The overall pass rate for the written paper was 75%. The college examiners have made the following comments about this written paper:
"Twelve of the thirty questions had an overall pass rate of less than 50%. Topics covered by questions with a pass rate of less than 30% related to invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, SSEPs, management of confusion and fever in a young woman post-partum and management of respiratory failure in a patient with an anastamotic leak post-oesophagectomy"
"Candidates are also reminded to include in their answer only information that is relevant to the question and to make sure their writing is legible. Candidates who failed the written section passed an average of 12/30 questions compared with candidates scoring >50% and gaining an invitation to the oral section, passing an average of 20/30 questions."
| Question 1 |
(Sepsis and Infections) - Angoff score ; 43% highest mark 7.5 . |
| Question 2 |
(Trauma Intensive Care) - Angoff score ; 45% highest mark 7.25 . |
| Question 3.1 |
(Sepsis and Infections) - Angoff score ; 94% highest mark 9.25 . |
| Question 3.2 |
(Sepsis and Infections) - Angoff score ; 94% highest mark 9.25 . |
| Question 3.3 |
(Sepsis and Infections) - Angoff score ; 94% highest mark 9.25 . |
| Question 4 | Lung biopsy: indications, advantages, limitations and complications. (Respiratory Intensive Care) - Angoff score ; 79% highest mark 8.0 . |
| Question 5 | Management of the paediatric airway (Paediatrics) - Angoff score ; 87% highest mark 9 . |
| Question 6.1 |
(Cardiovascular Intensive Care) - Angoff score ; 62% highest mark 9.0 . |
| Question 6.2 |
(Cardiovascular Intensive Care) - Angoff score ; 62% highest mark 9.0 . |
| Question 6.3 |
(Cardiovascular Intensive Care) - Angoff score ; 62% highest mark 9.0 . |
| Question 7 | Leptospirosis, in frightening detail (Sepsis and Infections) - Angoff score ; 41% highest mark 8.8 . |
| Question 8 |
(Haematology and Oncology) - Angoff score ; 75% highest mark 9.5 . |
| Question 9 | Aspergillosis: specifically, issues related to its diagnosis (Sepsis and Infections) - Angoff score ; 4% highest mark 5.5 . |
| Question 10.1 |
(Environmental Injuries and Toxicology) - Angoff score ; 91% highest mark 8.75 . |
| Question 10.2 |
(Gastrointestinal Intensive Care) - Angoff score ; 91% highest mark 8.75 . |
| Question 11 |
(Cardiovascular Intensive Care) - Angoff score ; 19% highest mark 6.0 . |
| Question 12.1 |
(Radiology in Intensive Care) - Angoff score ; 83% highest mark 10.0 . |
| Question 12.2 |
(Electrolyte Disorders) - Angoff score ; 83% highest mark 10.0 . |
| Question 12.3 |
(Acid-Base Disorders) - Angoff score ; 83% highest mark 10.0 . |
| Question 13 | Meta-analysis: advantages and disadvantages. Also, the funnel plot (Research and Evidence-Based Practice) - Angoff score ; 13% highest mark 7.5 . |
| Question 14 |
(Gastrointestinal Intensive Care) - Angoff score ; 47% highest mark 8.0 . |
| Question 15 | The intraosseous needle- also asking about confirmation of placement. (Intensive Care Procedures) - Angoff score ; 91% highest mark 8.1 . |
| Question 16 | Management of Status Epilepticus in ICU in the context of a subarachnoid haemorrhage. (Neurological Intensive Care) - Angoff score ; 91% highest mark 8.5 . |
| Question 17.1 | Transthoracic echocardiography in the ICU: use of TTE during a cardiac arrest. (Cardiovascular Intensive Care) - Angoff score ; 89% highest mark 9.75 . |
| Question 17.2 | Transthoracic echocardiography in the ICU: recognition of fatal TTE abnormalities (Cardiovascular Intensive Care) - Angoff score ; 89% highest mark 9.75 . |
| Question 18 | All about the significance of the endothelial glycocalyx in sepsis. (Sepsis and Infections) - Angoff score ; 42% highest mark 8.5 . |
| Question 19 | Differentials for pre-eclampsia and eclampsia (Obstetric Intensive Care) - Angoff score ; 26% highest mark 7.5 . |
| Question 20 |
(Respiratory Intensive Care) - Angoff score ; 17% highest mark 6.75 . |
| Question 21 |
(Environmental Injuries and Toxicology) - Angoff score ; 53% highest mark 6.75 . |
| Question 22 | Plasmapheresis: principles of use, indications and complications. (Immunology and Rheumatology) - Angoff score ; 42% highest mark 6.75 . |
| Question 23 | Pyroglutamic acidosis, with a specific focus on the risk factors which predispose to it. (Acid-Base Disorders) - Angoff score ; 55% highest mark 9.0 . |
| Question 24 |
(Respiratory Intensive Care) - Angoff score ; 43% highest mark 7.7 . |
| Question 25 |
(Gastrointestinal Intensive Care) - Angoff score ; 77% highest mark 10 . |
| Question 26 | Abnormal coags and an abnormal thromboelastogram in warfarin toxicity (Haematology and Oncology) - Angoff score ; 66% highest mark 7.0 . |
| Question 27 | High anion gap metabolic acidosis due to lactate; with attention to the causes of lactic acidosis. (Acid-Base Disorders) - Angoff score ; 91% highest mark 9.3 . |
| Question 28 | Critical incident debrief (our registrar just killed or almost killed a patient) (Communication and Collaboration) - Angoff score ; 81% highest mark 8.5 . |
| Question 29.1 | Clinical features of infective endocarditis other than fever and murmur. (Sepsis and Infections) - Angoff score ; 85% highest mark 8.9 . |
| Question 29.2 |
(Structure and Process) - Angoff score ; 85% highest mark 8.9 . |
| Question 30 |
(Renal Intensive Care) - Angoff score ; 51% highest mark 8.3 . |