Family Medicine

The FM Examination (MCQ) is designed to evaluate the extent of the candidate's knowledge and clinical judgement in the areas in which a family medicine physician should demonstrate a high level of competence. Expertise in the broad domain of family medicine, and the diagnosis and treatment of both common and rare conditions that have important consequences for patients will be assessed.

The examination content is similar to the blueprint developed and used by the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM). ABMS-S, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health Singapore, modified the blueprint to ensure that the content and relative percentages reflect practice of family medicine in Singapore. The blueprint will be reviewed and revised annually to ensure that it remains current.

The majority of questions are based on patient presentations occurring in settings that reflect current medical practice. Questions requiring simple recall of medical facts are in the minority; the majority of questions require integration of information from several sources, prioritisation of alternatives, and/or utilisation of clinical judgement in reaching a correct conclusion. Some questions require interpretation of pictorial material, such as electrocardiograms, radiographs, photographs and photomicrographs (e.g. blood films, Gram stains).

The content areas covered and their relative proportions on the examination are as follows:

Table 1 : Examination Content for Family Medicine MCQ Examination