WAPCP Part I

Part I is the written, multiple-choice stage assessing breadth across the six domains. Part II is generally the later, clinically oriented stage. Confirm the exact structure, eligibility sequence and any interval requirements on the association's official site, since these details change between sittings.

It is a multiple-choice examination. The official body publishes the current delivery mode, number of questions, time allowed and scoring rules in its candidate handbook. Candidates should always work from the handbook for the sitting they are registered for.

It assumes postgraduate-level psychiatry. The clinical domains reward applied reasoning rather than recall, and the rehabilitation domain demands knowledge many general revision courses skip. Candidates who have worked in community or rehabilitation settings find the vignettes more intuitive than those who have only done inpatient rotations.

Most candidates need several months of part-time preparation. A workable plan is to map the six domains against your own gaps, spend the largest share on the two weakest, and finish with timed mixed-topic practice so you can pace yourself under exam conditions.

Start with psychopathology and assessment, because it underpins the clinical vignettes. Then take psychopharmacology alongside basic sciences. Give psychosocial rehabilitation a dedicated block rather than treating it as background reading. Finish with psychotherapy, ethics and legal issues, which are smaller but easy to lose marks on.

Retake rules, waiting periods and any limit on attempts are set by the association and can change. Check the current candidate handbook or contact the association directly for the policy that applies to your situation before planning a resit.

Under-preparing the rehabilitation and community domain, reading passively instead of practising vignettes, and mismanaging time on long stems. A fourth trap is answering from personal clinical habit when the question asks for the best-evidenced or least restrictive option.

Basic sciences relevant to psychiatry can include epidemiology, study design and interpretation of evidence, so do not skip them. Revise how to read a confidence interval, understand sensitivity and specificity, and judge whether a study design supports the causal claim being made.

All of these are published by the World Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation. Check its official website for the current examination calendar, fee schedule, eligibility criteria and candidate handbook. Third-party summaries, including this page, may be out of date.