The NAC OSCE, explained

What the exam is

The NAC (National Assessment Collaboration) Examination is a half-day OSCE — an objective structured clinical examination — that assesses whether an international medical graduate is ready to enter Canadian residency. IMGs applying to residency through CaRMS must take it.

The format

• 12 stations, 11 minutes each, with 2 minutes between stations. Two of the twelve are unscored pilot stations, and there are two to three unscored wait stations.
• Your total score is the average of your 10 scored stations.
• Run twice a year, spring and fall, at designated centres, in English or French.

What each station measures

Physician examiners assess up to seven competencies per station: history taking, physical examination, communication skills, diagnosis, investigations, data interpretation, and management. Clinical content spans medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, and preventive medicine and public health.

Why candidates fail it

The NAC is a performance exam before it is a knowledge exam. Strong clinicians fail it by treating stations as knowledge checks rather than timed, structured encounters with a standardized patient and an examiner scoring specific competencies. Preparation that works rehearses the encounter itself: openings, time checkpoints, communication under observation, and the management close.

Sitting dates and registration windows are tracked on the free Deadline Radar.