Where’s my evidence???

At a recent Foundation Application Form workshop, the big question for many students was ‘How will I prove what is written on my application form if I am asked to provide evidence?’.

To help you all prepare for the process that is ahead of you, here are a few tips on providing evidence.

Academic achievements

There will be a question on the form that asks you to list your academic achievements. This can include any additional qualifications to your primary medical qualification, prizes, awards, publications in peer reviewed journals, national or international presentations.

You must be able to prove all of these if asked – start collecting your certificates and references to conferences and journals now.

Scoring non-academic achievements and other experiences

Your application will be scored using a robust scoring system.

Your answers will be marked horizontally, first by a panel of two scorers who must agree on your score. Once the first panel have reached an agreement your answers will be passed to a total of six other panels who must also agree on your score. This means that a total of 14 people will have to agree that they are happy with the information you provided and the points awarded!

If any of these markers feel that they are unsure about the information you have provided they can mark your form with a ‘V’ to indicate that verification is needed.

Verifying your answers

If your form is marked with a ‘V’ the scorers will first put your entire form together and look at it vertically. This can mean that up to 30 individual scorers will have looked at your application.

If verification is still felt to be needed the scorers will ask you to provide documentary evidence of your claims to prizes, certificates or other commendations mentioned in your answers.

5 – 10% of all forms will be randomly audited and the applicants asked for verification.

I also have anecdotal evidence of scorers contacting the organisations that a candidate has claimed to be a part of in order to check out the level of their involvement.

Finally, it is worth remembering that although the North Western Deanery do not interview as part of their pre-employment checks, some others do. These interviews often centre on a discussion of the answers written on the application form. A failure to be able to talk about your experiences in detail would raise alarm bells for your future employers.

Plagiarism

Anti-plagiarism software will be used nationally to pick up similarities between answers. My biggest piece of advice would be to manage the use of any feedback that you receive on your application form very carefully. It is all too easy for a well-meaning adviser to make similar comments on a number of forms and even easier for applicants to use the feedback verbatim, resulting in candidates producing very similar answers.

Probity

Ultimately, the decision to embellish your application form rests on your own conscience. The GMC take the issue incredibly seriously. Any candidate found to have plagiarised or falsified information risks being struck off the GMC register before they have even been entered on to it!