Table 2.

Examples of the topics covered in examiners' questions.

Area of general practice	Topic in question	Example (opening question from examiner)
Communication	Breaking bad news	‘You receive a chest xray report showing a mass highly suspicious of a primary carcinoma How are you going to communicate that to patient?’ (Examiner 4.A)
Rationing	Viagra on the NHS	‘A patient came to see me having lived in Spain for 18 months and asked if I could continue prescribing Viagra. What sort of issues does that raise?’ (Examiner 43.A)
Quality of care	Poorly performing doctor	‘How should society identify poorly performing doctors?’ (Examiner 1.A)
Sick doctors	GP's role in helping a colleague	‘Imagine that you are at reception and you overhear receptionist saying, ‘I wonder why nobody ever asks to see Dr Smith?’ What would you do?’ (Examiner 29.A)
Ethical dilemma	End of life decisions	‘A patient with a terminal illness requests not to be resuscitated. What factors would you consider when deciding how to respond?’ (Examiner 21.A)