GP Exam Prep: What Actually Helps

Preparing for GP exams can feel overwhelming because the curriculum is enormous and most registrars are trying to study around working full-time and juggling life outside medicine.

The reality is that there’s no perfect study method, but there are strategies that can make the process more manageable and sustainable.

Start exam prep early

One of the biggest mistakes people make is leaving everything too late and then trying to cram the entire curriculum into a few stressful months.

If possible, start gently 6-12 months before your exams. That doesn’t mean studying intensely from day one. It just means slowly building familiarity with the content so the final few months feel less overwhelming.

One of the biggest mindset shifts is this: Don’t focus on study hours. Focus on covering the content properly.

Some days you’ll study a lot. Some days you won’t. That’s reality, especially when balancing clinic, family, and life outside medicine. Be kind to yourself and focus on learning or achieving something each day (no matter how small!).

Opportunistic study - making every moment count

A huge amount of GP exam prep happens naturally through clinic work. After a clinic day, ask yourself:

• What did I struggle with today?

• What presentations did I avoid because I felt unsure?

• What should I brush up on?

Even reviewing one topic from each clinic day adds up massively over time.

It’s also incredibly helpful to practise KFP-style thinking during normal case discussions with supervisors. Structuring management plans the same way you would answer an exam question naturally trains exam technique.

Practice, practice, practice

Complete all of the AKT, KFP, and CCE college practice exam cases. They are one of the highest-yield resources available because they help you:

• identify knowledge gaps

• understand question style

• learn exam technique

• become familiar with the exam format

The more questions you do, the more pattern recognition you develop.

The RACGP and ACRRM curriculum unit resource lists themselves are also excellent learning tools and include some great pearls that you might not have heard of before.

Clinical exam preparation - a different framework-based approach

The clinical exams are a very different challenge. They are not designed to perfectly replicate real GP consultations. Instead, they assess whether you can remain safe, structured, clinically competent, and compassionate while communicating clearly under pressure.

One of the biggest things that helps is having a consistent framework for approaching cases, particularly making the most of reading time:

A Helpful Consultation Framework

‘Investigate, Educate, Manage, Refer, Safety-net, Plan, Protect, Prevent, Personalise’

1. Investigate - bedside tests, pathology, imaging

2. Educate - explain the condition, use the ICE framework

3. Manage - non-pharmacological options such as HANDI, lifestyle, exercise, sleep, psychology input, or physiotherapy; and pharmacological options including first-line therapies, prescribed and OTC medicines, contraindications, monitoring, and side effects

4. Refer - allied health, non-GP specialists, community support services

5. Safety-net - red flags, when to return to the GP, when to present to the ED

6. Plan - review timeframe, reassessment, ongoing monitoring

7. Protect - confidentiality, consent, capacity, DFV, risk assessment

8. Prevent - immunisations, screening breast/CST/lung/prostate/bowel, SNAP, CVD Risk Calculator

9. Personalise - family supports, work, finances, mental health, cultural consideration

You obviously won’t explicitly verbalise every heading in every case, but having a mental framework helps keep consultations organised under pressure - and can be utilised when presenting in the clinical exam as well.

Practise under real exam conditions

One of the best ways to reduce anxiety is repeated exposure to exam conditions. Practise to time, under pressure, with interruptions, and also with unfamiliar cases - the more you practise, the more you can become desensitised to potential distractions that can cause derailment on the exam day.

A lot of candidates underestimate how important timing is. It won’t suddenly feel easier on exam day if you’ve never practised realistically beforehand.

Find the right study buddies

The quality of feedback matters more than simply doing endless cases.

Many registrars find it useful to practise with recently fellowed GPs, supervisors, fellow registrars, or non-GP friends acting as patients. If your clinic has multiple registrars, consider organising:

• mock circuit-style exams

• practice cases before/after clinic

• feedback sessions with supervisors

These sessions are often some of the most high-yield preparation you can do. Definitely attend the college-run practice exams and workshops whenever possible.

Final thoughts

GP exams are hard, but they’re also very manageable with consistent preparation over time. You definitely do not need to know everything immediately. Focus on consistency by learning from each patient encounter, identifying knowledge gaps early, practising exam technique regularly, and developing safe, reliable clinical reasoning.

And remember, becoming a confident GP is a gradual process, not something that happens overnight!