The MSRA determines your GP training ranking — your deanery, your location, your career trajectory. Two papers. One sitting. The score combination determines your competitive position.
Paper 1: Clinical Problem-Solving
Tests applied medical knowledge across medicine, surgery, paediatrics, O&G, and psychiatry. If you recently sat finals, your clinical base is strong. The strategy is to maintain and consolidate rather than rebuild.
Resources: Repurpose your finals Q-bank (Passmedicine finals, Quesmed). iatroX adaptive quiz for UK-specific clinical knowledge — free, and the same platform you will use throughout GP training. Emedica MSRA bank (2,380+ questions) for dedicated MSRA clinical content.
Paper 2: Professional Dilemmas (SJT)
Tests professional behaviour, ethical reasoning, and decision-making in clinical scenarios. This paper requires MSRA-specific resources — generic ethics revision is insufficient because the SJT format has specific ranking and rating patterns.
Resources: Emedica MSRA bank (strongest SJT coverage with 2,380+ questions across both papers). Passmedicine MSRA section. NHS SJT practice materials. GMC guidance documents (Good Medical Practice provides the framework for SJT reasoning).
Study Timeline
4-8 weeks of focused preparation. Start SJT preparation from week 1 — it requires format familiarity that takes time to develop. Split roughly 60/40 between clinical and SJT, adjusting based on your diagnostic mock performance.
Mock Exams
Essential for both papers. Emedica offers dedicated MSRA mocks covering both papers. Take at least 2 full mocks — one diagnostic (week 1-2) and one calibration (final week).
Where iatroX Fits
iatroX builds the clinical knowledge base for Paper 1 — free, UK-centric, and the same platform you transition to for AKT once GP training starts. Start with iatroX now; the investment compounds across every exam.