The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) has apologised to young trainee doctors for the stress and disruption caused by the cancellation of a major exam that determines the course of their careers.
A new exam date has also been announced by the college.
On Monday, an "unknown technical fault" resulted in hundreds of trainee doctors sitting the RACP's Divisional Medical Physicians Exam being locked out of the second part of the online test.
As a result the exam was cancelled and participants told they must re-sit the exam, causing much anxiety among the trainee doctors and their families.
Participants had spent months studying and just to sit for the paper, which costs $1800, many had to take time off from their jobs in local hospitals.
It was the first time the RACP had conducted the exam via computers and in a statement released by the RACP on Tuesday afternoon, President Dr Catherine Yelland promised to publicly release the cause of the error following an investigation into the bungle.
"I apologise again for the stress and disruption caused by the cancellation of the Written Divisional exam on Monday 19 February, and undertake to release the findings of our investigation as soon as possible," Dr Yelland said in the statement.
"Following urgent work overnight and today by College staff we have finalised a new date for a paper-based re-sit of the Basic Training Written Divisional Exam," Dr Yelland said.
The new date is Friday March 2, 2018 and there will be no extra charges associated with sitting the test.
