NAC OSCE format and timing

This guide covers the shape of the examination as the Medical Council of Canada describes it. Each statement about the examination links to the MCC page it comes from. Where the MCC is silent, we say so rather than fill the gap with what prep sites repeat.

What the examination is

The MCC's technical report describes the NAC Examination as made up of OSCE (objective structured clinical examination) stations. (Source: NAC Examination Annual Technical Report 2024 (PDF), Medical Council of Canada)

For the examination's purpose, eligibility, fees and dates, check the MCC's current information on its NAC Examination page. (Source: NAC Examination, Medical Council of Canada)

How many stations

The examination has 12 stations. 2 of them are pilot stations, which do not count toward your score, so 10 stations are scored. (Source: NAC Examination, Medical Council of Canada)

There are also two or three wait stations, which have no clinical scenario, no task and no score. (Source: NAC Examination, Medical Council of Canada)

How long a station runs

Each station is 11 minutes long, with 2 minutes between stations. (Source: NAC Examination, Medical Council of Canada)

The MCC's technical report describes 11-minute stations and does not divide that time into parts. (Source: NAC Examination Annual Technical Report 2024 (PDF), Medical Council of Canada)

Prep material often divides a station's time into fixed parts. We have not found that division in any MCC material, so this guide does not teach one.

What happens inside a station

At each station, a brief written statement introduces a clinical problem and outlines your tasks, such as taking a history or conducting and describing a physical examination. Every station has at least one standardized participant and a physician examiner. (Source: NAC Examination, Medical Council of Canada)

Some stations also include oral questions from the physician examiner, and those answers are scored. The MCC describes this component as applying where a station has it and does not publish how many stations do. (Source: NAC Examination Annual Technical Report 2024 (PDF), Medical Council of Canada)

What the MCC does not say

The MCC's pages do not say when you read the written statement that opens a station: before the station begins, or inside the station's own time. (Source: NAC Examination, Medical Council of Canada)

Practise both ways. If you can take in a case quickly and start with a plan, the question stops mattering.

Sources

More guides are on the guides page, and the exam overview has the examination's structure on one page.