AussieIMG AMC 1

AMC 1- My Prep

I prepared for about 25 days for my exam and I passed. This is because I had taken my MRCP 1 just 4-5 months before my AMC1. In hindsight, it was a bold risk that I took and would NOT recommend anyone to take this test with such a short duration of prep.

Ideal prep time would be around 2-3 months if you have strong basics and 4-6 months if your basics are weak.

I personally used only 2 resources:

  1. AMC handbook for MCQs
  2. John Murtagh General Practice- selected topics, read local guidelines

Some other recommended books that I did NOT use are:

  1. Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine
  2. Anthropology of Medical Conditions
  3. Harrisons Principles of Internal Medicine
  4. Kaplan USMLE Step 2 CK

There are quite a few qbanks available online which you might use for your prep.

AussieIMG AMC 1, Uncategorized

AMC 1- Exam Pattern

About AMC 1 or the AMC Computer Adaptive Test MCQ Examination

Duration: 3.5 hours

Mode of delivery: Online, at Pearson VUE test centres

Exam dates: Generally held in the third week of every month (From Monday to Friday, i.e 5 days/ month). When you pay your exam fee, you will be issued a 12 month authorisation to schedule for one MCQ examination event covered in that 12-month period.

Number of questions: 150

Number of questions from each subject:

1. Medicine -35
2. Surgery Questions-25
3. Obstetrics and Gynecology Questions-15
4. Pediatrics Questions-15
5. Psychiatry Questions-15
6. General Practice and Public Health Questions-15 

Non-scored Questions or Trial: 30

Passing score: You need a score of atleast 250 to pass.

This is what the AMC website says about the scoring system:

candidates are expected to answer all 150 MCQ questions in the examination.
It is important to note that the determination of a candidate’s ability is not based simply on the
number of correct answers given by the candidate. Because of the CAT component of the
examination some candidates would have been administered difficult questions whilst others
would have been administered easier questions – depending on the correct or incorrect
answers to previous questions. Therefore, if candidates have the same number of correct
answers, the ability of the candidate that answered the difficult questions will be higher than
the ability of the candidate that answered the easier questions.
The AMC score is based on measurement of the candidate ability level and (for convenience)
represented on a scale of 0 to 500. A passing score is represented on the scale at 250.
Failure to complete all 150 items in the AMC CAT MCQ examination may lead to insufficient
information for a reliable ability to be determined and therefore a result on the AMC adaptive scale.

Results announced in: 4 weeks time