We heard you! Access to personal items during the MCCQE Part II – Update

The Medical Council of Canada (MCC) is pleased to inform you that, based on feedback from candidates, practices for accessing personal items during the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination (MCCQE) Part II have been updated and will be in place starting with the spring 2019 session.

Please check our website for a clear and comprehensive list of items that can and cannot be taken into the exam. The MCC has also expanded the list of items that can be taken into the exam, if needed, without advance permission.

Certain items, including any medical device that makes use of smart phone technology, will continue to require advance written permission. As well as in the past, certain items (e.g., keys, wallets, etc.) will be stored away during the exam, as well as during the sequestration period if applicable.

To keep the exam process fair and equal, as is the case with many other high-stakes exams, all candidates will be asked to disclose what they are taking with them into the exam and show the items in their pockets to a member of the exam staff for an unobtrusive visual inspection. Candidates will be provided with the option of moving to a secondary location to show these items, should they wish to do this in a more private area.

The requirement for candidates to display the personal items they will be carrying with them during the exam remains an important and essential step in the process from an exam security and integrity perspective. The reality is that, in high-stakes exam in any number of professions and organisations, there are and have been occurrences of candidates taking in non-permissible items, including notes, recording devices, etc.

We hope that the above changes will help enhance the overall experience for candidates.