Exam Co-Chairs: Dr. Mark Bosma and Dr. Cheryl Murphy
In the spring of each year, the COPE exam, which represents a national collaborative effort is offered to residents enrolled in psychiatry programs across Canada. The guideline to writing questions is included below.
COPE Question Writing Guidelines
- All questions should be referenced when possible
- Authors should indicate the template topic
- Re questions:
- Questions should have a clinical stem if possible, to test application of medical knowledge
- Questions should have four possible answers, labeled a to d
- Correct answer should be clearly indicated
- Questions should not be negatively worded
- Eg Which of the following is NOT…..
- Questions should not use the term “except”
- Eg All of the above are correct EXCEPT….
- Possible answers should not include “all of the above” or “none of the above”
- Possible answers should be categorically similar, and be plausible to a less advanced learner
- Eg If the question asks about “treatments”, all of the answers should be a type of treatment
- For more detailed question writing guidelines, three good resources are:
- Medical Council of Canada “Guidelines for the Development of Multiple-choice Questions”
- “Constructing Written Test Questions for the Basic and Clinical Sciences”, National Board of Examiners, nbme.org
- The Royal College document “Developing Multiple Choice Questions for the Royal College Certification Exams” (Royal College Guide to Developing MCQs)