to sign non-disclosure and code of conduct agreements.

The group will meet via two half-day meetings a year (one clinical review meeting and one standard setting meeting). Meetings will be held virtually via Microsoft Teams.

Criteria

As this is a newly created group, we are looking to recruit approximately 12 members initially, with at least one member from each of the following areas:

a general practitioner
an old age psychiatrist
an advanced clinical practitioner
a consultant geriatrician from secondary care
a consultant geriatrician from community care.

We are also keen to see representation on the group from each of the four nations of the United Kingdom.

Applicants must meet the following criteria to be eligible to apply:

Hold current statutory registration with the relevant regulator - normally the General Medical Council (GMC), Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) or Health & Care Professions’ Council (HCPC), or the Physician Associate Managed Voluntary Register (PAMVR) in the case of physician associates***
Be in good standing with their regulatory body (or the Faculty of Physician Associates in the case of physician associates)
Be able to demonstrate the following level of clinical experience:
- Doctors should hold MRCP(UK)/MRCGP/MRCPsych (or equivalent) and have at least three years’ experience in working as a consultant or specialist (SAS) in Geriatric Medicine, an old age psychiatrist or a general practitioner. Working with older people should represent a significant proportion of their clinical workload.
- Advanced clinical practitioners should have completed a relevant qualification (a masters degree or equivalent) and have gained at least three years’ clinical experience in working with older people in a significant proportion of their clinical workload after obtaining advanced practitioner status.
- Physician associates should have completed a relevant qualification (a masters degree or equivalent) and have at least five years’ experience in working with older people in a significant proportion of their clinical workload.
Be actively engaged in the training of junior practitioners to provide high quality person-centred care for older people
Be up-to-date as appropriate with relevant national guidelines, CPD requirements, employer’s equality and diversity training and appraisal process
Interested in, but not necessarily expert in, medical academic assessments.

***This is a temporary provision until statutory regulation of physician associates is complete and members of the PAMVR have transferred to the GMC register.

How to apply

Applications to join the QPRG, including a CV and one-page covering letter outlining your suitability for the post should be submitted for the attention of Steven Ansty via Assessment.Unit@RCP.ac.uk. As we are looking for several new members to join the QPRG, recruitment will stay open until such time as all posts have been recruited to.

The RCP Assessment Unit reserve the right to withdraw the advertised vacancy without prior notice once the required number of new members have been recruited. Those interested in applying are therefore advised to do so as soon as possible.

For an informal discussion regarding the role please contact Steven Ansty, Deputy Head of Assessment on the above email address, or via: 0151 318 1888.

The RCP positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, transgender status, religion or belief, marital status, or pregnancy and maternity.