Last updated: 03 July 2020
Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Vascular Surgery - FRCS (Vasc)
Introduction
Obtaining the Fellowship of Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS (Gen Surg)), by successfully passing all parts of the Intercollegiate Specialty Examination in General Surgery, is a mandatory requirement for the award of the "Certificate of Completion of Training" (CCT) or the "Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration" (CESR).
This allows the surgical trainee to formally demonstrate that he or she has achieved the required standard of clinical competence of a newly appointed consultant in General Surgery. In line with the Postgraduate Board's statutory requirements of the General Medical Council (GMC), the examination is regulated by the "Joint Committee on Intercollegiate Examinations" (JCIE), on behalf of the four Royal Surgical Colleges of Great Britain and Ireland.
Requirements and Regulations
- The applicant must hold a medical qualification recognised for registration by the GMC (in the United Kingdom) or the Medical Council of Ireland.
- The applicant must have been qualified for at least six years.
- The applicant must provide evidence of having reached the standard of clinical competence defined in the Intercollegiate Surgical Curriculum either for the award of the CCT by the GMC Postgraduate Board or for the award of "Certificate of Specialist Doctor" (CSD) by the Irish Surgical Postgraduate Training Committee (ISPTC).
- The required standard may have been achieved through training or qualifications, and experience considered together.
- The passing of the Intercollegiate Specialty Examination alone does not imply that the CCT (UK), CSD (Ireland) or placement on the Specialist Register will be automatic; the Examination will form only part of the evidence required.
- Candidates will have up to a maximum of 7 years to complete the examination process as follows:
- Section 1: Candidates will have a two year period from their 1st attempt with a maximum of 4 attempts with no re-entry. Candidates who have achieved the required standard in Section 1 and have been granted eligibility to proceed to Section 2 the following will apply:
- Section 2: Candidates will have a maximum of 4 attempts with no re-entry.
Section 1 of the Exam
Section 1 will be a written test (on a computer) composed of a combination of Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ single best answer; 1 from 5) and Extended Matching Item questions (EMI).
Each paper will be carefully prepared to cover the curriculum content, which can be best assessed in this way. A process of standard setting will then be performed by trained and experienced examiners, and this will set the pass mark for the paper.
Candidates must meet the required standard in Section 1 in order to gain eligibility to proceed to Section 2.
Paper 1 - 110 Single Best Answer [SBA] (2 hours)
Paper 2 - 135 Extended Matching Items [EMI] (2 hours 30 mins)
Note: Applicable to all Section 1 examinations from 1 January 2021, the format will be as follows: Paper 1 - 120 Single Best Answer [SBA] (2 hours 15 mins); Paper 2 - 120 Single Best Answer [SBA] (2 hours 15 mins).
Essential Books
Section 2 of the Exam
Recommended Books for FRCS (Gen Surg)
Essential Books
