Membership of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine (MFPHM) .1. Trends over time and factors associated with success in recent years

Background The examination for Membership of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine (MFPHM) Part I, has been held for nearly 20 years. It aims 'to test the candidate's knowledge and understanding of the basic sciences of public health'. This paper presents simple statistics from the earliest years up to June 1995 and additional information on more recent sittings. Method The number of people taking the examination and the proportion passing were obtained for every sitting from February 1978 to June 1995. Further data have been extracted for all sittings of the examination since the current regulations were introduced. The Variables included were pass or fail as the outcome variable, date of birth, gender of candidate, postgraduate qualifications, present post or employer, and attendance at a formal academic course. Results The number of candidates has ranged from 12 to 115, the proportion passing from 42 per cent to 93 per cent. During the period from June 1992 to June 1995, 472 people applied to sit the examination. Of these 33 withdrew. leaving 439 person attempts. The overall proportion passing was 270/439 (61.5 per cent). Factors associated with success include being female, being a UK graduate, attending an academic course and having more experience in the specialty. Conclusion Candidates and their tutors are reminded of the need for adequate preparation for the examination. The authors welcome comments on how monitoring should be carried out in the future.