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Royal College examination fees surplus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Catia Acosta
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Mark Ashraph
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
John Bainton
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
David Baird
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Lindsay Banham
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Anna Barnes
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Caroline Biddle
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Sulagna Chakrabarti
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Katrina Davis
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Tom Dixon
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Jacek Donocik
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Sarah Dorrington
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Muhammad Firdosi
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Marcella Fok
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Christopher Garrett
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Lauren Gavaghan
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Vishaal Goel
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Ben Goldacre
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Surya Goudaman
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Jemima Gregory
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Duncan Harding
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Simon Harrison
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Jenna Hathway
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
James Hecker
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Brad Hillier
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Daniel Hume
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Rosemary Humphreys
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Elizabeth Hunt
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Jonathan Huntley
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Nicolas Crossley Karmelic
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Adam Kasparek
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Tom Lavender
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
William Lee
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK, email: William.lee@kcl.ac.uk
Kathleen Levick
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Geraldine Lines
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Vanessa Loftus
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Catherine Louise Murphy
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Deirdre MacManus
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Rebecca Marriot
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Ian McClelland
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Isabel McMullen
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Ben McNeillis
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Amritha Mishra
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Valeria Mondelli
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Omer Moghaby
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Ana Morelli
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Christoph Mueller
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Omar Murad
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
David Nelson
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Tim Nicholson
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Sarah Nyame
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Aspasia Paspali
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Areti Pavlidou
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Tom Pollak
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Catherine Polling
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Sotiris Posporelis
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Annabel Price
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Jalon Quinn
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Lena Rane
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Muffazal Rawala
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Ricardo Sainz-Fuertes
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Gregory Shields
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Pratima Singh
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Sarah Stringer
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Alex Thomson
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK, email: Alex.thomson@kcl.ac.uk
Alex Tulloch
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Tom Walker-Tilley
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Wojtek Wojcik
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Felicity Wood
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
Angeliki Zoumpouli
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley Rotation, London, UK
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Abstract

Type
Columns
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2012

At the current level of membership examination fees at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, a resident in psychiatry who passes every part first time pays a total of £2136. 1 These costs are intended to cover only expenses rather than to generate profit, a message which many of us have accepted and disseminated. Reference Bateman and Palekar2 We were therefore disappointed to learn recently that in 2010-2011, the College made a profit of approximately £1.5 million from exam fees. Some residents are understandably asking for candidates to receive a refund, a process for which there is historical precedent. 3

We have another suggestion for how this money could be put to good use for the benefit of residents, the College and psychiatry as a whole. The College's annual International Congress currently receives about £70 000 from pharmaceutical companies and other organisations in return for exhibition space (personal communication with the College's Conference Office). Such relationships are undesirable because drug company information affects prescribing. Reference Orlowski and Wateska4 Most doctors do acknowledge this to be true of their colleagues, although the majority believe they are themselves, of course, unaffected. Reference Steinman, Shlipak and McPhee5 Further, and particularly pertinent to psychiatry, is the effect that drug company relationships may have on our patients’ confidence in our treatment recommendations. Many detained patients are suspicious that psychiatrists’ prescribing is motivated by connections with the pharmaceutical industry rather than a genuine intention to improve mental health. We acknowledge the College's considerable progress in the right direction over the issue, but it is problematic to deny such allegations while promotional materials continue to be welcome at our annual congress.

If the surplus from examination fees were used to subsidise the International Congress, it would be possible to have no commercial exhibitor fees for at least 10 years, by which time alternative arrangements could be made. Furthermore, some of the surplus could be ‘given back’ in the form of bursaries for residents to attend the conference. This course of action would allow the College to lead by positive example, while providing wider benefits for UK psychiatrists and our patients.

References

2 Bateman, A, Palekar, F. Exams costs Q+A. The Registrar 2011; May: 3 (http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/PDF/May%2020111.pdf).Google Scholar
3R.C.Psych and Exam Fees (News and Notes). BMJ 1974; 2: 287.Google Scholar
4 Orlowski, JP, Wateska, L. The effects of pharmaceutical firm enticements on physician prescribing patterns: there's no such thing as a free lunch. Chest 1992; 102: 270.Google Scholar
5 Steinman, MA, Shlipak, MG, McPhee, SJ. Of principles and pens: attitudes and practices of medicine house staff toward pharmaceutical industry promotions. Am J Med 2001; 110: 551.Google Scholar
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