MSRA Clinical Problem Solving
Clinical Problem Solving is the MSRA's clinical knowledge paper: 86 items in 75 minutes, based on the Foundation Programme. Each item is worth one mark and there is no negative marking.
The two formats
- Extended matching questions (about half): a list of 7 to 10 options shared by several linked scenarios. Each scenario is marked on its own, and an option can answer more than one scenario, or none.
- Single best answer questions (about half): one scenario with 5 to 8 options, one of them the best.
The twelve clinical areas
- Cardiovascular
- Dermatology, ENT and eyes
- Endocrinology and metabolic
- Gastroenterology and nutrition
- Infectious disease, haematology, immunology, allergies and genetics
- Musculoskeletal
- Paediatrics
- Pharmacology and therapeutics
- Psychiatry and neurology
- Renal and urology
- Reproductive
- Respiratory
What each item tests
NHS England names five target domains: investigation, diagnosis, emergency care, prescribing, and management other than prescribing. In this bank each question is filed under its clinical area, so your dashboard shows your score for each of the twelve.
Timing
75 minutes for 86 items is a little over 52 seconds an item. Drills here run at that pace, so a timed paper feels like the real one.
Source: NHS England, What's in the MSRA. Where anything here differs from NHS England's current pages, NHS England is right.
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