The AMC MCQ Handbook and the AMC's current resources

What happened to the Handbook

The AMC launched the Handbook of Multiple Choice Questions in December 2009. It updated the 1997 AMCQ Handbook and held almost 600 questions drawn from the AMC examination banks, each with a commentary on every response. In its 2023-24 annual report the AMC describes the Handbook as previously published and the project that followed it as an MCQ app of 210 practice questions. The Handbook does not appear on the AMC's current resources page.

The Handbook's commentaries reflect the guidance of its time, and several Australian guidelines have changed since. The same is true of other older AMC material that still circulates.

The AMC's current resources

• The MCQ Preparation App. Built with eMedici, it has 210 questions written by AMC contributors, refreshed every 12 months. It gives feedback on each response and runs on desktop, iOS and Android. It is free for candidates who bought a CAT MCQ authorisation from April 2025, and the link to set up access arrives in the AMC's acknowledgement email. The app page counts twelve months of access from activation, while the specifications count twelve months from purchase of the authorisation.
• Australian Medicine in Context. A free book covering 105 common conditions and 56 professional practice topics, which replaces the 2003 Anthology. It says it is preferable for AMC assessment questions to be drawn from its topics. Download it from the AMC's page; copying any part of it needs the AMC's permission.
• The examination specifications. The V8 specifications set out the blueprint and the exam rules, with 22 sample questions in Appendix B. They advise care with major reference textbooks and suggest review articles in journals such as Australian Prescriber.

The AMC's resources page also lists Good Medical Practice: Professionalism, Ethics and Law (5th edition). The AMC does not support or endorse third-party resources, including this one.

Where older books now give the wrong answer

A question written before a guideline changed keeps its old answer. The four changes below affect common topics in adult medicine, women's health and population health.

Recall compilations carry the same problem, and the AMC has found many of them incorrect. The page on AMC recalls sets out what the AMC says. For practice written to current guidance across every patient group, use the AMC MCQ practice questions.