Extended Matching Questions and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists Written Examination: An Overview

Abstract

Objective: To provide an overview, for trainees and fellows, of the Extended Matching Question, a new question type recently introduced in the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists written examination. The characteristics, technical aspects and construction of these question types are discussed. Some pointers for candidates and those setting questions are outlined. Conclusions: Extended Matching Questions are now commonly used to test medical knowledge in many areas of medicine, including psychiatry. They represent a transparent, evidence-based approach to the assessment of medical knowledge, which lends itself to electronic marking and statistical analysis. These questions facilitate the development of question banks and provide an easily accessible oversight of what areas of the curriculum have been examined.