Introduction

In accordance with best practice in medical assessment, the examination for Membership of the UK Faculty of Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare (MFSRH) has evolved over recent years, refining the test to be as reliable and valid as possible and to satisfy the UK regulatory body, the General Medical Council (GMC). New evidence-based developments that enhance the robustness of tests become incorporated into the MFSRH examination on the advice of educationalists.1–4

This article introduces the Part 1 Single Best Answer Question (SBA) paper. To assist membership examination candidates further, a more detailed discussion may be found in the examination section of the FSRH website (http://www.fsrh.org).

Achieving the MFSRH qualification shows that the successful candidate is capable of providing sophisticated community sexual and reproductive healthcare (cSRH) at a senior level. With the advent of the new cSRH training programme in 2010, the MFSRH qualification became integral to progression through the various stages of the 6-year ‘run through’ programme. In this, trainees progress from junior levels to a more senior level in a wide-ranging, full-time programme that covers women's health, obstetrics, contraception, sexually transmitted infections, public health, service delivery, ethics and the law, among other topics. The Part 1 examination is a requirement for progression from training programme Year 3 (Specialist Training Year 3 – ST3) to Year 4, while the Part 2 examination is required for progression from Year 5 to Advanced Training in Year 6. Doctors practising in disciplines allied to SRH may also sit for the qualification, and are encouraged to do so, but they should be aware that the assessments are structured to determine the knowledge, skills and attitudes of the cSRH trainee, and the syllabus is derived from the cSRH training programme curriculum.