Get Through MRCPsych Parts 1 and 2: 1001 EMIQs Albert Michael (ed.) London: Royal Society of Medicine, 2004, £19.99, 290 pp. ISBN: 1-85315-599-3

Extended matching items (EMIs) are ‘multiple-choice items organised into sets that use one list of options for all items in the set’ (Case & Swanson, 1998). A typical EMI consists of four components: a theme (the subject area from which the EMI is derived), an option list (containing 8-20 options), a lead-in statement (asking the examinee to choose one or more of the options for each item stem) and item stems (usually 4-5 case scenarios). EMIs have a distinct advantage over other conventional multiple choice formats (individual statement questions and one in five best-answer questions) in that they are better at testing reasoning skills and in-depth knowledge. The Royal College of Psychiatrists introduced EMIs into part I and II of the MRCPsych examinations in Spring 2003.

In the MRCPsych part I written examination, there are 30 EMIs (based on ten themes) and in the part II written examination, there are 15 EMIs (based on five themes), contributing to 40 and 20% of the total marks, respectively. Given the state of flux that the MRCPsych examinations are currently in, the relevance of EMIs is only likely to increase, and so too the need for all trainees to be familiar with them.

Albert Michael (editor) has abundant prior experience in editing other psychiatric examination revision guides and in organising MRCPsych study courses. In editing this book he combines these two aspects to good effect. He also brings together contributions from 16 psychiatrists (from the UK and abroad). All EMIs are presented in a uniform style and cover 15 topics (clinical and basic sciences) addressing most of the MRCPsych part I and II curricula. Individual questions are well constructed, simply presented and appropriately categorised under various sections. In-depth answers are provided at the end of each section and are adequately referenced.

However, this book has some significant shortcomings. Firstly, questions/topics are not organised into those for part I and II, and hence could be confusing for the reader and less appealing to the buyer. Secondly, many of the questions in this book are relatively easy and are a far cry from the ‘real exam’ EMIs - many of which have longer option lists and ask the examinee to choose two, three or even four options for each item stem.

All in all, this book is timely and easy to read, also providing an exhaustive coverage (and the best available collection of EMIs) of part I and II topics - a valuable addition to the preparatory ‘material’ for any trainee in psychiatry.