r/MCCQE

Hi everyone,
I’m an IMG from India who recently completed MBBS and I’m planning to apply for an ObGyn residency in Canada through CaRMS. I understand that ObGyn is highly competitive, and I’m finding the amount of information online overwhelming and often conflicting.
I’m planning to take the MCCQE next year (likely in the first session), so I have some time to prepare. I’d really appreciate guidance on:
What should my preparation roadmap look like?
Which resources are considered the best for MCCQE and NAC OSCE preparation?
What QE1 score should I realistically aim for to be competitive for ObGyn?
Besides exam scores, what can I do over the coming year to strengthen my CaRMS application (research, electives, volunteering, certifications, etc.)?
Are there any common mistakes that IMGs should avoid?
I’d be grateful for any advice, especially from IMGs or residents who successfully matched. Thank you!

Hi everyone,
I'm an IMG and recently took the MCCQE Part I for the first time. Unfortunately, I scored 420.
For my preparation, I studied Toronto Notes cover to cover, completed the ACE QBank, and did multiple MCC practice tests. I was consistently scoring around 77–85% on the official MCC practice exams, so I was honestly expecting a better result.
According to my MCC supplemental performance report, my stronger areas were acute care, chronic care, and management. My weaker areas were psychological health and physician communication/professionalism.
I'm planning to retake the exam and would really appreciate advice from anyone who significantly improved their score on a second attempt.
A friend of mine (also an IMG) who scored in the 470s recommended that I complete UWorld. However, I've also read many posts saying that UWorld is overkill for the MCCQE and is more useful for the USMLE. Given my performance report, I'm unsure whether I should invest my time in UWorld or focus on other resources.
For those who have successfully improved their MCCQE score:
What resources or study strategies made the biggest difference?

Is UWorld worth doing, or would you recommend focusing on other resources instead?

How did you improve your performance in psychology and physician communication/professionalism?

Looking back, what would you do differently if you were preparing for a retake?

I'd really appreciate any guidance or personal experiences. Thank you in advance!

How can i learn ethic in CMPA ?

What is the method for learning ethic in web CMPA ?

Hi everyone,

I would really appreciate some honest advice on whether I should continue investing my time and money into the CaRMS route or focus entirely on the PRA pathway.

My profile:

- MBBS (2019)

- Passed MCCQE1 with a score of 466

- GMC-registered UK doctor

- 9 months of paid NHS clinical experience in Acute Medicine, Elderly Care, and Gastroenterology, along with multiple UK clinical electives before securing a paid NHS role

- My NHS contract expired, and I had to leave the UK. With the current UK graduates recruitment priorities, I don't realistically expect to obtain a training post until I secure ILR or British citizenship.

- Over 7 years of clinical experience

- Passed MRCP UK PART1, preparing for MRCP UK PART2.

- Multiple PubMed-indexed research publications

- Completed clinical audits and quality improvement projects

- Presented research at an international medical conference in London

- Currently working as a doctor in the Maldives

- In the process of obtaining Canadian permanent residency

- Goal = Family Medicine Physician or FM match.

My current plan is to return to my home country and complete a 1-year structured Family Medicine training program to become eligible for the PRA pathway in Canada, rotations will start in January so I have these 5 months to decide.

Given my profile, year of graduation, MCCQE1 score, UK experience, and academic portfolio, do you think it is still worth pursuing the CaRMS pathway, or would it be more sensible to focus entirely on PRA?

The main reason I am leaning toward PRA is the shorter time and financial aspect. Travelling to Canada for electives and the NAC OSCE would be a significant financial burden + uncertainty with the cost of time/years if go unmatched or score low in nac osce, whereas the PRA pathway appears to be a more practical option for my circumstances.

I would greatly appreciate honest advice, especially from those who have successfully matched through CaRMS or entered practice through the PRA pathway. Thank you!

How much of an impact do the score differences have on residency applications for IMGs?

Is a 450 too low for IM or Surgery?

It’s easy to lose hope when those around you score a 470+ and you just score avg.

Can’t even redo the exam.

I FAILED MY FIRST ATTEMPT WITH A SCORE OF 400.

ANY ADVICE FROM THE PEOPLE HOW PASSED THE EXAM WITH A GOOD SCORE.

WHAT I SHOULD BE DOING DIFFERENTLY FOR THE NEXT ATTEMPT ( WILL BE IN THE NEXT SESSION FOR SURE I.e jan 2027).

Last time I completed Ace q bank.Will amboss/canadaqbank be a good option? Or i should repeat the same bank again.

I already the know the high yield subjects ,but cannot understand what changes should I do for the next exam.Please help.

Hi everyone,
I’m curious about how you review for Uworld
Do you go through all of UWorld as a first pass without much review, and then do a second pass with more detailed revision? Or do you review each block thoroughly before moving on?
I’d really appreciate it if you could share your study workflow, what worked best for you, and what you’d do differently if you were starting over.
Thanks in advance—I really appreciate any advice!

Can someone elaborate the IMG ruling in Ontario for first iteration?
Is it still active?

Is Anyone preparing for Nac osce in London Ontario. Would like to meet and do PE together!

If anyone is looking for tutoring for NAC OSCE please message me.

if you can find a good partner, that is sufficient in my opinion.

but if you are not able to find a great one or want to spend the whole hour focusing on yourself instead of sharing the time, and can afford it (25$/hour - goal 2-4 cases depending on your speed), I could help identify your weaknesses and we could work on that.

Instead of paying 1000s for a course that multiple people watch at the same time(passive studying) - this would be you actually practicing(active studying) and getting feedback which I believe is a superior way to study.

Hi everyone .I graduated in 2019 and pass my mccqe 1 exam ar first attempt with 449 scor. I have 5 years experience as emergency doctor so i am out of practice just for 17 months . Wich pathway I should fallow for matching? Thank you

I recently passed the MCCQE1 with a score of 486, and I wanted to give back because posts like these helped me a lot during my own preparation.
A little background: I’m an older IMG. English is my second language, and I completed all of my medical training in my native language.
When I first came to Canada, I knew becoming a physician here would take time because I had to adjust to a new language, a new healthcare system, and a different style of clinical reasoning. I didn’t want to rush the process. I wanted to rebuild my foundation step by step and do it properly.
My journey was much longer than most people’s, so don’t compare your timeline to mine.

1. UWorld (My foundation)
First pass
Time: ~3 years on and off
Average: ~65%
Completed: ~90%
The first pass took me much longer than it should have because my studying was very inconsistent. I was working shifts in the hospital, dealing with family responsibilities, and later became pregnant and had a baby.
Second pass
Time: 2–3 months
Average: ~70–80% (incorrect questions only)
Once I booked my QE1, everything changed. I became much more focused and only reviewed incorrect questions from high-yield subjects such as psychiatry, OB/GYN, pediatrics, and family medicine.

I treated UWorld as a learning resource, not a score predictor. Since I learned medicine in another language and much of my knowledge was outdated, I used it to rebuild my foundation one topic at a time. Every incorrect question became an opportunity to understand the concept rather than memorize the answer.
Overall, I would say about 70% of the knowledge I needed for the MCCQE1 came from UWorld.
Looking back, I do think some sections (especially neurology, infectious diseases, nephrology, and rheumatology) are more detailed than what the MCCQE1 expects. If I could do it again, I would finish UWorld much earlier and spend less time on those lower-yield topics.

2. ACE QBank (Started ~4 months before the exam)
First pass: 63%
Second pass (incorrect questions only): ~80%
I thought ACE was closer to the MCCQE1 than UWorld.
It focuses much more on management, next best step questions, and Canadian practice. I also found the questions slightly harder than the real exam, which made the actual test feel a bit easier.
The only downside is that I wasn’t a fan of the explanations. I found them long and difficult to read.

3. CanadaQBank (Started ~2 months before the exam)
I only used it for Ethics and Public Health.
I thought those sections were worthwhile because they helped me learned ethics.

4. CMPA eLearning
I completed most of the CMPA ethics modules.
For me, this was a must for ethics preparation.

5. Official MCC Practice Exams (Started ~2 month before the exam)
These were by far the best predictor of my readiness and the closest thing to the real exam.
I treated every practice exam like the real test by doing it under timed conditions.
After each exam, I carefully reviewed every incorrect question and every question I wasn’t completely confident about.

My scores:
101: 67%
102: 70%
103: 69%
324: 73.5%
401: 72%
402: 74%
424: 75%
425: 81%

One week before the exam, I repeated all of them and was scoring around 90–95%.
I also completed most of the CDM cases.

6. AMBOSS MCCQE1 QBank (Started ~1 month before the exam)
Completed: ~50%
Overall correct: ~73%
I had already finished most of the other question banks and decided to give AMBOSS a try.
I ended up liking it much more than I expected.
The explanations were much better than ACE, and I really liked the interface.
AMBOSS also estimates your readiness and predicts your percentile. It predicted I would score around the 75th percentile, while my actual MCCQE1 result ended up around the 88th–90th percentile, so in my case it was a little conservative.
Another feature I really liked was creating 105-question blocks, which helped me simulate the length and mental fatigue of the real exam. It also resembles the real exam interface!

7. ChatGPT (Used every day)
Honestly, once ChatGPT released, it completely changed how I studied.
Whenever I got a question wrong, I used it to:
explain why each option was right or wrong, summarize Canadian guidelines, simplify difficult concepts, quiz me until I truly understood the topic.
As an IMG whose first language isn’t English, it saved me hours of searching through different resources.

8. Anki - Janki deck
Since I was on maternity leave with a newborn, I rarely had long uninterrupted study sessions.
Anki was perfect because I could review cards whenever I had a few free minutes. I tailored the deck based on my wrong questions.

What I would do differently
Finish UWorld much quicker.
Skip some of the overly detailed UWorld topics.
Use AMBOSS earlier and spend less time on ACEqbank.
Start the official MCC practice exams earlier.

One thing I learned
One thing I learned during my preparation is that the MCCQE1 is heavily focused on primary care. It trains you to think like a good frontline physician, especially in family medicine and the emergency department.
The exam wants you to practice safe, evidence-based medicine and avoid unnecessary investigations or treatments. Don’t order every test just because you can. Keep Canada’s publicly funded healthcare system in mind.
Whenever you don’t know the answer, ask yourself: What would a safe family doctor do? What’s the most appropriate next step, not the most expensive/definitive workup?
That mindset helped me answer a lot of management questions.

Final thoughts
If you’re an older IMG or English isn’t your first language, don’t let your timeline discourage you.
You’re not just preparing for one exam. You’re also rebuilding medical knowledge, adapting to a new healthcare system, and learning to think clinically in another language. That takes time.
When I first came to Canada, I genuinely didn’t think becoming a doctor again was realistic because of the language barrier. Looking back now, I’m glad I didn’t give up.
Keep moving forward. Small improvements every day eventually add up.
I hope this post helps someone the way Reddit helped me throughout my own MCCQE1 journey. Good luck to everyone preparing for the exam!

Hi, I am looking for a serious NAC OSCE partner for SEPT session. Would prefer everyday session to 5x in a week. And if you have a small group. Please let me know ! :) PM me :)

Anyone took dr ali’s course and found it useful along with the qbank? i have attended one of his meetings and he says that doing uworld plus TN plus MCC tests is not enough for this exam lol. So taking his course is the secret to passing or what!

Hi!! does anyone have/ know where i can find a free online version of Toronto Notes 2025? I have the 2023 hard copy but would like a newer editin just incase.

Thanks!

I have some question for MCC: How long for Phisicianapply.ca verify all document license from moment we register the account ?

We have roughly 12 weeks until the exam. Now is a good time to start hitting the books first and reviewing topics. Think bread and butter family medicine and emergency medicine cases. You are very unlikely to get cases like rhabdomyosarcoma or Sturge-Weber Syndrome so don’t bother with rare stuff. You are more likely to get cases you’d find in an outpatient family medicine clinic or on a slow day in the emergency room. I just asked Gemini to give me the top 10 primary care cases that might appear on an OSCE exam and it’s essentially what’s listed on the MCC website, but with more detail. Go through all the major systems, pick out the most common differential diagnoses, and review what sort of questions will best help you narrow down your differential. It is not necessary to buy a special textbook or spend money on an expensive NAC OSCE prep course, especially big companies like BeMo. You may feel the need to spend money in order to feel like you're doing everything you can, but try not to give in to this feeling. Go through your medical school notes, Geeky Medics, or AI and there will be more than enough for you to review. 

Remember that the purpose of this exam is to determine whether you are at the level of a clerk (final year Canadian medical student), so the bar is actually pretty low lol. However, you should be an excellent history taker, be able to do a thorough and efficient physical exam, and be able to provide a simple management plan. This is the final goal, but for now, a good starting point is reviewing the basics. 

Next topic: History Taking

How to apply for associate physician job after passing QE1 and 2 year of independent experience. Internship yet to be verified. Any job related to healthcare in Canada will be helpful. Jobless more than 1 year.

Hey i hope you guys doing well.

I'm doing my usmle step 2 in few months and after that I'm planning to do Q1.

Does anyone have similar experience that they could kindly share regarding time table and resources.

And thank you

Those who can practice from 10 am to 1 pm EST and are committed, please reply. I would like to make a small group to practice everyday.
I am an IMG.