PHILIPPINE ACADEMY OF FAMILY PHYSICIANS, INC

FAMILY MEDICINE
IN-SERVICE EXAMINATION 2022
(FITE 2022)

Primer

December 11, 2022

As we gear up for the full implementation of the Universal Health Care, the 2022 Annual In-
Service Examination will focus on issues involving primary health care. As family physicians
we have to equip and prepare the trainees of the competencies provided in primary care
services based on the DOH and PRC s’ health professional certification and regulation for
provisions of primary care.

The in-service examination is a diagnostic tool to guide the Residency Committee in the
evaluation of the Family and Community Residency Programs in the country. The objectives
of the exam are the following:

1. To evaluate the trainees’ level of knowledge relative to other residents’ knowledge at

the same level of training.
2. To monitor the trainees’ performance from year to year.
3. To identify areas of deficiency of the residents’ relative to the residency training
program.
4. To evaluate the strengths and deficiencies of each training program and provide
recommendations to the Residency Committee.

This guideline will provide the full details of the conduct of the written and oral examination
for the 2022 Annual In-Service Examination.
Part I: WRITTEN EXAMINATION

1. The written examination is a 200-item multiple choice exam using the PAFP’s Online
E-Learning Platform
2. Clinical analysis, application type and simple recall type which are encountered in
primary care practice comprise the questions.
3. The written examination has two parts. The examinee can proceed immediately to
part II after completing the first part.
4. The examination is a requirement for residents, 2 nd year level and up for both
traditional and practice-based programs and highly recommended for first year
residents.
5. A senior resident cannot graduate from the residency program without taking the
annual in-service examination.
6. The annual in-service is also open for Certified Family Physicians, Regular or
Associate members of the PAFP who would like to undergo self-assessment and self-
evaluation as part of their self-directed learning. However, their scores will not be
included in the ranking computation for any of the training programs.
7. The examination will start at exactly 8:30am and will end at 12:00 noon on December
11, 2022, Sunday.
8. Late examinees are still accepted provided that they will take the exam before
9:00am. Beyond the set time, this will now be considered a special examination.
9. Special examination will only be granted upon the recommendation of the annual in-
service subcommittee and approval from the residency committee.
10. Institutions are instructed to inform the PAFP secretariat through email and send the
list of examinees who will take the special examination.
11. The highest possible score that the examinee can get during the special examination is
only 75%.
12. The subcommittee will set the date and time of the special examination.
13. The subcommittee encouraged that the written examination shall be conducted in the
based hospital or a venue where the residents can be gathered in one setting and there
is a high internet connection.
14. In the event that the examinees cannot possibly be present on the testing site, the
Chairman or the RTO of the department is responsible to virtually monitor the
examinees during the entire examination outside the testing area.
15. During the conduct of the examination, only one (1) video camera will be set up by
the department through the Zoom link provided by the academy. The subcommittee
strongly suggests that the faculty per institution should assist the chairman or RTO as
proctors during the examination period.
16. Bladder breaks are allowed provided that the examinee is accompanied by a
faculty/proctor.
17. Credibility and integrity in the conduct of the exam should be maintained. Any form
of cheating or fraud shall be dealt with seriously and can be a ground for revocation of
the training program.
18. A blue print for the FITE 2022 including the references/study guide is also provided
in this primer and reflects the different areas of the Family and Community Medicine
Curriculum.
19. All residents are required to register online and update if they already have an account
on the PAFP’s online E-learning platform. To verify for an existing account, please
check this link: https://elearning-pafp.org/index.php?
 20. This platform was launched during PAFP’s annual convention.
21. Two weeks before the actual examination, a mock in-service examination will be
posted in the platform and the residents can take the exam anytime for familiarization
of the online exam.
22. Training programs are required to submit the list of examinees to the PAFP
Secretariat on or before December 1, 2022.
23. A minimum fee of P350 per examinee is collected to cover for the administrative
costs. Kindly send the payment through PAFP’s account and provide a copy of the
payment slip to the PAFP Secretariat.
24. You can deposit the payment through:
Account Name: Philippine Academy of Family Physicians, Inc
Savings Account Number: 004580325004
Bank: BDO
25. Participants of the FITE 2022 must still observe and strictly follow the minimum
health standards at the testing sites during the actual examination. Health protocols
may vary according to the LGU and DOH’s guidelines.
26. In the event of natural calamities such as typhoons, earthquakes and others, the
subcommittee will issue news bulletins through email or through PAFP's website and
social media page after consultations with the different training programs and upon
approval of the Residency Committee.

Part II: ORAL EXAMINATION

1. The oral examination is still institution or program-based, collaboration with other

training programs or facilitated by the PAFP chapter.
2. The test materials will be sent to all training programs a week after the written
examination.
3. Deadline for the submission of the scores for the oral examination will be on January
21, 2023.
4. There will be no more extension of the oral examination beyond the said date as the
subcommittee has to prepare the report for the submission to the PAFP National
Board of Directors.
5. For this year, there will be two sets of oral examination. The first set is the projection
type of exam (Image-projected Structured Clinical Examination). This is a 30-item
multiple choice exam. An image is being projected in every item with corresponding
multiple type of question. The examinee is only given 30 seconds to answer each
item.
6. The second set is the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) composed of
7 stations. Each station has been described in the blueprint attached in this guideline.

Part III: TECHNICAL GUIDELINES FOR THE ONLINE EXAMINATION

1. Institutions are required to check the testing site prior to the actual examination date
to the following:
a. Minimum internet speed or connection (At least an internet speed of 10 Mbps
or more)
b. The minimum and maximum devices that can connect to the internet at one
time.
 c. This will also hold true for examinees taking outside the testing sites.
2. A Zoom link will be provided per institution from the PAFP secretariat. Only one
video camera is required per institution.
3. The examinee is encouraged to use a laptop instead of smart phones.
4. In the event of internet disconnection or power failure, the examinee can still resume
the exam provided it will be done within the time period. Answers are automatically
saved once clicked.
5. The examinee can still scroll, review and change the saved answer anytime. But once
the “submit” icon is clicked after the last item, it is now considered final and officially
submitted.
6. A “Thank You” message will prompt in the monitor screen signifies that the
examinee is already completed the written examination.
7. Examinees are instructed to take time to read the instructions posted on the E learning
platform before taking the exam.
8. The examinee can leave the examination site once done.

Part IV: RESULTS OF THE WRITTEN AND ORAL EXAMINATION

1. The result of the examination will only be released thru circulation once reviewed and
approved by the PAFP Residency Committee.
2. Results of the written examination will be reported as follows:
a. Top 10 examinees per year level.
b. Top 10 institutions who garnered the highest average scores for Level II and
Level III examinees.
3. Reporting of the oral examination, only the top 3 institutions who garnered the highest
scores will be recognized. Individual average scores will be sent to every training
program.

Prepared by:

Members of the Annual-In Service Subcommittee

Residency Committee
Philippine Academy of Family Physicians
December 2022