SAMP Prep in Canada: A 10-Week Plan for the CFPC Written Exam
Published Oct 9, 2026 · Updated Oct 10, 2026
SAMP prep in Canada works best when it follows what the CFPC says it tests: 105 priority topics, a published blueprint and a format that is moving to multiple-choice and short-menu questions. Here is a 10-week plan built on those documents.
What does the SAMP exam test?
The CFPC says each SAMP case is built from the priority topics and key features in its Assessment Objectives for Certification in Family Medicine, and each exam samples cases across the 105 priority topics. Topics not yet in that document may occasionally appear, because family medicine practice keeps changing.
The June 2026 SAMP blueprint weights the clinical encounter: history, physical examination and problem identification 20%; differential diagnosis, investigation and diagnosis 35%; management and follow-up 30%; disease prevention and health promotion 15%. It also weights the setting: office and clinic 55%, with hospital care, emergency and urgent care, and home and long-term care at 15% each. Each figure can vary by 5% either way.
The written exam is four and a half hours: four hours of exam, a 15-minute tutorial and an optional 15-minute break, with the clock running through the break. Each case usually has three to five questions, and each question needs one to five answers. From 2026, up to 25% of cases use multiple-choice or short-menu questions, and in 2027 all cases will. More in the 2026 SAMP format change.
Weeks 1–2: baseline and setup
Read the CFPC’s Sample SAMPs and the SAMPs Instructions to the Candidate. Note the answer rules that cost marks: most answers take ten words or fewer, put one answer per field, name specific lab tests rather than panels like “CBC”, use SI units, and type “none” rather than leaving a box empty. For a multiple-choice question, type only the single capital letter.
Then open Part III of the Assessment Objectives (Priority Topics and Key Features) and list the 105 topics. Mark each one as strong, shaky or weak after a first pass through its key features.
Weeks 3–7: priority topics
Work through the priority topics, weak ones first, at about 20 a week. For each topic, read its key features and practise cases on it. Since 55% of cases are set in an office or clinic, spend most of your time on office presentations, and since management and follow-up plus diagnosis make up about two-thirds of the blueprint, practise writing specific next steps, not just naming the diagnosis.
Week 8: the other settings
Give a week to hospital, emergency and urgent care, and home and long-term care cases, about 15% each. The blueprint also lists themes such as maternity care, end-of-life care, Indigenous health, virtual encounters and patients across the life cycle; check your topic list covers them.
Weeks 9–10: timed practice
Sit at least two full four-hour practice sessions under exam timing, with the answer rules applied, and mark them strictly. Review every question you lost for a rule (vague test names, too many answers in one field) as well as for knowledge. Use the last days for your weakest topics, not new material.
Three practice questions
These single-best-answer questions come from the TopQbank CCFP SAMP question bank, reviewed by licensed doctors. They are not real CFPC questions.
Question 1 · Nephrology
A 65-year-old woman with CKD stage 3b and diabetes is asymptomatic. BP 138/84 mmHg, LDL 3.1 mmol/L, eGFR 38. What preventive measure should be implemented?
A) Annual renal biopsy
B) Start statin therapy and control BP <130/80
C) Stop all antihypertensives
D) No further intervention
E) Avoid lipid monitoring
Correct answer: B) Start statin therapy and control BP <130/80. CKD patients have high cardiovascular risk. Statins reduce mortality; BP control slows kidney progression and reduces CVD events.
Question 2 · Nephrology
A 28-year-old woman presents with dysuria, frequency, and urgency. No fever or flank pain. Urinalysis: leukocyte esterase positive, nitrites positive. What is the most likely diagnosis and appropriate management?
A) Pyelonephritis – IV antibiotics
B) Acute cystitis – short course oral antibiotics
C) Asymptomatic bacteriuria – no treatment
D) Vaginitis – topical antifungal
E) Urethritis – azithromycin
Correct answer: B) Acute cystitis – short course oral antibiotics. Typical lower UTI (cystitis) is treated empirically with short-course oral antibiotics. No imaging is needed in uncomplicated cases.
Question 3 · Emergency medicine
A 19-year-old ingests 30 tablets of acetaminophen (500 mg each) 4 hours ago. She is asymptomatic. Serum acetaminophen 200 mcg/mL at 4 hours. What is the MOST appropriate management step?
A) Start IV N-acetylcysteine immediately
B) Give activated charcoal only
C) Start IV fomepizole
D) Observe
E) no treatment needed if asymptomatic
F) Induce emesis with ipecac
Correct answer: A) Start IV N-acetylcysteine immediately. Serum acetaminophen level above the Rumack–Matthew treatment line requires NAC. At 4 h, 200 mcg/mL is toxic.
For more, see CCFP SAMP sample questions and what SAMP tests versus the SOO, or practise cases in the TopQbank CCFP SAMP question bank.
Study takeaway: the blueprint puts 55% of cases in the office and about two-thirds on diagnosis and management, so practise committing to specific investigations and next steps for common office presentations, and follow the CFPC’s answer rules every time you practise.