Psychiatry registrars embroiled in the aborted fellowship exam will be offered an ‘alternative pathway’ to fellowship rather than being asked to sit a retake.

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists said it was working on a proposal that would look at the performance of trainees in previous assessments, and if this wasn’t possible, a workplace-based assessment could be considered. 

Earlier this month, 270 doctors sitting the college’s Objective Structured Clinical Exam via computer in their homes were forced to abandon the test after an IT glitch.

For some, it was their third attempt to take an exam they’d already waited 18 months to complete because of the pandemic.