The National Assessment Collaboration (NAC) Examination is a national, standardized exam that assesses your readiness to enter a Canadian residency program. It was developed to reduce duplication amongst provincial international medical graduate (IMG) assessment programs and offer standardized results to residency program directors across the country.
The exam tests the knowledge, skills, and attitudes essential for entrance into postgraduate training, or residency, in Canada. IMGs must take the NAC Examination to apply to the Canadian residency program with the Canadian Residency matching service (CaRMS).
The NAC Examination is a half-day Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). Exam administrations are held twice a year, in the spring and fall.
For a given administration, all candidates rotate through the same series of stations. The NAC Examination consists of 12 stations, 2 of which are pilot stations that will not count toward your final score. Each station is 11 minutes long with 2 minutes between stations.
At each station, a brief written statement introduces a clinical problem and outlines your tasks (e.g., take a history, conduct and describe a physical examination). In each station, there is at least one standardized participant (SP) and a physician examiner (PE).
You can take the NAC Examination in English or French at designated centres.
The NAC Examination includes a series of stations where you are presented with typical clinical scenarios. It includes problems in:
You are assessed by PEs on up to 7 different competencies per station. These competencies include:
Content for the NAC Examination is developed by physicians from across the country with expertise in multiple medical disciplines. Content development is overseen by subject matter experts and ensures that the content is appropriate for the expected performance of a graduate from a Canadian medical school.
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