What's The Review Course like?

The Review Course is a highly-rated, fast-paced, high-yield review of the 105 topics. Read comments from physicians who attended The Review Course

How long is The Review Course?

We've updated our course format and The Review Course now includes an entire session dedicated solely to exam prep tips and tricks. We then go over the 105 topics over two days as part of Vital FM Update. Check out our registration page for event details. Click here to see the course outline

Can the 105 topics be covered in 2 days?

The course outline shows how it is done. The Review Course is targeted to Canadian resident physicians who have learned the material before; the course is a fast-paced, efficient review which covers the most important things to know about the 105 Topics. Plus, we also teach our highly-rated The Review Course Exam Habits which help you retain this information and get an edge with proven exam strategies. This is now covered in a separate, expanded session dedicated entirely to exam prep tips and tricks. The 105 topics is covered over two days as a part of Vital FM Update. Check out our registration page for more event details.

Does The Review Course include a mock SOO exam?

The Review Course does not currently offer a mock SOO examination for several reasons. First, the majority of our attendees have told us on evaluations that the prefer lecture format only. Second, we want to keep the course affordable for trainees, as multiple mock examiners can drive up the price. Also, Canadian family medicine residency programs typically provide several mock SOO exams (and the SOO is a unique exam - we strongly recommend you attend as many SOO practice sessions as you can!). Finally, other private companies already provide mock SOOs. No company or program currently provides the high-yield, two-day review of the core family medicine topics and The Review Course Exam Habits that The Review Course offers. All of the family medicine topics covered in The Review Course are testable on the Family Medicine exam.

Who is teaching The Review Course?

The course is designed and taught by Canadian Family Physicians with outstanding teaching skills. Check out our faculty

What are the fees used for?

Since we started The Review Course we have set the course fees at a break-even level, and work hard to make the course affordable for attendees.

Running The Review Course has a high overhead; your fees go towards multiple expenses, including: - renting a venue that suits your needs - meals, breaks, beverages for both days - development of the updated The Review Course Manual with all of the latest guideline updates you need to know - physician time for course content literature search and innovation - administration of the course - staff - transaction fees - physician speaker travel, time, and accommodation - audio-visual needs - equipment to run the course in multiple cities - mandatory venue insurance and fees - additional exam preparation resources that we provide for free on our website and at The Review Course As recent residents ourselves, we know that finances can be tight - which is why we try to use economical options whenever possible, and we keep the costs as low as we can despite providing a high-value event. Our attendees frequently tell us that The Review Course is "worth every penny" and "worth the money."

Will my dietary needs be met?

We will make every effort to arrange with the venue kitchen to meet your needs; specify your dietary needs when you register. Unfortunately we cannot guarantee that your dietary needs can be 100% accommodated.

I failed the SOOs / I failed the SAMPs. Can I attend just one part of The Review Course?

The Review Course provides tips, tricks, and strategies to prepare you for both components of the CCFP exam. These are presented in an integrated fashion as you review all of the 105 topics while getting the latest updates on guidelines relevant to the exam. Because these are all presented throughout the course, The Review Course is not divided into a SOO and SAMP section, and therefore these components cannot be separated.

Who should take The Review Course?

Everybody is welcome! If you are studying for the Canadian Family Medicine exam - you will find The Review Course to be a helpful, high-impact review full of recent updates and exam tips. If you are more than a year away from the exam - you will find The Review Course to provide a great framework to your early preparation. The Review Course is not just for residents or practice-eligible physicians close to the exam - we have many R1s attend each year. But be warned - like some of our attendees, you might like it so much you want to come back again! If you are a primary care provider, Family Physician, or Nurse Practitioner, you may want to check out the new conference we created - Vital FM Update. Vital FM Update provides the latest updates in Family Medicine. It's created for practicing familiy physicians - more information at vitalfmupdate.com

When should I take The Review Course?

Our attendees often recommend taking The Review Course as early as possible in your exam preparation. This will allow you to use The Review Course exam habits well in advance as you study for your exam. We have attendees in their R1 year, R2 year, as well as practice-eligible physicians who are months away from writing their exam.

Can Practicing Physicians / Nurse Practitioners attend The Review Course?

We are thrilled that we have gotten interest from other health providers and practicing physicians have also attended. Anybody can attend! We've also had interest from people writing other medical exams! We provide a high-energy, high-yield review of many common primary care topics and recent relevant Canadian guidelines. The Review Course is geared towards exam prep and will be most useful to people studying for the Canadian family medicine exam. If you're interested in a medical conference that covers all the latest updates, we've created a new conference, Vital FM Update, which is created for practicing familiy physicians, and beneficial for all primary healthcare providers. More information at vitalfmupdate.com

I took The Review Course and failed, can I claim a free registration?

Fortunately, we only hear this question once or twice a year (honest) - most of our attendees pass the exam! Sorry, we do not provide discounts or free registrations for people who have attended in the past because of the high cost of food and hosting The Review Course. Instead, we try to run the course economically to keep the costs as low as possible for all attendees.

How can I sign up for The Review Course?

See our registration information here. Our attendees have told us that The Review Course is "worth traveling for" and "worth the time and money." See more reviews

Can I attend The Review Course a second time?

Absolutely! We have already had several attendees who attended in R1 come back to join us for a second time in their R2 year, or practice-eligible physicians who have attended twice. To attend a second time, simply sign up before the course sells out again! There are many people who want to attend The Review Course and all previous courses have sold out. Due to the overwhelming demand for seats at The Review Course, if you sign up a third time, you may be moved to the wait list to leave room for attendees who have not yet had a chance to join us; you will be granted a spot if the course does not sell out. Sorry, we do not provide discounts or free registrations for people who have attended in the past because of the high cost of food and hosting The Review Course. Instead, we try to run the course at a break-even level and keep the costs as low as possible for all attendees.

If I sign up early, is there a discount?

Absolutely. There is an early bird discount for many of our courses. See our Registration page for more information.

Can I cancel? Can I make changes to my registration?

No problem. Unexpected things happen and plans change, and we all click the wrong button sometimes. We get it. If you make a mistake and need to make a change, we are happy to accommodate changes within 24 hours of your registration, free of charge. After this, changes to your registration including transfers to a different city are subject to a $99 administration fee and are not available for all courses. Should you desire to cancel or obtain a refund at any point, you can cancel at any time up to 1 month before the course start date and your course fees will be completely refunded, no questions, and no hassle, minus a $99 administration fee plus the 2.9% fee charged by the credit card company, which we have no control over and is completely non-refundable. See the registration confirmation you received. Sorry, absolutely no changes to registrations can be made within 1 month of the start date, as by that time your registration fees have been used towards course expenses and we are unable to get them back from our third-party vendors. Please see the Terms & Agreements of your registration for further details.

What is included in my registration fee? (in-person events)

The registration fee for in-person courses includes lectures and food for two days. Specifically, the following is included: - Breakfast on Saturday - Breakfast on Sunday - Coffee breaks on Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon - Lunch on Saturday - Lunch on Sunday - The exceptional review of 99 Family Medicine topics - The Review Course "The Week Before" study guide - The printed version of The Review Course Manual When we started The Review Course we set the course fees at a break-even level, and work hard to make the course affordable for attendees. Running The Review Course has a high overhead; your fees go towards multiple expenses, including: - renting a venue that suits your needs - meals, breaks, beverages for both days - development of the updated The Review Course Manual with all of the latest guideline updates you need to know - physician time for course content literature search and innovation - administration of the course - staff - transaction fees - physician speaker travel, time, and accommodation - audio-visual needs - equipment to run the course in multiple cities - mandatory venue insurance and fees - additional exam preparation resources that we provide for free on our website and at The Reveiw Course As recent residents ourselves, we know that finances can be tight - which is why we try to use economical options whenever possible, and we keep the costs as low as we can despite providing a high-value event. Our attendees frequently tell us that The Review Course is "worth every penny" and "worth the money."

What if I registered but I'm not able to attend The Review Course due to weather, personal, or other reasons?

We are sorry about your situation. We receive these requests frequently, and unfortunately, we are not able to accommodate ANY changes to registrations (including discounts, cancellations, refunds, or transfers) within one month prior to The Review Course, regardless of the reason or special circumstances, as per the terms you agreed to when you purchased your registration.

After that time, we have used your registration fees for several commitments, most of which are non-refundable, including:

- renting a venue that suits your needs

- meals, breaks, beverages for both days

- development of the updated The Review Course Manual with all of the latest guideline updates you need to know

- physician time for course content literature search and innovation

- administration of the course

- staff

- transaction fees

- physician speaker travel, time, and accommodation

- audio-visual needs

- equipment to run the course in multiple cities

- mandatory venue insurance and fees

- additional exam preparation resources that we provide for free on our website and at The Reveiw Course

We work hard to run the course at a break-even level to keep costs down for our attendees. In other words, we do not overcharge attendees to cover for the cost of cancellations. For these reasons we are very sorry that we do not have funds available to refund you.

We are very sorry that we cannot make exceptions.

In the unlikely event that The Review Course is cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control, we pledge to notify our registrants as soon as we can, and we will refund any unused portion of your registration fees. Unfortunately, we are not able to reimburse for travel, accommodation, or other attendee expenses regardless of the situation.

For this reason we STRONGLY recommend you obtain travel insurance as well as insurance that covers unforeseen events including the cost of the course fees. Such insurance is available for purchase from third party insurance vendors however The Review Course does not recommend any single insurance provider.

Can you mail me the manual in advance?

All attendees will receive their paper course book upon arrival at The Review Course for in-person courses. Sorry, we no longer mail course books in advance; we have trialed this in the past, however this trial was discontinued as only a small minority of attendees requested it, and we experienced several challenges with undeliverable mail or forgotten manuals. As a result, we now provide all attendees with The Review Course Manual upon arrival. Course manuals will be made available as e-books approximately one week before online courses. This is to ensure the information is as recent and updated as possible. Make sure we're on your email safe list so that download instructions do not end up in your spam folder! You may choose to print the PDF file if you wish.

I didn't sign up for The Review Course. Can I buy The Review Course Manual?

Unfortunately our course manual is only available to people who register for our course. This is because we spend a substantial portion of time at The Review Course teaching and practicing several concise exam habits that we have developed after extensive analysis of the CCFP's public exam materials over the last few years. The course manual will help people recall and review these exam habits, but because people will be learning them at the course, we won't be including extensive descriptions of the habits in the manual. As well, even though we will touch on every point in the 105 topics, there are other exam prep resources that go in to much more detail than we could possibly cover in a 3-day course. In summary, if you aren't able to attend our course, you are probably better off spending your money on another more comprehensive resource that isn't based on course attendance to prepare. In order to help residents succeed, we've compiled some lists of study resources. Check out our blog posts of free CCFP exam study resources or CCFP exam study resources available for purchase, or see our list of guidelines to study (links open in a new window).

What's in The Review Course Manual?

Inside The Review Course Manual, you'll find over 300 pages of:

• All the slides for The Review Course overview of the 105 topics
• Updates for major guidelines released in the months before The Review Course
• Nearly 200 sample SAMP and SOO questions written by The Review Course faculty, with answers
• Study tips, exam habits, and memory aids to keep you sharp
• Improvements and additions to existing sections
• Bonus sections and quizzes

Where should I stay?

See our Dates & Locations page for our locations - be sure to choose a hotel nearby. Contact your provincial medical association to inquire about possible discounts or government rates. The Review Course does not endorse any particular hotel.

Do you offer airline discounts?

The Review Course founders have been residents recently and we know money is tight, so we've negotiated special group discount rates for Air Canada, the Official Canadian Airline of The Review Course. You'll be e-mailed these discount codes with your registration confirmation. Be sure to use it when you book your flight, as the airline will not apply the discount retroactively.

Does this course replace studying?

The Review Course assumes that you have graduated with a MD or equivalent degree, and already have a working understanding of family medicine topics. The Family Medicine Certification exam cannot be prepared for in three days, and you will need to spend time preparing on your own. However, The Review Course will teach you what to focus on, highlight the important Canadian guidelines, help you with easy-to-remember pearls, and give you strategies and tools to prepare for the exam.

Does The Review Course offer one-on-one Skype or in-person coaching?

The Review Course in Family Medicine is lecture-based series to review the 105 topics and provide exam prep strategies to prepare you for the CCFP exam. Sorry, we do not offer one-on-one coaching at this time.

What if my question isn't answered here?

No problem - send us a note using our contact form, e-mail us at mail@thereviewcourse.com, or ask us on Facebook or Twitter.

Is The Review Course a prep course for the LMCC / MCCQE / PRA-BC exam?

The Review Course in Family Medicine is targeted to family medicine residents enrolled in Canadian residency programs about to write the certification exam for family medicine. The Family Medicine exam is typically written 1 year after the MCC Qualifying Exam Step 2 (MCCQE 2), or 2 years after the MCCQE 1. Unfortunately, The Review Course is not designed to meet the needs of candidates for the other exams such as the MCC Evaluating Exam (MCCEE) & MCCQE, or the Practice-Ready Assessment.

Can I get CME / CPD / Mainpro+ credits for attending The Review Course?

The Review Course covers core knowledge and critical cutting-edge recent updates from recent guidelines and articles relevant to Family Medicine. Because The Review Course also provides exam preparation techniques, the CFPC will not formally review this event. Find out more about how the CFPC gives out credits for free by completing a Linking Learning exercise.

What are the SOOs? What are the SAMPs?

Read everything you need to know about the exam on our page About the CCFP Exam.

Is this course endorsed by the CFPC?

The CFPC does not provide or endorse any educational event that prepares people for the CCFP exam. The Review Course teaches an overview of all of the 105 topics in Family Practice relevant to the certification exam, including updates to these topics from the months leading up to The Review Course. We do not provide or review old exam questions as these are covered by copyright.

Which guidelines should I study?

CFP or CCS lipid guidelines? CUA vs CTFPHC prostate guidelines? Centor vs Feverpain score for URTI? HTN updated guidelines? The CFPC says, "Candidates should always answer according to what represents the most accepted good practice in of family medicine at the time of the examination. They will never be penalized for staying current." Remember - the exam is marked by physicians who should be aware that there are conflicting guidelines. Source

What are acceptable abbreviations?

The CCFP exam Instructions to the Candidate says to "avoid abbreviations which are not commonly used, and which may not be clear to an examiner."

Should I provide more answers than requested?

The CCFP exam Instructions to the Candidate says, "Write only one answer in each answer field, subsequent answers in the same answer field will not be considered. No credit will be given for responses which exceed the number of requested responses." Page 5 in the CCFP Instructions to the Candidate, available at bit.ly/trc-exam3 We recommend avoiding anything that may look like a second answer (you don't get credit for second answers)!

Are we allowed to use Trade Names or do we have to use Generic Names?

Both Generic and Trade Names are acceptable according to the official Instructions to the Candidate. Source

Can I breastfeed/pump breast milk at the exam?

You cannot bring your baby into the exam, but the CFPC will attempt to find a private space at the exam centre for you. Breast pumping devices must be pre-approved by the CPFC to be allowed into any computerized test delivery exam site. To request these arrangements; we strongly recommend you contact them BEFORE you register for the CCFP exam, and ask if there will be access to a refrigerator to store milk. In our experience, and according to the CFPC, no test centres provide refrigerators. Check with the CFPC and be prepared to bring your own cooler. Source