Academic performance of ethnic minority versus White doctors in the MRCGP assessment 2016-2021: cross sectional study

Siriwardena, A. N., Botan, V., Williams, N., Emerson, K., Kameen, F., Pope, L. , Freeman, A. and Law, G. (2023) Academic performance of ethnic minority versus White doctors in the MRCGP assessment 2016-2021: cross sectional study. British Journal of General Practice, 73(729), e284-e293. (doi: 10.3399/BJGP.2022.0474)

Abstract

Background: Differential attainment has previously been suggested as being due to subjective bias due to racial discrimination in clinical skills assessments. Aim: To investigate differential attainment all UK general practice (GP) licensing tests comparing ethnic minority and White doctors. Design and Setting: Observational study of UK doctors in GP specialty training. Methods: We analysed data from doctors’ selection in 2016 to end of GP training, linking selection, licensing and demographic data to develop multivariable logistic regression models identifying predictors of pass rates for each assessment. Results: We included 3429 doctors entering GP specialty training in 2016, with doctors of different sex (female 63.81% vs male 36.19%), ethnicity (White British 53.95%, minority ethnic 43.04%, mixed 3.01%), country of qualification (UK 76.76%, non-UK 23.24%), and declared disability (disability declared 11.98%, not declared 88.02%). Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment scores (MSRA) were highly predictive for GP training end-point assessments including the Applied Knowledge Test (AKT), Clinical Skills Assessment (CSA), Recorded Consultation Assessment (RCA), and Workplace Based Assessment - Annual Review of Competency Progression (WPBA-ARCP). Ethnic minority doctors did significantly better compared to White British doctors in the AKT (OR 2.05, 95% CI 1.03, 4.10, p=0.042). There were no significant differences on other assessments: CSA (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.43, 1.20, p=0.201), RCA (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.18, 1.32, p=0.156), or WPBA-ARCP (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.49, 1.01, p=0.057). Conclusion: Ethnicity did not reduce the chance of passing GP licensing tests once sex, place of primary medical qualification, declared disability and MSRA scores were accounted for.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This study was funded by Health Education England.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Pope, Professor Lindsey
• Authors: Siriwardena, A. N., Botan, V., Williams, N., Emerson, K., Kameen, F., Pope, L., Freeman, A., and Law, G.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > General Practice and Primary Care
• Journal Name: British Journal of General Practice
• Publisher: Royal College of General Practitioners
• ISSN: 0960-1643
• ISSN (Online): 1478-5242
• Published Online: 01 February 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in British Journal of General Practice 73(729): e284-293
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License