On 27 April 2026, the Medical Council of Canada released two new videos and three sample OSCE cases, free, aimed squarely at candidates who are new to the NAC Examination's format or unfamiliar with the OSCE style of assessment. It is a modest release, not a curriculum, and that is exactly what makes it worth being precise about: knowing what the MCC gives you for free, and what it deliberately does not, is the starting point for building a preparation plan that spends money only where it adds real value. Here is what the new resources actually contain, how to use them, and an honest look at what paid NAC preparation genuinely offers beyond them.
In brief: The MCC's April 2026 release includes two short videos, one on the overall OSCE flow and one on communicating with standardised participants, plus three sample cases as presented to SPs. They are designed for format familiarisation, not volume or scoring practice. Use them alongside the MCC's own candidate orientation as your foundation, then decide what paid resources to add based on genuine gaps: repetition, individualised feedback, or structured coaching, none of which the free materials are designed to provide.
Key takeaways
- The MCC released two new videos and three sample NAC cases on 27 April 2026, free for all candidates.
- The videos cover general OSCE navigation and how to communicate with standardised participants.
- The sample cases show how SPs are briefed, useful for role-play practice with a peer.
- Official material should anchor your preparation, but it is not designed to provide volume, scoring, or individualised feedback.
- Paid resources earn their place when they fill a genuine gap: repetition, feedback, or structured coaching.
What the new resources actually contain
The release is specific and worth naming precisely so you know what to expect. The first video, on navigating an OSCE, gives an overview of the exam flow and station structure, with practical tips such as reading station instructions carefully and staying focused on your history-taking questions. The second, on communicating with standardised participants, addresses how to ask clear questions and use patient-friendly language when interacting with the trained actors who play patients in each station. Alongside the videos, the MCC has published three sample cases exactly as they are presented to standardised participants, giving you a genuine look at how a case brief is written and what an SP has been prepared to say and do. The MCC frames all of this as supporting candidates who are new to the OSCE format, and recommends pairing it with its existing candidate orientation material.
What this is for, and what it is not
These resources solve a specific problem: unfamiliarity with the format itself. If you have never sat an OSCE, or have limited exposure to this style of assessment, watching how a station actually flows and seeing an authentic SP case brief removes a layer of first-time anxiety that has nothing to do with your clinical knowledge. That is genuinely useful, and it is free. What it is not designed to do is provide volume, since three sample cases cannot substitute for the practice needed to become fluent under the twelve-station, time-pressured format the NAC actually uses. It does not provide individualised feedback on your own performance, since watching a video is not the same as being watched and corrected. And it does not provide automated scoring or a large case library to work through repeatedly. Knowing this distinction, familiarisation versus practice, is what stops candidates either underusing free material or over-relying on it.
Why official material should anchor your preparation regardless
Whatever else you add, start here. Official material reflects exactly how the MCC actually runs the exam: the real station format, the real communication expectations, and cases genuinely representative of how SPs are briefed, none of which any third-party resource can guarantee to replicate precisely. Layering paid preparation on top of a solid grounding in official material is sensible; substituting a third-party product's idea of the format for the MCC's own description of it is not. If you take one thing from this update, it is to watch both videos and work through the three sample cases before you spend money on anything else, because they set the baseline everything else should be measured against. For the full mechanics of the exam itself, station count, timing, and how results feed into your wider timeline, see our detailed NAC Examination OSCE playbook.
What paid resources genuinely add
Once the free foundation is in place, the honest case for spending money rests on three things the MCC's release does not attempt to provide. The first is repetition: a large, varied case library that lets you rehearse the format dozens of times rather than three, which matters because OSCE performance improves substantially with repeated, structured practice. The second is individualised feedback: a human, whether a tutor, a peer, or a structured practice group, watching your actual performance and telling you specifically what to change, which no video or sample case can do. The third is coaching on the aspects of performance that are hardest to self-assess, pacing across a station, the balance between empathy and efficiency, and recovering smoothly when you have missed something, which typically requires live practice rather than passive review. If a paid product or course genuinely delivers one or more of these, it is adding something real. If it is mainly repackaging information the MCC already gives away, such as a general description of OSCE format or generic communication tips, it is charging for something you can get for free.
Building a sensible, low-cost preparation stack
A practical approach starts with the free foundation, both videos and all three sample cases, alongside the MCC's candidate orientation, worked through properly rather than skimmed. From there, prioritise spending on repetition and feedback specifically, since those are the two things free material cannot substitute for: find a study partner or peer group willing to run cases with you regularly, using the sample case format as a template, and consider a paid resource only where it demonstrably adds volume or structured, individualised feedback beyond what a peer group can offer. Be wary of paying a premium purely for polish or branding when the underlying content does no more than what the MCC has already published for free.
Where iatroX fits
The NAC Examination tests clinical skills and communication under time pressure, and the knowledge underneath that performance still needs to be solid. iatroX's adaptive question bank and Socratic Tutor help build and consolidate the clinical reasoning that supports confident, structured answers once you are in the room, complementing OSCE-specific practice rather than replacing it. Try it with free sample questions at iatroX, and for the wider Canadian IMG pathway, see the MCCQE and NAC route to Canadian residency.
Frequently asked questions
What did the MCC release for NAC Examination preparation in April 2026? Two videos, one on general OSCE navigation and one on communicating with standardised participants, plus three sample cases exactly as presented to SPs, all released free on 27 April 2026 for candidates preparing for the NAC Examination.
Are these new resources enough to prepare for the NAC on their own? No, and they are not designed to be. They are aimed at format familiarisation for candidates new to the OSCE style, not at providing the volume of practice, individualised feedback, or repeated case exposure that structured preparation requires.
Should I use the free MCC resources before buying a paid course? Yes. They reflect the MCC's own description of the exam and set the accurate baseline for format and communication expectations. Work through them, and the candidate orientation, before adding any paid resource.
What should a paid NAC preparation resource actually offer? Genuine repetition through a large case library, individualised feedback on your actual performance, or structured coaching on pacing and recovery under pressure. If a paid product mainly repeats what the MCC already publishes for free, it is not adding real value.
Where can I find the MCC's sample NAC cases? They are published on the Medical Council of Canada's free resources page alongside the two new videos, and are best used for role-play practice with a peer using the same case format the MCC provides to standardised participants.