FAQs about our exam centre in Doha
Here are the answers to potential questions about the new CASC exam centre in Doha. You can also find answers to commonly asked questions on our other FAQs pages.
The College is committed to keeping the MRCPsych accessible to international candidates.
Following the return to face-to-face CASC in 2023, the RCPsych has delivered the CASC exam in Sheffield and in Singapore.
To meet the demand from our international candidates, and to support candidates from across Northern Africa, the Middle East and the Indian Sub-Continent, in February 2023, and as part of the Assessment Strategy Review, it was agreed to establish an exam centre in the Gulf, due to the accessibility and travel infrastructures available in the region.
We are expanding capacity to meet demand and are also looking at the potential for another Centre in South Asia.
Those interested in hosting the CASC exam centre in the Middle East completed a structured application form, setting out how they would meet the requirements of hosting the CASC exam.
Applicants were required to set out how they would meet 12 distinct requirements to host the CASC exam, including the suitability of the venue, administrative support, experience of organising and delivering a clinical exam, access to local examiners, ability to hire professional role players and proximity to travel terminus and accommodation.
Applicants were also required to confirm their commitment to the College values.
Seven applications were received, and these were scored by the members of the scoring committee.
Following a thorough application process, the scoring committee unanimously agreed that Hamad Medical Corporation which is based in Doha, Qatar, was best placed to meet the needs of exam candidates.
Once Hamad Medical Corporation was identified as the top scoring institution, the College carried out a “risk and values assessment” against each of the College values, including courage and respect. The assessment confirmed that a new CASC centre at Hamad Medical Corporation met all our requirements and that it allowed us to further our core objective of promoting excellence and quality improvement in psychiatry.
Hamad Medical Corporation has purpose-built facilities, experience in delivering similar exams, including the Royal College of Physicians UK’s Practical Assessment of Clinical Examination Skills (PACES), as well as being able to support the recruitment of local examiners.
In addition to their facilities, contacts and experience, Hamad Medical Corporation were able to demonstrate an ability to access skilled and professional actors from a variety of backgrounds to act as role players.
The location of Hamad Medical Corporation will allow easy access for exam candidates from the Middle East and beyond, with regular flights into Hamad International Airport (DOH) available from countries where CASC exam candidates are well represented. Citizens of many countries eligible to visit without needing a visa, and others eligible to a visa on arrival.
The local infrastructure means that Hamad Medical Corporation is easily accessible via public transport, and there are a variety of hotels and restaurants available to candidates and examiners.
We will start recruiting examiners based in the region in early 2025. If you’d like to be notified about this recruitment, please email us at examinations@rcpsych.ac.uk.
Yes. Advancing psychiatry internationally and wider mental health services is a priority for the College. Our second International Strategy (PDF) includes a commitment to nurturing and supporting psychiatrists globally developing CASC centres outside of the UK to maintain and improve access to international exam candidates.
Our focus will remain on enhancing patient care worldwide, which means advancing our international strategy and working with national legal frameworks that may have differing social policies to the UK's.
The College's role is not to comment on the politics or social policies of a nation. Our work will always be about supporting psychiatrists to secure the best outcomes for people with mental illness, intellectual disabilities and developmental disorders by training outstanding psychiatrists, promoting quality and research, setting standards and being the voice of our members and the profession, promoting excellent mental health services, and supporting the prevention of mental illness
Our work will always be person-centred and will respect the needs of patients, over and above any national social policies that are different from those in the UK.
