The AFRM exams reward specific answers, given to the exact question, inside the time. Practise them here: essay scenarios marked point by point, blueprint-weighted MCQ mocks, and OSCE stations on the real clock.
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How written marking works
You write the answer. Here it comes back marked.
The commonest way to lose marks is a generic answer: good medicine, for a different patient or a different question. The marking rewards only what the rubric rewards.
Your answer, typed under timingPaper A
On day 30 her admission Functional Independence Measure was 61 and today it is 85. Calculate her FIM efficiency and interpret it. (3 marks)
Her FIM change is 24 points, which is a good improvement and shows she is responding to rehabilitation. I would compare this with the benchmark for her impairment group…
Examiner-style marking, seconds later1 / 3
✗Efficiency calculated: 24 ÷ 30 days = 0.8 points per day0/1
✓Compared against the AROC benchmark for her impairment group1/1
✗Interpreted: what the figure means for her plan and discharge0/1
Marking note: The question asked for efficiency and you gave the change. Efficiency is the change divided by the length of stay in days. Examiners flag this exact mix-up every year.
Knowing the medicine isn't the same as passing the exam.
Candidates who fail are rarely told which sentence lost the mark. The commonest causes are not gaps in knowledge: a generic answer, a different question answered, an examination done out of order, the clock run out. Each is fixed by practice that is timed and marked.
Answer the question asked
Every rubric point is tied to the exact wording of the part, so “cognitive communication” and “cognition” mark differently, as they do on the day.
Systematic, on the clock
Live stations run on the real timings with the bell. Examination stations score the order and completeness of what you do, not only the finding.
Know where you stand
Results roll up into the 13 blueprint areas and the four competency domains, so you know what to fix next.
More than a question bank
The exam, on the clock.
Most candidates who fail know the medicine. They run out of time, answer a different question, or are not specific enough. Practice under the clock, marked the way examiners mark, is the fix.
01 · OSCE
10 stations, on the real clock.
4:00 reading, then 10:00 in the station with the bell at 7:00, as on the day. Patients, relatives and examiners are played by an AI so you can practise alone, or a colleague runs the station with the script, the findings and the marking sheet.
Neurological examination of incomplete cervical spinal cord injury (ISNCSCI)
You are the rehabilitation registrar in a spinal injuries unit. Mr Arjun Pillai is a 58-year-old retired accountant who fell down a flight of stairs four months ago and sustained a cervical spinal cord injury without fracture, on a background of cervical spondylosis. He had a posterior decompression at the time. He now walks short distances with a four-wheeled frame and supervision. A formal International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury (ISNCSCI) examination is due before his case conference. A completed worksheet is not available. A neurotip, cotton wool and gloves are provided. The anorectal examination will be described to you by the examiner when you indicate you would perform it.
Perform a neurological examination of Mr Pillai according to the ISNCSCI, explaining to the examiner what you are doing as you go.
Determine the sensory levels, motor levels, neurological level of injury and the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale grade.
State the clinical syndrome and its relevance to his rehabilitation prognosis.
Marking guide
60%
Competencies
40%
02 · Paper A
Write the answer. Get it marked.
8 essay scenarios · 3 h 30 + 10 min reading. Every answer is marked point by point against a rubric that rewards what AFRM examiners reward: specific points, the exact question answered, safe advice.
On day 30 her admission Functional Independence Measure was 61 and today it is 85. Calculate her FIM efficiency and interpret it. (3 marks)
“Her FIM change is 24 points, which is a good improvement and shows she is responding to rehabilitation. I would compare this with the benchmark for her impairment group…”
✗Efficiency calculated: 24 ÷ 30 days = 0.8 points per day0/1
✓Compared against the AROC benchmark for her impairment group1/1
✗Interpreted: what the figure means for her plan and discharge0/1
Examiner note: The question asked for efficiency and you gave the change. Efficiency is the change divided by the length of stay in days. Examiners flag this exact mix-up every year.
03 · Paper B
Mocks weighted to the blueprint.
130 single-best-answer questions · 4 options · 3 hours. Every option explained, including why the wrong ones are wrong, and your weakest areas come back first.
Weighted to the blueprint. Your weakest areas go to the top of next week’s drills.
04 · Scales and measures
FIM change is not FIM efficiency.
Twenty scales the exams lean on: FIM, Westmead post-traumatic amnesia, ISNCSCI, Medicare K-levels, Berg, the six-minute walk and more, each with the trap examiners set.
Resistance at one speed. Cannot separate spasticity from contracture.
Tardieu
Two speeds. A large R2 − R1 favours botulinum toxin over casting.
06 · Study plan
Your exam date, turned into weeks.
Tell it when you sit and how many hours you have. It spreads the curriculum by blueprint weight, slots in mocks, written papers and station circuits, and moves your weakest areas forward as your results come in.
The biggest blueprint areas come round most often; your weakest move to the front.
fellowshipready.com.au/rehab
Clinical · Live · examinationReading · 4:00
Neurological examination of incomplete cervical spinal cord injury (ISNCSCI)
You are the rehabilitation registrar in a spinal injuries unit. Mr Arjun Pillai is a 58-year-old retired accountant who fell down a flight of stairs four months ago and sustained a cervical spinal cord injury without fracture, on a background of cervical spondylosis. He had a posterior decompression at the time. He now walks short distances with a four-wheeled frame and supervision. A formal International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury (ISNCSCI) examination is due before his case conference. A completed worksheet is not available. A neurotip, cotton wool and gloves are provided. The anorectal examination will be described to you by the examiner when you indicate you would perform it.
Perform a neurological examination of Mr Pillai according to the ISNCSCI, explaining to the examiner what you are doing as you go.
Determine the sensory levels, motor levels, neurological level of injury and the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale grade.
State the clinical syndrome and its relevance to his rehabilitation prognosis.
Marking guide
60%
Competencies
40%
fellowshipready.com.au/rehab
Paper A · marked against the rubric
On day 30 her admission Functional Independence Measure was 61 and today it is 85. Calculate her FIM efficiency and interpret it. (3 marks)
“Her FIM change is 24 points, which is a good improvement and shows she is responding to rehabilitation. I would compare this with the benchmark for her impairment group…”
✗Efficiency calculated: 24 ÷ 30 days = 0.8 points per day0/1
✓Compared against the AROC benchmark for her impairment group1/1
✗Interpreted: what the figure means for her plan and discharge0/1
Examiner note: The question asked for efficiency and you gave the change. Efficiency is the change divided by the length of stay in days. Examiners flag this exact mix-up every year.
fellowshipready.com.au/rehab
Paper B mock · 130 questions · 3 h75%
Brain injury57%
Stroke79%
Neuro83%
Spinal cord74%
Amputation80%
MSK74%
Cardioresp80%
Weighted to the blueprint. Your weakest areas go to the top of next week’s drills.
fellowshipready.com.au/rehab
Functional Independence Measure
FIM change
+32
discharge − admission
FIM efficiency
1.14
change ÷ days, per day
Asked for efficiency, candidates gave the change. Here you cannot confuse them.
fellowshipready.com.au/rehab
Spasticity · elbow flexors
V3 fast stretch
Catch at R1 95°
Dynamic component R2 − R1 = 45°
Modified Ashworth
Resistance at one speed. Cannot separate spasticity from contracture.
Tardieu
Two speeds. A large R2 − R1 favours botulinum toxin over casting.
fellowshipready.com.au/rehab
Fellowship Written Exam in 14 weeks10 h / week
Week 9 · this week
Brain injuryStrokeNeuroMock
Week 10
Spinal cordBrain injuryAmputationStations ×3
Week 11
MSKCardiorespStrokeWritten ×2
The biggest blueprint areas come round most often; your weakest move to the front.
Pricing
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Paper A essay scenarios with examiner-style marking, the Paper B bank and timed 130-question mocks.