Exam Advice
A comprehensive exam revision guide for section 2 of the FRCS (General Surgery)
Congratulations on passing section 1 of the FRCS! We know it was a challenging exam and the effort that you have put in has not been wasted and will certainly come in useful for section 2.
The FRCS is probably one of the most difficult exams you will do. Part of the challenge lies in the stage of life you are at and juggling family, friends, work and need to operate. It’s really important that all of those around you are onboard with what you are trying to achieve and understand the pressures on you to attain those objectives.
You will have already done a significant amount of revision for section 1, and this is not wasted in part 2. Think of revision for the VIVA as building on the knowledge already gained and honing in that knowledge with specific details and evidence. This is particularly important for your own speciality. A good way to approaching your revision this is by starting early typically a week or two after you have taken your SBAs. Although you won’t have your results, it will be good revision and even if you don’t pass you will have benefitted from an additional 2 weeks of studying. There is usually a short gap 2-3 months (although longer if you take part 1 in January) and those extra 2 weeks will be handy if you do pass. Similarly, to part 1 do not use an attempt as a practice, you only have 4 attempts although these can be spaced over a subsequent 5 years (you only get 2 years to pass part 1).Another great way of maximising your time is by creating a thorough timetable factoring in your personal and work time aswell, identifying dead time such as waiting for the computer to load or walking from one ward to another.
I would highly recommend getting a group together for moral support and practice, during the journey and have sessions where you discuss the questions that you’re not quite sure on. The JCIE have some sample questions that are useful and you can access them at this link: https://www.jcie.org.uk/content/content.aspx?ID=14
Everyone revises slightly differently and so you have to have insight as to the best way that you work. In terms of revision, we would certainly recommend you starting with an area that is familiar to you because psychologically it will help and motivate you during this period of study. This will normally be your own speciality and it is worth remembering that for part 2, your own speciality contributes 50% of the total exam. Recently the exam has split oesophago-gastric (OG) and hepato-pancreatico-biliary (HPB), whereas previously it was bundled together as an ‘upper GI’ category. Previously this had the advantage that in theory you could only be asked questions at an ST6 level because they were unable to differentiate an OG and an HPB trainee. In reality the questions were probably approaching an ST8 level of knowledge from reports of candidates who took the exam during that period. Now the split has occurred they are within their rights to ask questions at an ST8 level, so it is important that you know your subject and critically the relevant evidence within your field.
Below I provide a comprehensive review of the format of the exam and all the resources that I have identified that are useful for the exam and am happy to share them with you. You can also head over to our resources (hyperlink to resources page) page which gives a wealth of information and knowledge collated from various sources.
Mr M. Rafay. S. Siddiqui
Format of the exam
The exam is normally conducted over 2 days or more technically 1.5 days. One group will have the VIVA sessions the day before their clinical exam. The following day they will have their clinical VIVA. The other group will have their clinical exam in the other half of the day and then the VIVA sessions the day after. This was in order to avoid bringing in patients on 2 days. Since COVID there have been no patients involved and this may be the case going forward. They do however bring in actors for part of the examination. You generally won’t get a choice about which group you end up in.
If you can stay at the venue, then ideally you should try and do that. As well as being around others who are revising and can help in practice, if on the off chance you oversleep (which happened to a colleague of mine) there are others in the hotel that can go and get you from your room.
On the day you are usually taken to a hospital for the clinical exam although this may vary given only actors are used. For the main VIVA sessions, you are usually taken to a large hall which reminds you of the old school dinner hall layout with tables laid out neatly and 2 examiners at each table. It can be quite noisy and so you need to focus on the examiners when they are asking questions. A tip that was suggested to me is to do some research on the center that you are doing the exam at, as it is likely they will choose patients or topics that are relevant to them e.g., if the hospital is a tertiary bariatric center, it is likely that one of the general cases may involve an emergency resulting from bariatric surgery.
The clinical examinations are usually 2 sets of 40-minute stations, each comprising 2 short cases and 1 long case. The long case lasts for 20 minutes, and the short cases are 10 minutes each.
The general VIVA session involves 4 stations and are divided in to the following;
1) Emergency surgery/Trauma/Critical care (clinical topics with discussion of published evidence supporting practice)
2) General Surgery Principles and Clinical Practice (including applied anatomy, physiology and pathology)
3) Special interest surgery – Clinical Practice (clinical topics with discussion of published evidence supporting practice)
4) Special interest surgery – Basic Principles (applied anatomy and pathology (15m) and academic (15m))
Note that the academic station used to be a paper related to your speciality but has been changed to a generic paper with a wider context. Note that clearly there has to be a speciality associated with a topic, so you are fortunate if it coincides with your own. Some generic papers have been known to come up but usually they will likely focus on emergency surgery to ensure breadth.
The JSCFE format is similar to the format above but does have some notable variations in that there are two 40-minute short case sessions and three VIVA sessions (instead of 4). The three VIVA sessions are emergency/critical care, general surgery and academic.
Scoring
The range of scores is 4 to 8 per scenario within each station, and the pass mark is 6. The total number of points is 800 and you need 600 to pass. Marks are balanced so if you do badly in one station then you can make up for it in another one. There are usually 2 examiners per station and 2 marks are given. Normally these are quality controlled to ensure there isn’t a large discrepancy (1 mark or more) between the 2 examiners. The pass mark for each clinical station is 156 out of a possible 208 and the for the VIVA stations, it is 72 out of a possible 96. Using the VIVAs as an example a pass mark of 72 points means a total of 36 points per examiner per station. If 6 points is the pass mark, it means there will usually be 6 scenarios in each station.
| Section | Passmark |
| General Surgery Clinical | 156 |
| Special Interest Clinical | 156 |
| Sp Interest – Clinical Practice | 72 |
| Sp Interest – BSc Principles & Academic | 72 |
| Emergency/Trauma/Crit Care | 72 |
| Gen Surg/Principles & Clin Practice | 72 |
| Total | 600 |
The expectations of what the examiners are looking for when awarding a particular mark can be found at the following link on the JCIE website and is broadly categorised as basic knowledge, higher order processing, clinical skills and professionalism (https://www.jcie.org.uk/Utils/DocumentGenerator.aspx?Type=CMS&docID=58EA3EC7-DE60-4160-9D15-D8757F511D14).
Techniques
When assessing basic knowledge, they are looking for you to start off with the basics and then move into more detail. This will usually start off with something like ‘I would take a full history and examination…’ or ‘I would assess the patient according to the CCrISP protocols using the A-E approach…..’. This is tied into the concept that I learnt from the excellent Phoenix course which promoted the idea of a landing statement. This landing statement involves an immediate portrayal of knowledge and logic. The landing statement will apply to each question asked, not only the first. For example if during the VIVA you get asked about a CT scan which shows an obvious abnormality you may say ‘From this CT scan, the most obvious pathology is …..’. We would encourage you to think about a landing statement for each question that you go through during your revision.
As part of the VIVA, they will want to assess your higher order thinking and this is where you would be expected to justify your answers. This may be through a variety of ways. The first is to ensure you have a logical structure of thought, the second is to actually know why you do a particular action e.g., leaving a drain in or not (draining remnant washout fluid, worried about bleeding, compartment syndrome, abscess (which takes time to develop) etc.). What takes you further is your knowledge of evidence and seminal papers. A lot of people fixate on this area, primarily because we want to get to the highest mark, but the degree of questioning is often not very detailed and sometimes simply involves mentioning the study due to time pressures on the day. Focus on the components of knowledge before you get asked the evidence because that is where the pass is.
Clinical skills and professionalism will often involve aspects of consent, duty of candour or describing a procedure. Remember they don’t want a real-time commentary of an operation but rather they are looking for the principles. Importantly if they ask you about an operation that you have never done before, be honest and tell them. If you know the principles of the operation however, you should say something like ‘Although I have never performed the procedure, the principles of the operation are ….’
During the exam you may be shown images of X-radiographs, CTs, MRIs or ancillary tracings such as manometry or anal physiology traces. You may also be shown pictures of signs for example breast cellulitis etc. In these types of question, they are usually looking for rapid response so they can move on with the questioning. The best way to do this is by saying something like ‘After confirming the date and details of the patient, I can see the most obvious abnormality is ….’
Books
The book resources can broadly be divided into those that focus on the exam and those that build your knowledge (i.e., textbooks).
Syllabus
The syllabus is a good starting point to revise from and can be seen at the link below. We have tabulated most of the areas within the syllabus so that you have them in an easy to access table.
https://higherviva.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/PDF1.pdf
https://higherviva.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/PDF2.pdf
https://www.iscp.ac.uk/media/1103/general-surgery-curriculum-aug-2021-approved-oct-20v3.pdf
https://higherviva.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Screenshot-2022-09-16-at-17.31.45.png
https://higherviva.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Screenshot-2022-09-16-at-17.32.15.png
https://higherviva.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Screenshot-2022-09-16-at-17.32.58.png
https://higherviva.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Screenshot-2022-09-16-at-17.33.16.png
Books that focus on the exam
There are 2 main books that focus on the exam. I bought both and they were both excellent. Although they do have some slight variations in the way they approach the scenarios they generally cover similar subject material. It is challenging to cover both books in their entirety and so although I would recommend buying both (or borrowing), use one as your main resource and then use the second as reference to supplement as necessary. The one you choose as your main resource is really a matter of preference rather than actual subject matter.
No academic book will ever be perfect and one of the challenges when writing one along with the colossal effort that goes with it, is that it often takes 12-24 months to write one. During this time and certainly when it is collaborative (which it usually is) new evidence comes to light such that when the book does arrive it is already 6 months out of date. For all intents and purposes this shouldn’t matter too much and even if there is information that isn’t quite up to date, it is usually fixed with a quick search.
Bearing this in mind our review is similar for both books as there is very little difference between the two.
1. Cracking the Intercollegiate General Surgery FRCS Viva 2e: A Revision Guide available at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cracking-Intercollegiate-General-Surgery-FRCS/dp/0367179423
2. FRCS: Companion Cases for the Intercollegiate Exam in General Surgery 2E available at https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1848291469/ref=dp_ob_neva_mobile
3. FRCS General Surgery Section 2: 250 VIVAs (from Higher VIVA & Alpine group) available at https://amzn.eu/d/0aFZwcSx
The Alpine course is a well-known week of focused VIVAs and lectures for the exam which I will discuss in more detail below. The group produced a collaborative book with Higher VIVA for part 2. Based on the course it is something definitely worth looking out for and a book that I have had the privilege of contributing to.
4. FRCS General Surgery – Essential Revision Notes by Al-Asmar available at https://amzn.eu/d/09WtjsJy
This book is useful for both part 1 & 2 and was written by the authors of Smart FRCS. It has had good reviews and is an important companion to revision in my view
All 4 books are comprehensive and give a nice introduction with details of exam format. There are nice sections on advice about technique which in some ways is the most important aspect of the exam. The first 2 books are on their second edition with companion cases released recently. There are often common themes to the VIVA and similar topics often come up and are reflected in both books to different extents. Both books cover the syllabus broadly, but you should ensure you look at the syllabus to make sure no areas have been missed during your revision.
The cracking the FRCS book covers areas such as the academic viva and topics such as critical care, emergency surgery, general surgery, breast, colorectal, endocrine, HPB, Transplant, upper GI and Vascular. There are similar topics in the FRCS companion book.
The companion FRCS book is bigger, but the price reflects that increased content. It also has some images which you do get in the exam too.
Overall, all the books are excellent and should be bought with one being the main focus (based on personal preference) of your revision and the other to complement it as needed.
Intermediary Books
There is an intermediary book which doesn’t quite fit into either of the categories (Those that focus on the exam and textbooks) called the Road to Success which was written by the Doctors Academy Group available at https://www.amazon.co.uk/FRCS-General-Surgery-Success-Kindle-ebook/dp/B00RM1A6YA/
People have given mixed reviews about this book and I have used it personally. It is not a replacement for the books mentioned above but it is quite good from a broad knowledge perspective. I feel it is also quite good from a structural aspect and how to answer questions. Bearing in mind that some examiners are well known to doctors academy (not necessarily involved in the book) the themes are themes that are often relevant. Although some reviews have mentioned that they didn’t like the flow of the book, I actually quite enjoyed it and it allowed me to get through the book in a couple of days which is all useful for the final day.
Textbooks
There are 3 main textbook resources that people turn to during their revision.
1. Companion to Specialist Surgical Practice available at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Companion-to-Specialist-Surgical-Practice/dp/B08RNFTCQL
This is probably the series of books that you have most commonly heard of and used to be the go to series for part 1. In some ways you still do go to it to fill gaps in your knowledge but it does take more of a prominent role in part 2. This is particularly true for your own speciality where specifics and detail matter. The general and emergency book from the series is also a widely read book as it helps you in the other stations. As mentioned previously no book will be perfect and books often suffer from the problem of publication lead time where newer guidelines are published by the time it gets to print but none-the-less the companion series will consolidate your knowledge so that you sound knowledgeable in the section 2 FRCS exam.
2. Behind The Knife ABSITE Podcast Companion available at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Behind-Knife-ABSITE-Podcast-Companion/dp/0578802767
Although I haven’t personally used this, if it is anything like the podcasts it is likely to be a fantastic resource. The main focus is on high yield topics that come up in the ABSITE in the USA. The vast majority of the detail will be applicable to the UK however there are some nuances, especially in cancer care that may differ. Looking through the sample contents and pages, the book looks really well laid out and strips away any of the superfluous information you find in other books.
3. Rush University Medical Center Review of Surgery, 6e: Expert Consult – Online and Print available at https://www.amazon.co.uk/University-Medical-Center-Review-Surgery-dp-0323485324/dp/0323485324/ref=dp_ob_title_bk
This was a book used by many of my peers. I didn’t use it simply due to time constraints otherwise it is highly recommended by those that have used it. It is essentially a thorough textbook but laid out in a question/answer format and covers most if not all of the syllabus although it is aimed at the US exams.
Online Resources
There are 4 main online resources for section 2 and one website that is due to be released in mid to late 2024.
Frcsviva
This is one of the main websites that people go to when looking for VIVA scenarios and has a very easy to use interface. It goes through the question and answers are on the subsequent page. They do comment on structure and is regulated reasonably regularly. They have over 90 scenarios and cover colorectal, general, emergency, critical care, upper GI, breast and endocrine. I used this resource along with the books and found the scenarios useful to revise from and also to test each other when revising in a group. The other big advantage is that you can choose specific scenarios that you want to look at rather than having to buy all the subject areas. This helps from a cost perspective. More recently they have introduced an AI powered version that gives you real time feedback on your answers which is quite incredible and well worth exploring.
Surgeryonlinefrcs
This website is useful for part 1 and part 2. You can choose the subject areas or scenarios that you want to purchase. It did feel that surgery online had been a little neglected over the last few years but certainly looking through the website it does appear that there has been a renewed effort to polish the site. I used this resource for part 1 but did not use it for part 2. It is a good site to add in extra scenarios when coming towards the end of your revision and will give you succinct answers that will definitely help. The bulk of you revision should be based upon the books and frcsviva.com as the main online resource.
Higherviva
This website is currently live and has some really unique features. Not only will it cover over 100 VIVA scenarios, it has a feature that allows you to record your own voice and play it back so you can hear how you answer a question and review your technique yourself. There is also a model audio answer for you recorded with real human recordings, to compare your answers to along with tips and techniques related to structure for each question you face. The academic section is also excellent and focuses on different study types ranging from meta-analyses to qualitative studies. On of the big advantages of the website is that each scenario is on the same page so you don’t change the pages. This allows you to review the scenario much more easily than having to navigate back and forth across pages. The other USP for this site is the summaries of studies and guidelines with over 25 guidelines and 100 seminal papers, it means you have the relevant information to push your marks up to a 7/8.
Grabthefrcs
This is a very new website and is live, but as a beta version. It is a site that focuses on part 1 and part 2 but it is still being developed. Because of the beta nature it is priced very low to allow for the ongoing development process. I have not used it personally but speaking to the lead on this project, it sounds like a website with a lot of potential including video resources and a good user interface. If you join the site you also get a 5% discount on this site www.higherviva.co.uk which the question bank organisers will give to you.
BOB (Best of Breast) Resource
This is a new website and focuses on Breast trainees although will be useful for non-breast trainees who may get a breast case in their general exam. It has excellent flow diagrams and is a one-stop shop for all things breast.
QYOLOGY
www.qyology.com
This is a new website and uses AI as an interface for teaching and giving feedback. Its a novel approach and may have some utility and certainly worth looking through to see if it may benefit you in your revision period
Revision courses
You can pass this exam by not going on a course but to be honest, the courses are the resource that will completely revolutionise the way you approach and conduct the exam. They all have years of experience behind them in knowledge, exam technique and approach. In my opinion it is unwise not to do a course and although they generally cost in the region of £1000, it is well worth it. Not only do they cover the knowledge, they focus on VIVA technique and you also have experts all on one course so you can clarify things in real time and to your heart content.
The only thing I would say is to book these courses early and even before you know whether you have passed part 1. A lot of people book the course before they take part 1 and it has been valuable to them. In my case I booked on to the Whipps X cross which was an excellent course and gave a lot of specific knowledge that definitely helped for section 1. COVID changed the way these courses were delivered and usually have a virtual component nowadays and in some courses it is entirely virtual. There are 3 major well known courses and 2 good but lesser known ones.
North East VIVA Course
The North East VIVA Course can be joined by emailing Mr Amr at b.amr@nhs.net
Since the Alpine Course ended there has been a need for a replacement intense VIVA course. The NE VIVA course usually based in Leeds is very intense and covers the core topics during a rotational VIVA format on an individual basis. It is extremely valuable and in my view one of the best courses out there. It has a wide range of faculty including leads for Higher FRCS, Smart FRCS and Grab the FRCS.
Whipps X course
Whipps X course accessed at https://whippscrosswf.com/courses/
This course costs £1300 for candidates and £900 for an observer. This makes this course accessible to those wanting to improve their knowledge prior to part 1 as they can just register as an observer. It does consolidate a lot of your knowledge and found it an excellent course to go on. The VIVAs were also very good and had speciality breakout rooms. The course used to be face to face and it may return to that at some point but there is a significant advantage to virtual courses. Virtual courses also mean that you aren’t necessarily limited by venue size. The faculty is extensive and knowledgeable and really do challenge you during exchanges which is really good because it feels like the pressure you experience during the exam too.
Doctors Academy/ Manchester Christie Course
Doctors Academy/ Manchester Christie Course accessed at https://www.doctorsacademy.org.uk/frcs
You have to admire the underlying driving motivations for the whole of the Doctors Academy Group. They really do want to deliver high quality education at the best price possible. I don’t have personal experience of the Doctors Academy course, mainly because I didn’t come across it when looking for courses. From what others have said, it is considered extremely highly and at the same level as Whipps X/ Alpine. They have a wealth of resources on their site and can be accessed via https://www.courses.doctorsacademy.org.uk/FRCS_Jan.aspx. This course costs just under £200 and is delivered over 2 evenings virtually over Zoom. It constitutes around 4 hours each evening so a total of 8 hours, although with these courses there is normally quite a lot of flexibility in terms of timings. The price reflects the time involved compared to the Alpine or Whipps X which is over 7 days.
Midlands VIVA course
Midlands VIVA Course accessed at info@midlandssurgicaleducation.co.uk
This is a course which I have heard good feedback from and is similar in format to the North East course with intense VIVAs and good preparation for the exam.
Face-to-Face Day
This course aims at giving candidates a real-life experience of FRCS part B exams with practice of long case, short cases, table vivas, and academic viva with 30 minutes paper reading time. Candidates practice and observe on each station in pairs. To maximise the peer learning benefits, the candidates are shuffled on each station.
The programme includes talks on exams structure, marking schemes, tips and tricks for viva in all aspects of exams.
The feedback is provided on improving viva techniques for different stations.
A marksheet is provided at the end of the course with the breakdown of marking in each component and faculty feedback.
Phoenix course
Phoenix course available at https://www.phoenixfrcscourse.com
This is a 2 day intensive course and focuses on knowledge and technique. Although there are some lectures the main focus is on VIVAs and technique which is particularly useful. A lot of the faculty have recently passed and so the whole set up feels very supportive and the faculty really supportive.
Liverpool Intensive FRCS Part III
Liverpool Intensive FRCS Part III.
This is a course that is apparently well known to surgical trainees in the north west. There has been a lull in the course dates, presumably because of COVID. Although from my research candidates felt it was a good course, I can not see it having run recently but is definitely worth keeping an eye out especially if you cant get on to the other courses.
Last minute VIVA courses
The courses mentioned above mainly focus on building up your knowledge and teaching technique but often you need a final polishing off and honing in of your skills. Having more intensive VIVAs in the lead up to the final exam helps fine tune your technique and knowledge ready for the day. There is only one course that caters to this area and is run by Higher FRCS. It is also useful for those that have been unable to join the other courses as they are limited in their number
Higher FRCS last minute VIVA practice
Higher FRCS last minute VIVA practice available at
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/higher-frcs-viva-practice-registration-335851489847
The Higher FRCS last minute VIVA course focuses on polishing off your technique and giving tailored constructive feedback that can be implemented prior to the exam and makes you feel confident as you approach the final day. It has both candidates and observers but limits the number of candidates to 5 making it feel like a very close nit revision group. They cover the academic viva and each candidate gets a minimum of 3 VIVAs during the evening totalling a minimum of 60 minutes of dedicated VIVAs and personalised feedback. There is capacity to do more depending on timings and candidate wishes which makes it quite a flexible course from that perspective. It currently costs £215 per candidate and £105 per observer which is about equivalent to the other courses.
Clear your FRCS with fine colours with expert faculty and daily practice
Clear your FRCS with fine colours with expert faculty and daily practice at
This course was developed by an upper GI trainee called Firas al Hanafi. He has a good track record and teaches well. He has previously taught on other courses including the last minute higher VIVA course and is supported by a well versed faculty. If you join the course you also get a 5% discount on this site www.higherviva.co.uk which the course organisers will give to you.
Mentorships
There is only one type of mentorship program that is available for part 2. An interesting concept and potentially the way of future courses it delivers VIVA sessions over a period of months at a convenient time and builds on your knowledge and technique so that you are exam ready by the date.
Prep Medico (Group formerly with StudyMedic)
Prepmedico accessible at https://prepmedico.com
It wasn’t around when I did the exam but I can understand the concept. From candidates who have undertaken the programme recently, it is highly considered and cost just under £900. The course director posts some really good video material as well on Facebook which is well worth looking at. They used to be part of the Study Medic group which also had a telegram group and post regular mcqs on there and whilst not truly reflective of the exam, it is nice to feel part of a bigger group. If you join the course you also get a 5% discount on this site www.higherviva.co.uk which the course organisers will give to you.
Podcasts
There are lots of national societal podcasts such as from St Marks or other centers but the 3 main podcast series are behind the knife, first incision and studying for FRCS. Each of these bring something to your revision and deliver the knowledge in a slightly different way.
Behind the knife podcasts
Behind the knife podcasts available at https://behindtheknife.org
The behind the knife podcasts should be fairly well known to you by now when revising for part 1 and it is a resource you should continue to use for part 2. Although the main area of use is with their ABSITE reviews, their other podcast topics are really useful especially in areas that you aren’t quite sure of. I used this extensively and the also send out some summary sheets and statistics quick hits which they kindly allowed me to put on to the resources section of www.higherfrcs.co.uk. As mentioned above I haven’t used the companion book that goes with the podcast series, but looking through the contents and the initial few pages. It does look excellent and something that I would expect from the dedicated group that produced the podcasts initially.
First incision
First incision available at https://amp.listennotes.com/podcasts/first-incision-amanda-nikolic-ZOKVw6kPYgn/amp/
This podcast is available on other platforms such as Apple Podcasts or Spotify meaning it is very accessible. A lot of candidates have praised the calm approach of the podcasts and felt it gave a lot of good information. They structure their podcasts according to pathology so you get a lot of general knowledge about that particular condition rather than it being focused on specific high yield topics for the exam like BTK which covers systems rather than conditions. These podcasts are particular good if you want a more thorough overview. Think of it as a VIVA book versus a textbook. These are the equivalent categories for podcasts with first incision being a bit more like a textbook.
Studying for FRCS podcasts
Studying for FRCS podcasts available at
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/si860
This is a newer podcast series and is essentially a collection of first hand accounts of subject areas and advice from someone who has recently taken the exam. This is a good set of audio which feels like a friend is having a chat to you making it very easy listening. They also produce a couple of nice introductory videos for the exam
National Organisations
There are a number of National organisations that will offer advice about the FRCS and they will usually have a course available to you to go to or have a session during their national conference or educational weekends. The Roux group probably stands out in comparison to the other groups with quite an extensive section on the exam with great mind maps and links. I list below the main societies but there are a few more scattered around so list is not exhaustive.
- Association of surgeons in training – https://www.asit.org
- Dukes Club – https://www.thedukesclub.org.uk/training-exams/exams-preparation/
- The Roux Group (Upper GI) – https://www.rouxgroup.org.uk/frcs_revision/
- The Herrick Society (Transplant) – https://www.herricksociety.org.uk
- The Mammary Fold – https://associationofbreastsurgery.org.uk/professionals/mammary-fold/educational-resources/
- TUGSS – https://www.tugssglobal.com
Social media
There are various social media groups which are useful to feel part of an online group and can reduce anxiety in the lead up to the exam. It is also a good place to bounce ideas and ask queries about areas that you may not have easy access at your base hospital.
Higher FRCS
Higher FRCS has an extensive social media presence and has branched out into various platforms including Mastodon. The main focus is on twitter and Facebook where questions are posted for free every 1-2 weeks and posts on revision, the syllabus and guidelines are really useful.
Twitter – @HFrcs
Instagram – @h_frcs
Mastodon – @Higher_FRCS@med-mastodon.com
Facebook Page – https://m.facebook.com/100063603307962/
Facebook Group – https://m.facebook.com/groups/4904996052860240/
FRCS Companion
FRCS companion is present on Twitter and Facebook and it focuses more on Facebook where it has a large group of candidates following their page. It posts relevant information mainly related to their site rather than being a sound board for other information. It is useful to follow to receive updates about the site and whether any changes occur.
Twitter – @frcscompanion
Facebook Page – https://m.facebook.com/100063904428873/
Studying for the FRCS
Studying for the FRCS is available on YouTube and podcast platforms. They are available on Instagram too.
Instagram – studying_for_frcs
YouTube Resources
There are some good videos on advice for the FRCS and you can access them below.
Guidelines
Although it may not seem like it, guidelines are your friends before and after the exam. Ensure that you have read the guidelines thoroughly for your speciality and certainly read the ones that relate to topics that come up through your revision. Although not an exhaustive list the most common sources are seen below.
Don’t forget local and regional teaching days
I really hope this guide has been comprehensive and useful to you and saves you some time searching around for the resources that you need to pass the FRCS.
Higher FRCS will always be here to help !
Mr Muhammad Rafay Sameem Siddiqui MBChB MRCS FRCS PhD DIC PGCert (Clin Ed) MFSTEd AFFMLM.
Mr M. Rafay. S. Siddiqui