MCCQE Part I — your gateway to Canadian licensure and the CaRMS match

All applicants — Canadian and international — apply through physiciansapply.ca. The flow is: create an account, request source verification of your medical degree via the MCC's Source Verification service (the school sends credentials directly to MCC), confirm eligibility, pay the ~CAD 1,750 fee, then book a Prometric appointment inside your assigned eligibility window. Most IMGs need 6-10 weeks for source verification to complete, so start that step early.

MCCQE Part II was permanently retired in 2021, so Part I is now the single written MCC qualifying exam. International medical graduates (IMGs) additionally sit the NAC OSCE — the National Assessment Collaboration objective structured clinical exam — which is a separate clinical-skills exam most CaRMS programs expect alongside Part I. Canadian grads typically need only Part I.

Critically important for IMGs and a strong signal for CMGs. CaRMS program directors routinely use the scaled Part I score as a screening filter — most competitive programs look for scores well above the 226 pass mark, with 250+ considered strong and 300+ highly competitive. Your score is released on physiciansapply.ca and can be shared directly with programs.

MCC reports an equated scaled score from 226 to 950, where 226 is the current pass standard. The score is not a percentage — it's equated across sittings so a 350 in May means the same as a 350 in November. You receive one overall scaled score plus performance feedback across the four physician roles (Medical Expert, Communicator, Professional, Health Advocate) and the major clinical disciplines.

The first section is 210 single-best-answer MCQs — classic one-of-five. The second is 38 Clinical Decision Making cases: each case opens with a vignette and asks you to either type a short written answer (e.g. 'name the most likely diagnosis') or pick multiple correct options from a list, with marks deducted for over-selection. CDM rewards focused clinical reasoning over pattern recognition, and pacing it (roughly 4-5 minutes per case) is what separates pass-mark candidates from competitive scorers.

You may attempt MCCQE Part I a maximum of four times. There is a mandatory wait period before re-sitting (typically 60 days) and you must remain within your eligibility window. Each attempt requires a fresh booking and full fee. The MCC does not cap by score — you can re-sit to improve a passing score for CaRMS competitiveness.

Source verification on physiciansapply.ca → MCCQE Part I → NAC OSCE → CaRMS application (IMG stream) → residency match → provincial licensure after residency. Some provinces also require the Medical Council of Canada Evaluating Examination (MCCEE) replacement screening or a Practice Ready Assessment for already-trained specialists. Our Part I prep is the foundation of that entire pipeline.