This document provides tips for passing the MRCS (Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons) exam. It outlines that dedication, preparation, and practice are key to success. The regulations for the exam have changed, allowing candidates to sit parts earlier. The author shares their experience passing the exam in 14 months, emphasizing practicing 5000 multiple choice questions over six months of dedicated study. Candidates are advised to take both the written papers together. Extensive practice is needed for the difficult viva portion, including mock exams. The tips conclude by stating there is no excuse to fail the clinical exam with proper preparation.
This document provides tips for passing the MRCS (Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons) exam. It outlines that dedication, preparation, and practice are key to success. The regulations for the exam have changed, allowing candidates to sit parts earlier. The author shares their experience passing the exam in 14 months, emphasizing practicing 5000 multiple choice questions over six months of dedicated study. Candidates are advised to take both the written papers together. Extensive practice is needed for the difficult viva portion, including mock exams. The tips conclude by stating there is no excuse to fail the clinical exam with proper preparation.
This document provides tips for passing the MRCS (Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons) exam. It outlines that dedication, preparation, and practice are key to success. The regulations for the exam have changed, allowing candidates to sit parts earlier. The author shares their experience passing the exam in 14 months, emphasizing practicing 5000 multiple choice questions over six months of dedicated study. Candidates are advised to take both the written papers together. Extensive practice is needed for the difficult viva portion, including mock exams. The tips conclude by stating there is no excuse to fail the clinical exam with proper preparation.
This document provides tips for passing the MRCS (Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons) exam. It outlines that dedication, preparation, and practice are key to success. The regulations for the exam have changed, allowing candidates to sit parts earlier. The author shares their experience passing the exam in 14 months, emphasizing practicing 5000 multiple choice questions over six months of dedicated study. Candidates are advised to take both the written papers together. Extensive practice is needed for the difficult viva portion, including mock exams. The tips conclude by stating there is no excuse to fail the clinical exam with proper preparation.
Dedication, preparation, and application are Stephen Brennans top tips for passing the MRCS New regulations The regulations for sitting the new MRCS (Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons) exam have changed. You can now sit the first part (the written MCQ and extended matching questions EMQ) as soon as you have started basic surgical training, and the subsequent parts (the oral and clinical exams) as soon as you like after that. Although many consultants and registrars will tell you that the old primary was much harder in their day, the MRCS is still a real challenge and a hurdle that must be overcome.
resuscitating the patient and taking informed consent I
would take the patient to theatre. With the patient placed supine on the operating table under general anaesthetic, etc. It just sounds so much better. There are three excellent books available for viva practice and you need all three of them. Questions for the MRCS Vivas1 is probably the best, and the other two are Viva Practice for the MRCS2 and Surgical Critical Care Vivas for the MRCS,3 both available from the pastest.co.uk website. No amount of reading will help you pass the viva, however. You must get practice at answering questions. Find a consultant or registrar that you get on with and get them to grill you. Keep getting them to ask you stuffin the coffee room between cases, while you are both scrubbing up, etc.
Ask a friendly anaesthetist
Practice should make perfect I passed the MRCS within 14 months of becoming a senior house officer, and these are some words of advice I would give to anyone thinking of doing the same. Firstly, if you have decided early on that you wish to pursue a career in surgery then early preparation is vital. Ideally, this will have started in your preregistration house officer year. To sit the first part (the written) there are two critical points. First, give yourself six months of preparation. You must lock yourself away from everything and everybody for this time and practise multiple choice questions (MCQs). I can say hand on heart that for the first part I did no fewer than 5000 MCQs. Get examples of these from medical book shops and online companies such as pastest.co.uk and surgicaltutor.co.uk. anaesthesia.co.uk is an excellent website with useful information and plenty of practice in MCQs. Wherever you get the practice, however, make sure that on the day of the exam you have 5000 questions under your belt. The second key piece of advice is that you must sit both papers MCQ and EMQ togethertrust me, you are only wasting your time if you dont do this. There is so much overlap of content between the two that it is impossible to study for either one independently. The questions in the MCQ book from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh are the most realistic and similar to the real thing, so make sure you read this book from cover to cover. It can be purchased online from the colleges website (www.rcsed.ac.uk).
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The viva
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Be under no illusion regarding the viva; this is by far the
most difficult part of the exam. I suggest you book yourself on the MRCS viva practice course run by Pradip Datta at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh; it lasts for two days and costs about 200. I cannot speak highly enough of this course, and on occasions retired master surgeon Professor Alistair Munro gives a guest lecture. The course teaches you not only what you will be asked but more importantly how you should answer. For example, when you are asked how to perform an appendicectomy (and you will be), you need a sharp and concise opening answer. Instead of stuttering on about McBurneys point, why not open with, After thoroughly 4 MARCH 2006
Get an anaesthetist to ask you about the critical care
stuff because, to be honest, anaesthetists know more about fluids and inotropes, etc. than us surgeons. If you have a day off or if your nights allow you some sleep then spend a few days with an anaesthetist (preferably one who doesnt have a trainee with them that day); they are usually more than happy to teach you. You never know, you might end up getting to put in a few central lines as well. In the viva itself be prepared to be handed a few thingsa pen and paper to draw the brachial plexus, the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve, the loop of henle (and explain how it works); a bone of some sort to identify what muscles attach to it (I got a clavicle); and an x ray of some sort to identify the anatomy (I got a sagittal view MRI of the pelvis and was asked about the blood and nerve supply to the bladder. Ouch.).
How to fail the clinical
If you have made it to the clinical you are almost home and dry. There is no excuse whatsoever for failing it. I cannot give you any advice on how to pass, so therefore I will just give you some words of wisdom on how to fail. Firstly, turn up late smelling of cigarettes and with the top button of your white shirt undone. Wear brown shoes and leave your cufflinks at home. Then dont introduce yourself to the patient, and avoid eye contact at all times. You know for certain that you will get one orthopaedic joint to examine so dont practise this under the supervision of a consultant in outpatients. Hand held Doppler examination at the vascular station should be done by technicians anyway so dont bother learning how to do this. And finally, they will surely ask you about the most bizarre and rare conditions, such as Chiladitis syndrome, so forget about inguinal hernias, varicose veins, thyroid lumps, incisional hernia, hydrocoeles, ganglions, and basal cell carcinomas. Good luck. j Stephen Brennan specialist registrar in general surgery Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Scotland [email protected] 1 2 3
Garner J, Goodfellow P. Questions for the MRCS vivas. London:
Hodder & Arnold, 2004. Chan C, Hart A. Viva practice for the MRCS. London: Pastest, 2001. Kanani M. Surgical critical care vivas for the MRCS. Greenwich Medical Media Ltd, 2002.
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